[1.12.3+] RealChute Parachute Systems v1.4.9.5 | 20/10/24

MacGyverNL · May 15, 2021

I'm at a bit of a loss regarding how radial RealChutes work in Action Groups, at low altitudes, when stowed in one of those "shroud explodable" service modules (SM-6A).

Simply put, I have three action groups:

Abort, which triggers the LES tower.
Custom 01, which jettisons the LES tower, and explodes the panels off the service bay.
Custom 02, which has the "deploy parachute" action for the radial chutes.

The chutes are also in normal stages, which *aren't* the stage that the vessel is in when I trigger the abort (obviously).

If I trigger the abort, then custom 01, then custom 02, the chutes never actually deploy unless I also stage into the stage with those chutes manually. There is no message saying they're not in the airflow or anything like that. They're light blue in the stage view, implying they're armed, but they'll happily fall through their deployment altitude without deploying. Only when I manually activate the staging s.t. they end up in the active stage do they finally deploy.

Do they need to be in the active stage for them to actually deploy? If so, that explains the behaviour and I can stop pulling my hair out over this -- except then I wonder if there's a mod somewhere that allows automatic staging from action groups. Or maybe I should enable the "must go down to deploy" toggle and just activate them in the first stage, but that doesn't seem like a very clean solution either.

stupid_chris · May 16, 2021

The action group arm parachute does just that, it immediately deploys the parachute. If it cannot deploy it, it does not go into arm mode.
The arm action group does what you are looking for, deploying, and arming if not possible at that moment.

~~Probably should have a warning message about it, but I'm not exactly doing QoL changes to RealChute atm.~~

Just tried it out, turns out whacky stuff is going on.
First off, it is giving out error messages

The parachute's icon even flashes red.
However it does deploy if manually staged. One of them is wrong, and since I'm using the part system to know if a part is shielded from airflow (hence the "in a fairing" error message), I'm pretty sure the manual deployment is wrong and is skipping the check.

Point is, if I fix it, you'll have no way to deploy at all in this situation.

Edited May 16, 2021 by stupid_chris

MacGyverNL · May 16, 2021

Thanks for looking into it regardless -- I'm honestly not asking for a fix, just trying to understand the behaviour. If there's apparent shenanigans going on please don't spend any time and effort here. Pad aborts are such a niche thing anyway, as long as I have some way to predict what happens I'm fine with it. If that means I have to manually stage the parachute after the abort, so be it.

All that being said, should anyone be interested in digging, I did some additional testing and sort-of hit a dead end. I'm on a heavily modded install and stripping out the mods for this test is one bridge too far, I'm writing it up in case somebody notices the same thing and has a hunch what to look for.

In my craft I'm using a different texture variant for the service module which has a docking tunnel, and the chutes are attached to the sides of that tunnel. So they're surface attached pretty much like they would be to the sides of a fuel tank, except inside the shroud until it jettisons. Not surface attached to the bottom of the module. But I also tried it that way and didn't get a warning there either.

I've attached two craft files which both exhibit the behaviour I'm describing. One with the parachutes attached to the bottom of the bay, which in my case *doesn't* give me any airflow warnings or red flashing icons. One with the parachutes attached my way (to the sides of the hatch tunnel). Also doesn't give any airflow warnings or flashing icons on my install.

Also attached KSP.log, but the relevant excerpts between abort and hitting the ground (listed below) don't give me anything to go on.

First craft:

[LOG 15:43:15.098] Game State Saved as persistent
[LOG 15:43:16.171] Unpacking TestChutes
[LOG 15:43:16.219] [UIMasterController]: ShowUI
[LOG 15:43:17.716] 5/16/2021 3:43:17 PM,ShipManifest-DfWrapper,Attempting to Grab DeepFreeze Types...
[LOG 15:43:20.380] [ModularFlightIntegrator] MFI Start
[LOG 15:43:20.380] [ModularFlightIntegrator] Start. VesselModule on vessel : 
  ModularFlightIntegrator
  AxisGroupsModule
  CometVessel
  CommNetVessel
  ModuleStabilization
  BPB_VesselModule
  CLSVesselModule
  VesselDataManager
  ModuleDynamicBatteryStorage
  WorkshopManager
  RPMVesselComputer
  ParkingBrake
  VesselModuleSave
  ModuleLifeSupportSystem
  WOLF_CrewModule

[LOG 15:43:20.383] [KCT] New recon_rollout at launchsite: LaunchPad
[LOG 15:43:20.477] [Progress Node Reached]: RecordsAltitude
[LOG 15:43:20.478] [Progress Node Reached]: RecordsSpeed
[LOG 15:43:20.478] [Progress Node Reached]: RecordsDistance
[LOG 15:43:21.357] [Progress Node Reached]: FirstLaunch
[LOG 15:43:21.357] [Progress Node Complete]: FirstLaunch
[LOG 15:43:21.358] [FlightTracker]: OnProgressComplete fired
[LOG 15:43:21.358] [FlightTracker]: Found 0 potential candidates for World Firsts
[LOG 15:43:22.945] [ModularFlightIntegrator] MFI Start
[LOG 15:43:22.945] [ModularFlightIntegrator] Start. VesselModule on vessel : 
  ModularFlightIntegrator
  AxisGroupsModule
  CometVessel
  CommNetVessel
  ModuleStabilization
  BPB_VesselModule
  CLSVesselModule
  VesselDataManager
  ModuleDynamicBatteryStorage
  WorkshopManager
  RPMVesselComputer
  ParkingBrake
  VesselModuleSave
  ModuleLifeSupportSystem
  WOLF_CrewModule

[LOG 15:43:26.448] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:43:26.448] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:43:26.448] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:43:26.448] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:43:28.108] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:43:28.108] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:43:28.109] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:43:28.109] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:43:32.869] probeStackLarge Exploded!! - blast awesomeness: 0

Second craft:

[LOG 15:44:30.346] Game State Saved as persistent
[LOG 15:44:31.375] Unpacking TestChutes2
[LOG 15:44:31.387] [UIMasterController]: ShowUI
[LOG 15:44:33.001] 5/16/2021 3:44:33 PM,ShipManifest-DfWrapper,Attempting to Grab DeepFreeze Types...
[LOG 15:44:37.570] [ModularFlightIntegrator] MFI Start
[LOG 15:44:37.570] [ModularFlightIntegrator] Start. VesselModule on vessel : 
  ModularFlightIntegrator
  AxisGroupsModule
  CometVessel
  CommNetVessel
  ModuleStabilization
  BPB_VesselModule
  CLSVesselModule
  VesselDataManager
  ModuleDynamicBatteryStorage
  WorkshopManager
  RPMVesselComputer
  ParkingBrake
  VesselModuleSave
  ModuleLifeSupportSystem
  WOLF_CrewModule

[LOG 15:44:37.572] [KCT] New recon_rollout at launchsite: LaunchPad 2
[LOG 15:44:41.794] [ModularFlightIntegrator] MFI Start
[LOG 15:44:41.794] [ModularFlightIntegrator] Start. VesselModule on vessel : 
  ModularFlightIntegrator
  AxisGroupsModule
  CometVessel
  CommNetVessel
  ModuleStabilization
  BPB_VesselModule
  CLSVesselModule
  VesselDataManager
  ModuleDynamicBatteryStorage
  WorkshopManager
  RPMVesselComputer
  ParkingBrake
  VesselModuleSave
  ModuleLifeSupportSystem
  WOLF_CrewModule

[LOG 15:44:42.002] [Progress Node Reached]: RecordsAltitude
[LOG 15:44:43.988] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:43.988] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:43.988] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:43.988] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:45.385] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:45.385] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:45.385] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:45.385] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:45.869] Unpacking TestChutes Debris
[LOG 15:44:46.011] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:46.011] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:46.011] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:46.011] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:46.750] [TestChutes Debris]: ground contact! - error. Moving Vessel  down -0.336m
[LOG 15:44:46.750] Unpacking TestChutes Debris
[LOG 15:44:46.766] Unpacking TestChutes Debris
[LOG 15:44:46.782] Unpacking TestChutes Debris
[LOG 15:44:50.647] mk1-3pod Exploded!! - blast awesomeness: 0.5

I also don't see any patches happening that would override the behaviour of the realchutes:

> $ grep RealChute ChuteTest.log | grep -i "rc.radial"                                                                                                                    
[16:12:08]: grep --color=auto --exclude-dir={.bzr,CVS,.git,.hg,.svn,.idea,.tox} RealChute ChuteTest.log | grep --color=auto --exclude-dir={.bzr,CVS,.git,.hg,.svn,.idea,.tox} -i "rc.radial"

[LOG 15:39:14.120] Load(Texture): RealChute/Parts/@thumbs/RC.radial_icon
[LOG 15:40:09.706] Config(PART) RealChute/Parts/radial_chute/RC_radial
[LOG 14:39:28.822] Applying update BobsPanicBox/MM_BobsPanicBox/@PART[*] to RealChute/Parts/radial_chute.cfg/PART[RC_radial]
[LOG 14:39:32.858] Applying update RecoveryController/RecoveryController_MM/@PART[*]:HAS[!MODULE[ModuleAnchoredDecoupler],!MODULE[ModuleDecouple],!MODULE[USDecouple]]:NEEDS[StageRecovery] to RealChute/Parts/radial_chute.cfg/PART[RC_radial]
[LOG 14:39:33.104] Applying update ScrapYard/Patches/ModuleSYPartTracker/@PART[*] to RealChute/Parts/radial_chute.cfg/PART[RC_radial]
[LOG 14:39:33.315] Applying update StationScience/MKSEffects/@PART:NEEDS[MKS] to RealChute/Parts/radial_chute.cfg/PART[RC_radial]
[LOG 14:39:34.770] Applying update UmbraSpaceIndustries/MKS/Patches/ScrapParts/@PART[*]:HAS[!MODULE[FlagSite],!MODULE[KerbalEVA]] to RealChute/Parts/radial_chute.cfg/PART[RC_radial]
[LOG 15:40:25.474] PartLoader: Compiling Part 'RealChute/Parts/radial_chute/RC_radial'
[LOG 15:43:26.448] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:43:26.448] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:43:26.448] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:43:26.448] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:43:28.108] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:43:28.108] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:43:28.109] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:43:28.109] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:43:35.270] [RealChute]: RC.radial was deactivated
[LOG 15:44:43.988] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:43.988] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:43.988] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:43.988] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:45.385] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:45.385] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:45.385] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:45.385] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:46.011] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:46.011] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 0
[LOG 15:44:46.011] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1
[LOG 15:44:46.011] [RealChute]: RC.radial was activated in stage 1

The BobsPanicBox update is a module that allows BPB to check for explosions.

RecoveryController adds a module that sets the controlling recovery module.

ScrapYard adds a module that tracks the part.

StationScience edits any StationScienceModule present to add a botany skill -- don't think that's relevant here.

And finally, USI merely makes the part disassemblable.

Interestingly, in the craft files, I see that there is indeed an ActionArm action in the RealChuteModules -- but that's always set to inactive, it seems. Maybe I'll try setting that active and see how it behaves next.

Additional files (self-hosted, external links):

stupid_chris · May 16, 2021

Well what I'm saying is that from a quick first impression, you shouldn't be able to deploy these chutes at all. Parts have a property called "hiddenFromAirflow" which lets me know if the part is hidden in a fairing, cargo bay, etc. The reason the action group fails is because of this check returning true, meaning the parachutes should not be able to deploy.

Now obviously from this perspective, they should be able to deploy, but this check is in Squad's hands, and I have no control over it, so if they do wonky stuff with this detection, not much I can do about it.

The parachutes do however deploy normally when staged manually. This is leading me to believe that in fact I'm not doing the check for manual staging. Which means this is likely the bug in the code.

So I can either leave it as is for the next small update or RealChute when KSP 1.12 releases, or I can fix it, and the weird stock check will prevent you from staging them at all even manually.

Spagoose · May 19, 2021

Is it safe to to uninstall realchute mid save? Or will I have to start a new save to get stock behaviour? All my flights have stock chutes on them but they have been tweaked by realchute, will they revert to stock or break?

stupid_chris · May 19, 2021

The stock parachute modules are replaced by RealChute modules, so all your in flight vessels with parachutes will be broken.

Edit: To make it more clear, stock parts have their default behaviour replaced by RealChute, so it cannot be reverted once in flight. RealChute is meant as a complete replacement of stock parachutes, as it has the same behaviour and base features with extra advanced features and more realism.

Edited May 19, 2021 by stupid_chris

Spagoose · May 19, 2021

Thanks, that's what I suspected, I assume then that all new rockets, and saved rockets where I have deleted and replaced the stock chutes after uninstalling the mods should then work as stock?

I need to get them back to stock behaviour because I'm having weird parachute behaviour I suspect may be a module manager conflict and this will help me identify if/which mods could be the cause.

Edit: since I'm here, is there a deploy when safe option like stock? Unless I'm blind I don't see it.

Edited May 19, 2021 by Spagoose

stupid_chris · May 20, 2021

7 hours ago, Spagoose said:

Thanks, that's what I suspected, I assume then that all new rockets, and saved rockets where I have deleted and replaced the stock chutes after uninstalling the mods should then work as stock?

Yes, that should do it.

7 hours ago, Spagoose said:

I need to get them back to stock behaviour because I'm having weird parachute behaviour I suspect may be a module manager conflict and this will help me identify if/which mods could be the cause.

MM shouldn't be creating conflicts that break the parachutes, you probably have something else going on, but it's not really possible for me to diagnose just from this.

7 hours ago, Spagoose said:

Edit: since I'm here, is there a deploy when safe option like stock? Unless I'm blind I don't see it.

Yes and no. The parachute icons will tell you pretty clearly if it is safe or not to deploy by their colour in the staging list. Thing is, even on pretty fast reentries, you should be going at safe speeds to deploy Kevlar chutes (usually on drogues) by 18km, and Nylon chutes (usually for Mains) by 15km.
Thing is, the earliest you would probably want to deploy drogues is probably 6-7km, wile main chutes are fine to only start deploying at around 4-5km, if not much lower. There's very little chance this will cause the parachutes to break, and if it does, you have other problems tbh.
If you want to just arm them and forget about them, you can simply set the predeployment alt that low and arm when entering the atmosphere.

lajoswinkler · May 22, 2021

Still using this after many years. Thank you for your work on keeping it alive.

si2504 · May 22, 2021

Hi, i'm trying to add a Realchute/Procedural chute MODULE to a non-RC configured part. What is the correct way to do this? In VAB the part info tells me that the part has a Realchute module and Procedural chute, but when I try to open the options via action group, The Realchute window doesn't pop up, and also if i just place the part on a pod and drop it from a set altitude and arm/deploy chute, nothing happens and the chute doesn't open.

Any help on configuring parts for realchute would be greatly appreciated. If it helps, the part i am trying to add realchute to is https://github.com/Tantares/Tantares/blob/master/GameData/Tantares/parts/core_soyuz/_tantares_parachute_s0_1.cfg

Thankyou

stupid_chris · May 23, 2021

5 hours ago, si2504 said:

Hi, i'm trying to add a Realchute/Procedural chute MODULE to a non-RC configured part. What is the correct way to do this? In VAB the part info tells me that the part has a Realchute module and Procedural chute, but when I try to open the options via action group, The Realchute window doesn't pop up, and also if i just place the part on a pod and drop it from a set altitude and arm/deploy chute, nothing happens and the chute doesn't open.

Any help on configuring parts for realchute would be greatly appreciated. If it helps, the part i am trying to add realchute to is https://github.com/Tantares/Tantares/blob/master/GameData/Tantares/parts/core_soyuz/_tantares_parachute_s0_1.cfg

Thankyou

Make sure the canopy and cap names are the correct ones, as well as the correct animation names. For the ProceduralChute module, don't use texture libraries unless you configured one for these parachutes.

si2504 · May 23, 2021

12 hours ago, stupid_chris said:

Edited May 23, 2021 by si2504

si2504 · May 23, 2021

*delete

Edited May 23, 2021 by si2504

si2504 · May 23, 2021

13 hours ago, stupid_chris said:

Make sure the canopy and cap names are the correct ones, as well as the correct animation names. For the ProceduralChute module, don't use texture libraries unless you configured one for these parachutes.

Cool. I have the module now working via the actions group, but is there a config line that can be added to RealChuteModule to flip the parachute? Basically my parachute is deploying inverted below the craft. There is a line for this in ModuleParachute but it appears not in RCM. Can one be added to perform this action and how should I write it that RealChute will recognise? thanks.

Edited May 23, 2021 by si2504

stupid_chris · May 24, 2021

12 hours ago, si2504 said:

Cool. I have the module now working via the actions group, but is there a config line that can be added to RealChuteModule to flip the parachute? Basically my parachute is deploying inverted below the craft. There is a line for this in ModuleParachute but it appears not in RCM. Can one be added to perform this action and how should I write it that RealChute will recognise? thanks.

There is literally a documentation section in the OP of this thread.

si2504 · May 24, 2021

4 hours ago, stupid_chris said:

There is literally a documentation section in the OP of this thread.

My bad, I tried forced orientation but didn't realize there was reverseOrientation. Thanks I'll try it.

stupid_chris · June 11, 2021

Hello everyone!

Small announcement, RealChute 2 is back on the menu

I will be doing a development stream on Twitch tomorrow at 10AM EST, everyone is more than welcome to join!

https://www.twitch.tv/stupid_chris

Cheers!

kananesgi · June 16, 2021

First off, let me apologize for this question, as I suspect I could find the answer if I could search this thread, but I can't find a way to do that on mobile.

How do I get the chutes to offset and not clip into each other using RC? Doing Google searches, all I can find is information on using advanced tweakables (stock, not RC), or folks saying that RC does it with symmetrical parts, but my symmetrical chutes are still clipping. Is there a setting somewhere that I have to activate the feature, or is this something that's no longer supported by RC? I've been away from KSP for a long time now, just getting back into it. Running ksp 1.8.1.

Thanks

stupid_chris · June 16, 2021

1 hour ago, kananesgi said:

First off, let me apologize for this question, as I suspect I could find the answer if I could search this thread, but I can't find a way to do that on mobile.

How do I get the chutes to offset and not clip into each other using RC? Doing Google searches, all I can find is information on using advanced tweakables (stock, not RC), or folks saying that RC does it with symmetrical parts, but my symmetrical chutes are still clipping. Is there a setting somewhere that I have to activate the feature, or is this something that's no longer supported by RC? I've been away from KSP for a long time now, just getting back into it. Running ksp 1.8.1.

Thanks

RealChute does not support that.

stupid_chris · June 18, 2021

Alright, hello everyone!

Short stream update, so I've decided on a schedule on which I will be streaming some development of RealChute 2
Fridays at 6pm EST
Saturdays at 12pm (noon) EST

Come join me! Always happy to have some company during these streams

Cheers!

stupid_chris · June 19, 2021

@kananesgi while the fact that RealChute 1 indeed cannot do what you asked about, RealChute 2 however...
https://imgur.com/a/g4F4cLv

Capt. Hunt · June 24, 2021

On 6/11/2021 at 4:39 PM, stupid_chris said:

Hello everyone!

Small announcement, RealChute 2 is back on the menu

I will be doing a development stream on Twitch tomorrow at 10AM EST, everyone is more than welcome to join!

https://www.twitch.tv/stupid_chris

Cheers!

That's great! I'm hoping we'll see a modding renaissance once we don't have to worry about compatibility updates anymore.

While I'm here, I'll save @stupid_chris the trouble of responding to the inevitable posts tomorrow:

YES THE MOD DOESN'T WORK UNDER THE NEW PATCH, BE PATIENT, I'M SURE IT WILL BE UPDATED SOON.

stupid_chris · June 24, 2021

Hello everyone!

RealChute has been updated to KSP 1.12, including a short convenience fix for everyone on high DPI monitors.

Changelog:

June 24th, 2021
v1.4.8.3
-Recompiled for KSP 1.12.0
-Fixed repacking issues with Localized non-english installs
-Made the UI follow the global UI scale

Enjoy!

Darkona · June 24, 2021

Congratulations Chris, you just achieved 5.555 posts with this update, as well as being one of the first (or maybe the first?) modder to update to 1.12!

Capt. Hunt · June 24, 2021

wow, you rock Chris!

[1.12.3+] RealChute Parachute Systems v1.4.9.5 | 20/10/24

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