New Release Interplanetary Modular Spacecraft RC9

[jedidia]

Does excess power turn into heat or does it magically vanish into the onboard black hole?

It does not so magically not get produced, at least if we're not talking about solar panels.

For solar panels, not used power will heat up the panels additionaly. In reality they would actually get rotated slightly out of the sun to "throttle" them. But the additional heat is barely noticable on a panel anyways...

For generators, they just output less power. That is in so far unrealistic as some RTGs can't be throttled, and that anything like a nuclear reactor needs significant time to change its load. So in real life you would have excess heat until the reactor settled down, while in IMS they throttle up and down pretty much at the speed of light. But that's about it.

 

[spudman2]

Oh, okay. Cool!

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

Excuse me for my awful English. What do you mean with 'handy' exactly? Skilled or accesible? :lol:

The reason why I mentioned LaTeX is because it's very easy at upgradeing the text or managing images and wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.

Do you have a copy available to use was all. It'll be easier to do this if we can exchange word files back & forth during the editing process :thumbup:.

I'll try to put together a package of the stuff you'll need & post it here in a little bit.

---------- Post added at 21:48 ---------- Previous post was at 21:46 ----------

I'm starting to think that I suffer tunnel vission :facepalm: . Didn't see it, sorry.

Tunnel vision is normal, caused by looking down the docking HUD too often :lol:

 

[Dantassii]

Lunar Station update

After 9 missions (with the 10th on pad 3 at Brighton Beach) I think I've finally reached the point where I am going to have to start integrating parts before I can add any more. That's 10 missions with a fully loaded XR5 payload bay. Half the fun has been trying to juggle the payloads around so that I always take off with a full cargo bay.

I discovered a 'bug' that seems to limit the number of copies of a specific module on a IMS ship to 10. It will let you load #11, and save it, but if you try to load it back into Orbiter, you get a CRASH!

Q1) Is this a limitation of Orbiter? or IMS? or am I seeing things?

Last time I did a partial integration, I only integrated those modules that I needed more than 10 of. I left 1 module on the list of modules to integrate, but didn't integrate it. When I reloaded the saved scenario however, the unintegrated module moved to a totally different attachment point on the station and no matter what I did, I couldn't convince it to move anywhere else. The other modules it was attached too stayed where they were, so there was a BIG hole in my station.

This was after I stopped using the DX9 client, so I know that wasn't the issue.

Q2) Is there a 'bug' when you leave an unintegrated module on the integration list?

Q3) Can I unlist it?

I did determine that if I left no modules on the integration list that this does not occur. And it only occurs when you re-load a saved scenario with a module on the integration list.

Any ideas? Am I once again seeing things? If I see it again, should I do a screen capture and upload it?

As a side note, using the XR5 as a lunar cargo lifter is nice, but it seems there's a lot of wasted hardware. I mean who needs wings, and sealable retro thrusters, and sealable hover engines on a ship that will never see the atmosphere? And Scramjets... those are kinda a waste on a space-only ship... I can see the point of having a sealable docking port and cargo bay. Lots of dust gets kicked up during take-off and landing.

Q4) Is there a ship out there with the cargo capacity of the XR5, but without all the atmospheric flight hardware?

I really do enjoy the working cockpit of the XR5, but I realize that most of the ships out there use the default green-screen that comes with Orbiter. If I ever get around to building my own ship (other than my IMS ships), I'm definitely going to have a working dashboard setup like the XR-series cockpits. Lots of buttons, levers, dials, displays, and general useful information on a realistic looking cockpit.

 

[jedidia]

I discovered a 'bug' that seems to limit the number of copies of a specific module on a IMS ship to 10. It will let you load #11, and save it, but if you try to load it back into Orbiter, you get a CRASH!

Q1) Is this a limitation of Orbiter? or IMS? or am I seeing things?

Will need a bit more info on that. Are all the modules docked, or are they already integrated? If they all are docked, does number 11 per chance have a space in its name?

If they are all integrated, things get interesting. There isn't any limitation to equal modules that I know of, nor can I quite imagine where such a bug could be caused, but we'll find it.

Last time I did a partial integration, I only integrated those modules that I needed more than 10 of. I left 1 module on the list of modules to integrate, but didn't integrate it. When I reloaded the saved scenario however, the unintegrated module moved to a totally different attachment point on the station and no matter what I did, I couldn't convince it to move anywhere else.

Hmmm... module attached to wrong point after reload. Didn't have that so far, but it's at least conceivable that this could happen. Probably attachment points not getting created in the proper order on reload, therefore saved index points to wrong point, something like that. Will need some looking into. Scenario would be helpful.

Q2) Is there a 'bug' when you leave an unintegrated module on the integration list?

Possibly. You have to understand that the "integration list" is the list of attached modules. Attachment points in IMS are completely dynamic, so they must be recreated in the exact same order as they were created before, or the saved index the module was attached to will point to the wrong point. It's very possible that there's circumstances that mess up the operation on either save or load.

Q3) Can I unlist it?

Sure, just select it and click "detach".

Q4) Is there a ship out there with the cargo capacity of the XR5, but without all the atmospheric flight hardware?

None that I know of. Build one! :lol: (yeah, I know, no payload managment in IMS...)

 

[Dantassii]

Q1a) This is pre-integration but I don't know if it makes any difference if it is post/pre docking. I only noticed it happening after I docked the 11th copy of a module to my station. I will test this and get back with you on if it happens pre-docking as well as post-docking. It definitely does NOT happen post-integration. So it's only in a pre-integration situation.

Q1b) If I see it happen again, I will upload a before/after scenario. Also, if it happens again, I'll try it a few times to verify that it happens every single time or if it is a transient sort of thing.

Q4a) With so many ships already created for Orbiter, I figured I'd ask if 1 existed before I put it on my list of things to build.

 

[jedidia]

Q1a) This is pre-integration but I don't know if it makes any difference if it is post/pre docking. I only noticed it happening after I docked the 11th copy of a module to my station. I will test this and get back with you on if it happens pre-docking as well as post-docking. It definitely does NOT happen post-integration. So it's only in a pre-integration situation.

Then I assume it's problems with the docking list. Will have to look up what those were about.

 

[goaowonk]

Do you have a copy available to use was all. It'll be easier to do this if we can exchange word files back & forth during the editing process :thumbup:.

I'll try to put together a package of the stuff you'll need & post it here in a little bit.

---------- Post added at 21:48 ---------- Previous post was at 21:46 ----------



Tunnel vision is normal, caused by looking down the docking HUD too often :lol:

:lol:

Oh thanks a lot. You can take it easy, until 29th June I`d better not to start anything serious, because of final exams.

Also I was wondering which version of RC2 is at the link in the first post here, I think I`ve reported an outdated bug.

Cheers.

Sent from my Deltaglider using Potatolk.

 

[jedidia]

Also I was wondering which version of RC2 is at the link in the first post here, I think I`ve reported an outdated bug.

This reminds me that I should have updated the link in the first post a long time ago :facepalm:

EDIT:

uh-oh, PeterRoss, the link you provided for RC2.3 seemd to be dead...

EDIT2:

Then I assume it's problems with the docking list. Will have to look up what those were about.

Ok, I looked it up. It would seem that the DOCKINFO line reads a maximum of 256 characters. That's most probably what's causing the problem with the 11th module going away.

 

[PeterRoss]

Now this is weird. Try this one:
http://ge.tt/5xxvjwd

 

[goaowonk]

That one does work.

 

[Dantassii]

I'll check the DOCKINFO line if I see any problems.

------------ New question -----------
Q6) The 'Remove ports' button.. does that remove ALL unused docking ports on the integrated modules or do you get a list of them and get to delete only the ones you want to delete?

 

[Mandella]

Q1a) .

Q4a) With so many ships already created for Orbiter, I figured I'd ask if 1 existed before I put it on my list of things to build.

I haven't played with the IMS system yet, so I have no idea if this would be compatible or not, but Greg Burch's LST system might be what you need, especially the [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3608"]Heavy Utility Lander[/ame].

Additionally, it fits the "look" of the Orbital Modules, since those are Greg's design too.

 

[jedidia]

Now this is weird. Try this one:
http://ge.tt/5xxvjwd

Thanks, updated.

Q6) The 'Remove ports' button.. does that remove ALL unused docking ports on the integrated modules or do you get a list of them and get to delete only the ones you want to delete?

It will remove only construction ports, and you can specify the index range when you click on the button (so you can enter index 20 through 33 for example, and all ports with those indices will be deleted).

 

[Dantassii]

Update on my Lunar Station

I'm now getting ready to run the 12th XR5 mission to my station and just wanted to give some updates on some of the issues I've raised.

1) More than 10 copies of a module issue.

Seems that so long as I name them different names, I've been able to add up to 22 copies of a module w/out any problems. I suspect that's what my problem was on my earlier attempt; I had misnamed something and had duplicate names. Either that or it was an issue with the R2 version of IMS (I've upgraded to R2.3). In any case, no longer an issue.

2) Having a module un-attached but still on the attachment list causing module to get rotated.

I haven't seen this issue pop up again even though I've left a module in this state for the last 4-5 missions. It might have been that I was using the R2 (instead of R2.3) release of IMS w/DX9 turned off and that is what I was seeing. Ever since I started using R2.3 w/DX9 turned off I've had no issued with IMS with modules getting rotated without me telling them to rotate.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the largest ship (in terms of # of modules before integration) ever built with IMS is? As I said, I'm up to XR5 mission 12 and I estimate that the station I will be building will be 'occupation ready' by around mission 20 and 'ready to begin construction' (it is a repair/assembly station) by mission 35 to 40.

 

[goaowonk]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the largest ship (in terms of # of modules before integration) ever built with IMS is? As I said, I'm up to XR5 mission 12 and I estimate that the station I will be building will be 'occupation ready' by around mission 20 and 'ready to begin construction' (it is a repair/assembly station) by mission 35 to 40.

I suppose Scenario Editor doesn't count. Caon you post a pic somewhere? I'm curious about yours :3

 

[Dantassii]

I'll be posting pictures of it once it is 'oocupation ready'. That means that it has Food, O2, Water, habitation space, and artificial gravity for its first crew. When it's complete it will be able to house over 120 people and be self sustaining in Food, O2, and water and everyone will habitate in one of the 2 centrifuge rings. It will also have 2 docking ports for assembly/repair as well as several repair bays and engineering bays and such. I also hope that under normal conditions it will be able to provide all it's power through solar arrays. Right now I have 8Mw of nuclear power which should be enough for dark periods. But we'll see.

 

[Dantassii]

Weird Crash error

Ok, I'm getting the 'crash if you put more than 10' error but this time I did a LOT of research.

It only has problems (so far) with the BT101 truss, and only if they have certain names.

If I name the modules
BT101-01, BT101-02, BT101-03, ... BT101-10, BT101-11

Then save it, then try to reload it, Orbiter Crashes and there's no errors in any of logs. It crashes while loading the modules, just before it starts up.

But if I name the modules
BT101-01, BT101-02, BT101-03, ... BT101-10, BT101-101

Then save it, then reload it, I have no problems what so ever. I even loaded a BT101-102, saved it, reloaded it, and no problems.

I also have 10+ Rectangular solar arrays (the non-SSBB ones), they don't seem to cause a problem with more than 10 no matter what I name them.

I have no idea if any other modules cause this problem, but having a module that has a reload problem only when the 11th one has a name too close to the first 10 sounds pretty fishy to me.

This would explain why my first IMS station crashed as I was naming the BT101 modules by an ever increasing number starting with 01 and going through 12, when I hit 11, it blew up on me.

It only has a problem with the modules once they are docked to the station. If they are just sitting in the payload bay of my XR5, the module loads without a hitch and lets me fly the mission and dock the modules. If I add the modules via the Scenario Editor, that too will let me add modules with whatever name I want and have no problem. The problem comes when I try to reload the Scenario from a save point.

If I stumble across any other modules that do this, or can ferret out any additional details from my own experience, I'll report them ASAP.

To duplicate the problem, create a station with a control module and 10 BT101 modules named of course BT101-01 through BT101-10. Save it. Then add BT101-11. Save it. Do not integrate. Shut down Orbiter, restart it, then try to reload the 2 scenarios you just saved. The first one should load, the 2nd one should crash.

 

[PeterRoss]

Thing to check: if I have some spare time I'll try to create simple non-IMS vessel with a big number of docking ports and reproduce the situation to find if it's an IMS bug or Orbiter's.

 

[VSI]

I done messaged jedidia about it that the download link doesn't work and was wondering if anyone had a spare .rar of IMS_RC2.3 laying around?