ParasiticDraw

ParasiticDraw is a small Kerbal Space Program 1 mod that adds configurable passive ElectricCharge drain to the active loaded vessel.

It is intended for stations, bases, and large ships where power production can otherwise become irrelevant once enough solar panels and battery storage are installed. ParasiticDraw adds a steady active-vessel load based on vessel size, mass, crew capacity, crew aboard, and command modules.

Features

• Adds passive ElectricCharge draw to the active loaded vessel.
• Scales with vessel characteristics, including part count, mass, crew capacity, crew present, and command modules.
• Can ignore small vessels with a configurable minimum part-count threshold.
• Uses configurable presets for Light, Standard, Harsh, and Strong balance.
• Includes Dynamic Battery Storage compatibility so the added drain appears in DBS power monitoring when DBS is installed.
• Includes optional debug logging for troubleshooting.

Requirements

• Kerbal Space Program 1.12.x

Recommended

• Dynamic Battery Storage for power-flow monitoring.
• Module Manager if you want ParasiticDraw's Dynamic Battery Storage reporting patch to apply.

Installation

Copy the packaged ParasiticDraw folder into your KSP GameData directory.

GameData/
  ParasiticDraw/
    ParasiticDraw.version
    Patches/
      DynamicBatteryStorage.cfg
    PluginData/
      ParasiticDraw/
        Settings.cfg
    Plugins/
      ParasiticDraw.dll

After entering flight, your KSP.log should contain:

[ParasiticDraw] Loaded vX.X.X.

Configuration

Most players can tune ParasiticDraw from KSP's difficulty options. New saves start from the values in GameData/ParasiticDraw/PluginData/ParasiticDraw/Settings.cfg; after that, the save's difficulty settings control enabled state, preset, minimum part count, and global multiplier.

The included defaults are:

PARASITIC_DRAW_SETTINGS
{
  enabled = true
  debugLogging = false

  passiveDrawEnabled = true
  passiveDrawPreset = Standard

  minimumPartCount = 0

  baseVesselDraw = 0.05
  perPartDraw = 0.01
  perMassTonDraw = 0.02
  perCrewCapacityDraw = 0.15
  perCrewPresentDraw = 0.05
  perCommandModuleDraw = 0.15

  globalDrawMultiplier = 1.0
}

Presets control the overall strength:

• Light: 0.5x
• Standard: 1.0x
• Harsh: 2.0x
• Strong: 3.0x

In KSP's difficulty menu, Preset Multiplier uses a compact numeric slider:

• 0: Light / 0.5x
• 1: Standard / 1.0x
• 2: Harsh / 2.0x
• 3: Strong / 3.0x

Minimum Part Count lets you ignore small craft. The difficulty-menu slider is capped at 100 so it remains usable in one-part increments. Higher startup defaults can still be placed in Settings.cfg.

debugLogging remains config-file only.

Compatibility

ParasiticDraw works without Dynamic Battery Storage. In that case, the EC drain still happens, but stock KSP has no dedicated UI line showing the added load.

When Dynamic Battery Storage and Module Manager are installed, ParasiticDraw adds a hidden reporting module to command-capable parts. DBS then shows a Parasitic Draw consumer category and includes the drain in its total Power Consumed value.

Current Limitations

• Unloaded vessels and background catch-up drain are not simulated yet.
• High non-physics time warp is not catch-up simulated in this release.

Project Information

• See CHANGELOG.md for release notes.
• See src/ParasiticDraw/README.md for technical notes and troubleshooting.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See the LICENSE file for details.