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  • Who needs a level runway anyway?


    JPLRepo

    Do these look familiar:

    PoFhk8C.jpgarh5M8l.jpg

     

    Runways are indeed not flat. And KSP’s runways are no different.

    In fact one might argue that KSP’s runways are too flat! But that’s not what you the fans (or the planes in KSP) wanted. So I was given the task of looking into the Runways.

     

    Well hey I thought.. Can’t be that bad. They don’t look like this do they? Or maybe they do…

     

    gfRmYzT.jpgTQAFxHK.png

     

    Let's Begin!

    First impressions were this should be a simple job. Just align the models in Unity. Why hasn’t anyone done this? Well, I can tell you, it’s not that easy at all. The issue begins when you look at the size of the runway models and small inconsistencies that seem to creep in when you import the models into the Unity engine.


    Unity has some tools that support object positioning. But the best tool for the job is the vertex snapping tool and this works best when your mesh (the actual triangles that make up the model) has a physics collider attached to it and these have straight, square edges. This is where the fun begins because the Runways in KSP are made up of separate sections which do not have square edges or lend themselves very well to having physics colliders added to them easily because of their shape.The ends and bases of them are rounded and extend into the ground and Unity changed the way physics colliders act from when these models were first created for KSP and the current versions of Unity KSP is running under now.

     

    Level 3 Runway

    Recreating the models was just not an option given the time that would take. So the process I came up with was to take the existing model, create cut down duplicates of the model meshes that were square so they could be used as colliders (but also had edges that matched the existing seams), line it all up in the modelling software and export.

     

    Next we import to Unity. Using the new meshes I began adding unity physics colliders and then vertex snapping the sections together. Once this was done the Unity objects were put together into a new Runway prefab (a term in unity which creates a prefabricated object which can then be instantiated when the game is running).

     

    Finally all the references to the new prefab must be re-generated to hook up all the code that supports destructible and upgradable facilities.

     

    What could go wrong? Well there are a lot of these references scattered throughout the game setup. You can easily miss one or two and then wonder, “Where'd my shiny runway I spent so many hours recreating go?”

    KpHIiJY.png

    Once the runway was in the right position there were still some small gaps, and while not letting my OCD get in the way too much, I began painstakingly doing fine tuning adjustments to the positioning of the runway sections.

     

    A bit later and finally everything is right and you get the new and improved runway ready for testing.

     

    KOOPZMe.png

     

    Rinse and Repeat

    … And so the process then gets repeated with the Level 2 runway.

    nnWfb9j.png

     

    Luckily I've now got a workflow happening and the Level 2 runway is done in half the time.

    With that done… Now what should we do with that lumpy bumpy Level 1 runway?

     

    But that's a story for another day.

    Edited by JPLRepo


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    Please upgrade all the runways! The runways aren't upside down unlike the ones in real life.

    (This is a joke, I don't actually believe this.)

    Edited by The Moose In Your House
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    So, any progress on this?

    I always make my early career planes tail-dragger planes to make them take off easily.  I'm half tempted to do the same later career.

    BTW, I found thick wing chords work wonders for planes that need scalability in speed.  They don't work too well for low speed planes, though.  Short wing chord, wide wingspan works better for that.

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    Worth noting that runways are special KSP biomes. As such landings and takoffs can be recorded during career contracts with the right coding. Although not found in stock contracts the coding potential is there. See the old GAP contract pack for an example of how a mod can detect where your flight start and finish point is.

    What this means in the future. Is it quite likely that new mission builder will support contacts that require the runway to be used. If it allows specific goals to set by biome detection. If you don't use the runway the you will fail the contact in some missions. Depends on how creative the community gets when the new stuff is released.

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    still a bit sad Lvl 1 runway is so bumpy
    I think it should be short, but still flat
    It's close to impossible to take-off from it early carreer. My only solution is to move slowly to the grass flat lands next to it, and then only take off.

    How stupid is that? The naturaly leveled grass is flatter then the human (Kerbal) modified infrastructure to land/take-off from...

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    On 12/1/2017 at 7:24 AM, Garlik said:

    still a bit sad Lvl 1 runway is so bumpy
    I think it should be short, but still flat
    It's close to impossible to take-off from it early carreer. My only solution is to move slowly to the grass flat lands next to it, and then only take off.

    How stupid is that? The naturaly leveled grass is flatter then the human (Kerbal) modified infrastructure to land/take-off from...

    Agreed. While my early career planes can cope with takeoffs (they have excellent rough field capability and low speed handling), I still don't land on the runway when I return.
     Moreover, there is no reason to have such a lumpy runway. At the very least, it should have a short, narrow, unlit section that is smooth.

    Best,
    -Slashy

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    On 12/19/2017 at 10:45 PM, 0something0 said:

    Meh. I just launch my planes from/the launchpad. That way I don't have to upgrade my SPH or the runway.

    lol who needs a runway when you have decouplers and srb's!

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    On 12/1/2017 at 9:24 PM, Garlik said:

    It's close to impossible to take-off from it early carreer. My only solution is to move slowly to the grass flat lands next to it, and then only take off.

    Not true at all. I and many others can make Caveman Tech SSTO Spaceplanes that both launch from, and land on the level 1 runway. 

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    You should be able to switch to some differant (bumpy, angled, etc) runways for a bigger challenge when landing.

    These would be in differant places on  Kerbin but say if you got a resource ship to a planet, you could set up a runway. But if it was on Eeloo it would be icy so your plane would slide around or if it was on Laythe it would float and if the craft was heavy it might sink down a bit due to the weight of the craft.

    Anyway it's cool to see the different runways made!

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