A "KSP Loading..." Preview: 24-77 "Twitch" Liquid Fuel Engine Revamp

[Poodmund]

3 minutes ago, GeneCash said:

Aren't the hot nozzle colors wrong? Usually it's the bell that glows, and not the combustion chamber, from videos of real rockets.

Not necessarily. It depends on the engine. Typically, without any cooling, the narrow throat of the combustion chamber will be the part of the exhaust structure that will experience the highest temperatures due to the high pressure here but different engines have different approaches to cool this area to stop it from overheating and warping/melting etc.

 

[Superfluous J]

2 hours ago, sh1pman said:

Looks cool, won’t be easy for @Nertea to top this one...

Like anybody on that thread will admit it

[Johnster_Space_Program]

Yes they're finally updating that engine, can't wait! But, will there be a 1.6.2 update or 1.7.0 preview before the release of 1.7?

[GeneCash]

1 hour ago, Poodmund said:

Typically, without any cooling, the narrow throat of the combustion chamber will be the part of the exhaust structure that will experience the highest temperatures due to the high pressure here but different engines have different approaches to cool this area to stop it from overheating and warping/melting etc.

Sure, but the combustion chamber & throat are a lot thicker, so they don't glow. I'm talking about appearance.

Edited January 30, 2019 by GeneCash

[RoverDude]

1 hour ago, GeneCash said:

Sure, but the combustion chamber & throat are a lot thicker, so they don't glow. I'm talking about appearance.

Depends on the engine.

 

[Zero266]

absolutely fluffing beautiful!

[Superfluous J]

4 hours ago, Johnster_Space_Program said:

Yes they're finally updating that engine, can't wait! But, will there be a 1.6.2 update or 1.7.0 preview before the release of 1.7?

I don't expect either. I expect nothing until March, when I expect 1.7 will drop with whatever it happens to contain.

[Xurkitree]

sigh...

are there going to be any new features or not? Or new parts? Or anything other than bug fixes and revamps?

On the twitch- looks kinda weird to me; maybe its because its too blocky  rather than the smoother shape of the old one. It looks like a can with a nozzle now. How does fuel flow smoothly into that anyways?

[RealKerbal3x]

I like that! Looks much better than the old one.

I wonder what else SQUAD has in store for 1.7...I guess we'll find out soon!

Edited January 30, 2019 by RealKerbal3x

[Cruesoe]

3 hours ago, Xurkitree said:

sigh...

are there going to be any new features or not? Or new parts? Or anything other than bug fixes and revamps?

On the twitch- looks kinda weird to me; maybe its because its too blocky  rather than the smoother shape of the old one. It looks like a can with a nozzle now. How does fuel flow smoothly into that anyways?

1.6 introduced new stock features.

This is the very first tease update on what's in 1.7.  

Have a little patience as they announce things over the next two months.

Sometimes I think I'm the only one that is just happy to get free updates to a game I bought years ago regardless of what it includes.

[Deddly]

14 minutes ago, Cruesoe said:

Sometimes I think I'm the only one that is just happy to get free updates to a game I bought years ago regardless of what it includes.

You're not the only one

[swjr-swis]

13 hours ago, SQUAD said:

As you can see, the Twitch got its geometry and textures completely redone. And in addition to the classic orange, we are including a gray & orange variant to match with the style of your crafts. We also included an emissive texture for the throttle animation, as well as an animated gimbal that certainly will make the Twitch Engine look great when it’s in action!

Crispier texture and the glow looks good; right amount of detail for a part this size. Animated gimbal will be a nice addition.

The model change I'm not sure about though.

It looks considerably less aerodynamic than the old one. I really hope the drag box values are not worse - the Twitch is most often used in tiny craft on which small changes in drag have a proportionally larger effect.

It also looks like we're losing a gimbal axis with this new model, seeing as the hinge at the top would only allow rotation in a single plane - again, really hope that is not the case, as it will kill pretty much every craft/assembly I've used this engine in.

It looks like the thrust vector will be changing from the old to the new version, from slightly angled to straight down. We'll have to see how that affects old craft.

[Daishi]

51 minutes ago, swjr-swis said:

...we'll have to see how that affects old craft.

Saying that, has there been any official talk about this kind of stuff? Are these revamps going forward as new separate parts, with the legacy ones hidden - or changed completely under the warning of a "save breaking update?" 

I'm loving the definition of these new parts but I'm getting worried about the memory footprint of the final revamped game. Especially so if we're hanging on to old models in a legacy folder.

[RealKerbal3x]

4 minutes ago, Daishi said:

I'm loving the definition of these new parts but I'm getting worried about the memory footprint of the final revamped game. Especially so if we're hanging on to old models in a legacy folder.

I'm pretty sure the new models are much more optimised than the old ones, so hopefully it shouldn't be too bad.

[Superfluous J]

1 hour ago, Cruesoe said:

Sometimes I think I'm the only one that is just happy to get free updates to a game I bought years ago regardless of what it includes.

Not even close It flummoxes me as well when every announced update, someone complains that it's not the update they wanted.

The only thing you can do is not pay attention.

That goes for you, too, Squad.

1 hour ago, swjr-swis said:

It looks like the thrust vector will be changing from the old to the new version, from slightly angled to straight down. We'll have to see how that affects old craft.

That was literally my only problem with the engine. I frequently rotated it to be correctly aimed down.

[stibbons]

15 minutes ago, Daishi said:

Are these revamps going forward as new separate parts, with the legacy ones hidden - or changed completely under the warning of a "save breaking update?" 

Revamped textures and models so far have been separate parts. There's no reason not to assume that'll continue.

Squad seem to be favouring preserving existing craft and save games over cut-to-the-bone memory usage, and that's a reasonable call. If you're worried about memory footprint, though, it might be worth looking at the sizes of textures in your existing gamedata folder across previous releases? Like, check the old and new parts in 1.6, downgrade to 1.5 and look at the old and new parts there, and how the total size between versions fare as well.

Edited January 30, 2019 by stibbons

[GearsNSuch]

I'm impressed!

The new model is quite unique, properly detailed, and looks much more "rocket-y." It seems to have been created with the word "skycrane" in mind.

Pretty much my only complaint is the color. I don't really care for the "new orange" on the Spark and Twitch; It seems a bit too yellow. I don't know how much work it would be to revert it to the old color, though.

Other than that small point, amazing job!

[Lammet]

Hmm.... Will it be able to be retract and extend? Like the hinge thingy if not how it's controlled

 

[RoverDude]

FYI - the twitch does have it's existing two-axis gimbal with the same gimbal range, though the thrust transform is now pointed straight down.  The gimbal is below the fuel manifold.  Those two lugs are not a gimbal, they just attach the fixed portion of the engine to the mounting bracket.

[klesh]

This looks well done; I like it. I approve of the change to the thrust direction too.

[DMagic]

So when the first post said:

17 hours ago, SQUAD said:

as well as an animated gimbal

That is just referring to the engine bell pivoting at its base?

 

[RoverDude]

3 minutes ago, DMagic said:

So when the first post said:

That is just referring to the engine bell pivoting at its base?

 

Nope.  There are proper pistons/struts too.  And it pivots on the ball joint below the manifold, not it's base.

[VoidCosmos]

Neat!!!  Any retractable engines?

Edited February 1, 2019 by Nigel Cardozo

[DMagic]

13 minutes ago, RoverDude said:

Nope.  There are proper pistons/struts too.  And it pivots on the ball joint below the manifold, not it's base.

I think I see it now. So the top part, which is bolted to the base, is fixed, and the bottom pivots on that recessed, grey section just below the bolts? The pistons can move together to pivot in and out and move different amount to pivot side to side? That's pretty neat.

Edited January 30, 2019 by DMagic

[RoverDude]

1 hour ago, DMagic said:

I think I see it now. So the top part, which is bolted to the base, is fixed, and the bottom pivots on that recessed, grey section just below the bolts? The pistons can move together to pivot in and out and move different amount to pivot side to side? That's pretty neat.

Yup.  Top part also has the fuel inlets.