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[WIP][1.4.5] VST (Vectura Space Technologies)


Vectura

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Reviving this years-old thread because I feel like reviving the glorious company known as Vectura Space Technologies (formerly Vectura Spaceplane Technologies). This is a part pack of odd bits and pieces I have made, rather than following a specific theme.

Currently the pack contains 5 parts:

  • N-512- an enormous nuclear engine for your enormous nuclear powered ship needs.
  • Inline cockpit- an IVA-less cockpit that seats 2 kerbals and acts as an adapter between 1.25m and 1.875m stack sizes.
  • Y-320K- a ridiculously huge pure LF spherical tank for big rocket that require LF.
  • Integral and Derivative - a pair of powerful engines for atmospheric and vacuum use respectively. Comes with a powerful gimbal system and high thrust.

Have some pics:
 

Spoiler

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The nuclear engine features an animated spinning belt radiator coupled with the throttle, and both the radiator and the engine have emissives. The cockpit is really just a glorified tube as it is.

 

Known Issues:

  • The emissive on the nuclear engine isn't perfect and appears in a couple of spots it shouldn't
  • The cockpit doesn't feature an IVA (and likely never will!)
  • The cockpit ladders can be a little finicky
  • No emissive on the integral/derivative pair of engines

Download at SpaceDock

 

I don't have any particular plans to take this pack in any direction currently and I am unlikely to release content for it often, if at all. I also can't guarantee balance with the parts.

Edited by Vectura
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Looks cool! I think you can add some more geometry for smoother shape, and bake an AO to get a good base for the textures. you can double your current tri-count (~1.5k?) for big visual improvement,, without any issues in KSP.

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Well, I have found a solution. I have a (relatively low poly) version of the model, with an extremely low poly model used as the collision mesh. Let's just hope it loads in ksp...

Edit: didn't quite work, still need to make the collision mesh properly invisible.

Edit2: Setting the collision mesh to have a transparent texture with the Alpha/Cutoff shader seems to work.

Edit3: Nope, funny black effect when viewing terrain. I guess just keep trying :P

Edited by Vectura
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Thanks! Should I add any pipes/stuff? It is supposed to have clean lines while still looking stock.

Edit: I will probably also move the flames a tad closer to the engine. And what about a smoke trail?

Edit2: I might also start work on intake, maybe a linear aerospike, and other spaceplaney stuff like flat aerodynamic rcs thrusters. Oh, and does anyone have any idea what the dimensions of Mk2 spaceplane parts are?

Edited by Vectura
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Well, I have found a solution. I have a (relatively low poly) version of the model, with an extremely low poly model used as the collision mesh. Let's just hope it loads in ksp...

Edit: didn't quite work, still need to make the collision mesh properly invisible.

Edit2: Setting the collision mesh to have a transparent texture with the Alpha/Cutoff shader seems to work.

Edit3: Nope, funny black effect when viewing terrain. I guess just keep trying :P

Regardign collision mesh; add mesh collider component, check "Convex"; then you can remove the mesh filter and mesh renderer components as they are not needed. that will make the collision mesh invisible in game.

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So, make the nozzles longer and narrower? Also, the way aerospikes work is the outside of the bell is created by airflow, the spike forms an inside to the bell. Kinda hard to explain, but think of a doughnut shaped bell. At least, I think that is how they work. They are also supposed to be vacuum nozzles (another reason to make them longer)

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I like the general design choices. With some extra work on the models (adding tiny details and such) and some texture work I can see these parts (the engine in particular) looking pretty awesome.

My only bit of advice would be to distinguish the engine a bit more from the stock Rapier engine in terms of performance. Maybe narrow the ISP range between atmo and vacuum so the engine has worse efficiency than the Rapier in atmo but higher efficiency in vacuum of space. It wouldn't be entirely realistic but it would give the engine some specific scenarios/tasks that it beats the Rapier in, instead of how it is right now between your engine and the Rapier, which is more of a stylistic choice more than anything.

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It should be more efficient than the Rapier overall, because of the aerospike part of the design. I still of course have to balance the parts with their places in the tech tree. And the textures... they are awful. Especially the battery :)

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It should be more efficient than the Rapier overall, because of the aerospike part of the design. I still of course have to balance the parts with their places in the tech tree. And the textures... they are awful. Especially the battery :)

Actually the multi-bell ejector on a toroidal Aerospike has been shown to be less efficient than other Aerospike designs (Specifically the annular ejector we more commonly see on the Toroidal Aerospikes.) What you get for the slight drop in efficiency is a reduction in cost, increase in reliability. I believe that a Bell-ejector Toroidal is not as ballanced between Atmosphere and Space as well. But I don't have numbers at had to back that up.

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Oh..That's pretty cool then. I guess the dents shouldn't be there then?

It'd be cool if we had a list of regular forum members who are engineers and scientists who we could bug about things like this. Or a special section for those people, something like some kind of a science forum, where we could ask those kinds of questions. We could call it "Science Lab". Wait...

Edited by Cpt. Kipard
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  • 3 years later...
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