[0.25] ResourceRecovery for KSPI, EL and Kethan DevThread [alpha download]

[SyberSmoke]

Thought - Resource Base: It does look to be very HUGE and exceedingly cumbersome. I know that the goal is to have everything internal, but instead have you considered having the structure more compact and then expand?

The reason is most storage, until filled is just empty space. That space can be reduced in transit and then expanded on deployment. With this in mind you could make the model more compact and then have it deploy using more industrial looking methods (external pistons, the plating expanding like armor). Keeping in this line you could also add in control thrusters and a pilot so that the platform could have some token fuel and land under its own power...or move to a new position.

This would round out the design some and allow some of the issues brought up to be addressed (Size, deployment). Just some thoughts.

[philotical]

Thought - Resource Base: It does look to be very HUGE and exceedingly cumbersome. I know that the goal is to have everything internal, but instead have you considered having the structure more compact and then expand?

The reason is most storage, until filled is just empty space. That space can be reduced in transit and then expanded on deployment. With this in mind you could make the model more compact and then have it deploy using more industrial looking methods (external pistons, the plating expanding like armor). Keeping in this line you could also add in control thrusters and a pilot so that the platform could have some token fuel and land under its own power...or move to a new position.

This would round out the design some and allow some of the issues brought up to be addressed (Size, deployment). Just some thoughts.

good thought..

but consider..

It's currently a resized stock part - last 2 days, I made my first own, working part for KSP..

Animations? ehhmm.. integrated landing legs and solar array are on top of my list.

but let me check several dozens of tuts first.. - no clue about animations and didn't spend one second learning it so far..

All you say makes sence - but the part is currently just to get this kind of feedback..

It's not intended to stay as it is, it's not even certain it stays after all..

What you describe, is what I had in mind (excluding the size) - than I found no one who knows how to do it and was willing to do it ..

so my plans got set back until I know how my selfe..

It's all a question of the learning curve.. :-)

My thought on the size is:

It's a huge advantage to have this part on a planet (once it works) - since it's not limited to any location or range, one could consider it cheating allready now.

So, to make it easy to get it there would be a sakriledge.. -

several people allready told me I'm wrong on this - so far, I'm not quit convinced to be honest.. - sorry

it would be easier if it's small and versatile - I'm aware of it..

Versatile, ok - small? hmm - so far I have no intention of doing that..

Even with animations and stuff, this thing would still be huge in my vision..

I seem to be stubborn hahahah..

your comments are appreaciated and once I continue dev on this (currently working here) I will pull together all opinions made here and reconsider the project accordingly..

no promises but your thought was noted.. - thanks..

[SyberSmoke]

Small is relative, It should still be a task to get it there, that is to be sure. But having it be compact for transport would not be unreasonable. Compact meaning about...1/3rd it's current width (Longest Side) would still be an unwieldy pain to lift...but not unreasonable.

Any way good luck with your project. I will be watching as I think this is something that is needed. And thank you for the consideration of my thoughts.

[Arnold- the spaghetti]

I'm having trouble installing this and there are no install instructions.

[philotical]

I appologize, I wasn't aware, that I have to retype the wiki..

From here: http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:Installing_Addons

*************Step 1 - Choosing an Addon

This is important because each addon will change the game in different ways. Choosing an addon that will be interesting and fun is important. There are many Addons to choose from one of the best ways to figure out what you are looking for is just to read blogs forums and watch Youtube reviews. some of the more popular mods are MechJeb, Remote Tech 2, Ferram Aerospace, Deadly Reentry, along with countless other mods.

For the sake of simplicity For this tutorial we are going to install MechJeb, one of the most popular addons for Kerbal Space Program. Mechjeb is an autopilot system, hence the name "Mechanical Jebediah". Besides allowing for automated maneuvers it also gives gives you a ton of data on the characteristics of your spacecraft that Vanilla KSP does not have, like Delta V, Thrust to weight ratios, burn times, orbital data, and much much more. So even if you are not interested in using the autopilot function it can be a very helpful mod to make you a better pilot in overall.

Step 2 - Installing the Addon

Click on the 'download now' button on the addon page and a download should start. The download should be in your downloads, if not then check where the download took place.

Step 3 - Placing the addon in your game

Click on the Addon's file, usually a ZIP file, and you should see a folder with the name: 'MechJeb2' if you downloaded the most recent version. Open up your KSP folder (look for how to do it in another tutorial) and click on GameData. You should see two folders if you haven't modded your KSP version yet. Now drag your 'MechJeb2' folder into the game folder and tada! You have now successfully installed an addon. Close the KSP folder and the addon folder if you wish and now you can start the game and enjoy the addon!

*************

I hope that helps..

if not, let me know what you don't get, I will explain it in detail..

[Arnold- the spaghetti]

Err I have like 30 mods installed but I dragged the rr recovery folder into the gamedata folder and when I got the gui to show up, no part, when I got the part to show up, No gui.

Why?

Edit: Nevermind but now i'm having a new problem and that is that even though i have 2 modules down there are no resources displayed when i hit ALT+f10. Any answers as to why?

Edited July 19, 2014 by Arnold, the spaghetti

[philotical]

Err I have like 30 mods installed but I dragged the rr recovery folder into the gamedata folder and when I got the gui to show up, no part, when I got the part to show up, No gui.

Why?

Edit: Nevermind but now i'm having a new problem and that is that even though i have 2 modules down there are no resources displayed when i hit ALT+f10. Any answers as to why?

Two modules - you mean those storage part placeholders that do nothing at the moment?

Where do you have them "down there"?

I'm not sure I follow..

Is this report for version .23.5 or .24?

Do you get any log errors?

For clarity:

these parts do absolutely nothing right now except beeing there..

So if nothing happens, that would be quite normal..

If you get errors, I need more details to be able to help..

[chapstickelk]

First, I love this. Thanks for making and sharing. One suggestion: It would be nice to have a button to recover/fill all the tanks of a given resource. So If you have multiple tanks you don't have to scroll down clicking them all to recover your resources, you can just "recover all".

Great mod!

[philotical]

First, I love this. Thanks for making and sharing. One suggestion: It would be nice to have a button to recover/fill all the tanks of a given resource. So If you have multiple tanks you don't have to scroll down clicking them all to recover your resources, you can just "recover all".

Great mod!

that is planned to be included in the final version..

Not sure if the next update will allready contain it though..

[AntiMatter001]

just curious but does this mod allow (when said mineing vessel or storage tank recovered via KSC) resources to be put into the GUI/KSC so when you open it up again you can just fill your planes up with the resources you have recovered from a mining vessal/storage tank?

i'm a bit confused because it seems like it still needs you to have a storage part on kerbin, or anywhere else, to transfer the said resource from the said storage facility to a plane waiting on a runway at KSC or where ever.

(basicly does this transfer resources from one storage part to another or keep tabs on how much resources i've recovered from anywhere i mined it from so i can put it back into a plane later on?)

[philotical]

1. On Kerbin you don't need a part and you have unlimitted storage capacity.

2. Yes it allows to store kethane and antimatter and what ever you want at KSC

3. yes, you can refuel your ships with those resources at KSC.

4. GUI/KSC just hit Alt+f10 to open the GUI in space center, tracking station or in flight mode.

The "Part" will in future allow to have same functionality on other planets too..

but on kerbin, you don't need a part - the plugin works allways in the background on kerbin.

The "Part" is currently useless since those sections of the plugin are not done yet.

>it seems like it still needs you to have a storage part on kerbin

no, you don't

>does this transfer resources from one storage part to another

no

>keep tabs on how much resources i've recovered from anywhere i mined it from so i can put it back into a plane later on

yes 100%

Edited July 28, 2014 by philotical

[AntiMatter001]

1. On Kerbin you don't need a part and you have unlimitted storage capacity.

2. Yes it allows to store kethane and antimatter and what ever you want at KSC

3. yes, you can refuel your ships with those resources at KSC.

4. GUI/KSC just hit Alt+f10 to open the GUI in space center, tracking station or in flight mode.

The "Part" will in future allow to have same functionality on other planets too..

but on kerbin, you don't need a part - the plugin works allways in the background on kerbin.

The "Part" is currently useless since those parts or the plugin are not done yet.

>it seems like it still needs you to have a storage part on kerbin

no, you don't

>does this transfer resources from one storage part to another

no

>keep tabs on how much resources i've recovered from anywhere i mined it from so i can put it back into a plane later on

yes 100%

ok thanks sorry for going round in circles there i just re read it and it was quite hard to understand what i was getting at so thanks alot for answering my random questions.

it did answer all my quesions so thank you and IMO this should be stock.

[Jivaii]

So, not seeing anything saying otherwise, going to assume this works with 0.24.2 then?

[forsaken1111]

Does this mod recover resources from dropped stages recovered in mods like StageRecovery? http://www.curse.com/ksp-mods/kerbal/223119-stagerecovery

If not, is that possible?

[philotical]

not sure if I can answer the first question correctly - never used that mod.

The plugin does not do anything to communicate with that mod - if that answers it, then no.

I can't say if that mod communicates with mine - you'd have to ask there..

If it's possible - I would say sure - how complicated it will be depends on how that mod is done or how KSP handles burnt out stages (no clue about that) - but possible, yeah why not..

It's been a while since I looked into this because I got stuck from lacking knowledge..

now I learned lot and as soon as I finished the current thing I'm working on, I'll reopen the case and maybe integrate such compatibility.

Many people suggested improofements allready and I intend to take them all into account.

Your's is on the list to consider now aswell..

Although - RR is ment for exotic resources not provided by KSC - stage recovery is seldom used with antimatter - no one throws away antimatter or kethane in a stage..

those little amounts of LFO you find in such "empty" stages is not worth much effort since KSP provides them unlimited..

To recover the parts themselfes is not on the scope of this plugin - only resources.

I hope that answers the question somewhat..

[forsaken1111]

Your's is on the list to consider now aswell..

Although - RR is ment for exotic resources not provided by KSC - stage recovery is seldom used with antimatter - no one throws away antimatter or kethane in a stage..

those little amounts of LFO you find in such "empty" stages is not worth much effort since KSP provides them unlimited..

To recover the parts themselfes is not on the scope of this plugin - only resources.

I hope that answers the question somewhat..

It does answer my question, but imagine if resource recovery handled recovery of dropped stages. You could put your antimatter into a tank and drop it into kerbin with parachutes and have it recovered for re-use on the ground without landing your antimatter harvester.

[philotical]

Oh I see now where you are getting at..

it's an intresting idea, for sure..

thanks..

right now, I'd have no clue how to do that - as with all things before I did them. :-)

are you suggesting to hook RR in with stage recovery or would you see it as an additional feature to be included directly in RR independently?

The hook might be less work, if it's possible..

[forsaken1111]

As you say, Probably hooking in would be easier if possible

I know that Kerbal Construction Time (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/69310-WIP-0-23-5-Kerbal-Construction-Time-PreRelease-5-%284-30-14%29) will allow stagerecovery to do the recovery work if it is detected and will then run its own function afterwards to determine which parts are recovered intact.

[philotical]

thank's for the hint - will take a look at the code there..

I'm not really up to date on these things - currently I don't have a lot of time to actually play the game..

Most time I have goes into coding, so it's helpfull to get these infos..

[forsaken1111]

thank's for the hint - will take a look at the code there..

I'm not really up to date on these things - currently I don't have a lot of time to actually play the game..

Most time I have goes into coding, so it's helpfull to get these infos..

No problem. The idea behind this mod is very good and I think it will be very useful with some polish.

[Eggman360]

Wow this looks incredible! I've been looking for something exactly like this.

Using this as a frame work I have...an ambitious idea, which may have nothing to do with this thread, but hear me out

Would it be possible using this mods framework to...generate these resources...like say with Karbonate for example, once I have a mining rig set up, Karbonite's resources aren't "used up" like kethane, a Karbonite deposit on a planet never runs out, so say I have a certain part on my ship, click a right click GUI button saying..."simulate", then time warp a full ksp day (6 hours) it will give a "generated per day" value.

Now this should only work on Kerbin, but it would make a sort of "Fuel industry", using that part (that doesn't exist yet) it would be possible to recover that ship yet the "factory" that extracts the Karbonite could still exist and generate resources on a daily basis without that ship actually having to still exist in the world?

This could work for ExtraPlanetary Launchpads, Karbonite, MKS, Kethane or any mod that has resources. The reason being that certain resources from certain mods are either REALLY expensive, would take a huge production chain to be set up on site just to get an end product to ship into space. Some of these resources can't even be bought in the VAB/SPH. It's the closest thing to an automated Industrial mod that KSP has seen

Crazy and ambitious I know, but if you look across the forums there isn't anything like what I'm describing

Sounds interesting?

Edited September 13, 2014 by Eggman360

[forsaken1111]

Karbonite already does on-rails production if that's what you're saying. You can set down a karbonite extractor and go back to another mission for a few days and then return to see how much you have mined.

[Eggman360]

Karbonite already does on-rails production if that's what you're saying. You can set down a karbonite extractor and go back to another mission for a few days and then return to see how much you have mined.

Not quite what I meant, erm...

...what I mean is once a vessel is landed and set up it can be "locked" (basically the crew and ship are "destroyed" but the ship still continues to produce, and the resources that are produced add DIRECTLY to the resource pool handled by this mod but if you were to go to where the previous ship was set up there would be nothing there, and the vessel would be removed from the tracking station.)

Basically what I'm saying is instead of having to set up the mining site and MANUALLY keep recovering the mined/produced resource, it would instead be sent directly into the resource pool' with a % loss for the convenience. This would only be realistic on Kerbin I guess, but maybe in orbit with a higher % loss to cover "costs" of transport.

Basically just set up an anti-matter satellite (KSPI) in orbit above Kirbin and it would automatically send say...50% of the anti-mater into the resource pool of this mod, the remaining 50% had to be "sold" to cover the cost of a generic (none-existent) recovery vehicle and so that 50% doesn't go to you. But then say you wanted to move the anti-matter producing satellite...well tough, it "doesn't really exist" as far as the tracking station goes, so you'll have to make another and re-launch if you want the automated management conversion is a one way process.

I'm just trying to conjure up ideas I feel the % loss will add balance and besides you still have to get a vessel there and produce the resource before it can be automatically managed, and even in orbit resources that can be gathered quickly will only be half as fast, and resources that are slow will be twice as slow.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Eggman360

[Khatharr]

Seems to be working okay in 0.25. (The git version, anyway.)

[Ogamaga]

Seems to be working okay in 0.25. (The git version, anyway.)

It doesn't seem to save the resources for me so far, any tips?

edit: and which git version? What are the PluginVersion and PluginDate in ResourceRecovery.cfg?

edit 2: it seem unaware of what save game I'm using

(Filename: C:/BuildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/StandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49)

ResourceRecovery Awake currentGame=

(Filename: C:/BuildAgent/work/d63dfc6385190b60/artifacts/StandalonePlayerGenerated/UnityEngineDebug.cpp Line: 49)

edit 3: The above line is apparently a non-issue, happens with the plugin working in 0.23.5 as well. Here's my 0.25 output_log in case it helps https://www.dropbox.com/s/pl01bi1zhepholn/output_log5.txt?dl=0

Edited November 10, 2014 by Ogamaga