[1.8.x] DMagic Orbital Science: New Science Parts [v1.4.3] [11/2/2019]

[smjjames]

1 hour ago, DMagic said:

This doesn't use CC and that is expected behavior. 

Magnetic field survey contracts are given once per celestial body, per difficulty. So Kerbin system bodies will have three possible offers; one star contracts aren't offered outside of the Kerbin system, so the rest will only have two offers, and the sun only offer a three star contract (I think).

Oh I see, cool then.

Edited December 23, 2015 by smjjames

[RoverDude]

FYI - submarine mod is out

[DMagic]

On 12/20/2015 at 4:25 PM, Kerbas_ad_astra said:

The problem is that it uses rescaleFactor and a MODEL node.  There's a bug in KSP with those variables that trips up KIS into thinking that the hammer is 4.1667 (= 1/0.24) times as large as it really is.  (DMagic, the fix is to set "scale" inside the MODEL node to be 0.24, 0.24, 0.24, rescaleFactor = 1, and the node's z-coordinate at 0.0252.  Similarly for the seismic sensor pod -- scale = 2, 2, 2, rescaleFactor = 1, node_attach = 0.08, ...)

I'll make sure to fix these for the next release; most of my parts will suffer from this issue to some degree. Does anyone know how to access the part scale in code while using MODEL node scaling. When using rescaleFactor I can just use part.rescaleFactor, does anyone know if part.scaleFactor will work the same?

4 hours ago, RoverDude said:

FYI - submarine mod is out

Awesome, I added a link in the recommended mods section on the first post.

[Pepo]

I'm wondering if anyone else is having an issue resetting the seismic impact hammer experiment.  I can use it one time and then if I try to use it again I get a screen message that says the instrument needs to be reset at a science lab or returned to Kerbin.  I figured it needed to be directly attached to a science lab to be easily "cleaned" like a Goo experiment but that isn't working either - I've tried both the stock MPL and the Advance Science Lab.  Any suggestions?  Thanks all!

[DMagic]

35 minutes ago, Pepo said:

I'm wondering if anyone else is having an issue resetting the seismic impact hammer experiment.  I can use it one time and then if I try to use it again I get a screen message that says the instrument needs to be reset at a science lab or returned to Kerbin.  I figured it needed to be directly attached to a science lab to be easily "cleaned" like a Goo experiment but that isn't working either - I've tried both the stock MPL and the Advance Science Lab.  Any suggestions?  Thanks all!

Whoops. It looks like I forgot to set those parts as rerunnable. For now you can just edit the two cfg files in the RoverScience/Seismic folder; set the line "Rerunnable" to True. 

[Kerbas_ad_astra]

10 hours ago, DMagic said:

I'll make sure to fix these for the next release; most of my parts will suffer from this issue to some degree. Does anyone know how to access the part scale in code while using MODEL node scaling. When using rescaleFactor I can just use part.rescaleFactor, does anyone know if part.scaleFactor will work the same?

TweakScale uses "part.transform.GetChild(0).localScale" to get the part's scale (and change it, by setting localScale to some other value).

[Geschosskopf]

Just wanted to say, I haven't thanked DMagic often enough for this wonderful mod, which makes grinding through career so much less grindy by allowing more science per flight, adds many lucrative contracts, and is just fun to continue to do even when the tech tree is finished.

[vardicd]

So interestingly enough, sometimes the new underwater experiment, doesn't recognize it's underwater:

Edited December 26, 2015 by vardicd

[DMagic]

5 hours ago, vardicd said:

So interestingly enough, sometimes the new underwater experiment, doesn't recognize it's underwater:

Hmm. Try jumping and see what happens.

Does it work if it's mounted on the plane while you're on the seafloor? It should.

What happens if you drop it on ground and then try to use it?

It's possible that either KIS or being an EVA Kerbal interferes with the underwater check.

[vardicd]

17 minutes ago, DMagic said:

Hmm. Try jumping and see what happens.

Does it work if it's mounted on the plane while you're on the seafloor? It should.

What happens if you drop it on ground and then try to use it?

It's possible that either KIS or being an EVA Kerbal interferes with the underwater check.

I tried attaching it to the plane, no go. there was a probe core floating nearby, attached it to the core under water, no go. didn't try jumping up and down with it. {this was an inland lake, in the tundra biome, if it matters. I had a mission to gather science while splashed down in tundra, and the underwater experiment was one that I needed science from.}

[DMagic]

Does it work in the regular oceans?

I can't think of why an inland water body would be any different, but I don't think I ever tested it.

[vardicd]

5 minutes ago, DMagic said:

Does it work in the regular oceans?

I can't think of why an inland water body would be any different, but I don't think I ever tested it.

It did work in the ocean off KSC, everytime I've tried to use it. It's only ever failed to work that one time, but its also the only time I've tried to use it in an inland water body.

Edited December 26, 2015 by vardicd

[DMagic]

12 minutes ago, vardicd said:

It did work in the ocean off KSC, everytime I've tried to use it. It's only ever failed to work that one time, but its also the only time I've tried to use it in an inland water body.

I'll have to test it out to see where it's failing and maybe figure out why.

[vardicd]

25 minutes ago, DMagic said:

I'll have to test it out to see where it's failing and maybe figure out why.

next time I get a chance, i'll pack one out to the ocean by KSC, in a kis container, put it together, and see if it works, if not, we'll know kis is breaking it.

[kcs123]

I think that someone mentioned that below/abowe water was calculated if craft altitude was at 0m (sea level). Unfortunately that does not work well if there is valley below sea level without water and also if there is some lake that is above sea level.

I'm not sure if KSP game engine claculates suff in this way. I think that NathanKell mentioned it somewhere on forums.
 

[DMagic]

Yeah, there are a few methods used to check if it's underwater. My understanding is that any area below sea level will have water on an ocean planet, but I've never really checked.

I just need to get in-game and check which, if any, of the methods I'm using will work for in-land bodies of water.

[Dr. Jet]

On 13.12.2015 at 1:29 AM, DMagic said:

• Seismic Impact Hammer
  • Detects the hammer's orientation with respect to the surface automatically and adjusts its orientation accordingly; this allows for the part to be placed vertically (like an ore drill) or on top of a rover.
  • The hammer must contact the surface to function; there is a minimum and maximum distance from which the hammer will work; test your designs.
  • Two signal lights on the front of the instrument indicate the presence of nearby sensor pods
  • The lights on the side indicate the current science value
  • Can be used on asteroids; maximize science by having at least one sensor pod attached to the same asteroid.
• Seismic Sensor Pod
  • Should be placed at varying distance from the impact hammer to maximize science gain; the ideal distances are shown in the parts' VAB/SPH description and can be configured in the Resources/Contract_Experiments_DM.cfg file.
  • Place two sensor pods, one close by, and one far away at a different angles for maximum science.
  • Built in decoupler can be used to drop off the sensor pods; they have very high impact tolerance and will be automatically activated when separated.
  • Sensor pods also have signal and science value indicator lights.
  • If a seismic impact hammer is nearby the experiment will use the science value from that part to generate the science data.

So... if I understood correctly, to get the maximum science from single biome I must

1. Put 1 hammer and 2 sensor pods on rover
2. jettison one pod at landing spot
3. drive 4+ km away
4. jettison second pod
5. drive away 500+m at 90 degrees to previous path
6. use hammer to get science

Is that right? 

[DMagic]

On 1/1/2016 at 5:17 AM, Dr. Jet said:

So... if I understood correctly, to get the maximum science from single biome I must

1. Put 1 hammer and 2 sensor pods on rover
2. jettison one pod at landing spot
3. drive 4+ km away
4. jettison second pod
5. drive away 500+m at 90 degrees to previous path
6. use hammer to get science

Is that right? 

Yep.  Also, the sensor pods have a very high impact tolerance, you can get away with ejecting one while landing in most cases, as long as it lands before you get out of physics range (2.5km in vacuum, 22km in atmosphere).

Though if you don't want to really go crazy you should fix the error in the hammer and sensor pod config files so that they can be used repeatedly (set rerunnable = True).

Edited January 3, 2016 by DMagic

[Dr. Jet]

Pod ejecting force should be smaller. Ejecting at 45° side-and-up from rover that moves at mere 20m/s is letal for pod. Concidering it's impact tolerance is 75m/s... it just ejects too fast. 

[smjjames]

Would it be possible to have the anomaly contracts be limited in number of times or maybe completed when the science is finished? Because it keeps (more often than not) generating and sending me to the single anomaly on Minmus.

[Fixitman64]

I'm having trouble with impact hammer sensor pods on the Mun. They explode on contact with ground after launching them. Even when launched while landed (on surface not moving). Mounted so launching sends them parallel to ground. It's like the decouple force accelerates them faster than 75 mps? Any suggestion as to what I'm doing wrong? All other instruments work beautifully. I love the animations of universal storage versions!  

[CatastrophicFailure]

Love the new Hammer & sensor pods. Sent a mission to Minmus and brought them along, then it occurred to me....

...the pods are actually probes. So to actually work in my RemoteTech-enabled game, they probably need antennas of some sort, right? 

 

ETA: and yes, I concur with others... the built-in decouplers on those lil guys are just a tad um... energetic.

Edited January 16, 2016 by CatastrophicFailure

[DMagic]

On 1/5/2016 at 5:50 PM, Dr. Jet said:

Pod ejecting force should be smaller. Ejecting at 45° side-and-up from rover that moves at mere 20m/s is letal for pod. Concidering it's impact tolerance is 75m/s... it just ejects too fast. 

 

On 1/9/2016 at 2:56 AM, Fixitman64 said:

I'm having trouble with impact hammer sensor pods on the Mun. They explode on contact with ground after launching them. Even when launched while landed (on surface not moving). Mounted so launching sends them parallel to ground. It's like the decouple force accelerates them faster than 75 mps? Any suggestion as to what I'm doing wrong? All other instruments work beautifully. I love the animations of universal storage versions!  

The next update will have decreased ejection force and increased crash tolerance. You can change that now in the configs if you want, or just decrease the ejection force in the editor.

 

9 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Love the new Hammer & sensor pods. Sent a mission to Minmus and brought them along, then it occurred to me....

...the pods are actually probes. So to actually work in my RemoteTech-enabled game, they probably need antennas of some sort, right? 

Do you mean they have a command module? Or just that they aren't debris? There shouldn't be any need for antennas to connect them. All of the connections between the seismic pods and hammers are handled internally (the little antennas on the hammer are meant to represent the connection method between them).

 

On 1/7/2016 at 5:01 PM, smjjames said:

Would it be possible to have the anomaly contracts be limited in number of times or maybe completed when the science is finished? Because it keeps (more often than not) generating and sending me to the single anomaly on Minmus.

They should be already. There are supposed to be two methods that prevent repeat anomaly contracts, though I think both might have problems that allow for at least some repeats. There should be some amount of science to be gained from the anomaly scanner experiment (but then there are two types of scans, from the ground and above). Then there is supposed to be the internal contract hashing system that prevents repeat contracts, but I think that will still allow repeats of the same anomaly as long as there is a different number of parameters requested (so one contract with two extra science requests, and another with three extra requests).

In any event, anomaly contracts are getting another overhaul in the next update and will be tied to a new contract type requiring some new experiments.

I've also done a complete overhaul of contract config options, using a format similar to the stock contract config file. This will allow for much finer control over contract amounts, rewards, various modifiers, etc...

[CatastrophicFailure]

On 1/16/2016 at 10:40 AM, DMagic said:

Do you mean they have a command module? Or just that they aren't debris? There shouldn't be any need for antennas to connect them. All of the connections between the seismic pods and hammers are handled internally (the little antennas on the hammer are meant to represent the connection method between them).

OK, so once I fire the pods off, I don't need to actually *do* anything with them? It's all handled by the hammer?

[DMagic]

22 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

OK, so once I fire the pods off, I don't need to actually *do* anything with them? It's all handled by the hammer?

The sensor pods (and the hammer) need to be activated for the system to register them. But they are activated automatically when you use the decoupler, so no, you don't need to do anything with the pods after firing them.

And if a seismic hammer is in range of a sensor pod you can use the pod to trigger the hammer to collect data. You will still get the higher science amount, the experiment will take place where the hammer is (if the pod is in a different biome, for instance), and the data will be stored in the hammer.

Edited January 17, 2016 by DMagic