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[1.3.x] SETI, Unmanned before Manned [Patreon]

Yemo

By Yemo
in KSP1 Mod Releases

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Svm420

Svm420

Posted
Posted
I was just reading an article on the new electric rocket motor (i.e. it uses an electric motor to pump the fuel instead of a turbopump) that Rocket Lab has developed and I was thinking that might make for a neat little engine.

How much interest is there in me writing up a little config for one of the stock engines (say, the rockomax 0.625m stack engine or the LVT-909)? I would like the engine to fill a niche, I was thinking of making it a very low-cost engine (the most expensive part of a rocket engine is the turbopump) with a relatively higher ISP since it's not wasting any fuel to run the pump, but with a lower TWR due to the weight of the electric motor compared to a turbopump and you would need to bring a relatively big battery pack as well (turbopumps are usually measured in 1000s of horsepower for rocket motors). It could work well for very small launchers (i.e. the real world use) or for probes which have solar panels to offset the energy requirements and don't mind the low TWR.

Count me in. Maybe in the future we can find a good modeler willing to bring it to life even. Either way I love more variety in my engines.

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Lord Aurelius

Lord Aurelius

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Posted (edited)

Here's a quick and dirty electric engine config for the 48-7S. Make a copy of the engine folder (liquidEngine48-7S) and put it in another folder in your game directory and replace all the text in the cfg file with this code:


PART {

name = electricEngineSmall
module = Part
author = Squad, Lord Aurelius
mesh = model.mu

rescaleFactor = 1.0

node_stack_top = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0
node_stack_bottom = 0.0, -0.375, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0, 0.0, 0

TechRequired = fuelSystems
entryCost = 2000
cost = 200
category = Engine
subcategory = 0
title = Rockomax 48-7E
manufacturer = Rockomax Conglomerate
description = By using an electric pump instead of a pressure fed system, Rockmax has achieved superior thrust at a lower cost per unit over the 48-7S. Unfortunately, the engine now requires batteries to run, but your probe has solar panels, right?
attachRules = 1,0,1,0,0

mass = 0.125
dragModelType = default
maximum_drag = 0.2
minimum_drag = 0.2
angularDrag = 2
crashTolerance = 7
breakingForce = 200
breakingTorque = 200
maxTemp = 3600

EFFECTS
{
  running
  {
    AUDIO
    {
      channel = Ship
      clip = sound_rocket_mini
      volume = 0.0 0.0
      volume = 1.0 1.0
      pitch = 0.0 0.75
      pitch = 1.0 0.95
      loop = true
    }
    PREFAB_PARTICLE
    {
      prefabName = fx_exhaustFlame_yellow_tiny_Z
      transformName = thrustTransform
      emission = 0.0 0.0
      emission = 1.0 1.0
      speed = 0.0 0.8
      speed = 1.0 1.0
    }
  }
  engage
  {
    AUDIO
    {
      channel = Ship
      clip = sound_vent_medium
      loop = false
    }
  }
  disengage
  {
    AUDIO
    {
      channel = Ship
      clip = sound_vent_soft
      loop = false
    }
  }
}

MODULE
{
	name = ModuleEnginesFX
	thrustVectorTransformName = thrustTransform
	exhaustDamage = True
	ignitionThreshold = 0.1
	minThrust = 0
	maxThrust = 35
	heatProduction = 150
	fxOffset = 0, 0, 0.125
	PROPELLANT
	{
	 	name = LiquidFuel
		ratio = 0.9
		DrawGauge = True
	}
	PROPELLANT
	{
		name = Oxidizer
		ratio = 1.1
	}
	PROPELLANT
	{
		name = ElectricCharge
		ratio = 5
	}
	atmosphereCurve
 	{
		key = 0 350
		key = 1 300
 	}

}

MODULE
{
       name = ModuleJettison
       jettisonName = node_fairing_collider
       bottomNodeName = bottom
       isFairing = True
       jettisonedObjectMass = 0.1
       jettisonForce = 2
       jettisonDirection = 0 0 1

}

MODULE
{
	name = ModuleGimbal
	gimbalTransformName = thrustTransform
	gimbalRange = 1
}

MODULE
{
	name = ModuleTestSubject

	// nowhere: 0, srf: 1, ocean: 2, atmo: 4, space: 8
	environments = 15

	useStaging = True
	useEvent = True
}

}

All this really changes is to add ElectricCharge to the list of propellants and tweaks the weight and thrust a bit. The EC usage probably needs to be balanced, right now it needs about 400 EC for a stock sounding rocket with 10 oscar tanks. Feel free to change the EC usage value to something else and let me know what values seem to work best.

Edited by Lord Aurelius
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Smegghed

Smegghed

Posted
Posted

Hey guys,

Last time I hijack the thread, I promise. I'm still getting that exacerbated memory leak, I can fly around inside of Kerbin for about 15 minutes.

I just partitioned off a chunk of hard drive space to install Linux, as suggested by several people. I'm a lifelong Windows user, and am baffled by this linux wizardry you speak of, and was hoping someone could point me in the direction of some resources they find helpful to learn said wizardry.

Since OBS now has a linux client there's no reason not to try this out, as streaming was my primary concern, and hopefully can overcome the AMD video card issues people have been having (poor support.)

Also, thanks for popping in the telemetry patch in this last dev version. I can't wait to get streaming this again!

Alright, hijacking over!

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Lord Aurelius

Lord Aurelius

Posted
Posted (edited)

@Smegghed

The Complete Beginner's Guide to Linux

I personally would recommend Linux Mint with the Cinnamon UI, it uses the same foundation as SteamOS (they're both Ubuntu derivatives) so Steam works without issues and the graphics drivers are generally better supported. Ubuntu has a weird UI that I don't like, Mint's default UI is pretty close to windows (a lot of the same keyboard shortcuts work too) so it should be easier to work with.

As far as actually installing Linux, you download the iso for your chosen distribution (i.e. Linux Mint Cinnamon 64-bit) and copy it to a sufficiently large (2GB+) thumb drive with a tool such as unetbootin. You then boot your computer from the USB device and follow the installation wizard. It will automatically detect windows and set up your bootloader so that when your computer starts up, you'll have a menu and can choose either windows or linux.

To install Steam (and other programs), there's a software center (also referred to as a package manager, software is often referred to as packages on Linux) available that functions similarly to an app store that will automatically download and install the programs you want (this is the main way of getting software on Linux).

Edited by Lord Aurelius
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Yemo

Yemo

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  • Author
Posted (edited)

@LordAurelius:

The engine looks nice!

I m having my hands full at releasing 0.8.9, so I will take a look after that!

@PeterPan:

Thank you for the mod suggestion.

An impactor experiment is missing at the moment (didnt KSPI add one), I will take a look at it after 0.8.9.

Removed Mod Support:

I had to remove mod support for (Semi-)Saturatable Reaction Wheels for the moment, there were quite a lot of exceptions thrown when placing some parts in the VAB. For example the AR202 from MechJeb, the Command Pod from Taurus HCV, the Deployable Skycrane from Dr. Jet's Chop Shop. They all have in common, that they are command pods, with reaction wheels and built in thrusters.

Edited by Yemo
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Lord Aurelius

Lord Aurelius

Posted
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@Smegghed

Glad to hear that you're up and running, hopefully the GPU stuff works with minimal hassle. There's a tool in Mint for installing 3rd party drivers, load up driver manager (the search box on the menu will find it the fastest) and it should show you the available drivers. Use the official one, the unofficial ones tend not to work very well (missing things like 3D acceleration).

I would use Linux for gaming myself if not for a giant collection of predominately windows only games (that and power management under Linux isn't that great compared to Windows so my laptop tends to run quite a bit warmer).

@Yemo

Those electric engines are dead simple to implement (just add electric charge to the list of propellants). Just need to find an appropriate EC value (the value as far as I can tell is the energy required to pump 2 units of LFO (0.9 LF, 1.1 O)). I'll write some configs for some other engines as well (was thinking LV-909 and LVT-45) with a little higher thrust for the electric LV-909 (it looks like a pressure fed engine to me and a pump should increase the flow rate a bit) and less thrust for the electric LVT-45 (but better ISP and much cheaper entry cost). That could work reasonably well for lightweight launcher engine, I always thought there was an engine gap between the LV-909 and the LVT-45 and an electric engine could fill that.

@Everyone

On a related tangent, I was trying to retexture the 48-7S for the electric variant and I couldn't find where the standard texture is (the one with the reddish orange part). There's a norm and diff textures, but neither of them had the red-orange part on them. Any idea of where to find this? I'm not really a texture expert, I've just been using mbm2png and paint.net to recolor a few textures.

Edited by Lord Aurelius
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Lord Aurelius

Lord Aurelius

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I didn't see that, that could work as well. I just noticed it and realized that SETI doesn't have any cargo bays in that size so I figured I might as well recommend it.

Now that I see that it's just a rescale of Tal's cargo solutions, I agree that a MM script to rescale the parts is a better solution (and can be easily integrated into SETI).

Edited by Lord Aurelius
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Lord Aurelius

Lord Aurelius

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The other day I was playing around rovers and dropships and noticed that the various crew compartments don't have any KAS storage and also seem to be quite heavy compared to other parts. For example, the mk2 crew compartment weighs 3 tons, but a full LFO tank of the exact same dimensions only weighs 2.25 tons and the mk2 cockpit is physically quite a bit larger but weighs less. I understand that the weights are balanced relative to the number of kerbals the part carries, but it's still a bit immersion breaking to have a part that's mostly empty space be so heavy. Also, I would expect them to have a fair amount of KAS storage given how much extra space they have in the IVA.

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Yemo

Yemo

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  • Author
Posted

@Smegghed:

I hope Linux works out for you!

@Smegghed

Glad to hear that you're up and running, hopefully the GPU stuff works with minimal hassle. There's a tool in Mint for installing 3rd party drivers, load up driver manager (the search box on the menu will find it the fastest) and it should show you the available drivers. Use the official one, the unofficial ones tend not to work very well (missing things like 3D acceleration).

I would use Linux for gaming myself if not for a giant collection of predominately windows only games (that and power management under Linux isn't that great compared to Windows so my laptop tends to run quite a bit warmer).

@Yemo

Those electric engines are dead simple to implement (just add electric charge to the list of propellants). Just need to find an appropriate EC value (the value as far as I can tell is the energy required to pump 2 units of LFO (0.9 LF, 1.1 O)). I'll write some configs for some other engines as well (was thinking LV-909 and LVT-45) with a little higher thrust for the electric LV-909 (it looks like a pressure fed engine to me and a pump should increase the flow rate a bit) and less thrust for the electric LVT-45 (but better ISP and much cheaper entry cost). That could work reasonably well for lightweight launcher engine, I always thought there was an engine gap between the LV-909 and the LVT-45 and an electric engine could fill that.

@Everyone

On a related tangent, I was trying to retexture the 48-7S for the electric variant and I couldn't find where the standard texture is (the one with the reddish orange part). There's a norm and diff textures, but neither of them had the red-orange part on them. Any idea of where to find this? I'm not really a texture expert, I've just been using mbm2png and paint.net to recolor a few textures.

I m really hesitant in adding new stuff so late in the patch development, new contracts will have to wait for the next dev version as well. I m just much more comfortable with trouble shooting in dev versions, should something come up.

Another mod recommendation:

Mk1 Cargo Bay

While it is essentially just a resize and reskin of the model by Tal, I included it anyway. Not everyone wants/needs the whole bundle of parts and it offers a lightweight solution for a common problem, even though KSP 1.0 will introduce cargo bays as well.

The other day I was playing around rovers and dropships and noticed that the various crew compartments don't have any KAS storage and also seem to be quite heavy compared to other parts. For example, the mk2 crew compartment weighs 3 tons, but a full LFO tank of the exact same dimensions only weighs 2.25 tons and the mk2 cockpit is physically quite a bit larger but weighs less. I understand that the weights are balanced relative to the number of kerbals the part carries, but it's still a bit immersion breaking to have a part that's mostly empty space be so heavy. Also, I would expect them to have a fair amount of KAS storage given how much extra space they have in the IVA.

The crew compartment mass i a bit unfortunate, but I m not sure how I can fix that without making it worse, though the Mk2 tanks are a bit lightweight at the moment. But I have added KAS storage to every utility part with crew capacity, 20 per kerbal. Thank you for the suggestion!

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Svm420

Svm420

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Posted (edited)

Has anyone else used saturable reaction wheel mod? I wondered what other thought of it. I love the change, but find that with seti's massive reduction to RW's torque to be too much making them almost useless. I think that stock torque levels with the mod make for a good experience. It probably could be a little lower than stock, but not as far as it currently is IMO. Hope to hear what others thoughts are.

Turns out it was a glitch with the mod still, torque wasn't working in space. I will give this another try and report back with my opinion.

Fixed

Edited by Svm420
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Lord Aurelius

Lord Aurelius

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Posted

@Svm420

A few posts back Yemo had to drop support for that mod for the time being due to exceptions on parts with both reaction wheels and integrated RCS thrusters, maybe that's what was causing the issues you were seeing.

Removed Mod Support:

I had to remove mod support for (Semi-)Saturatable Reaction Wheels for the moment, there were quite a lot of exceptions thrown when placing some parts in the VAB. For example the AR202 from MechJeb, the Command Pod from Taurus HCV, the Deployable Skycrane from Dr. Jet's Chop Shop. They all have in common, that they are command pods, with reaction wheels and built in thrusters.

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Svm420

Svm420

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No it was fixed that day which lead to this new/old problem coming up, and that too is now fixed after a quick update by the author. He's is awesome at getting things fixed with good feedback. I am in the process of getting my last .90 career off the ground so I will be testing the RWs with the seti configs and semisat RWs and seeing how I feel with the mix. I just can't use RWs stock anymore it feels like infinite fuel D:

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Yemo

Yemo

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No it was fixed that day which lead to this new/old problem coming up, and that too is now fixed after a quick update by the author. He's is awesome at getting things fixed with good feedback. I am in the process of getting my last .90 career off the ground so I will be testing the RWs with the seti configs and semisat RWs and seeing how I feel with the mix. I just can't use RWs stock anymore it feels like infinite fuel D:

I ll put the Semi Saturatable Reaction Wheels back in the mods list!

New Version 0.8.9

Contracts

  • Stock progression contracts (explore body) removed, since they could not be cancelled and blocked the list
  • New "Space Exploration & Technology Initiative" agency to identify SETI contracts (though it still uses the stock image)
  • Powered Landing contracts do not allow aero parts on vessel (wings, nose cones, intakes)
  • Many manned missions do not require a "return Home", thus making the choice of vessel more flexible (Apollo Style, Stations)

Science Experiments

  • Mystery Goo and Materials Bay have half the previous mass (160kg instead of 320kg)
  • Mystery Goo rewards increased from 10/13 to 18/23 science
  • New automatic surface sample experiment from Lord Aurelius "StockScienceTweaks" included (@unmannedTech)
  • Updated biome mask of Barometer Experiment from "StockScienceTweaks", now biome dependent when flying low, no ground readings
  • Nerfed TemperatureScan and Barometer considerably, to rebalance the early science gains
  • Nerfed Accelerometer and Gravimeter considerably, but they are available earlier @basicRocketry/electronics
  • Acc/Grav got their physics significance back, rebalanced their costs and masses
  • Many DMagic Experiments nerfed by 1/6th to 1/3rd
  • Many DMagic Experiment parts shuffled around in the tech tree and many have reduced mass of only 20kg instead of 40kg

Extended Mod Support

NEW/Reintroduced Parts, updated Autopruner file

  • New RoveMate Roverbody with integrated probe core and reaction wheel under "command" category
  • FAR likes normal nose cones much better than procedural ones...
  • So the normal ones are brought back
  • If you use AutoPruner, then unprune with the old autopruner file and reprune with the new one

Procedural Parts

  • Monoprop tank capacity per volume drastically increased
  • Procedural Probe Core with Battery tank type option (much less dense than Procedural Battery)
  • Procedural Structural Element and Nose Cone restricted like the other procedural parts
  • Procedural Structural Element and Nose Cone with low density battery option and fuel tank options
  • Therefore a low density procedural battery is available at the start!
  • New Procedural KAS Life Support Container!
  • Decreased minimum volume of procedural boosters

TechTree changes

  • CTT "Recycling" node now requires "scienceTech" instead of only "survivability"
  • CTT AdvancedRecycling/Hydroponics node renamed to Orbital Stations
  • CTT Orbital Surveys node costs increased from 90 to 160
  • Station Hubs moved to "OrbitalStations" with CTT installed
  • Various chutes earlier, most at survivability and enhancedSurvivability
  • Various rover parts shifted from the "landing" tech line to the "space exploration" line
  • Launch Escape System and Mk1-2 cover much earlier
  • Mk1 Cockpit shifted to aerodynamicSystems
  • Mk2 Lander Can earlier @specializedControl
  • Mk3 Space Shuttle Nose Cone later @heavyAerodynamics
  • Basic ladder earlier @stability
  • Small Adjustable Landing Gear earlier @stability
  • Procedural Alkaline Fuel Cell earlier @survivability
  • Procedural Battery earlier @survivability
  • Some more basic structural parts moved to generalConstruction
  • Hardpoints earlier eg small one @stability
  • RLA Spinnaker LFO engine (75kN thrust, 0.625m diameter) earlier @generalRocketry
  • VenStockRevamp SnubOtron earlier @generalRocketry
  • Standard Nose Cone earlier @start
  • Protective Nose Cone later @heavyRocketry
  • KAS/KIS parts shuffled around the tech tree, generally earlier
  • KipEng Low Profile Station parts later @Orbital Stations (CTT) or specializedConstruction
  • Clamp-o-tron docking port with integrated parachute earlier @advMetalworks
  • MicroGoo and micro materials bay later @exoticAlloys

Rebalances & Adjustments

  • All parts should now have DeadlyReentry compatible maxTemp values
  • 2+ kerbal Command pods default ablative shielding decreased, maxAblative Shielding increased
  • Massive nerf to the costs of Nukes
  • Solar Array masses and tweakscale exponents (costs, masses) unified, flat solar panels lighter
  • PackRat Rover Front moved to command category, since it has a probe core
  • Utility Parts with Crew capacity have KAS storage (maxSize is 20*CrewCapacity)
  • Fairings have 0 prefix, structural fairings moved to aerodynamics with the other fairing parts
  • Launch Escape System rebalanced (eg lighter) and now under propulsion instead of utility
  • Vernor Engine nerfed (costs and ISP)
  • ISP for TurboJet Engines corrected (lowered ISP a lot), except XJ-48k Vector, which had the right ISP
  • Stayputnik and OKTO 2 cores lighter, OKTO 2 mass is now exactly OKTO mass + 0.3 torque reaction wheel
  • Monoprop thrusters and tanks rebalanced (higher capacity tanks, lower isp engines, less mass & cost RCS)
  • Non-procedural nose cones reintroduced, because FAR likes them much better than the procedural ones...
  • Non-procedural nose cones rebalanced in terms of mass and costs, also renamed
  • Non-Procedural Boosters sometimes heavily rebalanced to be in line with the procedural ones
  • Procedural Nose Cones are surface attachable and accept surface attachments
  • Non-procedural decouplers and separators have tweakscale configs
  • TCS Cargo Bays rebalanced
  • GingerCorp 8way station hub a bit heavier @2 tons instead of 1.8
  • HECS probe core gets a small reaction wheel
  • Micronode (non-rockomax one) now allows radial attachment
  • Jet engine costs rebalanced
  • LFI Basic Jet Engine rated at Ma0.95 instead of Ma1.2
  • Structural Girder costs rebalanced
  • Small Landing Gear has physics significance and mass of 50kg
  • Hardpoints rebalanced
  • Mk2-R Parachute case rescaled to fit the actually contained chute
  • BaseMount part from Habitat Pack now supports tweakscale
  • A bit lower entry costs for LV-T45
  • KAX Heavy Jet fuel tank rebalanced to be in line with procedural parts
  • Mk1 Cockpit heavier at 1.1 tons instead of 1, but has working intakes
  • Mk1 Liquid Fuel rebalanced to be in line with procedural parts
  • O-10 Monoprop engine rescaled (rescaleFactor 2.83) and TweakScaled added
  • MPR-5R Monoprop engine rescaled (rescaleFactor 0.8)
  • Universal Docking Port 2.5m a bit heavier

Minor Changes and Fixes

  • Mk1-2 Pod mass reduced by 100kg, because of the modding unfriendly VenStockRevamp MM statements
  • Mainsail Gimbal restored to stock value for VenStockRevamp, which used a buggy MM statement
  • Universal Storage Hexacore mass corrected
  • Habitats corrected
  • HERP pod had the wrong mass, it was too light
  • TR-18D Stack Separator node position fix (especially for StockPartRevamp)
  • Deleted TweakScale configs from DMagic Science Experiments
  • Shrouded Solar Panels renamed to "Retractable"

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Yemo

Yemo

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That's quite the update! Can we assume that this will break saves?

It does not break saves!

Though if you are not updating from the last dev version, then there are quite some balancing changes to consider, especially regarding monoprop.

But as with every update, making a backup of your save folder is recommended.

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Svm420

Svm420

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Awesome work as always Yemo! thanks for the update. Do you have any more planned for 0.90 or are you going to stop supporting 0.90 when 1.0 hits given the time for mods to get updated? Just curious for the future of the mod concerning 1.0 and 0.90. Also your numbers are perfect with semi saturable RWs feels perfect control wise. Enough to hold an attitude without making RCS obsolete.

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Svm420

Svm420

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Meant to post this last night, but your config for the PP-HRB has the case for the part being weightless. When you burn all the fuel your part ends up weightless. This bestows a lot more delta v when usig an HRB over an SRB. I don't believe this is the intention is it?

- - - Updated - - -

For reference pp-srbs use 3.737 for mass which does scale with resizing

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Svm420

Svm420

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Posted

I recommend this little module that uses the same FS module B9 uses. Allowing better alignment of landing gear on planes. May not need the :final tag I just made this when I was just learning MM.

@PART[SmallGearBay]:FINAL
{
MODULE
    {
        name = FSwheelAlignment
    }
}

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SwGustav

SwGustav

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Posted (edited)

Suggestion for the mod list:

Robotics Sequencer

Also, USI Kolonization Systems is doubled in there; and you might wanna add recommendation of Ship Manifest for Station Parts Expansion, because the 1.25m cupola has no hatch or IVA making kerbal trapped in there.

Edit: Somehow I also noticed Ship Manifest is doubled as well, is this intentional?

Edited by SwGustav
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