Umbra Space Industries - (Roadmap and WIPs)

[Doctor Axel]

I am ALL OVER the idea of a USI shipyard.

I think I'm a little more into the idea of it working like Karbonite, though, rather than MKS - MKS is beautiful but waaaaay more complicated than I'm into. =P Just a nice and straightforward "drill extracts rocks, refinery makes rocks into parts, assembler builds vehicles from parts."

That would also make it dovetail nicely with ART, which I am a big fan of.

[RoverDude]

Are there any plans for larger base parts? I love the way USI parts look, and while the Stanford Torus mod is amazing, it does look kind of out of place when surrounded by my amazing yet relatively small MKS outposts. Just imagine the glory of a USI base the size of Gilly!

Sure, on the list.

so, Karbonite is clean for 0.90, I assume MKS/OKS will be getting the same Love "soon"?

Already done

Out of curiosity, where are you with this objective:

Would you also consider making on OKS variant? I would love to be able to make a fully functional SkyDock Shipyard =)

I am ALL OVER the idea of a USI shipyard.

I think I'm a little more into the idea of it working like Karbonite, though, rather than MKS - MKS is beautiful but waaaaay more complicated than I'm into. =P Just a nice and straightforward "drill extracts rocks, refinery makes rocks into parts, assembler builds vehicles from parts."

That would also make it dovetail nicely with ART, which I am a big fan of.

Already done, the current MKS/OKS version ships with it (minus two parts I am finishing). And FYI - for the production chain you only need a few parts for EPL, so it's pretty simple.

[Fraz86]

Any chance of getting USI Shipyards as a separate pack? MKS/OKS isn't my cup of tea, but I would love to have a pack of attractive parts to overhaul EPL, utilizing resources obtained with AMT.

[Akira_R]

Hey RoverDude first let me offer you the customary praise to our benevolent robot overlord, the amount of work you put into this game and community for free is astounding, thank you.

Long post incoming so I hope you or someone who knows a little more than I can take the time to read it fully.

First I am currently still on KSP .24.2 as my career game is highly customized with all kinds of personal tweaks and custom parts etc.

My USI version file is 0.2.3.0

My MKS version file is 0.21.2.0

What I am looking for is documentation for the KolonyTools dll, I may be blind and just can't find it but I have looked around your GitHub. I have looked at some of the source code but to be honest I have no idea what exactly I'm looking at lol, I learned some C++ when I was in highschool but that has helped me very little in sifting through and finding the info I am looking for.

Here is what I am trying to do.

I want to construct a space station that has a very specific look/form factor, stockish looks with ISS inspired form and OKS/EPL functions, it must also have a very low part count as i am running KSP on a couple of potatoes.

To this end I am making some custom welded parts to form the core modules of the station, and I am adding OKS functionality to them. Adding the modules of course is very easy however what I don't know is what exactly all the fields in and of themselves do in regards to their function and efficiency.

//OKS stuff
    MODULE
    {
        name = MKSModule
        workSpace = 2
        livingSpace = 2
    }
    MODULE
    {
        name = ExWorkshop
        ProductivityFactor = 1
    }
    //End OKS stuff

Specifically this stuff, I know that adding more work space will effect the efficiency of all the modules, if there isn't enough work space for the number of kerbals on board the efficiency throughout the vessel starts to drop (at least that is how I understand it).

What about living space what exactly does it do? Can a part have both?

I notice that the only part that has livingSpace is the habring, I also notice that the Kerbitat has efficiencyPart = OKS_HabRing does the living space effect this efficiency but only if the part is listed as an efficiencyPart?

And how does the EXWorkshop ProductivityFactor relate to all of this?

An explanation of how these feilds all work would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

Edited December 19, 2014 by Akira_R

[Venusgate]

Bug on Machinery Plant when trying to build rocket parts

Confirmed that does actually just make machinery.

[Uzcil999]

Hey RoverDude thank you for the mods. I use the whole USI catalog, they are amazing. With how quick you have updated everything I am just going to assume that you don't sleep. I am really excited about the EPL addition, it was the reason I first tried to setup a Mun base. Will there be a rocket parts hatch for ART?

Also, with the expansion to mining, will there be a resource that can be gathered for pure profit? There was a small mod a while ago that allowed you to mine precious metals. The extraction rate was extremely low for balance, but I really enjoyed it. Gave a nice side bonus to mining for EPL as well as a reward for building massive kracken attracting bases.

Thank your work, Cheers!

[RoverDude]

Possibly an ART hatch - we'll see RE profit mining stuff - already in place with both Karborundum and MKS refineries.

[NihilRex]

Rover - Can you possibly give those of us not in the loop an idea of what would be nice, profit making things to return to the KSC for a profit? Preferably ones that don't require a trip to Eeloo to get...

[Jivaii]

RoverDude, what happened to the USI_ALLMODS download in Dropbox? =(

[RoverDude]

Rover - Can you possibly give those of us not in the loop an idea of what would be nice, profit making things to return to the KSC for a profit? Preferably ones that don't require a trip to Eeloo to get...

Refine Ore and Minerals into RareMetals and ExoticMinerals.

RoverDude, what happened to the USI_ALLMODS download in Dropbox? =(

Soon - it was out of date.

[Jivaii]

Refine Ore and Minerals into RareMetals and ExoticMinerals.

Soon - it was out of date.

I gets a new laptop specifically to play KSP while traveling, and no USI Sad kerbal is sad. But, you have provided snacks while we wait

[Kolago]

Proposal for regolith:

Please allow a split up of the parameters RecipeInputs and RecipeOutputs:

MODULE
  {
     name = REGO_ModuleResourceConverter
     ConverterName = Reactor
     StartActionName = Start Reactor
     StopActionName = Stop Reactor
     RecipeInputs = EnrichedUranium, 0.00003
     RecipeOutputs = DepletedUranium, 0.00003, True, ElectricCharge, 100, False
  }

Why: Easier access to them with ModuleManager and TweakScale.

MODULE
{
    name = REGO_ModuleResourceConverter
    ConverterName = Reactor
    StartActionName = Start Reactor
    StopActionName = Stop Reactor
    INPUT_RESOURCE
    {
       name = EnrichedUranium
       rate = 0.00003
    }
    OUTPUT_RESOURCE
    {
       name = DepletedUranium
       rate = 0.00003
       dump = True
    }
    OUTPUT_RESOURCE
    {
       name = ElectricCharge
       rate = 100
       dump = False
    }
    REQUIRED_RESOURCE
    {
       name = EnrichedUranium
       rate = 0.00003
    }
}

Edited January 3, 2015 by Kolago

[Astrofox]

Roverdude, I was wondering if you could potentially create an add-on to the sounding rockets mod that contains the materials for stockalike cubesats and tubesats and just small satellites in general. Please tell me your decision, or create a poll for this on the page with this option in the poll. Love the Pre-release of sounding rockets BTW.

- Thanks

Astrofox

[RoverDude]

Sure, log a github issue.

[Astrofox]

Okay, Roverdude, how do I do that?

[parrots]

Okay, Roverdude, how do I do that?

On the USI catalog page there's a "Github Repo" page for all the projects, click that and there should be an "Issues" link in the column on the right side of the page. Click it, then click the green New issue" button at the top of the list. It prompts for a login at that point, so I can't help you past there but it's probably pretty simple. As with all things technical or scientific, clear writing with lots of detail is important.

EDIT: Hope this helps, sorry if it comes off as abrupt.

[Cairan]

I've been wondering about doing something in regards with permanent outposts.

In the ART (Asteroid parts) of Umbra Space Industries conglomerate we can hollow out an asteroid for storage...

I was thinking... If we used a drill on a planet, to create an underground space, it would be possible to have underground facilities.

If there was a "mole" or "tunnel boring" function to the REGO_Excavator, we could create storage for Machinery, SpareParts and RocketParts below the surface, and when we reached a certain number of RocketParts, we could transform RocketParts resources into MKS/OKS functions into the excavated underground base...

Say you build a base on Minmus. You land all your MKS modules, have a nice cozy surface setup for your Kerbals to be self-sufficient food wise. Then you add more drills, karbonite processing, and soon enough you land the big Mk3 modules and start off-world manufacturing. Add a Launch Pad to the mix, and your computer lags itself into oblivion every time you switch to your Ketroit outpost...

Now let's take the other approach. You land your ships after a nice survey on a nice spot on Minmus. You build a surface outpost, but you realize that this is such a sweet spot you hit resource-wise, you want to build your fleet of kolonization vessels from there. So you send your tunnel boring machine up, and hook it up to your base. Soon enough, "empty space" gets created and associated with the tunnel boring machine part... When you get up to a certain point, you can transform this space for storage, like in ART, but you'd also have the option to "Equip Bunker".

So you click on the part's menu "Equip Bunker" and a UI shows up to offer you a list of available MKS modules you can add to your underground facility, the underground space required, and their cost in RocketParts. If you click on "Add Module" then the RocketParts and Empty Space gets deducted from the tunnel boring machine's resources, and you have access to the added module's functionality. All the underground modules would share the resources, so if your underground facility has storage for 3500 Machinery, 300 Spareparts, 5000 Karbonite, and so on, your underground Colony Control Center, Biolab, Refinery, Fuel Refinery, Aeroponics, Repair facility, etc. would share it, so if you had modules needing a total of machinery greater than 3500, their operation would proportional to the available Machinery parts stored in the underground part.

Your huge Minmus sprawling (and lagging...) industrial complex on the surface would now mostly be underground, and from the surface you'd now have a couple of solar panels and lights, your tunnel boring machine's surface access structure for EVA egress by Kerbals, and a FlexOTube linking your tunnel boring machine to a LaunchPad module on the surface. We're talking less than ten parts having to be rendered, but with the full functionality of hundreds of parts linked precariously by KAS tubing... Your underground facility could then grow to hosting hundreds of Kerbals, if not thousands, without any hit on graphic rendering.

The great news is you'd now have much more convenience in using your outpost for manufacturing and trade. You'd still need to build a surface outpost first with MKS, set up drilling parts, set up some manufacturing prior to building your underground facility, but once you start building underground, you could drill mine shafts, increase production capacity, increase workspace and living capacity, add more food and oxygen production, as long as you ferry Kerbals to move into the bunker.

Soon enough, you could then take your surface modules, unlink them and move them elsewhere to start another facility.

Now for the gamaplay balancing, a few notes:

- The Community tech tree node required to build underground living spaces should be at the very least Off World Manufacturing or Self-sufficient Outposts.

- Drilling underground space should take some time.

- Adding facilities should also take some time, similar to building vessels with Extraplanetary Launchpads.

- There should be an "happiness" penalty, hence a productivity hit, to living underground... Maybe keep track of how long Kerbals have been down there to justify doing crew rotations, provide a bonus for doing some rover derbies on Kerboldays with your Kerbals, etc. (aka Sundays )

- To limit infinite digging from a single tunnel boring machine, the total volume available to excavation should be limited. As a ballpark figure, let's say no more than 1/100 of the ground volume available, because you need to keep ground above and below your tunnels if you have multiple levels, and to the sides too, so it is a safe value. Also, half of the physic's bubble is open sky, the other half is ground.

- We do not want underground facilities to overlap, so let's prevent them from being closer than 2.5 km (physics range) from each other. If they are, the option to "Dig" on the part's UI should not be available, or not activate with an error message saying "Another tunnel boring operation is nearby" ... something like that.

- Digging in low gravity is probably easier than on Eve or Kerbin, so maybe the available space should be restrained by the body's gravity... Ie: you can dig a lot more deeper without collapse on Gilly than Minmus, on Minmus than Duna, on Duna than Eve, etc.

- The tunnel boring machine part on the surface, to conserve mass, would increase in mass as digging progresses and resources get assigned to it.... Those 10000 Machinery parts are no feathers. However, it would be ridiculous and quite possibly bug inducing if we end up with something weighing 300 000 tons landed... so maybe a workaround would be needed, I don't know yet. It depends on how Unity would handle such large figures.

- The process of fitting out an underground facility should require a number of high-level engineers in the tunnel borer. (Level 4 to dig, Level 5 to add equipment). That would also preclude spawning too much bases early in the game.

I might try to hack together a proof-of-concept with Module Manager and a few existing parts...

Edited February 16, 2015 by Cairan
Add the idea for 5-star engineers requirement

[Ricardo79]

Dear RoverDude,

I don't want to poison your release threads. So I'd like to write here my observation reports on your parts. In the hope to help you develop error correction and us having fully working great things to play with.

Maybe these are just me not knowing base game mechanics or maybe minor bugs:

Exploration pack:

Patrack rover wheel. No matter which symmetry I use no matter if I just KAS grab and exchange wheels. It is allways go in the wrong direction.

More rover I tried to build and with these nice little wheels (I prefer the attach node on them) I allways end up go forward for a backward key.

Also with KAS I have to rotate the part 180 to get the desired alignment. So for instance this wheel's base facing upwards when green (KAS attach) but as soon as i attached it it turns 180 and the wheel's base facing down in this style: attaching: /° attached: \.

And if I exchange the right wheels with the left one it is still goes the wrong way. Also turning inverted.

I had no problems like these attaching the almost same stock part.

In your FFT:

The honey bagger's symmetry has something serrious wierdness.

For examples: tanks attached symmetrically and changed resources and color. It went any kind of colorfullnes. Ending up orange left side and brown rightside and such.

I tried balancing a VTOL from it. And the symetrically placed parts have ended up different ammounts of LFO (I using those neat electric engines so no LFO consumption should be)

I seted the slider to 538 on one of the symmetric part. Checked the other one still 538. Launched the craft and ended up on the start before the first staging. 538 in the left side and 600 in the right side. (I didn't adjusted that way for sure)

MKS Base modul Still having issues with the KAS container and the range it can opened. I even stick Bob Kerman to an unarmed (inexpanded) expando tube accidentally. So you have to push over the base in order to get the open container option in the contextmenu from that part.

As for the alcumbiere drive I have to apologies because I accused that mod for the freeze of my game near timewraps.

I found the cause ultimately. It was a memory overload from Mechjeb. After I removed that one and only mod my game becomes uber stabil. Yesterday played 13h in one go.

And I'd really like to know why my asteroid miners haven't get enought Power (Electricity maybe) to operate. I mean on the back of my ship there is a OP Iondrive made by me and included a 50 EC/sec generator always on.

So there is no part on those "ships" which should use any more electricity than that. But just for testing. I even sticked 8 gigantor solarpanel to them.

The problem occured only with the inline laser and with that grabber crusher thing. It writes me to not have enought POWER and won't start.

So what power means in this case? do they have to have puchcards? or much more than 50 EC/sec ?

Anyway in these part's description window I didn't see any info on power usage. So please help me clear that thing.

I hope these helps to clear out things for future releases. If anything more info you need just let me know.

Richard

Edited March 3, 2015 by Ricardo79

[RoverDude]

I have had no issue with the PackRat wheels you are describing - are you using attach or store? Because you should store them in place and they will snap in correctly.

The symmetry bit is a FireSpitter issue and is already logged.

The base module EVA range is a KAS issue because it is not respecting it's own parameters.

Insufficient detail is being provided RE your EC problem with AMT.

[Ricardo79]

attach or store? Because you should store them in place and they will snap in correctly.

I tried every way on the rover base's. It snappping but when I want to drive it it has allways go in the other direction it should.

I tried it assemble on place and in VAB too.

I even tried to assemble it in VAB without the patrackrover base. So I just attached it to a base created from standard structure. even with the stock rover base. I tried to flipp over the probecore for it.

But in anyway this is just going inverted. Maybe another mod incompatibility should be there? Anyway I am giving you the craft file maybe I did something wrong in the whole time.

The symmetry bit is a FireSpitter issue and is already logged.

Acknowledged, thank you.

The base module EVA range is a KAS issue because it is not respecting it's own parameters.

Oh ....... Did you told them about this already? If not I am happy to report it. (If we have to use mods to the game in order to be a somewhat enjoyable one, The mods should not braking the experience.)

Insufficient detail is being provided RE your EC problem with AMT.

Ok. I can create a more or less stock craft with the same parameters or Just give you my "mod" along with a craft file.

I didn't see anything suspicious in the logs. So a log copy won't help much. But I willing to upload one (If I know where to look for it without a crash?)

This question was something 2 weeks ago in the AMT thread. So since then I deleted the originals as well as "WIP full of bees AMT". So try to recreate it. (I hope it will not bugging again I don't know if that mod has an update since maybe the error gone?!?!? I'll try it right away and then upload a zip containting everything I promissed including rovers.)

What else can I help you with that?

Oh and thank you, for all the answers.

[Ricardo79]

A Quick Question:

I just downloaded AMT it comes with a different sized asteroid.cfg (inside the bundled Regolith)

So what is the correct install step by step if I have almost all the other USI stuff (except ART and FFT.

I usually take a peek to the version files. Or decide to install the latest by date. But could this breaking the game (or the mods) in any way?

As I did it the last time also. (When those insufficient power message came out inside the inline lasers menu when triing to start it. (with a ton of EC produced and stored.)

I have to wait for an answer to proceed. The question is which regolith (Asteroid.cfg) should I use right now?

[Ricardo79]

Ok. That's wierd.

Last time on the same instal that didn't worked. (only change since, that I get rid of Mechjeb).

I created a new save file. after installed the AMT without overwrite.

The first craft I launched had some issues.. as it lost evey part behind the (root part) regolith excavator after returning to space center. kerbin seemed to lost its texture.

Terminated the craft Via Tracking station, created another one. drive it to the nearest asteroid. And it working right now. Avesome.

Conclusion: I do have to check again all the mods every time I've got an error Sorry. This one works fine.

I try to recreate the rover too.

----------

Edited Here

Not working. Every time I defocus it (by going to the KSC) and try to refly it from tracking station it "destroys" each and every parts (even the attached asteroid).

At least making graphical bugs.

Logs shows this:

[Log]: DistObj ERROR: Tried to draw part probeStackLarge within rendering distance of active vessel!

^^This is for all the missing parts (even Potatoroid) Except the inline mining laser (which would be: REGO_MiningLaser according to the part file)

[Log]: [PlanetariumCamera]: Focus: Basic AMT

[Log]: set target body via vessel = Sun (CelestialBody)

[Warning]: [CurrencyWidgetsApp]: No live widgets to Despawn!

[Log]: Tac.FuelBalanceController[FFC15BBA][3302.73]: Rebuilding resource lists.

Part rightclick "shows no asteroid detected". So all the parts except that excavator has been vaporized.

Savefile, VAB ship along with my own mod just parts but needed for the craft. Can Be Located Here

Modlist directory text file here

Edited March 3, 2015 by Ricardo79

[Ricardo79]

Another Strange thing happend.

I want to create a solar wing (stock Ion engines on plates two docking ports and a probecore, and a PDU From OKS)

For testing only (the final one should not have the PDU)

When I fired it up and wanna start the generator the PDU states missing resource.

Does it requires other than Enriched uranium ? (as it packed with that for sure 250 units)

[RoverDude]

You should really move these kinds of questions to the release thread for those mods. And include screenshots and such.

[Ricardo79]

You should really move these kinds of questions to the release thread for those mods. And include screenshots and such.

The MkS thread has been closed. I wanted to make it there.

Thank you for the additional info how to post these. I'll make that next time. (I am a newb on these kind of communications.)

Edited here:

Strange.... I must have exchange the threads. The MKS is still open now. I'l get there and post the pic.

Edited 2: Yes it was the dev thread of the MKS which is closed.

So am I supposed to make error reports in the release threads?

Edited March 5, 2015 by Ricardo79