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[WIP BETA] Nasa IXS Warp-ship for Interstellar


Stevie_D

Cockpit Cabin Window Lights - Yey or Nay?  

55 members have voted

  1. 1. Cockpit Cabin Window Lights - Yey or Nay?

    • Yes!(downside is it turns both cabin AND cargo lights on/off. Pitch black bay if you forget.
    • No!(downside is looks like not much activity inside, and comm mod harder to see in darkness


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Designed for endgame KSP Interstellar....

BETA 1 out now!

Download from my Dropbox.

Please see the Beta Details below, under the latest update, changelog and status. Thanks!

Latest Update :

(see latest thread post for details and screenies, below is the no-details quick version plus the changelog and introduction.)

BETA begins! (didnt think id see the day at times!)

Changelog :

(31st Aug)


- All Beta parts have been given higher resolution textures and had a new texture pass to improve their look.
- Completed all art assets. KSP/Unity testing is all that's left.
- Crew module will have TAC support.
- Spacedock completed, looking into Extraplanetary Launchpads and possibly Hangars integration.

Status of Completion.

- All Art Assets Completed.

Unity/KSP balance testing underway.

Okay, here it is - Beta!

IXS Class Beta

Keep in mind it is a beta. I'm still currently balancing the weights in relation to other Interstellar parts, and balancing the quantum engine so it isnt an overpowered be-all end-all solution.

Ill go into the feedback im looking for, and the reasoning behind the parts so far in a moment.

This BETA version includes-

- Command Module

- Main Hull/Antimatter Reactor and Container.

- New Alcubierre Warp Ring and Warp Ring Electrical Generator

- Quantum Vacuum Thrust Engine

To come in Beta 2

- Crew Module

- Science Module

- 2 Fuel Tanks (LFO and Karbonite)

- 7 IXS versions of science equipment (Gravioli Detector, Thermometer, Magnotometer, Gamma Ray Spectrometer, Science Junior, Karbonite Detector, Communotron)

Dependencies :

KSP-Interstellar

Firespitter

If you have no understanding of the Interstellar mod, you might want to familiarize yourself with how reactors, generators and their dependant engines work before starting.

HyperEdit is also suggested if you want to easily test out warp jump to orbit capture burns with the Q-Thruster Engines by easily filling up the core.

I've given the ship enough antimatter in the tank to just achieve orbit and possibly get you to an orbital spacestation to fuel it up with said antimatter.

PLEASE NOTE - If you use the trusses to have fuel tanks (like i did in the video), and you fit a fuel-requiring engine, MAKE SURE to attach fuel-lines between the tanks and the MAIN HULL. Then it will flow evenly to the engine. If you do not, the tanks will go down one at a time and unbalance the ship's mass.

This is due to the fact that the truss system can only work using a top/bottom attachment system, and not radially attached to the main hull.

============================

FEEDBACK

COMMAND MODULE

------------------

I wanted to keep the customization sandbox of Kerbal whilst lowering the part count that slows peoples computers down. So this Command Module is a bit of a compromise of both worlds. It has a good, in-built SAS reaction that can rotate the entire ship at a reasonable rate, and also comes with 8000 Electric Charge, double the size of the best battery (since its further down the tech tree than the large battery). The size of the command module would lend you to believe it could accommodate both. And at end game KSP-I when things get very part-heavy, this should at least help lighten the load slightly without taking any of the customization of kerbal away.

MAIN HULL

---------

The idea behind the main hull is to be an antimatter reactor (and originally a generator as well, but interstellar wouldnt let me make it both). But to be an antimatter reactor that is slightly -less- powerful and efficient than the one packed with Interstellar.

The PAYOFF however, is that it is lighter, and comes with the truss system that allows for an extremely modular customization system. (attaching things via the truss system then adds weight, balancing it back up to be heavy once more)

The reason i had to make a second Warp Ring a Generator is due to the fact that Interstellar wouldn't let me make this main hull both a reactor AND a generator (and would also not let me crossfeed either through a warp ring to the Quantum Vacuum Engine). So this is the current compromise.

Waste Heat is currently turned off on it, but i will be bringing it in as a slow rise. The story being the other pro to this is it has built in heat vents at the back, not as effective as shoving a ton of heat radiators onto everything in sight, but enough to give the ship a long life before you need to go back to Starbase, dock up, unfuel your antimatter, and give your reactor a rest.

QUANTUM VACUUM ENGINE

---------------------

I'm very wary of QV engines. Whilst they work in RL in their early tests, their capabilities arent fully known. And whilst running off basically thin air, have the capability to unbalance things.

Whilst i love near future technology in game, i dont want it to take the challenge out of the game. So getting this engine right is important to me.

Being used in conjunction with the Warp drive, it should be there to make attaining orbit from a warp jump possible, but not be used for every situation with regards to the rest of the game.

So i'd like a drawback, possibly overheating, possibly the length of time it takes to work its magic. This is where playtesting and feedback will mean most to me.

How easy is it for you to use for its purpose of exiting warp and slowing yourself down?

How do you feel it should be best limited?

(obviously please test it first before responding, thanks) :)

-------------

Final Word

I'll have the other parts ready probably before next weekend, so by then ill hopefully have the tweaks i make to these parts finished with the feedback, and ready to put them all together for Beta 2.

Thanks for taking an interest and helping me out folks, its appreciated. I really put my time, heart and soul into it when i do something like this to make it the best i can, and be as professional as possible, so if you want to buy me a drink as thanks, or show appreciation for my enthusiasm, then just click for paypal!

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=================================================================

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(From front to back) - Graviloi Detector, SC9001-Science Snr, Gamma Ray Spectrometer, Magnetometer, Thermometer, Communotron, Karbonite Detector, Crew Module, Science bay Module.

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-----------------------------------------------------

Introduction

Ever since i saw the Nasa IXS Enterprise concept designed by Mark Rademaker, i kept trying to edge towards making my eventual warp ship in KSP-Interstellar look like it.

(EDIT : Here's a reference photo)

2014-06-13-ixs-enterprise-01.jpg

I mean, the mod already has the warp rings in it, but no matter how much part clipping with the Taurus Command Pod, i was never satisfied. So, i thought, since im a relatively good modeller, ill have a crack at actually making the IXS command section. If Wavefunction ends up wanting to include it in KSPI, great, if not, im mostly doing it for my own selfish gratification anyhow hehe :)

This is 0.00000001 alpha. It's basically just a mesh at the moment. No custom collision, no textures, nothing to make it anything more than just a basic concept.

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I've had to "Kerbalize" it, (resized the saucer and cockpit windows ratio) to make it fit with the size of a kerbal and to hopefully end up making it look stock-like.

This test showed up a couple of mesh artifacts that i hadnt spotted in 3ds max, so ill be hammering them out, and also resizing it slightly and making it connect more smoothly to the alcubierre ring. The artifacts are a real pain when trying to get the smooth saucer to fuselage connection at this low a poly count (770 last count). But i usually win my artifact battles in the end!

It's my first time modding in KSP, so go easy. Ive read up as much as i can, and got a jist of the cfg and whatnot, but i might need some help later down the line with connection points. The Get Vector script in the tutorial section here doesnt seem to want to work in 3ds max, and adding connection points manually sounds like a right confusing mind job! hehe.

But anyways, its a start. I've no intention of modelling an interior for it for release 1.0, since im new to modding i dont want to bite off more than i can chew. But who knows? I love Rasterprop Monitor, so eventually id love the interior too!

Progress report in a couple of days time i imagine!

Edited by Stevie_D
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Very nice! I'm quite interested in this, I always go for the more futuristic stuff. :)

Out of curiosity, what is the horizontal 'saucer section' supposed to be for? Just looks, or some kind of special machinery related to the warp drive, or what?

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I would imagine that like other Star Trek type ships (Rademaker designed several for the Trek calendards, among other things), the saucer section is for habitation. And it makes sense too, as the only other parts of the concept that look they'd be used for habitation are the two egg shaped bits.

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Thanks for the positive feedback so far guys, its appreciated. And thanks for reminding me neutrino, i COMPLETELY forgot a source photo for people to reference from!

2014-06-13-ixs-enterprise-01.jpg

Normally id agree with you G'th on the saucer section bit following normal Trek rules. But with the IXS, there seems to be a door on the front of the saucer, as if its a 2001 space oddysey cargo/staging bay for EVAs. i was pondering making the EVA hatch go where you see the door, but im trying to find more photos of it first. For a Nasa release, there's VERY few shots of it about, and only 1 video i can find of a Luis Piccolo version of it knocking about on youtube.

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Indeed. But even if that's the case, doesn't mean the rest of the section still couldn't be for habitation. EVA bays don't have to be that large, as you'd only need room for the suits themselves and a little extra room for astronauts to sleep in before the EVA.

Personally I don't think this particular ship was meant carry much more than the astronauts themselves. Unless those egg shaped pods carry stuff, I don't see where you'd put anything bigger than a small probe, as a warp-capable ship would need a healthy amount of habitation space for the astronauts, and the saucer section is the only place that would make any kind of sense.

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Why couldn't Nasa have released the deck plans?!? Gah! .... oh wait, thats right. ..probably because they never actually -designed- the interior :D hehe This must be what it felt like to be a trekkie in the 1970s... just completely guessing at what stuff is and does :)

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After studying the photo a bit, I'd venture to as that the black squares seem to be portholes, and the large black section seem to be a hatch of some sort. It may be a launch bay, stowage, or unpressurized matainence bay. Judging by the window size of the flight deck, it doesn't seem to be more than 1 or 2 floors tall, but this is just a guess.

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Why couldn't Nasa have released the deck plans?!? Gah! .... oh wait, thats right. ..probably because they never actually -designed- the interior :D hehe

Well, more because NASA had nothing to do with this thing, it's a piece of art thought up by a scientist in his spare time, and he paid for a CG version of it 'to inspire the youth'

But who's gonna complain about fictional things in a videogame?

On topic; I think the saucer bit is a lot wider in the image, relative to the cockpit 'bullet' section. Also I believe from the image that the saucer is not a complete disk, it has hooks at the back

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On topic; I think the saucer bit is a lot wider in the image, relative to the cockpit 'bullet' section. Also I believe from the image that the saucer is not a complete disk, it has hooks at the back

Oh that's because that original mesh was more a proof of concept. Ive done lots of modelling in the past, just never any mods. So i wanted to check i actually had the brain capacity to put something in the game first, before i spent countless hours creating a proper version :)

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But as i said in the original post, ive had to "Kerbalize" it to some degree, due to Kerbals being different dimensions to humans (remember, this thing has to be playable in-game), and the relative diameter of the 3.75metre rocket set.. And, more importantly, because my sole reason for creating it is to fit it to the Alcubierre Rings in KSP Interstellar,... As you can see in the image below, the alcubierre rings on the official model are way larger than the KSPI ring that im trying to fit it to, so in this latest update ive reached the limit of the saucer size, otherwise it will not only go outside of the tunnel the rings make, but clip the arms of the ring too.

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And talking of latest update! Here's the progress!

As you can see, despite my kerbalization of it, the mesh itself now looks much closer to the photo. So much so that im no longer going to tinker with the model itself, and just texture... which brings me to the main point of this update...

ixs_10_zps5ba302fb.jpg

In my OP i said i had no intention of creating the internal cockpit for release, but , ive had such fun creating this thing, that between that and the talk of what might be inside the saucer, ... i kind of let my enthusiasm run away with me.

I'll let the video explain...

So, not only am i going to create the internal cockpit, but the interior of the saucer itself allowed room for living space AND a hangar... and not only a hanger, a hangar with my precise measurements seems to indicate it will fit two .625 metre probes/ships!

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(image above taken before the resizing, and cutout saucer section)

I even tested putting them through the airlock door BEFORE i resized the saucer to the larger state it currently has in the video. It was a snug fit before, but worked. So it should definitly be do-able now.

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(image above taken before the resizing, and cutout saucer section. Probe comes out even easier now!!)

So if i manage to pull it off, where you see the Kerbal in the video will be the ship's EVA exit. You will exit into the depressurized hangar bay, and open the outer airlock hatch to exit the ship. IF i manage to pull it off it should be pretty neat!

So the hull itself is finished. And what's best of all is i did so well on the low poly count, that even looking as good as it does AND including the new hangar bay, it clocks in at a lower poly/tri/vertice count than the KSPI Alcubierre ring it's meant to attach to! :D

All thats left now for the model is to texture it (all thats done so far is the windows as you can see, and the decals, but shows im going for the stock look), and to finish modelling the cockpit, then it'll be onto the headache of sorting out all the bits and bobs of putting it into unity with its door animation and all the gizmos that need adding now it'll be more than just a static part mesh.

But i'm really pleased with the progress of it so far!

Here's a screenie or two of how it looks right now. Pretty much stills of what the video shows.

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New progress report in a couple days time!

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Y'know, I honestly cannot say that there's a lot in the original render to indicate the scale of this craft. I really don't see why that saucer section couldn't contain a medium-sized hangar, and what appears to be a "cockpit" to be more like a 7-man bridge deck. Just something to mull about.

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Actually there's a lot to reference how big it is. The original photo i put up clearly shows the internal cockpit and you can even see the seats. From that, using the head-on shot in the video, the ship looks pretty much like it was designed to be 5-6 decks tall. As i said in my OP and my update however, my version's size is determined by the game and the parts im attaching it to. 3.75 parts and the alcubierre ring. So the Kerbal version will be on the scale of 3 kerbal deck heights, the cockpit, the hangar/livingspace, and a mystical bottom deck where the satellite dish mount is.

I was wondering will there be either a standard docking port or an attach point for one to allow for crew transfers without having to rely on EVA near active warp coils?

That's a good point BFG. Im not a fan of forcing people to place things where i want them to, so im going to give attach points and let people have at it. There's space for docking ports on top behind the cockpit where you dont want it (ring radiation sickness, ive gotta use that somehow heh), but i think you'd be able to place one either side of the saucer if you use a connector port in KSP, or.. more logically, the underside of the saucer is a big large flat surface with room enough at the front away from the rings to put any type of docking port except a Senior one.

It's definitely something ill keep in mind now im getting into this thing. Just as im only going to put attachment points in the hangar bay, so people dont have to use the space for probes if they so wish. They'll be able to use it for storage (KAS compartment containers) or for scientific equipment. Although the latter one might be hard to click on for science with it being inside the model. Its a large module, so ill have to test see if you can zoom the camera inside it without an EVA.

Edited by Stevie_D
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This is looking really fantastic!

So the Kerbal version will be on the scale of 3 kerbal deck heights, the cockpit, the hangar/livingspace, and a mystical bottom deck where the satellite dish mount is.

The correct term for the item in bold is navigational deflector. In the Trek universe, ships travelling at warp speed without any form of protection will get pulverized by micrometeorites, asteroids, comets and other small debris - as such, the nav deflector basically protects the ship from micrometeorites, while tractor-repulsor beams are used to push larger debris aside (one simply plots a course around planets and stars to avoid smacking into them).

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This is looking really fantastic!

The correct term for the item in bold is navigational deflector. In the Trek universe, ships travelling at warp speed without any form of protection will get pulverized by micrometeorites, asteroids, comets and other small debris - as such, the nav deflector basically protects the ship from micrometeorites, while tractor-repulsor beams are used to push larger debris aside (one simply plots a course around planets and stars to avoid smacking into them).

Erm, as far as I know, this isn't intended to have anything to do with 'Star Trek', neither the original concept nor this Kerbalized version. Is it? I mean, aside from the concept being named 'Enterprise', obviously. :)

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The NASA's IXS Enterprise is called that way because of Star Trek, co-designed by a Michael Okuda, main graphics designer of Star Trek, and as a showcase of a posible warp capable ship, idea that is widely used, in a pretty accurate way to be fiction, in Star Trek. All of it is full of Star Trek.

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Erm, as far as I know, this isn't intended to have anything to do with 'Star Trek', neither the original concept nor this Kerbalized version. Is it? I mean, aside from the concept being named 'Enterprise', obviously. :)
The NASA's IXS Enterprise is called that way because of Star Trek, co-designed by a Michael Okuda, main graphics designer of Star Trek, and as a showcase of a posible warp capable ship, idea that is widely used, in a pretty accurate way to be fiction, in Star Trek. All of it is full of Star Trek.

The IXS Enterprise concept was made by Mark Rademaker, a frequent contributing artist to Star Trek: Ships of The Line calendars - Rademaker collaborated with NASA to essentially update the original XCV-330 Enterprise seen in both The Motion Picture and Star Trek Into Darkness with today's understanding of the hypothetical Alcubierre drive.

Also note the little cone-shaped pod on the dorsal surface of the main ship structure, the one labelled IXS-AC-1 Galileo. The AC-1 designation means Auxiliary Craft - 1, while the Galileo is a reference to a long line of USS Enterprise shuttlecraft with the same name (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

In short: Other than a somewhat different warp drive / warp ring configuration, lots of things about the IXS Enterprise screams Star Trek.

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The IXS Enterprise concept was made by Mark Rademaker, a frequent contributing artist to Star Trek: Ships of The Line calendars - Rademaker collaborated with NASA to essentially update the original XCV-330 Enterprise seen in both The Motion Picture and Star Trek Into Darkness with today's understanding of the hypothetical Alcubierre drive.

Also note the little cone-shaped pod on the dorsal surface of the main ship structure, the one labelled IXS-AC-1 Galileo. The AC-1 designation means Auxiliary Craft - 1, while the Galileo is a reference to a long line of USS Enterprise shuttlecraft with the same name (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

In short: Other than a somewhat different warp drive / warp ring configuration, lots of things about the IXS Enterprise screams Star Trek.

Oh, okay, I stand corrected. :) I had no idea that the designer of the concept was actually trying to create a 'real world' version of a Star Trek ship. In which case, um... nothin'. It's still a neat design, and I look forward to the completion of this project, Star Trek or not, lol. :D

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Yep, there's a lot of trek influence in this, but it isnt surprising, since in every documentary about Nasa or its scientists, when you hear them talk of their inspiration, Star Trek is usually the reason they got into science in the first place as kids.

So it makes perfect sense that they want to make their dreams (and mine incidentally) a reality. Im sure Harold White, the Nasa scientist who came up with the IXS concept and the Math behind it, is no different.

It's a good thing to aspire towards stuff in science and industry too, because that's how breakthroughs occur. :)

Here's a little texture update. -Nearly- completed the dorsal top-side diffuse map. Some of the black construction lines wont be quite as stark in the final product as they are here, for when the shine and bump/normal maps are applied. I found some great reference photos from Rademaker's own site, another interest site, and generally browsing the web. So ive got some great material to work from now.

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The yellow disks are where im going to test to see if i can get a circular flag transform. As far as i know, ive never seen a mod turn their flag texture into a round decal, so its worth a try. At worst if it breaks ill just change it back to rectangular like normal flag parts.

Edited by Stevie_D
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