[WIP] BattleTech/Mechwarrior Dropship Parts Pack

[wenth]

BattleTech/Mechwarrior DropShip Parts Packs [WIP]

Authors:
@wenth

Download Link (Current Version: A.01 "HYPER ALPHA RELEASE")

Spoiler

https://spacedock.info/mod/1853/DropShipPartsPack (DSPP)?ga=%3CGame+3102+%27Kerbal+Space+Program%27%3E

 

Helpers: (people that helped my dumb kerbal butt figure this all out)

-Damon (for helping me get the dam parts to show up at all)
-Krakatoa (for helping me with smoke and flame FXs)
-JadeOfMar (for generally always sticking his nose in and letting me know when im not even asking the right question)

 

Mod Developers/Makers/Maintainers: (pepole whos assets we have used or used to make the game work)

-Boots (Developer/Maintainer of the ESLD Jump Beacons Revived mod originally made by TMarkos) for allowing us to use his mod for a dependency in our Jumpships pack and answering any questions we had about dependency/part creation involved there in.

 

Mod Integration/Dependency/Optional Dependency:

-ESLD Jump Beacons Revived (approved)

-TweakScale (pending permission)

 

 

Work/Progress/Status Tree

Phase One: Basic Thrusters, Manatee Parts and Art Standardization

Spoiler

Basic Thruster: Manatee Thruster MK1 (in game in need of fine tuning and art)

Main Thruster: In Concept

Manatee Cargo Bay: Manatee Cargo Bay MK1 (refining model)

Manatee Structural/General Part: modeled and awaiting cfgs/light effects

Manatee Landing Legs: In Concept

Manatee Upper Segments: modeled and awaiting cfgs/light effects

Manatee Reactor: modeled and awaiting cfgs/light effects

Manatee Command Deck: modeled and awaiting cfgs/light effects

Manatee End Caps: modeled and awaiting cfgs/light effects

Phase Two: Bigger Bolder Rounder!

Spoiler

Larger and rounder spheroid Dropships parts along with select aerodyne drop ship parts (more details as we move closer to this phase)

Aerodyne Parts/Ships:

-Leopard or Broadsword class parts (Bonus Titan parts if all goes really well)

Spheroid Parts/Ships:

-Outpost/Jumbo/Confederate/Colossus/Rose/CargoMaster or Elephant Class parts

Phase Three: UTILITY!

Spoiler

-Adding in of utility parts (drills, solar panels, sic labs, deployables and other misc parts)

-Adding of tweekscale utility to all main parts

-Adding Additional FXs/Art

-Colony/outpost class enabling parts

-Ablative Foam!!!! (custom Ablative that can be refilled in orbit!)

-Elevator Cargo Bay

(more details as we move closer to this phase)

Phase Four: To Boldly Go!/Jumpships add-on pack

Spoiler

JUMP SHIPS!
-Dependency intigration with ESLD Jump Beacons Revived to enable galaxy level game play
(more details as we move closer to this phase)

Phase Five: Polish a turd

Spoiler

Polishing and finalization phase before full public release
(more details as we move closer to this phase)

Bonus Phase: Plus Ultra!

Spoiler

Bonus parts and features not originally thought of to round out the pack and enable as few mods/as complete a parts pack as possible

Tentative Ideas:

-PPC Science Experiment

-Mass Driver Parts (@Northstar1989 approved the concept and has ok'd parts using his mod as a dependency!)

-Kraken Science lab/power plant (half approved. no collaboration but approved to make reference/pay respects to)

 Jump parts (Approved to use ESLD beacons @Booots)

-Jump Field Science Experiment

-Random Jump Science Experiment

(more details as we move closer to this phase)

 

Planed Packs

Core/Core Supplements

Spoiler

Main: Core Dropship parts

Supplemental: Ejection/Drop pods and payload delivery pack (Mass Driver Addon)

Jumpships Add-on: Jumpship and jump drive parts (ESLD beacons)

Exotic Science pack: battletech themed science and science facility's 

Addons

Spoiler

Exotic Propulsion/Science: Kracken Science laboratorys, thruster and utility parts

Aerodyne Parts Pack: Aerodyne dropship parts for KSPers that enjoy flying like a bird VS a brick

Heavy Industry Parts Pack: Massive parts to industrialize your play though and enable galactic expansion

Colony Parts Pack: what it says on the tin

Militarization Parts Pack: Weapons parts pack (will not be doing with out collaboration from BD armory devs)

Warp Parts Pack: because not every one may want to jump some may want to warp instead! (pending dev talks)

Ground Utility Parts Pack: Smaller parts for Roaming around on planets and conducting ground based operations in something less then 500tons

 

Opening: I have always loved the BattleTech universe and the Mechwarrior series that goes along with it combine that with my love of KSP and my predisposition to building massive drop ships for package delivery and habit of making giant payloads that can only really be dropped via skycrane It feels natural for me to try and bring the massive scale of battletech drop ships to KSP with a parts pack! With that in mind how ever this is my first parts pack and true attempt at modding AND my first time using these (3ds max student) modeling programs with only a background in 3D printing and CADD its slow going and any help is welcome! And no we will be focusing on more then just clan wolf they just happen to be my favoret/first clan.

 

LOW POLY! This mod takes its style and inspiration from the entire world of mechwarrior/battletech but its model are more in the style of mechwarrior 2 (my first mechwarrior game and indoctrination into clan wolf)

 

Parts Inspirations/goals:

Our first Parts goal is to make a Spheroid drop ship (BUT WAIT SPHERES ARE HARD!) True but we are going to cheat here and make the Manatee first! Spheroid in classification only its more like a fancy fuel tank in design!

 

At this point in time we have no goals to make actual mechs (sorry) our fallowing goals should we succeed in creating the Manatee is to move on to the Leopard Areodyne drop ship

 

 

 

Parts/Ship Logic:

Our first ship will be split into 3 or 4 sections for simplicity sake
-Base (holding the thrusters and flat or snap points for legs to be designed at a later date)
-The Hanger (taking up the bulk of the center section)
-Fuel tanks (taking up the remainder of the center and forming most of the top
-The Bridge (capping off the ship and holding the pilots/crew)


Parts NOT included

I have no intention to add guns or lasers or any thing like that sadly. HOW EVER! I do plan on leaving snap points for them so you may use any of the existing weapons mods or make your own should you feel up to the task!



Help is welcome as this is our first attempt at a mod any one wanting to help cfg or model or test is welcome to do so!


Impossible Fantasy (ya......not going to happen I dont even know what its called yet, but let me dream)

 

Edited May 14, 2018 by wenth
updates

[mox313]

Looking forward to this! 

[Ogre1983]

Makes me think of the Dropship from Aliens 2.... Awesome! Can't wait

[wenth]

3 hours ago, Ogre1983 said:

Makes me think of the Dropship from Aliens 2.... Awesome! Can't wait

Iv often wondered if Aliens drew inspiration from mechwarrior/battletech so many of the human crafts in the early movies would fit in perfectly with mech/battletech designs

[wenth]

update! WE HAVE A WORKING PART!

still need textures and decent non-stock effects (because none of them are big enough) but we have a working part at least!

this is the Manatee Thruster MK2. Designed as Supplementary eng it will have a high TWR but no gimble and provide the punch you need to leave even the highest gravity planets and help lift the biggest payloads (in groups)

[wenth]

Ok we (me basically) trying to standardize our textures to be stock alike and we are looking for reference textures/images on how to make stock alike textures. If any one has any they are willing to share so we can build our own textures to be stock alike?

[Mecha Pants]

I look forward to seeing where this goes, I can definitely find a place for this in my savegame.

 

[wenth]

DEV UPDATE: WARP FACTOR 5 MR. DATA

No parts info or sneak peaks at this time just announcing that warp and/or jump drives will be included in the mod (as some of the last parts) as we will be finishing with the Jumpships to enable practical To Boldly Go and other galaxy games

[wenth]

On 12/9/2017 at 5:49 PM, Mecha Pants said:

I look forward to seeing where this goes, I can definitely find a place for this in my savegame.

 

Glad to hear that the first parts (basic engs and Manatee class parts) should be coming out early next month if all goes well!

14 hours ago, wenth said:

DEV UPDATE: WARP FACTOR 5 MR. DATA

No parts info or sneak peaks at this time just announcing that warp and/or jump drives will be included in the mod (as some of the last parts) as we will be finishing with the Jumpships to enable practical To Boldly Go and other galaxy games

Update!

Boots the current maintainer/developer of ESLD Jump Beacons Revived has agreed to allow us to use his mod as a dependency for our jumpship parts! Jumpship parts will be an add-on pack to our dropship parts so you may use just dropships with out any dependency if you like but it will be designed with using jumpships to move from galaxy to galaxy in mind as per-cannon Battletech.

[wenth]

DEV UPDATE: JUST LEAF IT ALONE!

 

updated progress/planing tree and broke parts pack into multiple add-ons finalizing funtion/animation of current structural parts.

[wenth]

DEV UPDATE: PART IT OUT!

All basic parts (except the landing legs) are in the game and ready for fine tuning!!!!

....wait where is the texture they are all blank!!!! that's right. at this point in time due to the loss of my artist all the parts will be blank and you will be able to create your own custom textures by coloring in the provided files!

 

if any one is up to the task or posts there textures here id be more then happy to consider them for the default textures.

Rockomax Fuel tank for scale

Edited January 22, 2018 by wenth

[JadeOfMaar]

@wenth You're doing it all wrong!  

That complete lack of texture is just cruelty! Volunteer artists won't know their thumb from their toe on an empty canvas!  

Spoiler

Also, this....

 

Edited January 22, 2018 by JadeOfMaar

[wenth]

@JadeOfMaar xD sorry jade but due to my loss of my artist (wife looked at it and said "that's paint by numbers") AND my love of table top currently we are going with no or very little texture and then I'll release some UV maps with guides and see how it goes before open release.

 

Also.... HAIL THE SCALE BANANA! 

[wenth]

MY THREAD IS NOT DEAD.......just feels that way

[JadeOfMaar]

2 hours ago, wenth said:

MY THREAD IS NOT DEAD.......just feels that way

LOL hi dude. it's been a while.

[wenth]

Ya bit chaotic here can't believe how long it's been gota get at least the first part pack out now that the battletech  game has dropped. And saw the thread was marked as unused -_- 

[wenth]

TEST RELEASE UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!
-----The Hyper Alpha Test Release-----
testing/suggestions/cfg tweaks welcome and requested!

 

This Hyper Alpha Test Release is more a place holder/Preview section as though all parts exists and most function correctly in the game tweaks and tests need to be done to get them working. feel free to play around with settings and suggest changes/submit your .cfg files to be used/reviewed.

https://spacedock.info/mod/1853/DropShipPartsPack (DSPP)?ga=%3CGame+3102+%27Kerbal+Space+Program%27%3E


---------Parts List----------
No Lights Implemented Yet (working on it)
HYPER EDIT/CHEAT MODE REQUIRED AS LIQUID HYDROGEN (LH2) HARVESTING HAS NOT YET BEEN ADDED

ManateeCap: This part is intended to be a very large Gyroscope to turn the craft with out the use of fuel. or at least strong on other craft. it will in later updates also work as a universal docking port though out the parts pack.

ManateeCargoBay: Its a big empty space to put things in. not sure the collisions are working correctly no tests at this time let me know if you can go in/out the doors.

ManateeCargoDeck: A big empty holding bay (cargo option not implemented yet....so its basically just a useless mass)

ManateeCommandDeck: No internal view yet but its a command pod. let me know if you feel it works properly.

ManateeFuelTank: Its a big tank meant to hold fuel currently only set up to hold LH2 but will have standard fuel options later quantity balance needed.

ManateeMainSail: The Main In Orbit/Space eng of the craft. not currently balanced properly intended to have near 0 Thrust/ISP on ground but large Thrust/ISP in space (theoretically enough to generate at least 1G at cruising speed. 1/3 speed)

ManateePlasmaTank: A giant tank that holds the Plasma for your MainSail. uses energy to keep Plasma hot needs balance of energy cost vs unpowered boil off.

ManateeReactorCore: This is the heart of the Manatee Class Parts and creates both the power and Plasma to run the ship. still balancing and will likely add secondary fuel source/input power to start the reaction. suggestions welcome as always.

ManateeThruster: This is the Eng with the punch. designed to run on standard fuel and dump massive ammounts of it for massive kick to get the drop ship off the ground and into space with a full payload. Intended to have no gimble.

ManateeThrusterMK2: A "Micro" version of the standard ManateeThruster she is designed as a support thruster intended to have a large gimble range to help keep the craft on coerce.


Known Issues:
-ManateeThrusterMK2's nodes are not properly set up (the top node is not set in the correct orientation) and its surface attach is not perfected yet
-ManateeCargoBay may or may not have its mesh set up correctly so you can go in/out of the doors once open
-There are currently no standard fuel tanks or ways to harvest Hydrogen with in the mod
-Lights do not work
-textures are blank
-Parts Tab not yet working. enter Manatee into search bar to pull up all parts

Missing Parts (WHAT THE! missing parts? yep a few parts are still being toyed around with and will be in the next alpha)

-ManateeRamp: you'll note if you build the standard ship you are very high off the ground with no way other then jumping to get off the ship! this ramp aims to fix that and alow you to move in and out of the cargo bays at your lessure....provided they are on the bottom of the ship.

-ManateeHarvestingEquipment: parts to enable refining fuel and resources in the field as this mod is intended to be an industrial parts pack in the end
 

-ManateeLandingEquipment: Still prototyping if I want to use static or dynamic landing gear and if I want to stay cannon or just go with what I like

-DecoParts: what fun would it be with out parts that do almost nothing but make the ship look better! it is just a giant gray/white blob right now after all

Image of "Full Ship" below for reference and horror of untextured parts. Orange Tank for scale. Ya...your guna need hanger extender most of these parts barely fit in the VAB on there own let alone together.

Edited May 14, 2018 by wenth
image added

[wenth]

Publish the mod that might help! OK so down load should be working now!

[Abpilot]

if u want drop ship concepts...

i suggest the guys from star citizen!

[wenth]

3 hours ago, Abpilot said:

if u want drop ship concepts...

i suggest the guys from star citizen!

That is an awesome ship and I do have plans for some landing arm/thrusters like that it doesn't fit I'll n this pack or my current skill level but I would love to create a high sci-fi pack like that some time! 

[Abpilot]

7 hours ago, wenth said:

That is an awesome ship and I do have plans for some landing arm/thrusters like that it doesn't fit I'll n this pack or my current skill level but I would love to create a high sci-fi pack like that some time! 

Also there is this gorgeous baby, also VTOL.

Star citizen logic makes it $660 to get for a game!

 

Its name is the hurcules star lifter (did i spell any thing wrong?)

[wenth]

6 hours ago, Abpilot said:

Also there is this gorgeous baby, also VTOL.

Star citizen logic makes it $660 to get for a game!

 

Its name is the hurcules star lifter (did i spell any thing wrong?)

I have no idea. But I'll have to get better at modeling and texture art to do that. Doing these old dropships in part to practice. If your up to colaberating on making these ones let me know and I can work on parts for them with you. 

[Abpilot]

On 5/16/2018 at 2:23 PM, wenth said:

I have no idea. But I'll have to get better at modeling and texture art to do that. Doing these old dropships in part to practice. If your up to colaberating on making these ones let me know and I can work on parts for them with you. 

ummm...i have no idea how to model

[wenth]

9 hours ago, Abpilot said:

ummm...i have no idea how to model

 

xD none of us really do when we start. can you do digital art? I suck at the art part of it but I can at least make the models

[Abpilot]

4 hours ago, wenth said:

xD none of us really do when we start. can you do digital art? I suck at the art part of it but I can at least make the models

mo like i actually have no idea how to do anything.