[1.0.x] [V1.9f] Kerbal Foundries wheels, anti-grav repulsors and tracks

[lo-fi]

I might have to make a 'We brake for nobody' bumper sticker.

And maybe a Winnebago with wings and secret hyperjets

May the Schwartz be with you!

Edited August 25, 2014 by lo-fi

[lo-fi]

Bumped version to 1.6b

Just a DLL and source update for this one, which will hopefully fix issues with disappearing wheels and steering calculation upsets caused by root part rotation.

Thanks for voting in the poll, by the way The results are really interesting. Can I ask those voting for tracks, why they wanted to see more tracks particularly? Just curious really! Work on the rover body halted due to bug fixing the code, but I'll get back to that shortly. Been thrown a bunch of major bugs with the water code, so that needs looking at too.

Edited August 25, 2014 by lo-fi

[lo-fi]

Somebody was struggling with the tracks only turning their rover on the spot, can't remember who it was. Anyway, I can replicate by turning the root part of the vessel sideways in the SPH. This throws the frame of reference right out of the window and means the tracks can't tell which way they are supposed to be going. It will take me a while to figure out a fix, so a little discipline is needed when laying down the first part of a rover. Up or forwards is fine, left or right is not. Backwards or down obviously give reversed controls

[Horus]

Still camping here for water hovering... )))

[lo-fi]

Think I've cracked it, shouldn't be long now.

[Space Scumbag]

What is the current status of the Star Wars speeder bike for Kerbals? Are there any pictures or videos of it? I'm really waiting for this.

And could you make a repulsor version with lower energy consumption just for sandbox game. I understand that the current version is balanced for career and normal sandbox game. But I just want to play around with them and do some strange stuff like floating cubes, without too much concerning on the ernergy generation etc.

[Horus]

Just checked an updated version. The wheels still disappear with the very same conditions.

[lo-fi]

What is the current status of the Star Wars speeder bike for Kerbals? Are there any pictures or videos of it? I'm really waiting for this.

And could you make a repulsor version with lower energy consumption just for sandbox game. I understand that the current version is balanced for career and normal sandbox game. But I just want to play around with them and do some strange stuff like floating cubes, without too much concerning on the ernergy generation etc.

I gave up on the speeder, it wasn't very stable and you can make it out of parts anyway. Darren9 did a nice little video, I think. Sorry, I'd have to re-jig some code, so no for the moment. Got a lot on trying to perfect the placement and direction code for wheels and tracks!

Just checked an updated version. The wheels still disappear with the very same conditions.

Check your update and fresh save/craft please. I've tried every which way and I can't break them now. To be clear, after checking you've removed previous versions and got the latest: do not use the same save, do not use the same craft file, do not pass go, do not collect £200

[Haifi]

Well, as for why I voted for tracks... First, normally they dont get fried everytime you hit a rock, jump off a small cliff or similar. Tracks are the best option in rough terrain because they have more grip, better stability, larger tread area. And secondly in my opinion, if I build a vehicle one time with wheels the other time with tracks, the one with tracks looks way better ^^.

[Gaalidas]

I might have to make a 'We brake for nobody' bumper sticker.

And maybe a Winnebago with wings and secret hyperjets

May the Schwartz be with you!

I figure you just need a really heavy anchor you can throw out the back. True, it might just slam you into the ground, or your momentum could just toss the anchor back up and around the smack you... but that's just a chance you'll have to take.

On another topic entirely... with the pre-release of the new B9 package, I'm hard at work now to build the largest, fastest repulsor that the psychopathic mind can conceive. It's amazing what you can come up with when using insanely over-sized parts.

[lo-fi]

Justin wanted an anchor thing, I suppose it would be a bit like the mutant tail thing from carmageddon

Making some progress on the direction detection for both tracks and wheels. Need a little more C#/vector knowledge to pull it into a really polished solution, but its working well even if its not as slick as it could be. It does also lay the last brick in the foundations for ditching the stock wheel module completely, so its no bad thing to have had to do. I've more or less recreated every feature now, I might as well just get it sorted.

Final niggle with the water hovering too, though not a priority until this current lot of bugs are squashed.

Damn it, I wanted to work on my rover body!

[Darren9]

I'm old enough to of played Carmageddon, possibly on a Pentium 1, and I can't recall a mutant tail thing. Carmageddon 2? And unfortunately the Speeder was a test version that needed no electrickery, it doesn't work any more

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

Hi gang I may have an answer to the stopping issue and a little control perhaps, I've forwarded some stuff for lofi to look at but in the meantime a proof of concept video, apologies for the quality , this recording lark is all new to me.

[lo-fi]

I'm old enough to of played Carmageddon, possibly on a Pentium 1, and I can't recall a mutant tail thing. Carmageddon 2? And unfortunately the Speeder was a test version that needed no electrickery, it doesn't work any more

Oh, maybe it was 2! Loved both of those games. When I sort out the proper TweakScale integration I'll get it to throttle the energy use as well. The test versions react to the height, spring setting and the style of the repulsors. I haven't had much chance to test myself and I haven't had any feedback yet.

Hi gang I may have an answer to the stopping issue and a little control perhaps, I've forwarded some stuff for lofi to look at but in the meantime a proof of concept video, apologies for the quality , this recording lark is all new to me.

Your workrate is phenomenal, Spanner! Lovely job. Methinks the gimbals need the smoothing treatment, no? Sorry I hadn't got back to you, been burning the midnight oil getting the tracks and wheel steering issues sorted. Dev updated, though it's alpha parts that have been changed. The test versions have now been relegated to seriously experimental stuff

[lo-fi]

Well, as for why I voted for tracks... First, normally they dont get fried everytime you hit a rock, jump off a small cliff or similar. Tracks are the best option in rough terrain because they have more grip, better stability, larger tread area. And secondly in my opinion, if I build a vehicle one time with wheels the other time with tracks, the one with tracks looks way better ^^.

Thanks, interesting to get some feedback on why particular parts are popular. Agreed they are naturally more stable than wheels and they do look cool. Surprised to see they're still way up in the lead un the poll, though! I think I'll do a smaller set and leave at that for the moment as a range of sizes are covered now.

The rover bodies should be cool, I think I'm onto something genuinely original there.

Anyone who voted for 'something completely different' like to chime in?

[Justin Kerbice]

Funny to see the anchor idea come back (remember something to you lo-fi ). To be able to park a repulsor based vehicle, I usually slow its velocity to 5-10 m/s (pointing it backward if I have only "pusher" on it) then use landing gears + decrease height, so it gently rest on the ground.

Carmaggedon so much fun ! The last episode was even more amazing but too much annoying with the stupid missions, I quit on the timed obstacle race on the bridge. This was the last... maybe these missions things was seriously bad enough and kill the game for good.

For the poll, I choose "more wheels", it would be great to have the same kind of stock set: a tiny, kerbal sized wheel, a standard small vehicle size, then a medium and a big size wheels, and a huge one like LargeWheel for base/miner/heavy duty vehicles.

[jonrd463]

On another topic entirely... with the pre-release of the new B9 package, I'm hard at work now to build the largest, fastest repulsor that the psychopathic mind can conceive. It's amazing what you can come up with when using insanely over-sized parts.

Ha! I'm right there with you, buddy! In fact, the approach I'm taking is building the most ridiculously oversized SSTO concievable (already did a stupidly huge one with the S. S. MOTHER OF GOD! using B9 5.0 HX parts) and since there's really no viable landing gear solution for something so gargantuan, I'm going with a massive array of repulsors. I will definitely post if I'm successful.

Edited August 26, 2014 by jonrd463

[Horus]

Check your update and fresh save/craft please. I've tried every which way and I can't break them now. To be clear, after checking you've removed previous versions and got the latest: do not use the same save, do not use the same craft file, do not pass go, do not collect £200

So I made a separate new instance of the game. New save file. Nothing except your wheels & MM dll. The problem still exists. Here's visuals (read the descriptions for the images):

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The workaround for this issue is to start building without changing the first element orientation - it can be done when the wheels are attached.

I'd suggest to skip this issue fixing for now (you can do it later) and proceed to water hovering Yes, I know I'm selfish

UPD: seems that track are also messed up a little (regardless where the vehicle is produced - VAB or SPH). When the vehicle is standing still - A and D keys work perfectly for turning the vehicle on place. But to drive forward - you need to press S instead of W (and vice versa for backwards motion). And when the vehicle started moving - turning sideways becomes reversed(A turns to right and D turns to left).

Edited August 26, 2014 by Horus

[lo-fi]

Haha! I'll be honest, I did not test ONE wheel. I have another version to release anyway once I've checked I didn't break something else in the process. If you're having trouble with movement direction, you've placed the pod 'backwards' You might know which direction forwards should be, KSP does not. I've caught myself out with this more than once during my own testing.

[Horus]

If you're having trouble with movement direction, you've placed the pod 'backwards' You might know which direction forwards should be, KSP does not. I've caught myself out with this more than once during my own testing.

Well... I didn't rotate the command module. And tested it in VAB this time. When attaching the vanilla wheels - the directions are not messed up. It's not really crucial, but a bit embarrassing.

UPD: building the vehicle in SPH does not mess the direction keys.

UPD2: well... premature conclusions in previous update. Again, then a landerCabin is rotated in SPH and then tracks attached to it - the controls are reversed. Sorry for these reports

Edited August 26, 2014 by Horus

[Damaske]

Are you still working on a larger sized track? One that is maybe twice the leanth of the one you you first made? I wish to make a rather large tank and the kit-bash track i have done are too tall. Your tracks are good its just i would like to have a single track for each side of the tank design I have but the full leanth of the tank is far greater than your tracks, and may even be four times as large as your tracks.

[Horus]

@Damaske: your idea is totally understandable, but bear in mind that in RL the bigger length of a track the less possible to turn it and at some point you'll need an enormous torque applied in order to do it. So better stick to the concept of several smaller carriage track platforms for long vehicles. You can use powered/unpowered rotatrons from InfernalRobotics mod for carriage rotation handling. I bet you'll find it much more interesting

UPD:

here's visuals

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For such a concept would be really nice to have an option to turn on brakes for a separate track. In this case, for instance, a rear carriage could be set on brakes for the front one could have a possibility to rotate around the rear one. Now it can be done by decreasing rear carriage torque to 0(zero).

Plus, a really nice addition would be to create a single parted carriage platform with a top (or else side) mount(-s) and, possibly, built-in ElectricCharge container (or even EC generator).

Edited August 26, 2014 by Horus

[lo-fi]

Horus, I can't replicate that. Which set of tracks are you using?

Damaske: For the moment, no. It's one hell of a lot of work, which is why I dove into the RBI stuff after I found I could re-jig for a couple of quick wins. I've messed about with horus' method, it works really well. I know that's not what you really have I'm mind, though - sorry! I wont rule it out, but there are other things to work on for the moment. Also on holiday for three weeks shortly, which is why the focus is on bug fixing

[The Space Man]

lo-fi, would you be able to convert the Mark Three RBI tracks?

[Damaske]

I am trying to remake something like this Using Lack Laster labs, Bhamatod's armory, Infernal robotics and your tracks. However the parts from LLL I need at lest 3 parts, the command pod, a small tank, and the truck bed. In this configuration your tracks are too small, the kit-bashed ones DO work but they are too tall.

EDIT: I understand that it is hard work, hence why I was asking about them. I can for the time try to work with what I have. I don't want to seam like I am pushing for you to dedicate many hours to make a track that maybe only one person will use.

Edited August 26, 2014 by Damaske