Pteron Micro Shuttle and rescue vehicle Beta download available(9/9/2014)

[Sage Sagan]

I am liking what I see!

A few thoughts: I think that the landing gear could be simplified into something resembling the dreamchaser's front gear, just folding down with a shock absorber and a foot pad for a skid.

I don't think FAR works well with built in wings, they need to be radially attached as a discreet wing piece IIRC. That said, a curving wing might be able to be treated as dihedral if the centre point of it is raised or something.

I like the IVA concept! Will it have a RPM HUD display over the front window like the Mk1 and KSO cockpits?

Currently un-decided on a HUD for couple of reasons; first and foremost the windows are quite small and I am little concerned a HUD would make them feel cluttered/cramped this comes back also to the simplicity criteria.

Secondly complexity of config.. I really want this project to move forward at the pace it has been up till now and so I am very wary of "feature creep" this applies to FAR compatibility as well.

Having said that, I am waiting to hear back from Daemoria on splitting the model as discussed earlier in the thread. It may well be that the shuttle has 2 discreet wings in which case FAR compatibility should be less of a problem,...leave that as pending.

Once we have a working cute Shuttle that everyone involved is happy with, then the community is free to write configs for the all the major mods and I will include them with the download.

Fruit Bat Industries are keen to begin deliveries, so that fatal bugs can be discovered by You, the Brave end user.

[Read have Read]

Well, I was thinking you would want less monitors in the cockpit. 3 RPM's are more than I expected from a lifeboat, I'd be fine with one monitor for the deorbit and some analog gauges and hud for the actual landing. Would be fun doining it visually with the right tools - landing in IVA with the stok instruments means you have to constantly look down to find out your altitude and attitude, but with a HUD makes it harder than Chase cam but easier than nothing.

Although fitting the HUD into the window might be a little tricky in the confined space, unless it was done seamless like on the KSO - which would take even more R&D :/ ... I agree with you, best to put that off for a while.

I'll ask Ferram about the wings. The KSO is built in such a way that the wings are node attached and the root is inside the cargo bay rendering them hard to intergrate now that it is done and released.

Edit: Separate vertical and horizontal wing sections would be optimal, and stock would work with this way as well.

The best would be cuts at both points, since FAR is only able to simulate a wing for a part that is a flat plane; any other set up will have either the vertical fins doing nothing or the regular wings doing nothing.

However he decides to do it, make sure that the part-forward vector is oriented perpendicular to the wing and that the part origin is at the center of the wing root, or FAR won't handle the aerodynamics correctly at all.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Read have Read

[Sage Sagan]

Ok so I had a look at the cockpit layout that I posted yesterday, I think it is too cluttered. So I tried to simplify it without taking away from the idea of this being fun to fly on manual.

Sorry to all those who want a HUD...maybe for release 1.1 but not right now. I was thinking that a height scale on the inside of the central window might be like having a very simple HUD. Go check out the cockpit on a Mig105,

You will find zero MFDs or HUDS...now that is Kerbal. Kind cool how much the Pteron cockpit resembles it

Readhaveread, the problem with splitting the model at lines "A" and "B" is that Daemoria thinks it will then be impossible to get the lovely sweeping wing that the model currently has. It would be impossible to get the ventral stabilizers to line up with the horizontal section of the wing in a seamless line, and I love that wing shape which translates as "it is not getting changed". So I am a little stuck on this, having the body and wing be one part won't work for FAR?

[CERVERUS]

Awesome cockpit...i will use only the IVA for fly with this!!!

I think two MFD are enough...give little place for the analogue instruments!

[hieywiey]

Could it be launched from a 50/50 like plane similar to the MiG-105 Spiral?

[Woopert]

Just found this thread and am loving the way it looks so far! Keep up the good work!

[Sage Sagan]

It could be but to be honest it is meant to be launched on a vertical stack. It will have only enough fuel to de-orbit so a 50-50 style launch would be difficult. Edit: having read a little more I guess if you loaded a Pteron up with enough fuel and put a punchy motor on the rear attach node.. then possibly. Not sure how the stubby wings would handle all that weight, and I can assure you such endeavors wouldn't be covered by the warranty.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Sage Sagan

[Sage Sagan]

Hello prospective purchasers, Just a quick update Daemoria is continuing with modelling and trying to translate my sketches into something wonderful.

Looking great, and the bonus is there will be a 3-D printable model.

[blackheart612]

That's lookin good, man

[hieywiey]

What they need to add to KSP is a wind tunnel so I could test this just for fun.

[astropapi1]

Hello prospective purchasers, Just a quick update Daemoria is continuing with modelling and trying to translate my sketches into something wonderful.

http://i.imgur.com/GrVYii8.png

Looking great, and the bonus is there will be a 3-D printable model.

What's that program? Haven't seen it before...

[Sage Sagan]

What's that program? Haven't seen it before...

Z-brush is the program shown in the screeny.

hieywiey, wind tunnel? Hah wind tunnels are for amateurs, so much more kerbal to take a long hard look and say " that looks about right".

Any aerodynamic control issues will become abundantly clear when it crashes.

[hieywiey]

hieywiey, wind tunnel? Hah wind tunnels are for amateurs, so much more kerbal to take a long hard look and say " that looks about right".

Any aerodynamic control issues will become abundantly clear when it crashes.

No, I meant for it to be more of a fun/cool thing than actually functional.

[Sage Sagan]

No, I meant for it to be more of a fun/cool thing than actually functional.

Oh yes, as a fun feature a wind tunnel in the VAB/SPH would be awesome. Maybe like centre of mass, centre of lift, it might be possible to have airflow over vehicle as a button in the SPH.

[Sochin]

I suggested that months ago and got shot down by forum trolls.

[skykooler]

Oh yes, as a fun feature a wind tunnel in the VAB/SPH would be awesome. Maybe like centre of mass, centre of lift, it might be possible to have airflow over vehicle as a button in the SPH.

I feel like this could be a part of FAR - it's already got most of the infrastructure there.

[Daemoria]

FAR does have the variable airflow statistics it calculates. I remember seeing them in the Scot Manely videos, it would just need some way to plot that data across the surface of the model. But if FAR isn't used, the default aerodynamics of KSP would result in some incredibly weird airflow dynamics, rendering the whole thing moot.

Ya, that's Zbrush, and a WIP shot that is veeeery rough. Here is a more updated version, but still WIP. The tile patterning is still subject to change.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Daemoria
added image [belly shot]

[Sochin]

Looks like a bulldog know.

[drtedastro]

looks like the bottom of some sports shoe. wonder what size nike Jeb wears.??

[Sage Sagan]

FAR does have the variable airflow statistics it calculates. I remember seeing them in the Scot Manely videos, it would just need some way to plot that data across the surface of the model. But if FAR isn't used, the default aerodynamics of KSP would result in some incredibly weird airflow dynamics, rendering the whole thing moot.

Ya, that's Zbrush, and a WIP shot that is veeeery rough. Here is a more updated version, but still WIP. The tile patterning is still subject to change.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8424612/KSP/kerbal_pteron_belly.pnghttps://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8424612/KSP/kerbal_pteron.png

Looking good Daemoria, the window placement is really looking the part. The windows are following the line of the fuselage in a very pleasing way. All textures are subject to change of course but it does look a little sports shoe in a good way. The tile pattering will have to change in some way to accommodate the landing gear so it shouldn't be taken as the final look.

I am really taken with the "lip" where the underside joins the nose, really bringing the Mig-105 heritage.

I have said this before but I'm in love with the wing curve.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Sage Sagan

[Mekan1k]

I like the shuttle- reminds me of a running shoe somehow...

[specs]

-Sniped: The cutest damn shuttle I ever did see-

Whoa! It's actually happening!

Yeeeaaaahhh!

Edit: Pweez reconsider the amount of MFDs in the cockpit (At the least, three of 'em?), as I like having everything right in front of me whilst flying, and dislike having to frantically look about the cabin during tense maneuvers. E.g. Landing, and docking.

Edited March 6, 2014 by specs
Might as well...

[Daemoria]

Oh, just FYI peoples, I've been ninja editing the post with more up to date photos. >:]

I have a question for people who've made landing gear mods before. I want to have integrated skids that pop out, and telescope to provide a wider base to land on. Is this possible, or am I just crazy?

Edit: specs- I dont really have plans on doing the IVA any time soon. I want to release the lowpoly + uvmaps/baked texture information to the others developing this, and then get back to my own projects. Some time later, I might get to the IVA, if no one else steps up to it. . . but I can't really promise anything at this point.

Edited March 6, 2014 by Daemoria

[blackheart612]

In my opinion, heat shields as small spacing as that barely need that big spacing/bumps. Maybe it's... I dunno. A little bit too much on bump maybe? A cartoonish shuttle should be a little big plain imo.

Edit: The white spots on the bottom part shields look a little detailed too. Maybe plain would do.

I'm just not a fan of very detailed stuff when it comes to cartoonish. Anybody else thinking like me? D:

Edited March 6, 2014 by blackheart612

[Daemoria]

Yea, the heat shield spacing is a bit exaggerated, I agree, but it is deliberate. If you keep the tiles super thin/sharp, the normal map will become noisy and aliased when baked. Also, take the image of the render in an external viewer and view it at 50% or less zoom level. That is typically the zoom level it's going to be in-game. Are they, in your opinion, still too pronounced at that level?

I can still go in and flatten all the creases between the tiles, and make it almost completely seamless, but I think that would make it lose a lot of its character when viewed at a distance.