Engine Customization

@Rexy Great, thanks! Here's the link if anyone else wants to vote on it.

@AndrewGarrison I just posted a streamlined version of this on user voice.

@Chancey21 Yes, every time we're starting an update we check User Voice to see if there's anything that we can reasonably do. Players sometimes have great ideas, so we don't want to miss out on those.

@JoshMan Thanks!

@AndrewGarrison Im going yo have to agree with @Chancey21 . So many posts there are either way out of the games scope, already been confirmed to be in, or already confirmed to be not in. I don't know how you would sort through all the those to get anything of worth without getting frustrated. Hats off to you if you do that though. :P

Do you guys really use uservoice? @AndrewGarrison

@JoshMan @Chancey21 Interesting stuff. Thanks, @Rexy! I think it's a great idea. Maybe someday we can do something along these lines, however, it certainly won't happen for the early access release. Did anyone make a User Voice suggestion for this yet?

That's what I thought when I saw the mage engines I think fuel lines.

@Rexy sounds great!

@JoshMan yea I might try to do the same but I have no real modding experience, I can provide you with the math though if you decide to go for it. The main reason I actually broke my silence and made an account was to post this :P

I really like this Idea but like some of you I think the game couldn't be considered simple anymore, but I think this Idea would make for a great mod since the game will probably be very easy to mod.
sry for my spelling

@Rexy I really hope @andrewgarrison sees this. For joining less than 24 hours ago, you bring some amazing ideas to the table. Though I doubt it will be implimented by the time the first main release is out, as their schedule keeps slipping, I hope its atleast seen by devs. Id be interested in trying to mod this function in once possible.

@MrTaco I feel like if given a selection of default engine configurations with pre determined tasks, for example a landing engine, or a vacuum specialized engine it would allow people to bypass this mechanic if they so choose, and for others in the edit part menu these options will be available to play around with an see what they do, engine plumbing and design is a fun aspect of rockets I have not seen in a game yet and could show further diversity in rocket science. It by no means has to be something players are required to use, even an option by which we can modify the shape of the nozzle and choose whether it behaves according to its shape, or follows presets just for the sake of modeling historical rockets more accurately.

@JoshMan I have put together a program as you suggested, it is currently able to take in all the variables I listed in the OP with a few shortcuts applied to omit temperature and fuel type considerations, in the current form it has no trouble spitting out reasonable Isp values practically instantly, so computational power shouldn't be an issue.

Although this would be extremely fun and educational, I don’t think this would be considered simple as in the name “Simple Rockets.” I could see it however as a hidden advanced feature. If a newcomer/inexperienced player was presented with it, he would most likely become overwhelmed and discouraged.
The games main purpose of this game (correct me if I’m wrong) is to introduce concepts and inspire a want for more knowledge on the subject of space and rocketry. The game, if simple, should promote intrigue into the subject by allowing players to achieve goals (ex. landing on the moon) which would inspire players to consider a profession in that field.

@AndrewGarrison

@Rexy I was not aware it could be that simple! That's actually pretty amazing and this form post should get more upvotes for it. I'd encourage you to build a mockup program (nothing fancy, just text) and log time between calculations as a proof of concept.

@JoshMan Keeping the engine bells parabolic as almost all engines are today the calculations could been done as algebraic expressions of four variables (length, width, flatness/length points along parabola, and the pressure within the compression chamber [which would be a property of the material used and would impact how much fuel the rocket used per unit time]), if engine parts were characterized by their combustion chamber volumes and pressures omitting combustion chamber material as a factor and instead just provided static values for volume and initial pressure of the combustion chamber then the pressure at the end of the chamber is given by:
p=(V0*p0)/([((4piB)/(3(sqrt(N+L)+B_0))[((N+L)^3/2)-(N^3/2)])+2piB_0*L])

where;
B is the radius of the end of the nozzle
L is the length of the nozzle
N is a factor defining the flatness of the nozzle.

Then constants which would be properties of the particular engine part are as follows:
V0 is the initial volume of the combustion chamber
B0 is the radius at the base of the nozzle
p_0 is the initial pressure of the combustion chamber (this is where higher/lower thrust parts come in)

This calculation gives a nice closed form expression taking only given and defined inputs and providing the exhaust pressure which can easily be related to the efficiency of the engine. And considering closed forms are what computers excel at doing this calculation should take no more then one line of calculation, excluding variable declarations. If for example the computer had to constantly do the integration I just did it may be more intensive, but a general solution like this taking only inputs and providing answers seems, at least from my programming experience, to be a fairly straight forward thing to do.

Thanks for the feedback!

I love this idea! However i feel that yes, it might be too much for ingame. Also calculations ingame with all those variables might be too much for the average players' computer to run well. I think the best solution would have an external program generate a part with thrust and efficiency vars (and whatever others ones will be in sr2) from a more complicated set up.