[WIP] Stand-alone (no dependencies) Alcubierre drive

[Sage Sagan]

Just tried the latest Zip 0.0.1 (posted 6 hours ago). Same result;.;

[Sufficient Anonymity]

So if I try altering the ISX parts to use this plugin rather than KSPI, I'm going to run into an issue with the lack of a thrust transform, right?

[RoverDude]

Sage - got no answer for you, I'll take a look when I get home.

SufficientAnonymity - this will not work with the ISX parts for a lot of reasons. I've offered up my services for us to collaborate on changing that.

[Sufficient Anonymity]

SufficientAnonymity - this will not work with the ISX parts for a lot of reasons. I've offered up my services for us to collaborate on changing that.

Awesome

[Sage Sagan]

Sage - got no answer for you, I'll take a look when I get home.

SufficientAnonymity - this will not work with the ISX parts for a lot of reasons. I've offered up my services for us to collaborate on changing that.

Thanks Roverdude, support this prompt is the sign of a great product.

[Jivaii]

I want to know if there's plans down the road that if you have say, two in-line with some distance between them (same craft, but say it's fairly long, with one at each end) if the bubbles would mesh together and co-operate.

[UAL002]

I want to know if there's plans down the road that if you have say, two in-line with some distance between them (same craft, but say it's fairly long, with one at each end) if the bubbles would mesh together and co-operate.

He's already addressed this. Essentially no. But He's very forthcoming with support so if you wanted to try your hand he'd probably help a bit. But Ive already asked and having multiple units that radially attach would complicate things.

[Whirligig Girl]

I'm getting some Nullrefs with this on the latest "release"

"NaN m/s"

for one...

Edited November 20, 2014 by GregroxMun

[russnash37]

I just installed the pack and tried some warping, after warping for about 1 minute there was an explosion and everything except my capsule was gone. The game log showed that the RTG's I'd included had collided with the fuel tank they were attached to.

I love the method of generating exotic matter, I have a plethora of solar panels on my test ship (which is basically a cupola with the alc drive underneath, then an orange tank attached to a mainsail) and on 4 x time warp I can make a full tank of exotic matter in about 4-5 minutes. The need for xenon gas as well will keep it realistic!

My 8 month old son loves the warp bubble effect, he was sitting in my lap kicking and waving his arms with excitement every time I fired up the warp drive

[temporalExile]

First of all, I would like to point out your extreme awesomeness. Seriously! A few weeks ago I made a general request for a warp drive. He replied with 15 minutes O_O.

That aside, I would like to make some suggestions. I think that there should be more than one drive, such as a 1c limited basic drive, a tiny subluminal drive for probes, or a giant hyperluminal drive that combines the technologies of the Alcubierre drive with the bone-crushing Power of the karborundum torch drive.

[Kerba Fett]

I really like the idea of your mod.

Would it be possible to get a few alternate models for it though? I was thinking of a small stack mounted version about half the thickness of a battery. It would be fairly unnoticable and allow you to use it in any design like the IXS warpship or any of the Star Trek ships available. If there were 1.25, 2.5 and 3.75 meter versions it would cover being able to integrate it into pretty much any design.

Any chance of this?

[russnash37]

Some other points I noticed:

1) Anything attached to the front of the ship seems to be fair game for the space kraken, even though it is well within the bubble. I had solar panels and amechjeb AR202 case attached to the cupola that was on the front of the drive section and all were destroyed after only 1 or 2 warp jumps.

2) When dropping out of warp the ship always seems to start spinning.

Other than these small points it's great! I'm currently orbiting Eeloo after a longish warp trip!

[RoverDude]

There are no immediate plans for alternate models. And no plans for multi-drive support.

Any additional models would likely be a 1.25 and a 3.75 but not any time soon.

Warp instabilities, explosions if things get stretched out of the bubble, and disorientation post warp are unity oddities I will leave in as balance factors. Try a more gentle throttle foot

Edited November 21, 2014 by RoverDude

[Anodizer]

is it possible just to warp in a straight line to somewhere? And yes, I've had great success using thrust limiter to 94 percent with no horrific bad things happening..

[Deadpan110]

is it possible just to warp in a straight line to somewhere? And yes, I've had great success using thrust limiter to 94 percent with no horrific bad things happening..

The best way to warp IS in a straight line - no need for maneuver nodes - simply select your target body, line up with the pink circle target icon in your nav ball and warp (this will require several warps for distant targets due to loss of exotic matter and recharge times - point your craft to the target again and repeat) - the blue trajectory line in your map view will show you your orbit/trajectory if you were to drop out of warp at a particular time (the resulting relative velocity of when you are moving through space and not you moving space around you).

Also, I hadn't thought about reducing the thrust limiter - but it does appear to help reduce damage due to heavy handed throttle (warp engage) control.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Deadpan110
Spelling n stuff

[Deadpan110]

@RoverDude RE: Exotic Matter depletion damage...

It does seem that a lot of people playing will end up exploding parts on their craft more frequently than not, rendering their build useless and possibly too far away from home to rescue (in career mode I assume it will cost a fortune to build a second one).

I tend to try and catch the Exotic Matter 'flameout' at the last split second - most of the time I am pretty good at coming to a complete warp stop - but occasionally do not stop in time.

Just an idea and wondering if it would be possible to implement about a second or two delay between Exotic Matter depletion and exploding parts?

The AGFX Flameout detector from Smart Parts works with the warp drive when placed directly above it (scaled to 200%, it actually fits quite nicely) and will deactivate the drive when a flameout is detected which seems to reduce further damage - but does not happen quite fast enough as damage seems instant.

Using this mod (or perhaps others that do the same) could help the heavy handed of us make better use and re-usability of our beloved warp drives.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Deadpan110
dotting the'i's n cross the 't's

[Bacon_commando]

Awesome looking mod!

Just wondering, does this work in .25?

Edited November 21, 2014 by Bacon_commando

[JamesL86]

This is gonna be an awesome little doohicky that I have been hoping for, for a long time. All the fun of KSP-I, without all the hassle. I'll probably wait for the full release (I think its later today) to play around with it. From what I see now though, this will be a welcome addition to my super-kerbalized career mode.

[1of6Billion]

Tried it, loved it!

Lost a few parts on the way though

So, I rigged a probe with this drive, named it Enterprise and flew it to Duna and back to be sure. And guess what? Not a single Vulcan showed up. I feel deceived.

[russnash37]

Tried it, loved it!

Lost a few parts on the way though

So, I rigged a probe with this drive, named it Enterprise and flew it to Duna and back to be sure. And guess what? Not a single Vulcan showed up. I feel deceived.

Maybe the Borg masked your warp trail?

[RoverDude]

Ok, did a few final tweaks, mostly to reduce the need for recharging (there will not be a flameout delay as it's by design that people should not push this that close to the edge that they have a collapse). So a trip to Jool without a recharge is easily doable in the latest patch (fuel is not this drive's balance factor as noted before).

If you get NRE errors, delete your own drive and replace it.

Official release will be later today.

[Jivaii]

Awesome looking mod!

Just wondering, does this work in .25?

No, this mod was not designed during the time after 0.25 came out, therefore is completely incapable of working with it. If KSP is started while this mod is installed, the Kraken will come to life and suck your computer into the abyss.

[Eskandare]

Awesome looking mod!

Just wondering, does this work in .25?

No, this mod was not designed during the time after 0.25 came out, therefore is completely incapable of working with it. If KSP is started while this mod is installed, the Kraken will come to life and suck your computer into the abyss.

Lol

Yes it works in .25 since it was just made. Pay attention to the OP next time and you won't get trolled.

[Eskandare]

Ok, did a few final tweaks, mostly to reduce the need for recharging (there will not be a flameout delay as it's by design that people should not push this that close to the edge that they have a collapse). So a trip to Jool without a recharge is easily doable in the latest patch (fuel is not this drive's balance factor as noted before).

If you get NRE errors, delete your own drive and replace it.

Official release will be later today.

RoverDude, what is required if we wanted to make our own drives using your plugin? I'm planning to make a small short hop radial mount drive for small space planes.

[RoverDude]

RoverDude, what is required if we wanted to make our own drives using your plugin? I'm planning to make a small short hop radial mount drive for small space planes.

You need two animations.

One that plays when the drive is engaged/disengaged

One that plays in a loop while the drive is active (and the animation speed is based on the throttle)