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You are absolutely right. The original concept I had for the Asimov was Command Module, Living Quarters, Service Module, Reaction Wheels + RCS Fuel, Fuel Tank and Solar Panels. The engine was something I thought of later. Still, the original balance got thrown off a lot with the addition of other mods, so I'm expanding the original plan to add a bigger fuel tank. I tried a bunch of different arrangements, and I think this is the best one. It's more raw looking, but it doesn't increase the width of the ship by much or the length which are two important goals for me. Here's a very rough mockup: I already did the calculations and this will bring the Asimov up to the original Duna capability that I wanted. No ETA on when it'll be done as I need to figure out the design properly. The service module is still on my list of things to improve though. When I started it, the original idea was to keep the part count low. But with the 64 Bit version of the game out, this isn't such a big necessity any more. So, I might possibly separate things in different modules. I don't want to create a Univeral Storage analogue, since well, US already exists and duplicating a system like that seems silly. What I'll do is that once US v2 comes out, I'll create my own fairing for it to fit the theme I'm using for my mods. That said, I had an idea last night to create several big modules that can be stacked as needed. And it could be used for all my ships going forward. Basically, something like: Battery module Supply Module Greenhouse Module KIS Container Module Cargo Bay Module Lab Module (Though this one might possibly become a higher tier Living Module) And even some that combine things together like a Greenhouse that has less capability, but comes with all resources built in. Anyway, for now it's just an idea and if done it might become separate from the Asimov package. I'll chew more on it. At the very least, the current service module will get a better texture. Same goes for the Living Module and there are improvements coming to the Command Module. Also, I've been playing with the engine, and I'm not happy with it as a final solution for the Asimov. I think the ship needs something sleeker and higher tech. Basically, you guys are getting another engine As far as other ships, I'm already working on something, but it's not very exciting. I'm not a fan of the 2.5m capsule from the base game. And I know there are a bunch of alternatives around, but I'm making my own anyway. Complete with all in one service module based around the Nasa Orion. I want something to ferry my crew from Kerbin to LKO once I have my Asimovs in operation. If there's interest, I'll release it as well. Finally, I have more ideas, but I'll keep them for myself for now. I'll start thinking about a bigger ship, although Roverdude's Freight mod is excellent, so I'll only do something if I get a really good idea. Sorry for the long text, but these help me think

Ok, so I took the rest of the day yesterday and today as well off of this project just to get a bit of a fresh mind on everything. First let me answer you folks: @Doomstack: Welcome sir Glad you like the mod. I'm going to do a new fuel tank soon rather than leave it for later. I really like the tank configuration on the Hermes from the Martian. Here's a pic: Link I won't do it exactly the same, but I like the idea of a cluster of tanks. It should increase the volume capacity dramatically without adding a significant footprint to the ships diameter or length. But, I want to make it so that you can chain as much of them as you'd like, so I have some designing to do @Starwaster: That's something that is on my to-do list, a nuclear engine I mean. We'll get there. @Vrana: Thanks Going forward, I'm going to solve the few issues I noticed and also put the second reaction wheel model in the package. If I can figure out the tank thing, then I'll try and have that in the next release as well. I want to keep working on the existing parts as well. Although I'm a lot happier with them, there's still room for improvement The one thing that I want to improve a lot is the service module. Right now it's kinda meh. I really wanted it to be visually configurable, but I have to wonder if I'd be just recreating the Univeral Storage solution. Maybe a service bay is the way to go? Let me know what you guys think of it.

New version up on original post. For the lazy, here's the download link: Github All configuration files are tentative for now. I did a spreadsheet to calculate the fuel thing, it's not as bad as I imagined but I need to work further on it, plus I think a bigger fuel tank is needed for Duna operations. For now, the ship should be an excellent choice for LKO, KEO, Mun and Minmus missions. There's also a few rotation issues with some of the meshes that I noticed, but nothing that breaks your immersion. I'll have an update for it in the following days. Need a bit of a break. Let me know if any issues crop up.

Yeah, that's one of the things I'm considering. I have also a design in my head for a large cluster of tanks that should look cool. In any event, I'd need to model, texture, etc and that's going to take me some time. I'd rather take my time with the solution than do something rushed and I really want to get the parts out into the wild

I've hit a bit of a snag with the config files. I converted everything to Liquid Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen, but I forgot about the volume of the fuel tank The tank is too small to do what I wanted right now. Bigger tank needs to be developed. I don't want to delay the release though. So I'm going to put a "pre-release" in a little while to see what you guys think of how everything is balanced as well as so you can play with the parts. I'm going to leave both the tank and the engine as Liquid Fuel/Oxidizer for now as well. I'm providing MM files for USI-LS, MKS, Community Tech Tree and Connected Living Spaces. If you guys have any other requests, let me know. Most important though is the integration with USI-LS and MKS. Might still need some work though, not sure how balanced it all is. Give me a couple of hours to package the whole thing

Thanks guys Ok, so all parts are in the game now, and everything seems to be working. I forgot about the hatch thing for the living module though, gotta figure that out and also need to make the illumination maps for both parts. After that, there's really only config files to work on. I'm very near a release now Edit: Oh, you don't need a hatch anymore to transfer crew! That's good...one less thing to do then, haha. Great.

Ok, so these aren't as exciting as the others, but the re texture is done: I'm going to take a look at the solar panels now

Thanks Today is a holiday here in Brazil, so I have some time to kill. I already did a UV pass on the other two modules that remain. Going to re texture them now. Then I have to get everything into Unity to export into Kerbal. With a little luck I might release an update for the mod this week I wanted to release it today, but I think the Command Module and possibly the Solar Panels need a bit of love still. I'll keep you guys posted.

Further progress today. I ended up completely remodeling the reaction wheels. The model just wasn't very good before. I already have a second model for the reaction wheels though that I'm going to provide as a switchable. It's only a cosmetic thing in case you want it to connect to crewed modules. Basically the middle section gets closed off. I'll post a picture when that's done. For now, here's a quick render of the new reaction wheels and RCS tanks: It ended up being quite quick to do the second version. Substance Painter rules:

Oh, gotcha. It's an idea to consider. It would require to remodel the command module and I'd rather not at this time. And I'm always looking at tons of reference to create these parts to get the look right. It was one of the things that bothered me from my two previous attempts at engines. They just didn't look like they could work. The fuel tank is based on the new carbon fiber tanks being made, so obviously the Space X one was used as reference as well as a few by Nasa I think.

I can animate, yes. I thought about doing an airlock before, but I never managed to design something I was happy with. The Asimov seems to be sort of on the perfect size right now. Adding a small module or two shouldn't be a problem, but to fit something that has an airlock it would require a larger piece. I'll consider it for the future though. BTW, I just noticed that the last image on my previous post was using the wrong mesh, so I rendered it again. Sorry about that. Also made a better angle to view the connection between engine and fuel tank.

So work on this is chugging along. I finished the new Fuel Tank today: I might do more details on the textures later. For now I'm pretty happy. I removed the little dots that simulated screws because I'm going to see about doing something better. Also, here are better renders of the engine and the command pod: Hope these are to your liking Big disclaimer that the parts will never look like this in game. Kerbal just doesn't have the shader model to do it Anyway, I'm going to work on the Reaction Wheels next. It should be the last piece that'll require major mesh work. The Auxiliary and Service Modules shouldn't need any sort of modelling, only some UV adjustments. After that I'll work on balance and configuration. I might have to revisit the Solar Panels though. I did them a long time ago now, and I didn't have access to the tools I have now. They definitely don't look good next to the new textures. Edit: Oh, here's something I just cooked up to show how one connects to the other now (Click here for High Resolution):

That's a lot of feedback Let me get it in order: The emission is copied from the shuttle engine in the base game. Picked at random, liked the look, went with it. The black things are just an attempt to break up the white surface. I'm not super happy with it either. To be honest, the command pod and the auxiliary module are the hardest one to make details for because they are just living spaces. Anyway, I'll try and work on it some more. I was just making changes to the fuel tank connection right now. I'll also change the reaction wheel connection to fit in case you want to put one between the tank and the engine. And hey, glad you like it I'm really trying to up the quality of everything for this next release. Sorry it's taking so long.

Hmmm...without creating code it's not possible. But I suspect that there are other barriers to this than just that. For starters, it would only be possible with Unity Pro form what I'm gathering doing a quick search. If people aren't afraid of a bit of manual work, there might be a possibility. I'll take a look at how well Kerbal handles transparency maps. With a decal it could be possible. But you'd have to generate the texture yourself, and it would probably need a bit of config file editing. No promises though.

No reason to re invent the wheel. The idea is to use one of the existing plugins, unless I can't get permission or if there's any other issue. If that happens, then I'm not so sure about creating my own plugin. Not that I can't, it's just that I already have to code on my job, I'd rather not do it on my spare time as well. I'll cross that bridge later. Right now I'm focused on the parts themselves. With the engine now complete I'll focus on the retexture of the other parts which should be quick. I kinda want to remodel everything again, but I'll hold that off for a bit. You guys waited long enough already

To quote myself from a post some time ago, we have ignition! Textures are not done yet btw and the the engine should be rotated 90 degrees. The transition between Substance Painter to Kerbal isn't as good as I wish. It's a shame the lighting and shader model Kerbal uses is so simple otherwise it would be possible to do some very cool stuff. So, here's my plan for the engine. If you are absolutely stock, you'll get a slightly more powerful version of the Poodle Engine. If you have module manager then the engine becomes cryogenic along with the fuel tank. Thus, you'll need electric charge to keep the tank working and so on but it becomes even more powerful. I haven't settle on numbers yet, but I want it to be able to bring a fully outfitted Asimov (This includes USI Life Support supplies) to Duna and back with fuel to spare. Haven't settled yet on fuel type. I'll see what's available from the community resource pack. Finally, I'm actually not very happy with the model. It ended up having a tri count a bit higher than I wanted and some of the parts really need a redesign. Especially the turbopumps. But, I want to move on to the rest of the ship so it's time to finish it. I'll get back to it after the rest is done.

Not a bad idea. I'll consider it The window I mean. As far as the text goes, I won't give it much thought for now. I might just release it without it and supply the alternate texture for those that like it. I'll see about doing something fancier later. The engine is mostly ready. I was about to post a couple of images, but I'm really unhappy with the engine frame. The design itself is good, but it's looking too bland. So I just spent the last couple of hours building a highpoly mesh to see if something comes out of it. Hopefully the results are good.

Finally some progress First, the engine: There's still things to adjust, but the main pieces are all blocked out. I wasn`t going for this, but I managed to keep the engine itself smaller than a 1.25 diameter. The main advantage being that it can be possibly used for smaller ships. I'll supply a smaller base for that, though the engine itself might be overkill for small ships. Could be used as an upper stage engine I guess. And here's the re texture of the command module: I'm not sure if I'll keep the text. Probably not...or I could supply that as an alternative texture? We'll see. I kept the general idea of the original, but re arranged the lines, and redrew everything in higher resolution and with rounded corners. Windows should make more sense now as well. The door markings are red now, to follow the latest pod re texture in the base game. For anyone wondering, that's a render out of Substance Painter. Hope to have more later today

I have a GeForce 970 GTX Ok, so great news, just finished building the computer, everything is working again The difference in speed to my older one is very noticeable. I have some actual work to do, but later tonight I'll be able to get back to the parts properly.

Hey folks, just for a quick update. Due to a crazy run of bad luck, I am only going to be able to buy the final part for my PC tomorrow but then I'll be cooking with gas here and be able to do things much faster. I kinda had to stop the engine model as well cause my notebook can't handle the multiple meshes without heating up a lot, and I can't afford to damage it right now. So that's the situation. Can't wait to have the new build up and running. Core i7 6700k + 16Gb DDR4 on an Asus Maximus VIII Hero. I already have a SSD here, so it should be a big step up from my i7 920. I'll have news tomorrow

I've been reading a bit about spinning habitats, and the reality is that for the whole thing to look remotely realistic we'd need a diameter of 45 meters or more. I'll chew more on this. After the engine is released I'll consider my options.

Yeah, I'm not sure about that anymore. I have an idea, but it wouldn't work in the game, or it would need something like extraplanetary launchpads, but I want to shy away from complex dependencies. You idea is actually interesting though. I'll try to sketch something tomorrow and see if it would work. Another idea is to make the habitat like the one in Mission to Mars. But that's a bit ahead. Right now I want to focus on those 3 items I mentioned.

Hey folks. I wanted to give some sort of update on this project. I've had a pretty difficult time the past few months both with health and financial issues so unfortunately this was left on the back burner. To top it all off, when I finally started working on it again, my PC died and my notebook is rubbish to work with textures. I have new parts coming in hopefully before the end of the week. In the meantime, here's what I'm working on: New textures for all parts - I got a few new tools a few months ago and decided to test them with my parts. i think it's going to be a big improvement, and it also really speeds up the work flow for future parts. I'll post more details about it when I can show things. Updated Fuel Tank - I wasn't satisfied with how the end caps of the tank were. I used the wrong texture and it makes no sense. So I'm updating it. 2.5m Engine (Finally!) - After 4 designs, I finally have something that I'm happy with. The last one I did looks cool, but I was having trouble building a base for it, and the texturing wasn't working for me so I started to get frustrated with it...argh. Anyway, the new engine fixes all of the problems: Single nozzle, cryogenic, 4 turbo pumps, big bell and you can either used it with a protective shell or exposed. These will be released as soon as I have my PC working again. I can at least model pretty decently on my notebook, so that's chugging along. I'll post screenshots later. After this here's what I'm thinking: I want to create a configurable service module. I'm a big fan of the Universal Storage mod, so I don't want to just repeat that. I'm thinking more along the lines of creating a service bay that you can fit both the stock batteries and parts, as well as some parts that I'll make like food bags and things like that. Still planning. Suggestions welcome. With the advent of the stock relay system, I think I need to provide an antenna now as well. And of course, the other things I've been talking about: Nuclear Engine, larger fuel tank, and so on. Sorry for no screenshots. I just wanted to post this, both to give an update and to push me to finish this thing. I'll have more updates soon

Hey guys, I'm still doing work. I've just been very busy the past couple of weeks. The engine is mostly unwrapped, but I'm just not sold on the part that receives the tubes in the middle. I'll probably fiddle with that some more. I've been looking at the old parts as well and I'm re texturing the command pod. There are some things I'm not very happy with. I hope to have some actual progress on the weekend. Here's another image of the engine though. I've decided to go with an open look for the base plate. Will be cool to have the fuel tank or reaction wheels showing up