[0.23.5] StretchySRB: A StretchyTanks Continuation v9 Final Pre-PP edition 3/21/14

[NathanKell]

StretchySRB is a continuation of StretchyTanks by the great AncientGammoner.

Note: StrechySRB is in the process of being replaced by Procedural Parts. This will be the final release of StretchySRB under this name; for all further development (and many amazing new features) see the PP thread.

My StretchySRB patch to StretchyTanks grew and grew. Along with the minor fixes and the SRB, I've now totally redone how textures are found and loaded, which means anyone can add textures to their ST install just by adding a texture or two somewhere and either editing STTextures.cfg or doing it via ModuleManager. Rather than posting new patches all the time in the ST thread I'm finally making a new thread.

From the Readme:

This addon is by NathanKell, e-dog, and swamp_ig, featuring models by Tiberion and further textures by Chestburster and Dante80.

This addon to Stretchy Tanks adds a conic tank, two Stretchable SRBs, a new texture system, and some fixes.

*Node size scales when resizing super-stretchy tanks

*stock ST texture stays in aspect when stretching tanks

*will show all resources in tank when you mouseover

*Proper integration with Modular Fuel Tanks or Real Fuels (REQUIRES MFT v4/RF v4 or above!) - when done stretching, go into action editor->tank setup and update each fuel amount the desired amount to get your final amount.

*and a few other misc logic tweaks

Note when using with Real Fuels: Stretchy SRB is ModularEngines enabled, so your thrust will be corrected when not in vacuum. It is also techlevel enabled, although only Isp will change (not casing mass).

The new texture system works off confignodes. There is a file in the StretchyTanks/Parts folder called STTextures.cfg that defines the textures. You can create your own textures, place them in any location, and use ModuleManager to add the appropriate nodes to the STRETCHYTANKTEXTURES node. All documentation on the node syntax is in the STTextures.cfg file.

Note: this SUPERCEDES any prior Stretchy Tanks-related work by either NathanKell or Starwaster.

INSTALL:

DELETE YOUR OLD STRETCHYTANKS FOLDER in the KSP/GameData folder. Then unzip this folder to KSP/GameData

You may also find, in the StretchyTanks/Parts folder, a Template file with the grit layers I use to make the tanks look slightly worn. Feel free to use it and make (and post!) new textures!

License remains CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported

Changelog

v9 =\/=

*Final pre-Procedural Parts release

*Moved RF tanks over to RF mod. Will no longer clutter partlist

*Deprecate non-superstretchy tanks (available to old craft but hidden in part list)

*Support RF v6

*Fix heatProduction for SRBs when using DRE

*Add Version Checker (Majiir / Ferram)

*Add "utilization" factor: essentially a hack to allow you to copy real rockets. Fat short tanks should have lower utilization; long tall tanks should have higher. Example values: Titan II lower stage: 0.87. Saturn V lower stage: 0.8. Titan II upper stage: 0.7. Atlas D through I: ~0.85. ***NOTE: you MUST rescale the tank slightly after changing utilization or the volume won't update. After that, you can scale it back.***

===============

Showing off the new tank textures and conic tank (with a faired interstage). Note the Delta II-like top stage, an orange cyrogenic mid stage, and a Saturn V like lower stage. Also note the German-like procedural fairings (available as a ST texture). Further, note the four StretchySRBs.

Sea Level / Vacuum SRB nozzles by Tiberion

Download

Source on Github

=========================

Texture Library

Additional textures for your tanks.

Planeguy868: Download. Installation instructions: download and extract it to KSP's GameData folder.

Preview:

Ferram4's Saturn and Nova Textures:

Download. Installation instructions in zip.

Preview:

blackheart612:

Full thread!

Previews:

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Edited April 8, 2014 by NathanKell

[MedievalNerd]

This is simply the best thing ever, maintained by one of the greatest!

Seriously, so many fuel tanks can go on the way side with this mod! And since I'm one of those people with mod fever, this helps reduce memory footprint by allowing me to remove at least a good 50 superfluous tanks!

Save memory, go stretchy!

[blubbermonkeys]

You're on a spree with absolutely amazing mods.

[ANWRocketMan]

Does this fix the SRB's resetting to the center of the craft if you revert to VAB?

I absolutely agree with @blubbermonkeys! You're doing great work @Nathan. Amazing work!

[Guest]

Could you add a "ballon tank" variant of the stretchy tank? It'd be like regular tanks, but much lighter, much weaker and with no capability for surface attachments. Also, is there any correlation between the orange texture and presence of MFT-based insulation? I think you should include that, too.

Also, I've just got an idea. Stretchy Tanks scales the base model, right? Would that be possible to add stretchy adapters (fixed ratio, I guess), nosecones or KW-style Soyuz tanks? Also, a stretchy endcap would be neat for Shuttle-style tanks.

[p3asant]

Could you add a "ballon tank" variant of the stretchy tank? It'd be like regular tanks, but much lighter, much weaker and with no capability for surface attachments. Also, is there any correlation between the orange texture and presence of MFT-based insulation? I think you should include that, too.

Also, I've just got an idea. Stretchy Tanks scales the base model, right? Would that be possible to add stretchy adapters (fixed ratio, I guess), nosecones or KW-style Soyuz tanks? Also, a stretchy endcap would be neat for Shuttle-style tanks.

Are adapters really needed when you have procedural interstages?

Balloon, centaur-like, tanks would be cool.

Also spherical tanks would be cool. I'm thinking N1.

Would spherical tanks be possible to implement?

[EuSouONumero345]

Man, you're awesome!

[Guest]

Adapters would be neat for when you don't really need a fairing, but rather want to fill the adapter with fuel. Oh, and I support the spherical tank idea. N1 has some incredibly complex fairings, so I don't think you could recreate it just with this, but spherical tanks would be generally useful for orbital ships where aerodynamics are not a problem.

[DAVIDESCOTT]

When you stretch an SRB are you increasing thrust or burn time?

[Guest]

Thrust, IIRC, but that's not very important. You adjust burn time to get any thrust/burn time ratio you want.

[MNorman]

I have been having some problems with the stretchySRBs. If I use them with the version of the modular fuel system without the real fuels I cannot change them, and cannot select them in Action group mode. If I put a stretchy tank above the SRB and mouseover the SRB in Parts mode, or select it in action group mode, then the game responds as if the mouse pointer was over the stretchy tank. If I then remove the ModuleEngineConfigs module (Which I understand to only be used by the real fuels version of the modular fuel system) from the cfg file, the SRB works as expected.

[Miller]

How do you do it Nathan? You have around 5 mods under you which are soo good that alot of people won't even play ksp without them.

[redshift690]

Hello I just installed this on a fresh KSP install along with;

Real Solar System v5.1

KSPI 0.7.4

Kethane 0.8

TacFuelBalancer

Ferram Aerospace Research 0.9.7

Procedural Wings

MFS 3.1

And I seem to be having a problem changing the fuel type. With my mouse over the tank and pressing the "g" key does nothing, and stays liquid fuel/oxidizer. All other features changing size/textures is working fine.

I was hoping to use this mod exclusively as my fuel tanks and delete all other default/mod tanks to reduce my memory footprint. Thanks for any help

[NathanKell]

First: Thanks, everybody, but the lion's share goes to the original author AncientGammoner. I've added some stuff and fixed some issues, but he's the original mod author.

ANWRocketMan: I believe it might. Let me know!

Dragon01:

1. That's an interesting idea actually. What that would need is a balloon tanktype in MFS, too, but I was planning to add one anyway.

2. There is no correlation because I didn't want to add an elaborate tank-type-checking system for textures. Besides, some people may want different textures on different tanks (for the same reason you can select the SRB texture for non-SRB tanks). However, Starwaster when he first added MFS compatibility added a Cryogenic superstretchy, so use that.

3. Fixed adapters are very possible. Some day when I have time I want to examine how DYJ does it for the procedural adapter; combining that method for top and bottom radius, and ST method for rescaling the whole model, would lead to fully procedural tank adapters. However, it might be easier to derive from the Proc Fairing interstage, because then you can even control curvature. I'll talk to e-dog.

I currently already use PF interstage for my nosecones, since, as long as you extend the fairing height above the node, FAR shouldn't count it as an open node, and you can make the top radius 0 (or nearly 0). When the fully-procedural fairing bases drop we can switch to those.

Side tanks should be doable. As it happens, one reason for this new texture system was to allow a textureType NONE to disable texture switching, but I forgot to do that. Oops.

Spherical tanks already exist in the form of Talisar's Spherical Tanks. Though they are not procedural. Hmm...

DAVIDESCOTT: As Dragon01 says, thrust is a dependent variable. You control burn time with G, and solid fuel capacity by rescaling the tank. Thrust is set so that the amount of fuel in the tank burns for (burntime). If you want more thrust, decrease your burn time. When you change tank size, because desired burn time stays constant, thrust changes to make actual burn time accord to desired burn time.

MNorman: OH. Figured it out. Right, you do need to remove the ModuleEngineConfigs module. I can try setting something up in MFS for now, but the way you switch from regular MFS to MFS_RF is...by adding MEC modules. So you're effectively running in partial-RF mode. And once there exists a single MEC somewhere, it depends on the stats in the RealFuels folder.

redshift690: Go into action group editor and click on the tank. MFS makes all tanks modular, so you use its system to configure tanks, not the old ST system.

[The Destroyer]

My my, PFueltanks were amazing, but BOOSTERS? And those amazing looking textures- I want it now!

[Guest]

Now that I think of it, there's no reason why you couldn't insulate a non-cryo tank (there's more to it than insulation), or paint over a cryo tank (as was done with early Shuttles). So it's fine to have different textures.

Also, I'm working on modifying the stretchy SRB to have a hybrid confuguration. Essentially, an SRB that also requires LOX to function. Other oxidizers could be added later, too. Does anyone have info about hybrid mass ratios and Isps?

[redshift690]

Thanks Nathan for the info, and for all your awesome mods! Working great now. With this tank mod I can free up a lot of memory space getting rid of all other tanks! Awesome stuff!

[Chestburster]

I'm kinda out of ideas for additional textures that are based on real rockets and are possible to implement with ST. So if you guys have any ideas..

[15nelsoc]

There's always foreign ones like the original drab-green Soyuz coloring:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vk28Py2f3Uo/TwRRoqbiiUI/AAAAAAAAABo/Nn5_PN4Biws/soyuz.jpg

A basic untextured off-white like the Proton M:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Proton_Zvezda_crop.jpg

An maybe a black/dark-grey color as seen on the fairings on this Falcon 9:

http://www.dvice.com/sites/dvice/files/styles/content_panes_media/public/images/013-F9_night_IMG_8591_640.jpg?itok=y7oGPULT

I know nathankell replicated some of his textures for the tanks for procedural fairings, that would be nice. Kosmos has some ribbed one's for procedural fairings that look nice too:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/24970-0-21-Kosmos-Spacecraft-Design-Bureau-Updated-%289-27-13%29?p=657132&viewfull=1#post657132

[Guest]

Yet another procedural mod! Nicely done.

[theSpeare]

Please do procedural spherical tanks. And while you're at it - something that would be infinitely pretty and amazing: procedural toroidal tanks.

[Legwan]

Would like to thank you for fixing the crash problem on Linux x86_64!

Working like a charm with this release

[Firov]

I'm experiencing a bug with this. I was trying to attach procedural SRB's to a procedural tank via the big hydraulic decouplers. Everything worked initially, but after the first launch, if I revert to the VAB the SRB's have moved away from the decouplers. They appear to be just floating in midair, though they still function as if they were directly attached. This also happens if I load a saved craft.

Other then that, everything seems to work pretty well.

[Surefoot]

I also use Talisar's spherical and toroidal tanks. It seems it creates some sort of conflict with StretchySRB, as now i cannot change the fuel type, and if i resize the tank the contents and weight are not updated. Is it related to MFS ?

[NathanKell]

You need the latest MFS 3.1. Download and install it, overwriting the version from Sphericals.