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[0.22] ISA MapSat 4.0 Dev Build

Innsewerants

By Innsewerants
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SzaboMarton_D

SzaboMarton_D

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dear Innsewerants.

i like this mod, adds realism to KSP and works just fine...altough after playing with it for a day and looking through the sourcecode i have some suggestions to consider.

CODING STUFF suggestiong

first things first...the whole way how it creates the map and all the calculations are PERFECT and i know it depends on quite some variables so while reading through the code i found that you put large IF trees in there and the main phase is where a couple of functions look for what object the vessel orbits...and you\'ve put this check on every IF...i suggest using a check first in the top of the script and having a variable like 'orbitedobj' so it sets the name of the object...furthermore insert this into the IF statements and rely on it therefore it is only storing it once and not asking for it couple of time->faster more accurate and more importantly=>it is moddable because if more body\'s are added to the game you only have to put the new name to the first check and from there it does everything the same from naming the files to drawing the map to calculating what it needs...so planetary objects into a variable for safety and makes the code shorter.

the next thing is...i do not know HOw to detect if the vessel is having multiple scanning-dishes on it, but if possible it could be great to make it so when there are more the dots(pixels) are bigger on scan or there are more of them...

about the writing to csv part...you don\'t need lat01, lat02 and so on...only need one 'latwrite' variable and change the nubers in a cycle like this: for(i=0; latwrite='data for the i number';i++) and thus this makes possible to raise or lower the points...and don\'t forget you don\'t have to have all points at once in the memory only need one-you write that out and store the next point.

so basically this code can be shortened with such variable handling to about the quarter of it\'s current size. moreover makes it expandable!

and my next suggestion is just the tip of the iceberg...new features list :D yay:

- a seperate part like a small laterally attachable part where you can only view the previously created maps and see where you are on it...but it needs the small computer to kick the plugin and 'be a compass on the map'-yep it can look cool a laterally mountable compass for EVAkerbals :)

- maps of the texture of the object-kerbin interestingly...maybe the muns have some texture as well...only have to read the textures of the objects and not calculate at all! :D

- also new type of maps for kerbol(the star) which could be called infrared maps...could be done for the planets too...scan for the heatlevels unravel the secrets behind artifacts...better than the red dots :D

- ground level mapping:build a rover and on the surface you can scan a 'medium' area around but only relative height! :D i know it adds one more variable to the math...

and don\'t know if it is possible or not...background simulated vessels scan too...now that would be the best!

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Innsewerants

Innsewerants

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ATM I\'m not working on the mod for a while. I\'ve run into an issue with 0.16 crashing/freezing constantly.

I have downloaded ksp fresh, installed it separately and left out any mods whatsoever. still randomly crashes.

So atm I can\'t trust the program on my system I\'m modding for and that makes it very hard to trace any mod issues as it might just be another random crash of ksp.

I suggest also that people keep back ups of their gui textures now and then, it may or may not be related to the random crashes but it replaced my maps with blank new ones yesterday. Which unless I\'m missing something in my code should never happen as the creating new textures code should never run if there is a file already. The first line of it is a fileexist check to decide to create or load textures.

Until I can get ksp to run modfree without crashing randomly I can\'t work on anything.

I\'m trying to work on a bug report but there is just very little to go on, no log as ksp doesn\'t get a chance to write to it and windows crash report isn\'t very forthcoming beyond stating it\'s a 1002 application hanged issue.

dear Innsewerants.

i like this mod, adds realism to KSP and works just fine...altough after playing with it for a day and looking through the sourcecode i have some suggestions to consider.

CODING STUFF suggestiong

first things first...the whole way how it creates the map and all the calculations are PERFECT and i know it depends on quite some variables so while reading through the code i found that you put large IF trees in there and the main phase is where a couple of functions look for what object the vessel orbits...and you\'ve put this check on every IF...i suggest using a check first in the top of the script and having a variable like 'orbitedobj' so it sets the name of the object...furthermore insert this into the IF statements and rely on it therefore it is only storing it once and not asking for it couple of time->faster more accurate and more importantly=>it is moddable because if more body\'s are added to the game you only have to put the new name to the first check and from there it does everything the same from naming the files to drawing the map to calculating what it needs...so planetary objects into a variable for safety and makes the code shorter.

the next thing is...i do not know HOw to detect if the vessel is having multiple scanning-dishes on it, but if possible it could be great to make it so when there are more the dots(pixels) are bigger on scan or there are more of them...

about the writing to csv part...you don\'t need lat01, lat02 and so on...only need one 'latwrite' variable and change the nubers in a cycle like this: for(i=0; latwrite='data for the i number';i++) and thus this makes possible to raise or lower the points...and don\'t forget you don\'t have to have all points at once in the memory only need one-you write that out and store the next point.

so basically this code can be shortened with such variable handling to about the quarter of it\'s current size. moreover makes it expandable!

and my next suggestion is just the tip of the iceberg...new features list :D yay:

- a seperate part like a small laterally attachable part where you can only view the previously created maps and see where you are on it...but it needs the small computer to kick the plugin and 'be a compass on the map'-yep it can look cool a laterally mountable compass for EVAkerbals :)

- maps of the texture of the object-kerbin interestingly...maybe the muns have some texture as well...only have to read the textures of the objects and not calculate at all! :D

- also new type of maps for kerbol(the star) which could be called infrared maps...could be done for the planets too...scan for the heatlevels unravel the secrets behind artifacts...better than the red dots :D

- ground level mapping:build a rover and on the surface you can scan a 'medium' area around but only relative height! :D i know it adds one more variable to the math...

and don\'t know if it is possible or not...background simulated vessels scan too...now that would be the best!

The main reason for some of the err.. archaic and/or expansive coding is otherwise I end up not understanding my own code.

MapSat still is the first thing I ever made and I didn\'t know a line of c# when I started making it.

The fancier the code gets the more like Mandarin it looks to me, and I don\'t read Mandarin sadly ;)

As I learn and get more comfortable with c# I tend to come back to old code pieces and rewrite them.

Ground level mapping already happens. the map is just 400px wide, at kerbin\'s equator 1 pixel covers 9.4x9.4 km.

Being able to draw a 20x20 km shape in the map from ground level is just not realistic, but it does draw the 1 pixel it has some data for so technically it is mapping from the second it sits on the launchpad.

What you see around Kerbol is not game data. There is no interesting heat data to collect in the game that I know of.

I was discussing a small gps unit that just uses maps, as far as you have collected them that is, just yesterday on irc.

It would be slightly more compact and just show locations, map and current position marker. usability is debatable though with 400x200 maps.

tbh mapping the textures does not really seem all that interesting, it be easy to emulate though unless you want the realism of only scanning when the sun is at a certain angle to keep the map the same lighting all over.

Kerbol in game has no terrain and nothing to map, that\'s why I coded an easter egg instead for kerbol.

I can probably emulate mapsats elsewhere.

I already don\'t protect code from running by checking if its the active flight, the reason other sats aren\'t running is because their code doesn\'t run far away from your position.

You can check that I left that check out by doing the following: put a craft with mapsat on the launchpad. go to space center and leave it there, start a plane without mapsat on the runway.. tadaa.. mapsat.

But as things despawn beyond a distance from you so does their code.

So i\'d have to emulate it. I might. It\'s not a priority feature tbh and currently I\'m having this crash problem with ksp vanilla so I never know if it\'s a mod or ksp itself when I run into crashes with testing.

Want to say thank you for this payload.

The only thing i say is we need more 'scientific' payloads, sensors, probes, landers.... :-)

Mapping Kerbin today on a 75 to 75km LKO

I\'m thinking about more sensor like things but this highly depends on if the devs have put in anything interesting to sense.

I mean a lot of things that would be interesting to sense aren\'t required to create the gameplay of ksp so a lot of things I find, are just not in game to do anything with (Don\'t need volcanic hotspots on kerbin to do the rocket gameplay, just saying).

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maxpanic

maxpanic

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Yeah I guess, but still. This tool looks really cool and I\'ve been looking into to enhance my KSP experience such as Zoxygene and PowerTool and now this but I first want to know what people do with this stuff. Besides what I mentioned what can I do more than using the information to know where to land?

Aside from locating artifacts, the biggest benefit is that it gives you something to accomplish, a real science mission. The lack of things to do is the biggest issue in the game...landing on the various bodies, building the most efficient or ridiculous rockets, and so on is fun but it gets a bit stale, especially after playing for a long time.

It\'s kind of neat to see how the planets are built, and to know what your ground track looks like. Finding the right combination of altitude and inclination to most efficiently map a body is challenging (Minimus was hard to get right).

It also helps with imagination-driven gameplay: I\'ve given names to the various terrain features and named my various bases after them, for example.

Anyway, if you\'re really having a hard time justifying the 5 minutes needed to install the mod, put the sensor on a rocket, and try it out, then I guess don\'t bother with it.

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SzaboMarton_D

SzaboMarton_D

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The main reason for some of the err.. archaic and/or expansive coding is otherwise I end up not understanding my own code.

MapSat still is the first thing I ever made and I didn\'t know a line of c# when I started making it.

The fancier the code gets the more like Mandarin it looks to me, and I don\'t read Mandarin sadly ;)

As I learn and get more comfortable with c# I tend to come back to old code pieces and rewrite them.

yes i know...i learned a bit of C in the university which i didn\'t finish :) but most of the structural logic was learned while watching and rewriting the code for craftybits to oblivion...and man there we needed plenty of tricks to not eat the computer alive :D so yeah...even if you\'re not modding or writing code it is helpful to look through other codes to see practicality or stupidity...and learn from it...this way some time later you incoorporate those tricks and just comes as a second instinct...so did my codes the same way...never being good enough because the next week i learned new things which made it more compact and or effective so keep on loearning, and may your game be stable forever! :D and never fear from being a complex code writer...it is fun!

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Hadlock

Hadlock

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Would it be possible to get detailed height data around the Mun\'s equator please? I\'m, uh, attempting something, and this would help me out dramatically so I don\'t smash in to the surface.

edit: simply the lat/long coordinates of the highest point on the Mun would suffice, as well

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rkman

rkman

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how do i change how the .exe renders my data?

Drop the attached batch file in \KSP_win\PluginData\isa_mapsat\

Double click to run it. It presents a menu with options for rendering maps.

I did not create that batch file, it was posted in the forums some time ago. Use at your own risk.

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KSProcks

KSProcks

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Drop the attached batch file in \KSP_win\PluginData\isa_mapsat\

Double click to run it. It presents a menu with options for rendering maps.

I did not create that batch file, it was posted in the forums some time ago. Use at your own risk.

thankyou now i have a natural map of what ive renderd for kerbin its almost done and im over 19 days in game time, ive left it on x5 speed and it works really well

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rkman

rkman

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....other sats aren\'t running is because their code doesn\'t run far away from your position. ...put a craft with mapsat on the launchpad. go to space center and leave it there, start a plane without mapsat on the runway.. tadaa.. mapsat.

So here i was flying my long range rescue plane to retrieve a Kerbal who landed his command module on a small island located half-way around kerbin, cruising at an altitude of ~7500m (the airplane, not the Kerbal..). And tadaa... the mapsat gui popped up. A mapsat satellite was passing overhead at a little over 70 80km altitude. That\'s a considerable distance.

...a little later: the rescue mission failed, and while the stranded Kerbal was on is way to rescue the rescuers, he got the mapsat gui:

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zYnthethicz

zYnthethicz

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Drop the attached batch file in \KSP_win\PluginData\isa_mapsat\

Double click to run it. It presents a menu with options for rendering maps.

I did not create that batch file, it was posted in the forums some time ago. Use at your own risk.

I\'ve had this bat file for quite some time but i wonder, how do you apply the commands manually?

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maxpanic

maxpanic

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I\'ve had this bat file for quite some time but i wonder, how do you apply the commands manually?

Open a command prompt, navigate to the directory, and use command line arguments as shown on the first post of this topic.

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Runescope

Runescope

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Right! So a little while ago I posted a mega mapper craft with something like 16 antennae on it. My reasoning was that if one is good, more is better and tons more is tons better :D

A question was raised on if it actually does any good. A valid and important question.

So to test it, I cleared off my Minmus map and launched a mapper with a single antennae on it. When I got to Minmus, I went into a circular orbit about 250KM up so that the data collection points would be fairly spaced out and easy to see. I recorded one second of actual drawing time on a blank slate and then ended the mission.

I copied the picture out of the mapper folder and restarted the game with my mega mapper with 16 antennae and once again went to Minmus in a circular orbit about 250KM up and turned on the map drawing for one second.

the two attached pictures shows the difference between them, which is nothing. ;D

Sorry guys, as sad as I am to say it, more antennae on a ship doesn\'t make for better scanning.

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Kreuzung

Kreuzung

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Did it still have to be the active ship?

That\'s a good question. Anyone ever rendezvoused with a mapper to see if it works if it\'s not the active ship?

That whould allow for faster mapping with the lazor system that increases the range of unloading ships.

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rkman

rkman

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That\'s a good question. Anyone ever rendezvoused with a mapper to see if it works if it\'s not the active ship?

That whould allow for faster mapping with the lazor system that increases the range of unloading ships.

My message here http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=10324.msg253640#msg253640

shows mapsat can become active even if it\'s 80km away from the active craft.

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rkman

rkman

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Have you been using lazor system on one of the crashed ships/planes?

The crashed rescue plane has lazor, but the Kerbal that got the mapsat gui does not.

Might still be a result of lazor being there, i don\'t know. The Kerbal was more than 2km away from the rescue plane when he got mapsat.

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