SkunkTwerks

Long time no see, KSP forum! I've missed you, but have been crazy busy with other life projects lately. Still, I finally found the time to post just a few more old Homeworld favorites! Apologies for zombifying my ancient thread, I just wanted to keep all my Homeworld projects in one place. Without further ado... SkunkTwerks proudly presents the ships that made the Garden of Kadesh no mere walk in the park: high-fidelity reproductions of the Kadeshi Mothership, Multi-Beam Frigate, Fuel Pod, Swarmer, and Advanced Swarmer. They are highly functional orbital craft, but are not equipped for orbital flight. Fleet command recommends using Salvage Corvettes to capture these directly from Kadesh's overly protective guardians, or building them directly from the Kadeshi Mothership. Now you, too, can keep pesky intruders out of your space garden! The Kadeshi Mothership is one of my all-time favorite ship designs: beautiful, elegant, imposing, and wicked. If you let your capital ships sit still for even a few moments, the Kadeshi Mothership would rip them a new one with its obscenely powerful central ion cannon. Equally destructive was its gigantic ramming dome, which it was not shy about slamming into any ship foolish enough to cross its path. https://kerbalx.com/SkunkTwerks/SkunkTwerks-Kadeshi-Mothership-Homeworld The Multi-Beam Frigates were my absolute favorite ships to steal. The quad ion beam firepower on these things was ludicrous for their size: https://kerbalx.com/SkunkTwerks/SkunkTwerks-Kadeshi-Multi-Beam-Frigate-Homeworld The Fuel Pods were among the ugliest ships in the game, reminiscent of maggots, and were almost totally helpless on their own. Nevertheless, they were crucial targets. Destroying them before they could refuel their strike craft was the key to escaping the garden alive: https://kerbalx.com/SkunkTwerks/SkunkTwerks-Kadeshi-Fuel-Pod-Homeworld The Kadeshi Swarmers were so tiny I barely paid any attention to them... right up until they opened fire, and shredded my entire interceptor fleet like tissue paper. Although their speed was nerfed in the remaster, these things were terrifyingly fast in the original version, and they punched way, way above their weight. If not for their tiny fuel tanks, they would have been outrageously difficult to fend off: https://kerbalx.com/SkunkTwerks/SkunkTwerks-Kadeshi-Swarmer-Homeworld. The Swarmers were scary, but the Advanced Swarmers packed twice as much firepower into a similarly-sized package, making them a surprisingly viable counter to corvettes: https://kerbalx.com/SkunkTwerks/SkunkTwerks-Kadeshi-Advanced-Swarmer-Homeworld I had an absolute blast trying to recreate the paneled, insectoid looks of the Kadeshi ships. I spent a ton of time balancing thrust, RCS, and overall handling to replicate the feel of the ships in the game. I hope you enjoy them too! -SkunkTwerks

Late to the party, apologies for zombifying this thread... With absolutely no engines, motors, electricity, or kraken effects, the Twerkshop is pleased to report that it is possible to throw a 268.75 kg "kerbal safety cage" approximately 375 m, or a little over 7 center line stripes on the runway. Distance is from starting point to initial impact point, not including bouncing or rolling distance, measured using downrange readout from a stowed MechJeb unit in flight recorder mode. Nowhere near the desert airfield, but considering the total battery and fuel expenditure was absolutely zero, I think this deserves consideration as an "eco-friendly" alternative. Original thread from the Spacecraft Exchange, with more detail and a link to the craft download can be found HERE.

After a long hiatus, the sounds of construction emanate from the Twerkshop once again... I finally downloaded the Breaking Ground DLC and am absolutely geeking out over all the new parts, especially the robotics parts (hinges and servos and turboshafts, oh my!). To celebrate these shiny new hi-tech additions in a manner worthy of the SkunkTwerks brand, I invite you to say goodbye to the space age, and enjoy this literal "throw"-back to the glorious imperial age! SkunkTwerks proudly presents the greatest and most superior siege weapon of all time: the almighty trebuchet! Truly, there is no better device for lobbing kerbals over ramparts, into castles, or across the entire science complex. Despite being called a siege engine, this contraption has no engine or motors of any kind. Instead, it runs on 100% clean gravitational potential energy. To operate, YOU MUST HAVE THE BREAKING GROUND DLC AND ENABLE ADVANCED TWEAKABLES in your game’s main settings menu — it will not function otherwise. Don't forget to load a kerbal into the command seat before launch! Now whip it, whip it good! Action group 1 unlocks all the hinges to set the trebuchet in motion, then staging decouples the kerbal from the sling. Time the release carefully, because the Trebuchet Reloading technology cost the Twerkshop too much wood and gold to research. Also take care to guard your fragile trebuchet with an appropriate meat shield of pikemen (sold separately), so as to ward off marauding knights. Buckle up, buttercup! What a way to commute! While admittedly not yet capable of launching kerbals into stable LKO, SkunkTwerks’ current record throw distance for the 268.75 kg "kerbal safety cage" is approximately 375 m, or a little over 7 center line stripes on the runway. Distance is from starting point to initial impact point, not including bouncing or rolling distance, measured using downrange readout from a stowed MechJeb unit in flight recorder mode. Many, many hinges were irreparably harmed in the making of this siege engine. Check out that hinge displacement post-firing! Earlier versions of the trebuchet also had a nasty habit of destroying the runway until enough weights were added to the frame. To the great financial relief of the folks in the administration building, that issue seems to be fixed now. Join the fun! Post your best throws, modifications and tips for optimization! My two main goals have been 1) No motors, engines, fuel, decoupler, or kraken forces allowed, and 2) use a realistic-ish design for some semblance of historical & visual accuracy. I decided that some part-clipping and extensive use of auto-strutting was acceptable, but if that's heresy in your kingdom I warmly invite you to make your own witchcraft-free version and post it here! Here's the KerbalX Craft Download. P.s. I found a cool mathematical dissertation exploring the mechanics of trebuchets, which became somewhat useful during the design process.

Pure stock Homeworld replica progress continues in the Great Nebula, where the Kadeshi fleet is coming right along. Multi-beam frigate (pictured above, left): Built up from nearly nothing, now nearly complete. Probably won't bother making an RCS system for this one. Had a lot of fun trouble getting the turrets to look right, but I'm calling them close enough. Oblong hexagonal domes (for the ion beam turrets) are really hard to replicate on a small scale in KSP, and I refuse to use TweakScale. Pure stock all the way! If anyone has bright ideas for making those turrets (shielded docking ports on RoveMates) look more accurate, I'm all ears. Better turret reference screenshot here. Mothership (pictured above, center): Nearly complete! Added a bunch of detailing. Still trying to decide what to put in the big dome. Does anyone do anything with replica crafts other than fly them around for a few minutes? Is it worth adding a fully functional science/data collection suite just for funsies, or should I focus on keeping the part count to a socially acceptable minimum? Swarmer (pictured above, right): Nearly complete! No new edits to report. Fuel pod (pictured below): Coming along, still experimenting with a lot of things, and trying hard to get the shapes right. Advanced Swarmer: Still haven't even started, but it's largely based around the Swarmer chassis, so the build should go pretty quickly. The hardest part? Finding good reference photos of multiple angles of some of these ships. I would love to fight my way through the first 9 missions of the Homeworld campaign again just to take reference screenshots of my own... but that's a wormhole of space & time that I just don't dare to jump into right now. -SkunkTwerks

Deep within the Great Nebula, the protectors of the Gardens of Kadesh are stirring... Those who have played the original Homeworld game might remember these ships well. Here's the cutscene (spoiler alert for those who haven't played the game): And here's the Twerkshop version so far: I'm on a pure stock replica roll again, and progress on the Kadeshi fleet is underway. The Kadeshi ships all have a very cool rounded aesthetic, which has been somewhat of a challenge to imitate in KSP. I've given up on making the ships to scale in comparison with one another, but I'm optimistic that all of them can be built to a reasonably high degree of visual and physical accuracy without mods. Swarmer (pictured): Nearly complete! Final polishing stage. Fully equipped with docking port, balanced RCS, and reserve ion drive. Mothership (pictured): Fully functional, but in need of detailing. Trying to decide whether I like the HW1 or HW:Remastered version better. Fuel pod: Taking shape. Multi-beam frigate: Very early concept phase. Advanced Swarmer: Haven't even started!

As promised, here's a little treat for @KerikBalm: the SkunkTwerks SkunkTwerks Kushan Multi-Gun Corvette (Homeworld). Based on this concept art and screenshots from Homeworld: Remastered Collection gameplay. First developed in the Gardens of Kadesh for use against clouds of Kadeshi Swarmers, the Multi-Gun Corvette trades some of the Heavy Corvette’s armor for four extra medium projectile cannons. (Dorsal view) Like all Homeworld strikecraft, the Multi-Gun Corvette is capable of slow flight long after its liquid fuel runs out, but the Garden of Kadesh is no place to stop to smell the roses. Fleet Command recommeds building these crafts directly from your Mothership or Carrier, as they are not equipped for sub-orbital flight. Hotkeys: 1) Toggle fuel cells (to power DAWNs) 2) Toggle ion engines 3) Toggle atomic engine Special thanks to @KerikBalm for the build suggestion! -SkunkTwerks Edit: I suppose it's also worth mentioning that this craft sports a well-balanced RCS system, a docking port, and over 8,700 dV.

(Original soundtrack strongly recommended for reading this post) After watching Galaxy Quest again for the umpteenth time, I couldn't resist taking inspiration from Mathezar and his fellow Thermians. I knew what had to be done! SkunkTwerks proudly presents the NSEA Protector. Painstakingly replicated from the "historical documents," (plus this ortho) this ship and its crew may be your people's only hope for survival. So whether your one lousy job on this ship is repeating the computer, flying it out of orbital dock without scuffing the paint, or giving Sarris both barrels from the red & blue particle cannons, by Grabthar's hammer you'd better quit acting and start doing it for real. Spoiler alert: to activate the Omega 13, just press F5 right before doing something you'll probably regret, then press and hold F9 about 13 seconds. Director's Cut: Sorry folks, this movie prop needs a little imagination (read: hyperedit) to get into space, but once it's there it's fully equipped with scientific instruments for all your galactic quests. Hidden docking ports allow for deep-space refueling, at least until we figure out how to install a Berillium sphere. Never give up, never surrender! -SkunkTwerks

It took me a long time to appreciate the Taiidan aesthetic, but I loved the Taiidan Destroyer right from the start. I'm looking at some screenshots and models to assess Kerbalization feasibility, but a ship of that size and complexity will be a long & serious undertaking. But I do thoroughly enjoy the suggestions @KerikBalm... I'll build you a Multigun Corvette as soon as my Research Ships finish working out the technology. For now though, I hope you'll get a kick out of the hardworking stalwart of the Kushan strikecraft lineup, the Hammer-class SkunkTwerks Kushan Heavy Corvette. Based on this beautiful .gif model by Jkberna at modbd.com: The Kerbalized SkunkTwerks version: The Heavy Corvette is neither the fastest corvette in the fleet, nor the best-armed. But its heavy armor makes it tough as nails, and the Hammer’s burst fire abilities grant it incredible punch for its size. Heavy Corvette walls (supported by a couple Repair Corvettes or Support Frigates) are infamous for shredding clouds of strike craft, as well as being a serious threat to wayward frigates and lone capital ships. This was my absolute favorite unit in the original Homeworld. At least for the first year or two after the game's release, they were fairly overpowered. They got nerfed later on (which was fair), but for a glorious time Heavy Corvette walls were the midgame strategy of choice for many, many players. Like all Homeworld strikecraft, the Heavy Corvette is capable of slow flight long after its liquid fuel runs out, but its pilots do not advise leaving them stranded like this. Hotkeys: 1) Toggle atomic engine 2) Toggle ion engines 3) Toggle fuel cells (to power DAWNs) Fleet Command recommeds building these crafts directly from your Mothership or Carrier, as they are not equipped for sub-orbital flight. As I feared (and expected) this build isn't quite to scale with the Support Frigate. Either this one's a little too big, or the support frigate's a little too small. But I guess that's just the price of aesthetics in pure-stock construction. Happy corv-walling regardless! -SkunkTwerks P.s. Thanks for the backstory lesson @KerikBalm, I'd always wondered why some things didn't seem very consistent plot-wise as the games progressed.

It sure is! Two drill bits, actually, one big and one small. I've used the small drills for all kinds of things in my replicas, like guns, antennas, exhaust pipes, etc... Making pure stock craft would be an awful lot harder without them! Thank you! I'm stoked that you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed building it. -SkunkTwerks

Awwww yesssss @Rocket In My Pocket, I thoroughly appreciate the suggestion! I used to build swarms of Support Frigates in HW1 because the AI chronically undervalued them as targets in the campaign and skirmishes. Few things were more satisfying than watching the AI pummel one of my heavy cruisers while half a dozen support frigates slapped all the armor back on from behind (or below). Or watching my heavy corvette walls lay waste to enemy strike craft while a couple trusty support frigates kept them fueled and fired up! But you're absolutely right, it is a little outside my usual area of interest... which is exactly what I love about this forum. Folks like you help push me to try new things! In honor of your brilliant suggestion, I humbly present the SkunkTwerks Kushan Support Frigate (Homeworld). Did the Taiidan frag your Assault Frigate? Bring the Support Frigate over and forget it ever happened! Fighter fleet running on fumes? Freak out now longer, the Support Frigate will fuel ‘em up in no time. Want to keep your fancy destroyer in the fine shape? The Support Frigate will buff those ion beam scorch marks right out. The only bad news is that the Twerkshop ran out of RUs before it could figure out how to get this thing into orbit without cheats, so you’ll either need to ramp up your own resourcing operations, or use mods like Hyperedit to get it there. Hotkey 1 toggles the fuel cells if you’re running low on juice. I really enjoyed this build! It was fun to build for zero-G for a change and ignore aerodynamics for a little while. Needless to say, I will seriously consider adding more to the original Homeworld fleet when I find the time. -SkunkTwerks

Whenever that bundle goes on sale, I'd say it's well worth your $. Which one you try first might depend on your playstyle & motivations. DoK will give you an easier introduction to the genre, but HW will give you a more meaningful & compelling one. The original HW campaign was absolutely outstanding, but nobody ever said it was easy and there's only one difficulty setting. I'll admit to shamelessly using a strategy guide my first time through HW, but still loving every minute of it. The DoK campaign has three difficulty settings and more tutorial guidance, but its storytelling just doesn't pack as much firepower. Anyway, while you wait for a sale... Other RTS super-classics like Age of Empires II or Starcraft, would make *ideal* introductions to RTS gaming, and their remastered/HD versions aren't too pricey. As luck would have it, Starcraft is even on sale right now, and I'm downloading it in a sudden impulsive wave of nostalgia. -SkunkTwerks

Resurrecting this old thread to add a craft I meant to upload ages ago: the SkunkTwerks Coalition Strike Fighter (Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak) ATMO+VTOL Based on these two screenshot for HW:DoK: And the Twerkshop photos: If anyone has Homeworld related craft requests, I'm always up for a challenge! Remember to keep the sand out of your engines, -SkunkTwerks

Glad you enjoyed those crafts @Klapaucius! That reminds me, I built the HW:DoK Tactical Strike Fighter and never got around to posting it... I'll get on that! Seems I'm a little late to the conversation, but I LOVED Homeworld and highly recommend it. It's pretty dissimilar to KSP, but they do complement each other nicely. The original Homeworld, in my opinion, struck the perfect balance of simplicity, tactical novelty, and a phenomenally compelling narrative. Manipulating fleets in full 3D space felt positively revolutionary in its day, and I'm surprised more games haven't followed suit because it was freaking awesome. It takes a little getting used to, but you'll be pretty good at it by the time you're halfway into the campaign (which was positively fantastic for its story and level design). Homeworld 2 had a slicker UI and awesome graphics, but IMHO had just a few too many things to micromanage (research, modules, etc...) for my tastes. And while the campaign was pretty good, there was no way it was going to live up to the original in terms of epic destiny. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak was a much less unique game. A decent intro to the RTS genre, it wasn't too complicated and the campaign progressed nicely (although again, not as compelling as the original HW). There are better land-based RTS games out there, but HW:DoK had special meaning for those of us who really got into HW. -SkunkTwerks

Thanks, I should clarify... Do you use an image overlay software as "tracing paper" when you're building your 1:1 models in the SPH/VAB? Or are you just insanely good at eyeballing & measuring? If you use overlays, what software do you use for that? I'd have an easier time getting proportions of my crafts right if I didn't have to tab back and forth between my reference schematics and my crafts while building them. I tried OVERLAY2 and it hasn't been able to mask over KSP's window, so I'm looking for alternatives. And are you aware of any good mods that make it easy to measure distances and part angles in the SPH/VAB aside from EditorExtensionsRedux?

Bravo, bravo! Phenomenal work @Servo! *salutes* What software do you use to do your overlays? I'm having a hard time finding something that will actually overlay over my game window.

Once upon a time, in a quest to kerbalize some of the weirdest aircraft in history, I attempted to make Avro Canada's VZ-9 Avrocar. It was enough of a challenge that I could easily understand why the project was doomed for failure. But where real life fails, Kerbal sometimes succeeds. This was the actually somewhat-functional (albeit tricky to pilot) result: Flying saucy! PM me if you'd like a craft file. -SkunkTwerks

I accidentally ended up making a silly little circumnavigator a while back while building tiny planes with my cousin. We named it "Airy Larry the Extraordinary," because it accidentally circumnavigated Kerbin in under 43 Kerbin minutes, using less than 540 units of liquid fuel. I say accidentally because I just was doing a simple test flight to see what its top speed and ceiling would be... and then I realized it'd probably go 'round the planet. It did, with plenty of fuel to spare. With a more deliberate ascent path, a little less extra fuel on board, and after trimming some of the "luxury" parts, you could probably get the trip down to well under 40 minutes and <450 units of fuel. ... And my cousin called Airy Larry the Extraordinary cute. So it's officially cute, and highly capable! Happy to PM you a craft file if you'd like. -SkunkTwerks

Well folks, I just had a fun building moment. I was working on the Coalition Gunship's sister ship, the Coalition Tactical Bomber, but couldn't find great photos online. So I popped into HW:DoK to take some screenshots. It was actually the first time I'd ever really zoomed in on the air units in the game, most of the time they'd just been a few pixels on my screen. It worked beautifully, and the results are posted below. However, I decided to take some snapshots of the gunship in action as well... Turns out the engines aren't where I assumed they were, and the craft is less symmetrical than I thought. It only has 2 gun turrets (one center and one starboard), the sensors bay is found only on the starboard side of the cockpit, and the engines should probably be upgraded to Whiplashes to produce the all-important blue exhaust. So needless to say, since I know everyone cares oh so very much about tiny accuracy details [/sarcasm], I'll be releasing a gunship update in the near future. Because why settle? In the meantime, let me distract you with the newest shiny object from the Twerkshop: the SkunkTwerks Coalition Tactical Bomber (Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak) ATMO+VTOL, based off this late-game screenshot: More screenshots in spoiler below And here's the Kerbalized version in action: True to its name, this is an ideal choice for rapidly coating stray rovers with flaming mystery goo. Handles beautifully. But seriously, this craft is the bomb(er) and I'm having an absolute *blast* flying it around. Bwahahaha, yeah I was pretty pleased with the handling, but I think the bomber currently outdoes it and I'll be curious to hear your take. And as fun as it would be to swap those guns out for some BDArmory chainguns, I rather enjoy the challenge of trying to make everything 100% stock. Thank you! Guess you'll have another thing to look forward to when your favorite mods finally update. -SkunkTwerks

Thanks @Klapaucius! Looks like I'm still on a Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak kick... What rhymes with Funship? A Coalition Gunship! SkunkTwerks proudly presents the Coalition Gunship (Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak) ATMO+VTOL. The original reference model: The highly functional Kerbalized SkunkTwerks version: Fully VTOL capable for rendezvous with mobile carriers and hovering fire support, this craft is perfect for pummeling all manner of ground vehicles. Just remember to stay clear of anti-air turrets and mobile missile batteries. The matching Coalition Tactical Bomber and Strike Fighter are in the 'werks'! -SkunkTwerks

These are truly delightful @Castille7! I especially applaud your creative use of AIRBRAKES as movable X-wing S-foils, and I'm blown away by the fact that they're all VTOL capable. You took on a really difficult design challenge, and I'm a huge fan of your end results!

This is ridiculous and hilarious and brilliant. In short, everything a kerbal creation should be. Excellent work!

This one goes out to the Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak fans! I decided to take a little break from Star Wars Replicas and found inspiration in the cool-looking lander bi-planes from the Khashar Plateau mission. Video of the "real" deal in action below, MAJOR SPOILER ALERT if you haven't already played the game, the video contains a pretty big plot spoiler. Here's the kerbalized SkunkTwerks Homeworld: Kharak Lander. Like most cool-looking sci-fi designs, this one posed an interesting set of challenges: the natural center of lift of this design is rather far forward, while the natural center of gravity is rather far aft. It took a lot of flight testing to get the balance right. Wing shape and angles took some serious fine-tuning as well. But it was a fun project, and I suspect a few more classic Homeworld crafts (especially from the original HW1 and HW2 games) may be in my future. -SkunkTwerks

Oh my goodness @Castille7, that's freaking adorable. Brilliant work!

Oh what fun! A couple years back, the SR-71 was one of my first attempts at a really high-fidelity reproduction. Time to blow the dust off and give the ol' "SkunkTwerks SR-71 Blackbird" a day in the sun: It certainly didn't match the absolute work of art that was @eorin and @Exothermos's SR-71 pure stock build, but looking back on it, I still think my attempt wasn't too shabby for a pure stock, no-overlay (all ratios eyeballed), no construction-mod replica. In retrospect it's a tad too stubby (should be longer nose to tail), but I had so much fun trying to get things right. Looks like as our aerodynamics models have evolved, this old plane had developed a bit of the ol' tendency to lawn-dart. I think I'll do a bit of aerodynamic editing to get it v.1.3+ compatible before I post the craft file here. -SkunkTwerks

Outstanding work as always Jett! Thanks for the feature, I'm so happy that my little Nantex fighter got to see some action. The Corellian Transport is beautiful work, the AIRBRAKE engine housings look awesome, and I never would have thought to use flipped relay antennae as rounded nosecones. Very clever design. Your creations never fail to inspire me to look at old parts in new ways!