Fix missing parts bug when using ReStock

This release contains an exclusion list so that the ReStock, if used, will leave some parts untouched so that PKS, which uses stock part models for certain things, will work.

Fix for the Dialog not showing for worlds where no progress had been made

Fixes an Exception that would arise if you opened the cupcake dialog on a world where you had not yet made any progression. Also the KSP version number needed to be bumped for CKAN.

Fixes for RSS and allowing re-generating resource lode nodes

Fixes these two items:

1. The old code hard-coded the 6-hour-day and 426-day-year. Now it uses KSP API's so that it'll be coherent with Realistic Solar System and other mods that set the time.
2. Sometimes the resource node for crush-ins collection would land in a place that the player didn't have the wherewithall to get to (e.g. because it's on a steep slope). Now you can try your luck again after 3 days.

Make ContractConfigurator optional

3.1.0 unintentionally made the ContractConfigurator a hard-dependency. This makes it so that it works like it was intended: If ContractConfigurator is present, special rescue contracts are available. If it isn't installed, they aren't offered.

Crew Retraining

The big change in this release is the ability to re-train crew. Move the Kerbal that is going to change careers into any research lab (yeah, you have to kick out the scientists) and click on the 'Crew Training' button in the tweakables menu. This release also takes halting steps towards integration with the "Contract Configurator" mod. If you have reached level-3 farming, you may see rescue contracts appear where you'll be required to find the kerbal and bring them back to your base at which point they join the crew.

It also fixes a longstanding bug with resource transfer where vessels that had multiple stages would be unable to transfer some of their resources.

Also, truly keen eyed observers who have installed "Contract Configurator" may observe that I have fixed a longstanding deficiency with the loading blurbs: I have added "Calculating Victor's vector..." to the list.

Toolbar fixes and Scanner Hub changes

The version bump to 3.0 is because we now have a couple of new dependencies on some community libraries. This is needed to address some conflicts between this mod and others. The root of the problem is that the KSP API's for controlling toolbar buttons and some related resources are written with the assumption that all mods know about all other mods... Not a good thing. The way the community has dealt with this is to have a library that basically manages the cooperation. PKS now uses that library rather than the KSP API's directly.

With this change, it's now no longer necessary to have scanner parts in orbit of the body they are scanning - they just need to be in the system. For example, you can have a station orbiting Duna that has scanners for both Duna and Ike. This change was made so that folks could have a single busy station instead of a bunch of sparsely populated ones.

And last but not least, there it's now possible to manually control resource transfer.

v2.1.0

This release changes the scanning mechanic to encourage more elaborate and purpose-built orbital stations on worlds where colonization has progressed beyond the early stages (i.e. Tier2+). In the PKS <2.1, there was a single scanner part (which looked like the IR telescope). It required one crewman and could be set up for any tier.

Starting in 2.1, there are two scanning parts - a one-crew part that can be used to research Tier-1 and Tier-2 scanning, and larger, two-crew part that can be used for all tiers. You can, if you want, forget about the small part altogether and just use the larger scanning part, it'll just be heavier to lug around.

The best way to think about it is this: if you know you're going to established a crewed presence in orbit from the get-go, you should probably launch with one of these. If you're going to go, do your research, and head home immediately to regroup for the next, then you could go with the smaller part to save mass and have a smaller crew count.

If you've been using PKS before, and you update to this version, all your old IR-telescope-looking-parts will be replaced with the new look. If you have old scanners of Tier-2+ already in orbit, those parts will continue to work. You just won't be able to upgrade them.

One more thing! If you look super-close at the big scanner part, it has a bank of lights on it that look like the signal strength bars on your cellphone. Those bars indicate how good your scanner network is around the planet. It's just an assessment of the number of satellites in orbit; you can supply your own ideas about how perfect the equipment is. You also need at least one antenna of any type for each satellite you have in orbit in order to utilize it. (That's just to finally give you the excuse you need to stick on more cool-looking but pointless antennae on your station!)

Built with KSP 1.8 and the joy of an updated .Net Runtime! Plus food Tanks

Updated for KSP 1.8. The big change in 1.8 is a long-overdue update on the Unity game engine, which brings with it a new .NET framework and a few breaking changes. A staggeringly low number of breaking changes, I should say!

Anyway, whereas previous releases of this mod (1...*) were compatible with KSP prior to 1.8, this release is not. You need KSP 1.8 or greater to run this version of the mod.

New with this release are my first KSP part models... (It's not like you could tell just by looking at the parts that they were done by a complete amateur, so I thought I'd highlight it here ;-J) These are the oft-requested snacks cans to help you get that first mission to Minmus done without starving your Kerbals.

Added support for Upgrading parts

Starting with this release, if you have Extraplanetary Launchpads installed, you can Upgrade parts from tier to tier. (Although most parts don't allow upgrades until Tier-2). Also, if you have more than 2 bases above tier3, you can skip Tier-1 on any new worlds you colonize.

Bugfixes and better out-of-food messaging

Fixed a few bugs and refined a few bits of the UI. In particular, the 'Progress' page of the dialog has been revamped to make what's going on (or not going on) more clear.