Gaming The Kerbal Space Program - Version 1.2.x

That's the thing, stacking fuel tanks doesn't make them into a big one... they're still separate compartments...

So it's a decision the Kerbal engineers would have made ;)

But yeah, top-down does seem better.

Cheers

EDIT:

top-down it is then! :thumbup:

I'm also recoding the engines now, trying to clean up that mess... I went through the trouble of creating a huge class interface for all modules that extend the generic part class... and it seems I went out of my way to not use it later :P

Now it looks better, and I've realized something... it seems the SRBs aren't losing mass as they burn... I'm about to add that now, and I was wondering if anyone knows how much mass usually is fuel in a solid booster?

Cheers
 
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Ah, now I understand! :facepalm:

We can make-pretend that a tank has plumbing on top and on the bottom to receive-transer fuel from/to another tank. This way fuel would still continue to "flow" down like it were a big tank.
The top tank feeds the bottom tank which feeds the engine and so on...
 
I think it should burn just like the real SRB's do.

which is bottoms up, right?
 
There are many different grain geometries for solid rocket motors, with different burn profile, grain mixtures and different thrust profiles.

Most common though is the simple inside out, followed by a star shape. For short high thrust burns, you use a grain with many long channels drilled into it.
 
Fabri91 said:
Ah, now I understand! :facepalm:

We can make-pretend that a tank has plumbing on top and on the bottom to receive-transer fuel from/to another tank. This way fuel would still continue to "flow" down like it were a big tank.
The top tank feeds the bottom tank which feeds the engine and so on...
Click to expand...

Yep. :thumbup:

And yeah, I assume the SRBs burn from the inside out... the fuel is laid out to form an inverted cone in the center, that directs the thrust downwards through the nozzle.

But how much (in percent) of an SRBs mass is the fuel?

Cheers
 
HarvesteR said:
But how much (in percent) of an SRBs mass is the fuel?
Click to expand...

Since there is very little else left on an SRB, from 80% to 96% of the mass can be fuel.
 
Cool. Thanks! :thumbup:

I'm gonna use 80%, since the Kerbal engineers aren't so good to make something more efficient ;)

Cheers

EDIT::

Well, that's that I think... fuel tanks are now stackable, and the SRBs and the Liquid Engines are overhauled :)

Now, I'm thinking I'm gonna add a new parameter to them in the cfg file, to allow defining the position and orientation of the thrust center.
This would make it possible to have engines that fire sideways, or retro-engines, or those cool separation engines that were mentioned earlier!

I'm gonna use the same cfg syntax as the attachment nodes or effects. Six numeric parameters for position XYZ and up-vector XYZ. This way, it'll be possible to use the CFG tool included in the (soon to be) SDK to extract thruster position and orientation as well :)


Cheers

EDIT ::

I've decided to not use the same syntax as the nodes for the thrust center and orientation, because there is another way that is much more flexible... now, the KSP importer is able to parse vectors and rotations from the cfg. Those are defined as comma-separated values, like this: thrustVector = 0, -1.0, 0. So now we can parse 2, 3 and 4 dimensional vectors, as well as rotations, in angle-axis format (as in 'myRotation = 30.0, 0, 1, 0 <-- would create a rotation of 30 degrees around the vertical axis).

So, now I can define vectors for the position and orientation of the thrust force.

Cheers again!

---------- Post added at 08:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:17 PM ----------

Ok! now it's possible to direct the thrust of the SRBs through the cfg, which means retro-engines and separation rockets are now possible to add, even as a mod! :)

Cheers

---------- Post added 07-06-11 at 12:40 PM ---------- Previous post was 07-05-11 at 08:16 PM ----------

Day 7:

We now have Undo/Redo support in the VAB!

That was really a LOT easier than I thought it would be :thumbup:
We had estimated an entire day for that feature, but it got done in 20 minutes!! :lol:

Hehe, we actually already had that feature implemented a long time ago, but it had stopped working for some reason... so I had disabled it. Now that I got to it, I only had to add a line or two to make it work again :D

More to follow!

Cheers
 
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Yep, and now the placement bug is fixed! :)

It's not the best of solutions though... but now it's possible to attach parts under the tricoupler without any problems.

The final thing left to do now is fix the normals problem in the SRB mesh... that mesh was made in Maya, but for some reason it was ported over to 3Ds Max for exporting, and in that process the normals got scrambled... I'm gonna try importing the mesh again, or if all else fails, remodel it from scratch... shouldn't be too hard anyways, it's mostly a cylinder :hmm:

After that, we're probably clear for an early 0.8 release! We'll probably spend the rest of the day and part of tomorrow triple-checking for bugs, and if everything checks out, up it goes :thumbup:

Cheers

---------- Post added at 05:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------

Well, I managed to fix the mesh. Turns out 3Ds Max does have a modifier to reset the normals, so they can be recalculated.

Now I'm doing some retexturing on it, because I hadn't noticed with the messed up normals just how dark and out-of-place the original texture was.

It should be ready in a short while!

Cheers
 
I am happy that we could help you streamline and improve your game.
There is a lot of potential here. :) I really look forward to seeing it evolve.
 
Yes, I'm not fooling myself to think I could spot all the bugs... what I meant was more in the ways of packing the new release up properly (guilty :facepalm:), and making sure there aren't any obvious mistakes.

Anyhow, I thought you guys would like to see a screenshot of the new SRBs, and other things. This image should illustrate many of the things that are now possible with the new version (including the screenshot itself, which was taken with the F1 key and saved automatically ;) ):

picture.php


This thing will fly. The fuel tanks pump fuel through each other, down to the engine.

Also fixed is the radial decoupler separation. It can now eject a lit SRB in a way that will not cause it to ram the command capsule and kill everyone. (well, most times at least ;) )

The new version should be up as soon as we're able to pack it up and upload :thumbup:

Many thanks for everyone for all the help this far! I can't tell you how much better it is to develop the game when people are giving feedback.

Cheers :cheers:
 
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Will the SRBs still dance around like they did before?

And for the love of the Probe (and Kerman space crew), please don't skip bug testing. I know you won't find all the bugs, but as a developer it's important to take the time to play with your product...
 
Wow, I have to say, I am genuinely impressed.

I love the simpler, clean graphical style you've chosen.
 
Now you could attach some chutes to the SRBs on this picture so the SRBs can be "reused" (or at least don't give a collision report in the flight log). Also it would make them a bit more aerodynamically. :)
 
Richy said:
Now you could attach some chutes to the SRBs on this picture so the SRBs can be "reused" (or at least don't give a collision report in the flight log). Also it would make them a bit more aerodynamically. :)
Click to expand...

The idea is to add a new kind of 'automatic' parachute, that'll work independent of the ship's control feed. You can strap these to pretty much anything that's ejected.

This will tie in with the space center budget and management mechanics, later...

The plan is to make it so that everything that can land without exploding can also be retrieved, and reused with much less expense than buying the parts anew again. (you'd still have to pay for the retrieval and restoration of the landed parts, though, but it'd be a lot cheaper)

But of course, that isn't in yet... since there is no budget whatsoever... it makes no sense to add it right now, since all parts are free ;)


Cheers

---------- Post added at 03:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:35 AM ----------

One more update:

We caught a few bugs that were introduced this week and eliminated them :thumbup:

Also, we made a few small changes and added a last-minute feature:

We moved the loading screen to before the main menu enters, so the game is loaded in all scenes now, and there's no more loading screen after you see the main menu.

Also, we added a feature to have the game check against the KSP site for new versions. If it finds one, it'll prompt you to go there and download it (or dismiss the prompt and not be bothered again ;) ). You can also check manually for new versions, if you're that eager. :lol:

But more importantly, today we've reached the first major milestone: 5000 downloads and counting! :)

So I wanted to say a great big THANK YOU! for everyone who downloaded the game, and especially those that joined the KSP forums and are actively participating and giving us feedback! :tiphat:

I'm really, really happy right now!

Cheers :cheers:
 
Hello once again!

Good news! :thumbup:

Version 0.8 is now up for grabs at the KSP site

Also at the downloads page is a link for the KSP SDK, that contains tools that make addon-making a lot easier! Remember also to check out the Guide to Part-Making in the KSP Wiki.


Cheers :cheers:

---------- Post added at 06:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:30 PM ----------

@Jarvitä: It's not been changed in this version... It'll be in for the next one.


Also, I fixed the site up a bit, it was messy ;)

Cheers again
 
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