[1.1.3] AntennaRange 1.11.4 - Enforce and Encourage Antenna Diversity

[toadicus]

Gristle, can you upload that file someplace polite to make it easy for people to download? I'll edit the wiki for you.

OddFunction and jlcarneiro, I've just had a detailed look at the input locks and there is no lock for those controls. In other words, this is an upstream problem (or intentional choice) and I cannot prevent you from using those controls. Try not to use Z and X when you shouldn't.

[Gristle]

Gristle, can you upload that file someplace polite to make it easy for people to download? I'll edit the wiki for you....

Posted to Google Drive at MM_Tantares_AR.cfg

[jlcarneiro]

[...]

OddFunction and jlcarneiro, I've just had a detailed look at the input locks and there is no lock for those controls. In other words, this is an upstream problem (or intentional choice) and I cannot prevent you from using those controls. Try not to use Z and X when you shouldn't.

Au contraire, my friend!

This "glitch" helped me a LOT when I was transitioning from RemoteTech: I was relieved of setting a network but forgot I've checked the connection requisite and ended with a probe about to collide with Mun. My only way out was to go full throttle for a second messing my orbit but saving the probe. I roleplayed that, without connection the only way was to rely on altimeter ajusted to "pulse" the engines in case of collision...

[toadicus]

Gristle, I've added your patch to the wiki. Thanks!

jlcarneiro; now calling it a "feature".

- - - Updated - - -

UPDATE:

I've had a friend use his non-owner github account to go edit the wiki page to be sure that people who aren't me can do so, and he has done so without any trouble. He provides the following input:

How to Edit This Page

Sign in to GitHub. Near the top (second row of buttons) will be a "edit" button. Press it to edit.

Gristle, BigFatStupidHead, et al; you do need a github account to edit, but once you have one (which is free and easy) editing should be simple. Thanks!

[Gristle]

Gristle, I've added your patch to the wiki. Thanks!

jlcarneiro; now calling it a "feature".

- - - Updated - - -

UPDATE:

I've had a friend use his non-owner github account to go edit the wiki page to be sure that people who aren't me can do so, and he has done so without any trouble. He provides the following input:

Gristle, BigFatStupidHead, et al; you do need a github account to edit, but once you have one (which is free and easy) editing should be simple. Thanks!

I do have a Github account and couldn't figure out how to edit the page. I'll look again. EDIT: There is an edit button now. I swear it wasn't there a couple days ago!

BTW: You might want to include a link to the wiki in the original OP if this is to be the main documentation site for AR.

Edited July 6, 2015 by Gristle

[OddFunction]

Hey toad,

I got this showing up in my log

The following assembly referenced from /home/ksp-linux-dedicated/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Kerbal Space Program/GameData/AntennaRange/ARVoidPanel.dll could not be loaded:
     Assembly:   VOID    (assemblyref_index=3)
     Version:    0.18.3.38901
     Public Key: (none)
The assembly was not found in the Global Assembly Cache, a path listed in the MONO_PATH environment variable, or in the location of the executing assembly (/home/ksp-linux-dedicated/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Kerbal Space Program/GameData/AntennaRange/).

Could not load file or assembly 'VOID, Version=0.18.3.38901, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies.
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null
The class AntennaRange.ARVoidPanel could not be loaded, used in ARVoidPanel, Version=0.1.5645.38905, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null

Doesn't seem to be causing any problems but thought I'd let you know.

Linux Mint 64bit

KSP 1.0.4 64bit

Mod list:

I: http://imgur.com/vROlnpq

II: http://imgur.com/gZZft2y

III: http://imgur.com/VggD7BY

Log:

https://mega.co.nz/#!BUEmhCAJ!phyUC_cuc4D5kiFubw3vdIGfenx0zuZx9_EgctVlTgc

[toadicus]

Thanks OddFunction. I'm aware of that issue and will correct it at some point in the future. Right now the AR VOID panel is pretty useless, and if you don't have VOID that message is expected anyway. At any rate, I'll shut it up soon.

[ManuxKerb]

Hi

I installed AR and i love it but noticed, if i start transmission of science and then go to the space center, the transmission does not continue as it should. It resumes only when im focusing the craft again. I think this should be fixed. (even if this is stock behaviour! this is so not realistic, probes should send data also when you are not looking at them...)

Whats your stand on this ?

Thanks

[toadicus]

ManuxKerb; I don't handle the actual transmission, that's all stock logic. I agree that basically everything about antennas should be handled in the background, but that's actually really hard.

There are a handful of facilities for doing background processing and I've looked in to them a bit before. But it's a lot of effort and the gain is fairly marginal, so it's something that needs to get put off behind a few other code improvements that will help make it (and basically all other future features on the list) easier and more robust.

TL;DR: Background transmission (and power use, etc.) are "wish list" items at this point.

[ManuxKerb]

Hi toadicus ,

Thanks for letting me know :-) It good to know that is is somewhere on the list at least :-D

[Yemo]

Hey,

I m still trying to integrate an antenna into command parts (crew and probe).

Those are the the MM patches I tried:

@PART
[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleCommand]]:NEEDS[AntennaRange]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = ModuleLimitedDataTransmitter
        nominalRange = 200
        simpleRange = 160000
        maxPowerFactor = 8
        maxDataFactor = 4
    }
}
@PART
[*]:HAS[@MODULE[ModuleCommand]]:HAS[!MODULE[ModuleScienceContainer]]:NEEDS[AntennaRange]
{
    MODULE
    {
        name = ModuleScienceContainer
        dataIsCollectable = true
        dataIsStorable = false
        storageRange = 2
    }
}

Unfortunately the part descriptions are then glitched out in the tech tree. They look exactly as described in post #769 of this thread:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/56440-1-0-AntennaRange-1-10-1-Enforce-and-Encourage-Antenna-Diversity?p=2053946&viewfull=1#post2053946

I also tried rewriting the MM statements, to account for possible transmission devices already on command parts and so on. The part descriptions always glitched out in the tech tree.

[Handwich]

Unfortunately the part descriptions are then glitched out in the tech tree. They look exactly as described in post #769 of this thread:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/56440-1-0-AntennaRange-1-10-1-Enforce-and-Encourage-Antenna-Diversity?p=2053946&viewfull=1#post2053946

I also tried rewriting the MM statements, to account for possible transmission devices already on command parts and so on. The part descriptions always glitched out in the tech tree.

Toadicus said here that bug will be fixed in the next release, but until then, you can remedy it by entering either assembly building then exiting it. The info boxes will then display correctly in R&D.

[Yemo]

Toadicus said here that bug will be fixed in the next release, but until then, you can remedy it by entering either assembly building then exiting it. The info boxes will then display correctly in R&D.

Whoops, thought it already had been (and that there was a leftover when editing command parts or so). Must be getting confused with all the different mods at the moment.

[toadicus]

Sorry I've been remiss in updating; 'tis the season for my day job to be busy, and also for me to have out-of-town guests staying in my house, and also for me to be taking vacations of my own. I've have minor updates ready for all three mods and hope to have time to upload them this weekend.

[jlcarneiro]

Sorry I've been remiss in updating; 'tis the season for my day job to be busy, and also for me to have out-of-town guests staying in my house, and also for me to be taking vacations of my own. I've have minor updates ready for all three mods and hope to have time to upload them this weekend.

Don't worry, RL tends to get in the way sometimes... We'll wait anxio... I mean, patiently!

[bv1]

Pardon my ignorance, but when and why have the nominal ranges for the three stock antennas been changed? Whereas the whip antenna used to be useful only up to keosynchronous orbit, now it's useful throughout the entire Kerbin system. I thought that the point of the mod was to increase antenna diversity, but now you can just use the whip antenna entirely for Mun and Minmus missions. What's the deal?

[toadicus]

Symmetric ranges are "new" in version 1.10. It's a realism change. Here's some info:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/56440?p=2015869#post2015869

The system adds more variability than previously: there are two axes of change now instead of just one. It does have the impact of making the Comm 16 useful in a new situation, but it also does the inverse, in that there are now some situations wherein the Comm 16 would have been perfectly useful before and now is not.

As with most features in AntennaRange: if you don't like it, you can turn it off.

[ModZero]

Symmetric ranges are "new" in version 1.10. It's a realism change.

Well, it seems it might actually be "new" is version 1.1, KSP:

In the current design, it will be completely possible to shoot a signal directly from, say, Duna to Kerbin - with a sufficiently large antenna on your vessel.

source

Time for the bittersweet feeling of a mod getting stockified. I kinda wish they mentioned this mod  maybe they haven't ever seen it (but I'm sure RoverDude knows it), but it's so similar, I think it would be nice to give it a nod as something that provided very similar mechanics. I do love the idea of specialised store-and-forward equipment.

[micha]

Well, it seems it might actually be "new" is version 1.1, KSP:

source

Time for the bittersweet feeling of a mod getting stockified. I kinda wish they mentioned this mod  maybe they haven't ever seen it (but I'm sure RoverDude knows it), but it's so similar, I think it would be nice to give it a nod as something that provided very similar mechanics. I do love the idea of specialised store-and-forward equipment.

I'm in two minds myself; on the one hand, yayy for this feature set becoming stock, on the other, I wish toadicus had been recognised and perhaps even contracted to do so. At the very least this mod should have been explicitly mentioned as one of the inspirations.

In either case lets wait and see how the stock version pans out; there might still be scope for AntennaRange to modify the stock implementation to provide its own unique playing style as has almost always been the case in other stockified mods.

[ModZero]

I wish toadicus had been recognised and perhaps even contracted to do so.

I think that, from the "inside", it probably felt like it was so much individual conception that AR can't be specifically mentioned. But from my perspective, of a player that uses both AR and RT and has a vague idea of the "real world", this all sounds very, very Antenna Range. I'd be fine, I mean, I have no idea if Toadicus personally cares or is impacted, but I do think that it's conceivable that open recognition could have significant positive impact on, for example, securing entry-level (and maybe even not-so-entry-level) jobs in some industries.

[bv1]

Pardon my ignorance, but when and why have the nominal ranges for the three stock antennas been changed? Whereas the whip antenna used to be useful only up to keosynchronous orbit, now it's useful throughout the entire Kerbin system. I thought that the point of the mod was to increase antenna diversity, but now you can just use the whip antenna entirely for Mun and Minmus missions. What's the deal?

Thank you. I think that you should put that chart on page 1 that everyone knows what's up.

[toadicus]

While on the one hand I would have liked to be included in Squad's current effort, on the other hand I'm just glad it's happening. As has been mentioned, most of the functionality in AntennaRange (and apparently in the new Stock behavior) is emergent from basic physics, so I can't claim that they're abusing me in any way -- and wouldn't anyway; technically the way my license is written they could be 100% copy/pasting my code and as long as there's attribution given in the distribution they'd be complying. I kept things open for a reason and this was part of it.

[autumnalequinox]

That's now 3 out of the 60+ mods I have that have gone (or are going) stock. I dearly wish they had given at least a shout out to you, toadicus. But if you feel cool about it, I do too.

long live ~*Antenna Range*~, one of the mods I can't play without.

[John Nowak]

Congratulations! I'm very sorry your mod wasn't called out specifically, but I think you had an excellent design and it looks like Squad agrees.

[toadicus]

Honestly, I do feel pretty cool about it. When they say "...using inspiration from some of the plugins..." and then go on to describe all the bits of the other plugin that they're not using (and neither do we), I feel like it's obvious enough what they mean. Since they're not using me to do the work it's pretty natural that they wouldn't say "Hey, we're making AntennaRange stock", and frankly if they'd asked me to do it I'd almost certainly have had to turn them down anyway: my career is not one from which I can easily take a spontaneous two month break, even if the money is good, and my spare time is almost certainly insufficient for their needs.

I would have been really chuffed to have been asked or explicitly acknowledged. But I'm a grown-up and I get there's all kinds of reasons they might not want to do that, not the least of which being that I'm probably not actually that great a coder. I'm really happy to see this essential functionality become a part of the game with or without my direct involvement. As soon as I get my hands on a copy, I'll give them all the feedback I can.

Thanks so much to all of you for your support, today and over the last two years! You guys have really been a great community. I have no idea what the future will hold for AntennaRange. There may be gaps to patch in Squad's new system. There may be "wishlist" items to add. There may be nothing more reasonable for me to do than to gracefully step away. I'll be looking for that answer, and will be listening to your feedback when 1.1 comes out.