Question Engines/ships/methods for moving structures?

[TrouNoir]

I like to construct my own 'ships' using station building blocks (SBB4.1), they're basically just very large stations that are mobile, and using them in conjunction with UMMU and UCGO makes for complete personalisation and full functionality for exploration. I can also launch the building blocks individually using shuttles and space planes, so I can construct them authentically. I can dissasemble these 'station ships' once I reach the destination, and use them as regular space stations, or as waypoints for future missions. My problem is, that I have trouble finding ways to move them, that are not only functional, but that fit with the (mostly) realistic theme.
For my Mars mission I simply docked the whole structure to the front of Hispa's Longshot ([ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=4642"]Long Shot v0.0.3[/ame]) which worked pretty damn well, but I don't really want to use the same thing again, as this ship is going much further out.
I would like to know if you guys have anything that would allow me to move very large structures over interplanetary distances, perhaps some kind of thruster that can be docked to a ship in order to move it, or a ship that would do the job of a tug, like the Longshot.
I'm using Orbiter 2010.

Here is the ship, she's about a third finished, bound for Saturn!

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Try using the MIPTS VASIMR engine, which can be found [ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3060"]here.[/ame]

 

[TrouNoir]

Try using the MIPTS VASIMR engine, which can be found here.

Oh awesome, that would be perfect, it even has a cockpit! Do you know if it works with Orbiter 2010? It only mentions version 060929.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

I use it all the time in 2010P1. it's an awesome engine, and can be refueled if you have a proper tanker and MFD. The Refuel MFD should work fine.

 

[TrouNoir]

I use it all the time in 2010P1. it's an awesome engine, and can be refueled if you have a proper tanker and MFD. The Refuel MFD should work fine.

Ok, thats great, thanks for the help, man.

 

[Cras]

Try using the MIPTS VASIMR engine, which can be found here.

Man, this thing looks awesome. Never knew it existed. Will have to give this a try for sure.

 

[TrouNoir]

Man, this thing looks awesome. Never knew it existed. Will have to give this a try for sure.

It's working well for me, it's shifting my massive ship pretty happily. The cockpit is a little dodgy for me though, causes the game to crash seemingly at random when I spawn one, but I don't need it, it's the engine that I wanted, and the engine is perfect. You can even manouver it like you would a regular ship.

 

[Cras]

Great to hear. I think I will attach one of these to my space station and use it to change the orbit when needed.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

...The cockpit is a little dodgy for me though, causes the game to crash seemingly at random when I spawn one, but I don't need it, it's the engine that I wanted, and the engine is perfect.

I NEVER use the hab module. It's supposed to have an MFD to handle composite ships, but I haven't gotten it to work yet... So I just stick with the engine.


P.S.: Use the one with the added tanks

 

[Izack]

There's Cosmos too which is made specially for pushing stacks like yours:
[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=2983"]Cosmos V2.0[/ame]

Hispa (the author) once used it to push Burch's Celestium station to Mars.

 

[TrouNoir]

Kind of a major issue, when I add more than one engine (which is required to shift my larger structures) the scenario crashes the game when I try to open it after having saved and quit. Any idea what might cause that?

My ship is all geared up and ready to go, but she doesn't have enough punch to break orbit.

---------- Post added at 05:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:48 PM ----------

There's Cosmos too which is made specially for pushing stacks like yours:
Cosmos V2.0

Hispa (the author) once used it to push Burch's Celestium station to Mars.

Ah, this looks usefull, with this I could use it as a tug to break orbit, then disengage it and fly my main stack on the one engine. The ship doesn't need to break Saturn's orbit anyway, as she will be dissasembled and recycled into a waystation.

Do you know if this mod works for 2010?

 

[Izack]

If it's a spacecraft3 based vessel, you can't have more than one in a scenario. There's a process to duplicate sc3 INI files, rename them, then create new configs to load them, or you can run them through [ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=5177"]Artlav's converter[/ame] and load as many instances of it as you like...

 

[TrouNoir]

If it's a spacecraft3 based vessel, you can't have more than one in a scenario. There's a process to duplicate sc3 INI files, rename them, then create new configs to load them, or you can run them through Artlav's converter and load as many instances of it as you like...

Ah, thank you, that looks awesome, however the engine module present in the in-game scenario editor (simply named 'engine') does not show up in sc3gui, which leads me to believe that it's not a spacecraft3 ship.
Can one simply add too much into a scenario for the program to load? My PC is high-end, but if the Orbiter program itself has memory limitations, I may be exceeding them, as my stacks are very large and complex.

 

[Izack]

Ah. Downloaded the package; you're right. It's not sc3. I can't test ATM though - can anyone else confirm the crashes?

Also, anything in your orbiter.log (LOG file found in the same directory as Orbiter executable) ? You can open it in notepad and paste the contents here between [code][/code] tags.

 

[TrouNoir]

Ah. Downloaded the package; you're right. It's not sc3. I can't test ATM though - can anyone else confirm the crashes?

Also, anything in your orbiter.log (LOG file found in the same directory as Orbiter executable) ? You can open it in notepad and paste the contents here between [code][/code] tags.

This what I get from the Orbiter.log file:

**** Orbiter.log
Build Aug 30 2010 [v.100830]
Timer precision: 2.83181e-007 sec
Found 2 joystick(s)
Devices enumerated: 9
Devices accepted: 7
==> RGB Emulation
==> Direct3D HAL
==> Direct3D T&L HAL
==> Direct3D HAL (ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series)
==> Direct3D T&L HAL (ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series)
==> Direct3D HAL (ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series) #2
==> Direct3D T&L HAL (ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series) #2
Module AtlantisConfig.dll .... [Build 100830, API 100830]
Module AtmConfig.dll ......... [Build 100830, API 100830]
Module DGConfigurator.dll .... [Build 100830, API 100830]
Module CustomMFD.dll ......... [Build 100830, API 100830]
Module ScnEditor.dll ......... [Build 100830, API 100830]

**** Creating simulation session
DirectDraw interface OK
Direct3D interface OK
Graphics: Viewport: Window 1914 x 1052 x 32
Graphics: Hardware T&L capability: Yes
Graphics: Z-buffer depth: 32 bit
Graphics: Active lights supported: 8
Loading 15382 records from star database
Module Sun.dll ............... [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(E) Sun: Precision 1e-006, Terms 554/6634
Module Mercury.dll ........... [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(B) Mercury: Precision 1e-005, Terms 167/7123
Module Venus.dll ............. [Build 100830, API 100830]
Module VenusAtm2006.dll ...... [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(B) Venus: Precision 1e-005, Terms 79/1710
Module Earth.dll ............. [Build 100830, API 100830]
Module EarthAtmJ71G.dll ...... [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(B) Earth: Precision 1e-008, Terms 2564/2564
Module Moon.dll .............. [Build 100830, API 100830]
ELP82: Precision 1e-005, Terms 116/829
Module Mars.dll .............. [Build 100830, API 100830]
Module MarsAtm2006.dll ....... [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(B) Mars: Precision 1e-005, Terms 405/6400
Module Phobos.dll ............ [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Deimos.dll ............ [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Galsat.dll ............ [Build 100217, API 100215]
Module Jupiter.dll ........... [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(B) Jupiter: Precision 1e-006, Terms 1624/3625
Module Io.dll ................ [Build 100217, API 100215]
Module Europa.dll ............ [Build 100217, API 100215]
Module Ganymede.dll .......... [Build 100217, API 100215]
Module Callisto.dll .......... [Build 100217, API 100215]
Module Satsat.dll ............ [Build 100215, API 100212]
Module Saturn.dll ............ [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(B) Saturn: Precision 1e-006, Terms 2904/6365
Module Mimas.dll ............. [Build 100215, API 100212]
SATSAT Mimas: Terms 113
Module Enceladus.dll ......... [Build 100215, API 100212]
SATSAT Enceladus: Terms 33
Module Tethys.dll ............ [Build 100215, API 100212]
SATSAT Tethys: Terms 101
Module Dione.dll ............. [Build 100215, API 100212]
SATSAT Dione: Terms 59
Module Rhea.dll .............. [Build 100215, API 100212]
SATSAT Rhea: Terms 68
Module Titan.dll ............. [Build 100215, API 100212]
SATSAT Titan: Terms 100
Module Iapetus.dll ........... [Build 100215, API 100212]
SATSAT Iapetus: Terms 605
Module Uranus.dll ............ [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(B) Uranus: Precision 1e-006, Terms 1827/5269
Module Miranda.dll ........... [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Ariel.dll ............. [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Umbriel.dll ........... [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Titania.dll ........... [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Oberon.dll ............ [Build ******, API 060425]
Module Neptune.dll ........... [Build 100830, API 100830]
VSOP87(B) Neptune: Precision 1e-006, Terms 391/2024
Finished initialising world
Module Spacecraft3.dll ....... [Build ******, API 050206]
---------------------------------------------------------------
>>> WARNING: Obsolete API function used: VESSEL::SetBankMomentScale
At least one active module is accessing an obsolete interface function.
Addons which rely on obsolete functions may not be compatible with
future versions of Orbiter.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Module BR101.dll ............. [Build 110509, API 100830]
Module BD101.dll ............. [Build 110509, API 100830]
Module BArm1.dll ............. [Build 110509, API 100830]
Module BCM101.dll ............ [Build 110509, API 100830]
Module BP101.dll ............. [Build 110509, API 100830]

 

[MaverickSawyer]

:hmm: No glitches in the log.
I just ran two MIPTS engines with no trouble as well. Must be something else.

 

[TrouNoir]

:hmm: No glitches in the log.
I just ran two MIPTS engines with no trouble as well. Must be something else.

Yes, the problem must be caused by some other factor.
As I asked earlier, am I perhaps exceeding the limitations of what the program can handle? In this current scenario I have a smaller waystation with maybe 30 SSBB modules, and my ship which must have well over 60, including animated parts such as retractable solar panels, then theres the shuttles, Delta Gliders, ShuttleAs, etc. Maybe it just can't load it all?

If so, is there a way to remove these limitations from the program, or perhaps allocate more of my machines resources?