[PLUGIN+PARTS][0.23] SCANsat terrain mapping

[DMagic]

I'm putting it on my list, but I'm thinking it would almost have to be something you can switch on the fly as it's not that easy to find a color that can be seen well on a background that could have any color of the spectrum anywhere.

That's what I was thinking, just another option in the settings window. I don't think it's a big deal, it's just that the yellow text can get a little lost in the slope map or some altitude maps, even with the black border.

I can't seem to stop the camera from doing that. I can consume the event but it seems the camera doesn't care, perhaps it queries the scroll wheel independent of the event system.

KSP captures the mouse wheel and mouse clicks even when another window is open on top of it, so it might not be surprising that there isn't an easy way to limit input to a specific window.

I have a bug, for some reason mine isn't scanning.

I think your altitude may be too high. I haven't tried Kerbin, but I scanned Duna in an elliptical orbit and found that the max range was around 750km for the high resolution scanner, and much lower for the others.

[therealcrow999]

Is anyone using this for the 4.0 build or does this need rearranging and update?

I'm happy to, just wasn't sure whether it was allowed.

Beholdeth:

[uNOFFICIAL] Texture Pack #2:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u7084fjpl0nx6gh/SCANsat.zip

Want those sensors? Clicky linky!

(Everything except the .tga files and the license.txt has been stripped out. Whack it in GameData, and it'll update the textures.

[kahlzun]

Is anyone using this for the 4.0 build or does this need rearranging and update?

{my texturepack}

Just tested it, works fine.

[EDIT] Beholdeth:

It seriously just changed the .tga file in the Part directory. Anyone can go in and edit that. Just draw on the blue square at the lower-right, and Jeb's your uncle.

...I just realised how awesome it would be to actually have Jeb for an uncle.

Edited November 11, 2013 by kahlzun

[Donziboy2]

What if Bobs your uncle?

P.S.

Awesome mod damny

[XanderTek]

Just curious, when the placeholder models are eventually replaced, is that likely to break any existing satellites I have? This is a lot of fun to play with, but I may hold off on large scale mapping if that's likely.

[kahlzun]

Just curious, when the placeholder models are eventually replaced, is that likely to break any existing satellites I have? This is a lot of fun to play with, but I may hold off on large scale mapping if that's likely.

it's unlikely, damny seems to be pretty cool with supporting old models. Worst case scenario, you load the game and there are different models on the craft.

They are unlikely to get bigger than what they are currently

[JDobs]

I was wondering what configuration is needed to start getting a hi res altimetry map produced? I have tried different orbit altitudes, different scanners. Just wondering what I may be missing to get the hi res read out. Thanks

P.S. - Awesome Mod! I blame you for making me stay up super late tonight! Haha!

[AdmiralTigerclaw]

What if Bobs your uncle?

P.S.

Awesome mod damny

You hear that loud metallic groan?

That pun was SO BAD that even your fuel tanks are trying to facepalm.

[SirJodelstein]

Three questions/comments regarding the (incredibly cool!) new build 4:

- what is the "instruments" display supposed to show? i had 3 scanners active on a craft in high Duna orbit, and all it displayed was an altitude readout.

- would it be possible to show the (planet-dependent) optimal + min/max scanning altitudes for the various sensors in this GUI?

- the science return for an almost-complete (99%) coverage per sensors seems a little bit high (3 sensors gave me more science than i could do with all other unmanned experiments in a high orbit combined (temp/goo/material)). Are these values configurable in the part.cfg files or somewhere else? I think reducing these by about 50% would still make mapping very useful to gain science, without dwarfing the other experiments values.

[damny]

- what is the "instruments" display supposed to show? i had 3 scanners active on a craft in high Duna orbit, and all it displayed was an altitude readout.

Altitude, biome (Duna has no biomes), and the nearest anomaly (only BTDT).

- would it be possible to show the (planet-dependent) optimal + min/max scanning altitudes for the various sensors in this GUI?

Yes, already on my list. The sensor name blinks in the small window if you're too low btw.

- the science return for an almost-complete (99%) coverage per sensors seems a little bit high (3 sensors gave me more science than i could do with all other unmanned experiments in a high orbit combined (temp/goo/material)). Are these values configurable in the part.cfg files or somewhere else? I think reducing these by about 50% would still make mapping very useful to gain science, without dwarfing the other experiments values.

You can only change the 20's in Resources/ScienceDefs.cfg. KSP's science system uses the built-in celestial multipliers for everything. I'm always looking for feedback on this. I tried to balance the returns keeping in mind that you can only do these once per celestial, only from high orbit, and they do require more setup than the others. But it's hard to balance this because there's way more science in the base game than you need right now.

[KerbMav]

Just curious, when the placeholder models are eventually replaced, is that likely to break any existing satellites I have? This is a lot of fun to play with, but I may hold off on large scale mapping if that's likely.

Make a backup of your safe file, copy over the old umbrella antenna from .21, switch the MODULEs of one the SCANsat antennas from its part.cfg to the umbrella and rename it in the .cfg too - load, pray, tell.

[Lacerta]

This is brilliant! Now my spy satellites really have a true capability! Thanks!

[hawk_za]

I agree with you, but since you can already go and read the cfg. files and the values, that mean you can also edit the desc yourself pretty easily, no?

problem is not all of us are keen on unpacking the mod opening up the cfg and then editing i agree will be awesome to have this in the game description

[GavinZac]

Holy moly I missed this. I've searched in the thread for various things but it's hard to match a negative: is it possible to make this work perfectly using the stock antennae? I'm trying to retain forward compatibility on all ships.

[XanderTek]

Make a backup of your safe file, copy over the old umbrella antenna from .21, switch the MODULEs of one the SCANsat antennas from its part.cfg to the umbrella and rename it in the .cfg too - load, pray, tell.

Good idea. I went through and added the sensor modules to a bunch of other mod parts. My favorite is that my BTDT sensor is now a point and shoot camera from HullCam

[Eadrom]

Anyone have an estimate for how much memory this addon will use on average? From the OP, it looks like it is relatively lightweight compared to the old mapsat mod. Just wondering if anyone has any actual numbers.

[goldenpeach]

Is there a way to know the optimal altitude of the various sensors?

By the sway: great mod!

[SirJodelstein]

Help, my "big map" view does not show up anymore when i click the button. Had some experiments with KSP window resolution, and now i guess the window is shown off-screen or something like that. Any way to restore the window position?

[DMagic]

Anyone have an estimate for how much memory this addon will use on average? From the OP, it looks like it is relatively lightweight compared to the old mapsat mod. Just wondering if anyone has any actual numbers.

I tested it on a stock install and got around 1650MB RAM used in the VAB (with 8GB total system RAM), without it I get almost exactly the same, about 1620MB. ISA loaded a bunch of high resolution textures for the map files, that's why it could take up so much RAM if you had a lot of planets mapped. This doesn't load the map textures, so RAM usage shouldn't change much with additional maps, which is nice considering that each planet has 24 possible maps.

[XanderTek]

If I understand correctly, the low res, high fov sensor is designed for low altitudes, while the high res, small fov is designed for much higher alts. Does that make sense? I would think that a sensor closer to the surface would generally have an easier time getting detailed readings from a small area, while one far away would be better for scanning large areas quickly.

Also, what does "optimal" altitude actually mean? Is that where it scans the largest area possible?

[Eadrom]

I think I can spare 30MB to try this out. Thank you for taking the time to get those numbers, DMagic.

[goldenpeach]

If I understand correctly, the low res, high fov sensor is designed for low altitudes, while the high res, small fov is designed for much higher alts. Does that make sense? I would think that a sensor closer to the surface would generally have an easier time getting detailed readings from a small area, while one far away would be better for scanning large areas quickly.

Also, what does "optimal" altitude actually mean? Is that where it scans the largest area possible?

By "optimal" I meant the altitude where it has the resolution of the sensor is the highest.

Even if the altitude where it scan the largest area would be interesting to know.

[XanderTek]

By "optimal" I meant the altitude where it has the resolution of the sensor is the highest.

Even if the altitude where it scan the largest area would be interesting to know.

Sorry, I should have clarified. I was asking damny. There's an "optimal" height listed in the cfg file for each part (as well as min/max heights). Presumably that's the best altitude to scan from, it's just not clear what changes when you are higher or lower.

[JDobs]

I played around with different orbital heights today and the closer you are to the planet (lower altitude) you cover a smaller scan path than that of a higher altitude. It appears that if you set up an orbit close to the max operational altitude of the scanners yo get the widest scan area and results on the map generated.

[drtedastro]

This is from the older 'other' mapping program, but the orbital mechanics work for orbital resonance and can be used here to see best / worst orbits.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/27999-ISA-Mapsat-Ideal-and-Non-Ideal-Altitudes

Has worked great for me for many different purposes...

cheers.