[1.2 - 1.4] Modular Rocket Systems v1.13.2 (2018-03-12) - Stock-alike Parts Pack

[NecroBones]

I think it's good as-is. It's really easy to justify to oneself or anyone else who asks that it's a pure stock-equivalent part.

However, if you were going to improve it, I'd simply note the competition you have from PorkJet's nuclear lightbulb. 20 tons, 450 kN thrust, an insane gimbal range, and 1500(!) vacuum Isp.

Yeah, that's the thing. MRS tries to stay as stock-balanced as possible, which made me hesitant to even make engines for it at first. The engines are all direct multiples or fractions of other engines, and I think that's a good thing to maintain. So let's leave it alone for now.

Having said that, other mods can do a great job of extending the lineup or making extensions to the available technologies. I saw that lightbulb engine demoed in a video, and it's awesome. 1500 ISP is huge, but at 20 tons, you pay for it.

[WuphonsReach]

Batteries are something that I come against needing frequently, especially big batteries in an inline form factor. Right now I have to weld together 5 to 50 Z-1k or Z-4k batteries to get what I need.

Interesting sizes / capacities would be:

Z-1k in a 62.5cm form factor (basically 5x Z-200 welded together).

Z-5k in a 125cm form factor (5x Z-1k welded together).

Z-25k in a 125cm form factor, useful for when you need length for attaching solar panels (25x Z-1k)

Z-20k in a 250cm form factor (size of 5x Z-4k battery)

Z-100k in a 250cm form factor (size of 25x Z-4k battery)

(There is another mod that makes a B-3k 62.5cm part, but I generally want a 125/250cm size.)

[NecroBones]

Batteries are something that I come against needing frequently, especially big batteries in an inline form factor. Right now I have to weld together 5 to 50 Z-1k or Z-4k batteries to get what I need.

Interesting sizes / capacities would be:

Z-1k in a 62.5cm form factor (basically 5x Z-200 welded together).

Z-5k in a 125cm form factor (5x Z-1k welded together).

Z-25k in a 125cm form factor, useful for when you need length for attaching solar panels (25x Z-1k)

Z-20k in a 250cm form factor (size of 5x Z-4k battery)

Z-100k in a 250cm form factor (size of 25x Z-4k battery)

(There is another mod that makes a B-3k 62.5cm part, but I generally want a 125/250cm size.)

Huh, that's not something I had thought about (mostly because I don't use a lot of electricity in my designs), but some "tall" stackable batteries could be cool. I'll at least make a note of it. I still have a lot of things left to make, but just haven't had the time yet.

[WuphonsReach]

Wish list item:

A hex-nuke or octo-nuke in the next size up. I love the quad-nuke (250cm) part because it reduces my engine part count by a factor of 4x instead of just relying on the LV-N. But when I get into the larger craft sizes of 3-4kt, I don't have a good choice other then adding lots and lots of quad-nukes.

The Octo-Nuke should be: Mass 18t Thrust 480 with the same Isp numbers - but in a 3.75m package.

[billkerbinsky]

Wish list item:

A hex-nuke or octo-nuke in the next size up. I love the quad-nuke (250cm) part because it reduces my engine part count by a factor of 4x instead of just relying on the LV-N. But when I get into the larger craft sizes of 3-4kt, I don't have a good choice other then adding lots and lots of quad-nukes.

The Octo-Nuke should be: Mass 18t Thrust 480 with the same Isp numbers - but in a 3.75m package.

See the "Lightbulb" engine in the Atomic Age package: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/104855-0-90-Atomic-Age-Nuclear-Rockets

Mass 20t, Thrust 450 kN, ISP 850-1500s

[WuphonsReach]

See the "Lightbulb" engine in the Atomic Age package: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/104855-0-90-Atomic-Age-Nuclear-Rockets

Mass 20t, Thrust 450 kN, ISP 850-1500s

AtomicAge - engine-only pack version does not have the Lightbulb, only the LV-Nc.

(And there are technical reasons why I don't want to install the full version of AtomicAge.)

[NecroBones]

Technically there's tweakscale for this too.

But it's not a bad idea. If we went with a "surface area" rule, then technically it could be a 9x nuke (3x diameter, so 9x area). But there are some good artwork possibilities for having a ring of 8 reactors feeding into one monstrous engine bell, or 4 pairs with their own bells, etc, so an "Octo-Nuke" fits nicely.

I'm jotting down a note about this. Pretty much everything on the "to-do list" is a "maybe" until it gets done, so I can't promise when/if at this point yet.

[Spacepetscompany]

Just recently noticed how few mods there are that add rover parts... None as far as I can see in fact, and I don't believe I'm alone in that I'd love more rover parts to play with. How's progress going BTW?

[wasmic]

AtomicAge - engine-only pack version does not have the Lightbulb, only the LV-Nc.

(And there are technical reasons why I don't want to install the full version of AtomicAge.)

I'm using the engine only pack, and I have the Nuclear Lightbulb. The LV-Nc is from RLA stockalike.

[NecroBones]

Just recently noticed how few mods there are that add rover parts... None as far as I can see in fact, and I don't believe I'm alone in that I'd love more rover parts to play with. How's progress going BTW?

Heh, that's true I think. I suspect there are two main reasons for a lack of rover parts in mods. Firstly, most players have discovered that for getting between biomes, they're really, really slow, and it's easier to hop around with a lander, and so this has probably skewed what the modders think to work on. And secondly, making wheels (or any kind of animated landing gear) is a serious pain. It took me weeks to get the legs working right for SpaceY (and the set I moved here to MRS).

But yeah, rovers can be fun too. I could see working on some parts for it at some point. Depending on what's useful, I could add some parts here, or fork off a separate mod just for rovers. But there are a lot of other ideas on hand too, so we'll see.

Right now progress on all of my mods is on hold, until KSP 1.0 comes out, now that it's in experimentals. I'm waiting to see what needs to be changed, and I suspect I'll have to scramble to get things working and balanced again once it hits.

[Spacepetscompany]

Alright sounds great

[smjjames]

Hey, I'm just noticing that the MRS mini radial fuel tank doesn't seem to have fuel crossfeed capabilities since when I place a part on it which is connected to an engine, Mechjeb senses the fuel flow, but if I put it on a part which is connected to an engine, it doesn't, so I have to connect fuel lines from the tank to the rest of the craft.

I also checked in-flight, there really is no fuel crossfeed.

Edited April 11, 2015 by smjjames

[NecroBones]

Hey, I'm just noticing that the MRS mini radial fuel tank doesn't seem to have fuel crossfeed capabilities since when I place a part on it which is connected to an engine, Mechjeb senses the fuel flow, but if I put it on a part which is connected to an engine, it doesn't, so I have to connect fuel lines from the tank to the rest of the craft.

I also checked in-flight, there really is no fuel crossfeed.

Yes, that's right. KSP doesn't support stock crossfeed from radially attached fuel tanks, so you have to use fuel lines with them.

[smjjames]

Yes, that's right. KSP doesn't support stock crossfeed from radially attached fuel tanks, so you have to use fuel lines with them.

But theres been other radially attached fuel tanks that have crossfeed? I think?

[NecroBones]

But theres been other radially attached fuel tanks that have crossfeed? I think?

Not in stock, unless you're thinking of the monopropellant tanks. Those have different rules, as they draw from all tanks within a given stage rather than following the fuel-flow rules.

[Threadsinger]

Yes, that's right. KSP doesn't support stock crossfeed from radially attached fuel tanks, so you have to use fuel lines with them.

I actually lost a lander this way, lol. I just assumed they behaved like monoorbs (for whatever reason) and didn't link lines to them.

Also, I recently installed a clean version of KSP to play around in (without mods), and I honestly thought I installed it wrong because I couldn't find the MRS parts (in stock). Still a great mod, I hope TPTB pick this up someday and incorporate it, in part or in whole, into the main game.

[rasta013]

Would you by chance be referring to using the Crossfeed Enabler mod? That will turn on crossfeeding for any radial attached tank that has the config added to the part file. Here's a link to the Crossfeed Enabler forum post that explains it a little bit more. There's also code there to add the capability to any part so long as you're running the mod and there's also code there for creation of a MM config for a large group of parts... and FYI Necro - I've added this exact capability to a few of your radial tanks in MRS just to facilitate use - very, very handy little mod.

[NecroBones]

Cool, I'll have to look into adding some support for Crossfeed Enabler.

We'll see how next week goes. I'm expecting to have to do a lot of updating on the mods based on what 1.0 will bring, so we'll see if I have time to look into Crossfeed Enabler too.

[smjjames]

Would you by chance be referring to using the Crossfeed Enabler mod? That will turn on crossfeeding for any radial attached tank that has the config added to the part file. Here's a link to the Crossfeed Enabler forum post that explains it a little bit more. There's also code there to add the capability to any part so long as you're running the mod and there's also code there for creation of a MM config for a large group of parts... and FYI Necro - I've added this exact capability to a few of your radial tanks in MRS just to facilitate use - very, very handy little mod.

Yeah, I was actually thinking of the crossfeed enabler since the B9 Aerospace pack has that.

[NecroBones]

I'm looking into what will be needed for the KSP 1.0 update.

I know the engines have all been rebalanced, and stock now includes fuel cells. Since KSP has changed so much, and presumably most other mods will need to change as well, I think this is the time to assume that savegames will not be compatible, and thus this is a good time to remove or significantly change things.

I'm thinking of simply removing the "radial booster tank" (not the small radial tank that looks like a monoprop tank, the tall booster-like one), and maybe take out the fuel cells. The tech tree assignments are probably broken right now, and I'm starting with rebalancing the engines to match stock. We'll see what else comes up.

[LN400]

Weird, I only found this topic through google, couldn't find it on the site search (I'm obviously not a search ninja) but: This is splendid news! MRS is alongside KW my must-have parts mod. Really looking forward to the v1 version and thanks for the work!

[NecroBones]

Weird, I only found this topic through google, couldn't find it on the site search (I'm obviously not a search ninja) but: This is splendid news! MRS is alongside KW my must-have parts mod. Really looking forward to the v1 version and thanks for the work!

Glad you're liking it!

-Updates-

I have most of the changes ready, I think. I'm sure we'll find some broken things later. For now, since we're breaking savegames anyway, I'm leaving the cargo bays out until I can rework them a bit. I have to go back into the modeller and mess with colliders and so on to get them working again, at least in terms of having any hope of aerodynamic compatibility. The alternative is to just update configs, let people use them, and wonder why everything inside is causing drag.

Everything else is just configuration updates, but it's taking time because pretty much everything needs editing for 1.0.

[alx1x1x]

Well you have my prayers NecroBones, take your time and we'll be anxiously awaiting more of your excellent work. Great mod, great work, thanks for upkeeping it for us all!

[NecroBones]

OK, here we go! I couldn't think of any last-minute things to look at, so I'm pushing out the current changes.

Disclaimer-- KSP 1.0 changed quite a lot of things. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we find some things that still need fixing. But I combed through all my part configs and remapped tech tree locations, adjusted engine specs (thrust, ISP, mass, cost, etc) based on the changes to the stock engines, altered heat parameters to mostly match what 1.0. I also had to flip all of the bottom attachment nodes since 1.0 did that too. Plus the parts needed to be added to the cross-section profiles so that those filters work correctly.

I retired the "radial booster tank" since it was stupidly limited in uses, and was one of the first parts I made, so I was never completely satisfied with it. I also retired the fuel cells, since stock has them now. I can think about re-adding the inline one (re-balanced), if there's enough interest.

The cargo bays will be back, but I need to rework them in the 3D modeler a little bit, to make sure the colliders fully enclose the bay.

I fully expect to need to do a 1.6.1 release before long. I'm sure there's at least a typo somewhere.

1.6 (2015-04-29) - Fixes/Balancing for KSP 1.0
 - Many 1.0 balance changes. Including, but not limited to:
    - Quad-Nuke: ASL ISP reduced, Mass increased, no longer uses oxidizer.
    - All engines adjusted based on stock updates.
    - Many parts had costs, masses, max temps, tech node assignments, etc adjusted.
    - Adjusted bottom attchment nodes to correspond to KSP 1.0 orientation.
 - Cargo Bays (hopefully) temporarily removed, to be reworked for 1.0.
 - Removed "radial booster tank".
 - Removed fuel cells.

Edited April 29, 2015 by NecroBones

[Cetera]

Thanks, Necro, for all your work and contributions to our diversions and entertainment! We all appreciate you and your efforts!