OHM Universal Cargo Deck, release 4

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

UCD works fine with Orbiter 2010 P1. I'm using it in a 2010 P2 BETA release.

In his defense, Ive found UCD unstable as well. It often appears to overrun numerical constraints after reloading a scenario, hence uncontrollable spinning.

 

[SpaceShuttleFan]

In his defense, Ive found UCD unstable as well. It often appears to overrun numerical constraints after reloading a scenario, hence uncontrollable spinning.

Similarly, upon loading the scenario, the whole deck goes into a very low Sun orbit. And I can't jettison anything without a crash. :compbash:

 

[PhantomCruiser]

That's odd. I used UCD today for a station building project. Shuttle Fleet carries an Artemis node, with UCD as Atremis_temp with Atremis as it's core, used UCD to "dock" a PMA to Artemis dock 1.
Once I arrived in orbit, used the RMS to position the PMA above the shuttles docking port. After I'd noticed that the two would dock properly (although I got the docking sound, and scenario editor said they were docked, the objects would pass through one another.
I grappled, again, and lined up to the docking port, again. Then used the scenario editor to delete Artemis_temp. The docking ports snapped into position like they should, I released the cargo with the RMS, and proceeded with the mission.
Shuttle Fleets autopilot worked fine, but I've not tried it upon reloading a scenario. Do you mean one with from a quicksave? or a 'current scenario' reload?

edit...
I ran the scenario again several times. It seems like I'm getting the goofy autopilot gripe you mentioned, but not every time. Say maybe 25% of the attempts. When it works, it works, when it doesn't the shuttle may wind up trying for a retrograde orbit instead of where it's programmed.

 

[Spacethingy]

Right, so to eject straight up, I should use direction (0,1,0) (normalised).

Did that, on applying the settings, the attached XR2 teleports to no-man's land. Trying to do anything else to it results in CTD.

Pardon for the bump, but does anyone know if this is just a bug, or am I still not getting my vectors right? Only being able to eject forwards is quite a limitation...

Edit: an bump of epic proportions, I should add! :lol:

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Not really a bump I suppose, and there's been worse, you are just still searching for a helpful answer.

Sadly though, I'm not the one who can provide one. My usage of UCD is fairly restrained, but there are a few here who've assembled entire stations using it.

Can you rotate the UCD itself relative to the core vessel? Or is that even possible?

 

[Castor]

Can you rotate the UCD itself relative to the core vessel? Or is that even possible?

You can change the position of UCD using the attachment definitions in the UCD menu of the scenario editor. Some trial and error may be needed to get it into the right place.

If you are interested in changing the direction of the payload deployment, just tweak the direction variable.

 

[Spacethingy]

Thanks Castor, but my point is that changing the direction variable causes NaN space trips / plain-ol'-CTDs. PC, I tried a rotated UCD bolted to a UCD, but that caused even funnier results... (Seeing a 747 spinning furiously underneath a gently falling Enterprise is quite a spirit lifter... )

 

[Castor]

@Spacethingy Could you follow these steps (in the inline graphics client) :

1) Open up the "DG Mk4 in orbit" scenario. The DG should be level w.r.t. the horizon.
2) Create a Carina.
3) Create a UCD and attach it to GL-01. Then set the payload as Carina.
4) Now, try changing the direction variable or rotation variable of the UCD.

See whether the DG suddenly banks to any one side.

If so, follow these steps:

1) Just reinstall UCD over the current orbiter installation
2) Open the "DG Mk4 in orbit" scenario.
3) Create a Carina, then a UCD.
4) Attach the UCD to the DG.
5) Attach the Carina to the UCD, and then set values of payload rotation to zero.
6) Now set the payload to none. The Carina will be shot off to Nan space, but don't worry.
7) Tweak the direction variable of the UCD and then reattach the Carina.
8) Now when you jettison, the Carina is deployed correctly

---------- Post added at 03:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 AM ----------

@ Spacethingy Please post if this solves the problem

 

[Spacethingy]

@ Spacethingy Please post if this solves the problem

Will do, got a maths assignment needing attention... :lol:

---------- Post added Mar 24th, 2014 at 18:28 ---------- Previous post was Mar 23rd, 2014 at 19:44 ----------

Uuurrrgh, thought that had cracked it! I tried it, re-copied the files in, followed your instructions and it worked first time!

Haven't been able to reproduce it since. The vessel does return, but only in the form of a ghost F9 marker. No mesh, nothing else. Most of the time trying to view the ship causes a CTD, although the once it stayed alive I think I may have overtaken Vinny on his Orbiter/Spaceengine travels... :lol:

I turned all my addon modules off, but I'll give it another go on a vanilla install just in case...

 

[Castor]

Something that I wanted to add: Adjust payload placement when you adjust the payload rotation.

The vessel does return, but only in the form of a ghost F9 marker. No mesh, nothing else.

The mesh reappears as soon as you jettison the payload. Also, do not focus on the payload when it is attached to the UCD.

---------- Post added at 05:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:14 AM ----------

To orbinauts more experienced in coding,

When the payload is attached after the vectors are normalised, the mesh of the payload disappears until it is released. However, I have noticed a thin strip of material around the UCD which I suspect to be the stretched out mesh of the payload. The strip disappears as soon as the payload vessel is deleted. Any clarification on this matter is appreciated.

 

[Donamy]

Sounds like the attachments aren't normalized.

 

[Meyerm]

The installation fails halfway through.

 

[Castor]

The installation fails halfway through.

I assume that you are having some error with the installer. Could you specify what sort of error you have encountered ?