a question of what constitutes a plugin

[Xhris]

Have i done a no no by modifying a .cfg for ksp related to the stock RAPIER engine and posting the modded config file on kerbal stuff?

If so I will remove it, but how do I go about creating a plugin to change the stats of the engine?

The end result I am aiming for is to modify the stock rapier to perform similar to a atomic rocket/jet engine hybrid without creating a new part. Only recently did I check the rules governing mods/plugins and I would prefer not to get into trouble.

[SciMan]

Luckily, someone's already done most of the hard work for you in that department (changing configs without actually changing configs).

You don't need to write a plugin to do that, it's already been done.

You're going to want to make a ModuleManager config file. ModuleManager can be found here.

Install that plugin, and you can write your own config file to override the values in the stock config file with your values.

And all without actually changing the stock config file.

It's basically a config file regex parser, if you don't know what that word means, click on it for the Wikipedia link. Interesting stuff, really.

Anyways, ModuleManager is pretty easy to use once you figure out how to tell it what you want it to do. The forum post has a guide for that, as does the GitHub repository that you download the mod from.

It goes thru special "patch" config files after KSP loads the "regular" configs, and edits the regular configs based on the instructions in the patch before the game finishes loading.

However, it's designed so that the patch file's changes don't transfer over to the config being patched.

No data on the hard drive is changed, no rules are violated, and you can still share your tweaks without getting yelled at for redistributing Squad files.

I can remember playing KSP before MM existed, and you had to describe every change you made so that people could do it themselves. Extremely cumbersome, to say the least. It's a lot better now.

Basically, if you could do something in a config file before, now you can make it a ModuleManager patch that you can share with everyone else, without the legal issues of distributing modded configs.

Edited November 25, 2014 by SciMan

[Xhris]

cool, i am going to need some help with this one though....

and I apologize in advance, but I will not be able to reply for several days, so for now i will remove my "patch" from kerbalstuff.

here is what I have thus far and will be testing for tonight (nov-25) and will add to kerbal stuff once it works..

@PART=[rapierEngine]
{
  @description = The R.A.P.I.E.R. (Reactive Atomic-Propellant Intelligent Engine for Rockets) is a joint venture between C7 Aerospace and the Rockomax Conglomerate. Designed to fill a gap in the design requirements for sustainable single stage to orbit aircraft, this engine combines the best of rocket and air-breathing thrust technology.
      @MODULE[MultiModeEngine]
    {
        @engineID = AirBreathing
        {
        !PROPELLANT[LiquidFuel]
        }
        @engineID = ClosedCycle
        {
             @atmosphereCurve
        {
        key = 0 730
        key = 1 120
        }
    }
}

EDIT: I am stuck trying to change the atmos-kurve of the closed cycle engine and do not know how to get MMM to identify and change the varibles. anyone have advice?

Edited November 26, 2014 by Xhris
Update Code, asking for help

[Streetwind]

Try the following:

@atmosphereCurve
{
    @key,0 = 730
    @key,1 = 120
}

Remember, everytime you change a value, you need to add an @ in front of it. Even if you already have it in front of the atmosphereCurve node itself. If you don't, then all you're doing is add another instance of the variable "key". So if the base config has two "key" variables, and you don't change them with @, you're instead adding a third and fourth.

Individual instances of "key" are addressed by a comma and a number. The first instance is key,0 (or just key), the second is key,1 and so on.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Streetwind

[Xhris]

Thanks, I'll give it shot later on today.

If you see my patch on kerbal stuff @ 11pm tonight, then you know it works in ksp flawlessly on a Linux machine that is 6 years behind the times.