parts [1.12.x] Sounding Rockets! Start small. Dream big!

[Beetlecat]

On 1/27/2021 at 1:12 PM, hermano said:

A heads up if you encounter exploding parts on landing, levitating fairings and similar problems. I tracked the problem down to a patch that makes light parts physics-less to avoid the 1.11 part mass bug (link).  Excluding engines, lifting surfaces and decouplers from the patch solved the problem.

  Reveal hidden contents

@PART[*]:HAS[#mass[<0.03],!MODULE[ModuleEngines*],!MODULE[ModuleDecouple],!RESOURCE[LiquidFuel],!RESOURCE[Oxidizer],!RESOURCE[MonoPropellant],!MODULE[ModuleLiftingSurface]]:FINAL
{
	%PhysicsSignificance = 1
}

 

 

Thank you, @RoverDude for creating great mods and keeping them alive for so long!

And a follow-up to this-- I think the part mass may have been addressed at least as of 1.11.2, and FAR does *NOT* like this patch, at all!

[New Horizons]

Does this mod still needs those old patches for FAR of the following kind?

 

@PART[SR_Nosecone_35]:FOR[RealChute]
{

	@category = none
	@mass = 0.02
	!sound_parachute_open
	!sound_parachute_single

	!MODULE[ModuleParachute]{}

	MODULE
	{
		name = RealChuteModule
		caseMass = 0.02
		timer = 0
		mustGoDown = true
		cutSpeed = 0.5
		spareChutes = 1

		PARACHUTE
		{
			material = Nylon
			preDeployedDiameter = 0.8
			deployedDiameter = 14
			minIsPressure = false
			minPressure = 6000
			deploymentAlt = 600
			cutAlt = -1
			preDeploymentSpeed = 1
			deploymentSpeed = 4
			preDeploymentAnimation = PreDeploy
			deploymentAnimation = Deploy
			parachuteName = String
			capName = Cap
		}
	}

	MODULE
	{
		name = ProceduralChute
	}

	EFFECTS
	{
		rcpredeploy
		{
			AUDIO
			{
				channel = Ship
				clip = sound_parachute_open
				volume = 1
			}
		}

		rcdeploy
		{
			AUDIO
			{
				channel = Ship
				clip = sound_parachute_single
				volume = 1
			}
		}

		rccut
		{
			AUDIO
			{
				channel = Ship
				clip = RealChute/Sounds/sound_parachute_cut
				volume = 1
			}
		}

		rcrepack
		{
			AUDIO
			{
				channel = Ship
				clip = RealChute/Sounds/sound_parachute_repack
				volume = 1
			}
		}
	}
}

 

[610yesnolovely]

First off thanks for the great mod, I love building Sounding Rockets.

I've been building up and testing mods for a new 1.11.2 career (last time was on 1.8) and noticed you upped the science from 6 to 24! I was a bit suprised, but according to the change log:

To encourage more sounding rocket use around Kerbin, the following changes have been implemented:
- Sounding rocket experiments are now repeatable.
- Sounding rocket experiments are now restricted to atmosphere only.
- Sounding rocket experiments now give significantly more science

I can see why you did this, because now one would definitely just use these sort of rockets for science on Kerbin - previous careers I pretty much stopped using them quite quickly.

However I'm trying out UnKerballed Start:

So my first rocket (in testing career before I really start) meant I could pretty much unlock four or five nodes (they're about 4 SP for each tech node). So that was... a bit toooo easy :-) Not the fault of your mod (I agree with more points), or really the other mod (I think it's designed for difficulties with Science at 50%, I'm testing at 100% for speed) - just the combo of the two doesn't quite work.

My thoughts is I could write my own local user ModuleManager patch for the Sounding Rockets ScienceDefs, but then I'd not use them much later on (which is sad). Alternatively I could just use normal science parts. It'd be nicer to have some lower tech versions of the same items unlocked in the Start or TL1 nodes, with lower science unlocked straight away, and then part upgrades in later levels, perhaps around when others unlock. I've not done much ModuleManager patch writing, but sounds possible from what I've read. Sounding Rockets would be still be useful later in a career for less costly local science. 

Just thought I'd share in case anyone else has (or will) come across this and worked out a solution. Not asking for anyone to do anything 

 

[Galileo chiu]

rescaled solar system compatibility?

[Beetlecat]

On 7/28/2021 at 5:48 AM, Galileo chiu said:

rescaled solar system compatibility?

Sure! You just won't get as far...

[Avery616]

The github page appears to have no downloads, is there anywhere else where its being hosted?

[RoverDude]

https://github.com/UmbraSpaceIndustries/SoundingRockets/releases

[FasterThanFlourite]

I just want to say that I absolutely love this mod. It might only add a few parts, but they're so integral to the game that I consider them to be stock. Especially with a Probes Before Crew / Unmanned playthrough.

Along with many other mods I also installed Komplexity, which tiers the building upgrades into 10 tiers instead of three. Along this, I stumbled across weird height limitation, so I wanted to ask:

Is it intended that adding the Nosecone parachute adds nearly 10m to the height of the rocket (Flea as size comparison)?

#

 

[FasterThanFlourite]

On 6/9/2021 at 1:38 AM, 610yesnolovely said:

However I'm trying out UnKerballed Start:

So my first rocket (in testing career before I really start) meant I could pretty much unlock four or five nodes (they're about 4 SP for each tech node). So that was... a bit toooo easy :-) Not the fault of your mod (I agree with more points), or really the other mod (I think it's designed for difficulties with Science at 50%, I'm testing at 100% for speed) - just the combo of the two doesn't quite work.

Just thought I'd share in case anyone else has (or will) come across this and worked out a solution. Not asking for anyone to do anything 

 

With Probes Before Crew I experienced the same. Obviously not something that's the fault of Sounding Rockets.

But with the popularity of unmanned starts amongst realistic careers, I'd love to see some changes to make SR even earlier tech, if that's possible. Essentially just glorified fireworks is exactly what I imagine Kerbals would start a "space" program with.

@RoverDude, would it be possible to couple SR with a change in the tech tree, so that only the SR parts are available when starting the game? Kinda like this:

 

I think starting only with SR part would definitely offer the most 'straight out of a barn' experience that would fit this whimsical mod so well.

Sadly, as of right now, it doesn't really work for me at all in an unkerballed start, like @610yesnolovely mentioned, since you get about 10x as much science as you get from the standard science experiments and I don't have the restraint to not use your little cute rockets when offered.

Edited January 6, 2022 by FasterThanFlourite

[RoverDude]

11 hours ago, FasterThanFlourite said:

With Probes Before Crew I experienced the same. Obviously not something that's the fault of Sounding Rockets.

But with the popularity of unmanned starts amongst realistic careers, I'd love to see some changes to make SR even earlier tech, if that's possible. Essentially just glorified fireworks is exactly what I imagine Kerbals would start a "space" program with.

@RoverDude, would it be possible to couple SR with a change in the tech tree, so that only the SR parts are available when starting the game? Kinda like this:

 

I think starting only with SR part would definitely offer the most 'straight out of a barn' experience that would fit this whimsical mod so well.

Sadly, as of right now, it doesn't really work for me at all in an unkerballed start, like @610yesnolovely mentioned, since you get about 10x as much science as you get from the standard science experiments and I don't have the restraint to not use your little cute rockets when offered.

A lot of the SR parts are already at start.  That being said, it's a pretty easy module manager patch to move any parts you want to shuffle.

[Smurfalot]

For whatever reason, avionics package for sounding rockets does not seem to be functioning as a command module.

Any clues what might be going wrong?

[RoverDude]

On 2/20/2022 at 1:30 AM, Smurfalot said:

For whatever reason, avionics package for sounding rockets does not seem to be functioning as a command module.

Any clues what might be going wrong?

Do you have batteries?  That avionics module has no power built in (unlike most probe cores).

[Smurfalot]

2 hours ago, RoverDude said:

Do you have batteries?  That avionics module has no power built in (unlike most probe cores).

That is very likely the problem.

[RoverDude]

Version 112.0.1 of Sounding Rockets has been released, and the thread has been updated to reflect the updated download location and KSP version supported.  CKAN should also be catching up for those of you who use it.  You can also nab the latest release here:

https://github.com/UmbraSpaceIndustries/SoundingRockets/releases

This is pretty much what was in the bleeding edge releases for 1.11, plus a few small tweaks.  Barring any major issues, this is likely going to be the release we stick with for the foreseeable future, as @DoktorKrogg and I are both neck deep in a new indie game we're both working on  

So while we're totally still around and active in the forums and on the USI discord, I would not anticipate any major new USI releases, at least in the short term, though there are still a few major things we both want to knock out (including updating all of the wheels, and some other large system changes).

Lastly, a couple of handy links.  First, the discord server for all things USI (though this also covers our new game as well), and a reminder that I'll be doing a bunch of streaming around game dev (mostly the art side, so Blender, Substance, Unity, etc.). though it's going to be exclusively work on the new game, vs KSP stuff.  

Discord:  https://discord.gg/FNBwUXRgX8

Twitch:  https://www.twitch.tv/RoverDude

Enjoy!  And make sure to let us know if any bees got into the build process.  If so, we'll do a fast follower in a week or two if necessary to update the releases.

[N3N]

On 5/30/2022 at 3:26 AM, RoverDude said:

Version 112.0.1 of Sounding Rockets has been released, and the thread has been updated to reflect the updated download location and KSP version supported.  CKAN should also be catching up for those of you who use it.  You can also nab the latest release here:

https://github.com/UmbraSpaceIndustries/SoundingRockets/releases

This is pretty much what was in the bleeding edge releases for 1.11, plus a few small tweaks.  Barring any major issues, this is likely going to be the release we stick with for the foreseeable future, as @DoktorKrogg and I are both neck deep in a new indie game we're both working on  

Enjoy!  And make sure to let us know if any bees got into the build process.  If so, we'll do a fast follower in a week or two if necessary to update the releases.

Hey @RoverDude and @DoktorKrogg,

Thanks for your great work!

Sorry for the maybe stupid question, but where can I find a full changelog?

I have an ongoing JNSQ (+Kerbalism) game and want to check, if it is save to update.

Edited June 1, 2022 by N3N

[Astrofox]

Glad to see this mod back.

Just a quick question: Is there a config out there that disables the automatic staging of the motors? If not, how would I go about disabling that feature?

Thanks!

[Aelfhe1m]

1 hour ago, Astrofox said:

Just a quick question: Is there a config out there that disables the automatic staging of the motors? If not, how would I go about disabling that feature?

There should already be a menu option on each SRB labelled "Disable auto-drop"

But if you want it to default to off then the following MM patch will probably do it (untested):

@PART[*]:HAS[@MODULE[USI_DropTank]]:LAST[UmbraSpaceIndustries]
{
	@MODULE[USI_DropTank]
	{
		%dropEnabled = false
	}
}

 

[Astrofox]

7 minutes ago, Aelfhe1m said:

There should already be a menu option on each SRB labelled "Disable auto-drop"

I don't know how I didn't see that lol. Thank you!

[darthvader15001]

is this waterfall compatible?

[DeadJohn]

Great mod, @RoverDude

I'll echo the comments that the science modules seem overpowered. There are 4 surface mounted experiments that can be put on the 1st launch. Each experiment provides more science than the stock thermometer and is rerunnable for each surface and atmo biome, so science gathering is accelerated around tenfold compared to stock.

Edited August 29, 2022 by DeadJohn
spelling

[RoverDude]

18 minutes ago, DeadJohn said:

Great mod, @RoverDude

I'll echo the comments that the science modules seem overpowered. There are 4 surface mounted experiments that can be put on the 1st launch. Each experiment provides more science than the stock thermometer and is rerunnable for each surface and atmo biome, so science gathering is accelerated around tenfold compared to stock.

I tend to use CTT so I end up needing excess science.  If you feel the balance is off feel free to patch to your preferences.

[DeadJohn]

1 hour ago, RoverDude said:

I tend to use CTT so I end up needing excess science.  If you feel the balance is off feel free to patch to your preferences.

Completely understood; your mod fits your needs and also works well for many other people.

I'm using large science trees, too, like CTT, Skyhawk, or Unkerballed Start. My usual gameplay is 2.5x scale with either the JNSQ, KSRSS, or GPP homeworld. All 3 of those packs have more biomes than stock Kerbin. JNSQ has 21 biomes so it's possible to unlock pretty far into the tech tree just spamming sounding rockets.

[CowboyChicken]

Anyone know if this mod is compatible with SETI unmanned before manned? I see a compatibility warning on CKAN for it and wonder if its been tested.

[Fizwalker]

I do not know how to delete my post..... >.>

Edited December 3, 2022 by Fizwalker

[BrutalDuck]

i just got this mod, but i cannot find any pods small enough to fit on the sounding rockets. is this a bug?