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Everything posted by Normak
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It's unfortunate that I'm out of town right now and I can't try out the new LK parts. Looking forward to using them when I get back. In the meantime, I'll be working on some new models I started this week... this pack has inspired me to get back into mod-making. Thanks Beale.
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Huge shoutout to this pack, definitely my current favorite parts pack. Here's a screenshot I took recently of these parts in action: On this mission, I was sending a station to the Mun to serve as a base. To do this, I had to link it up with an orbital tug (foreground) and then make the leap. This was a notable achievement for me because it was the first time I had docked and landed such a heavy craft in one mission. The landing was possible thanks to another amazing mod called Throttle Controlled Avionics. This mod and that one go together like peas and carrots.
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KOSMOS 3/14/2015 RD-170 Family Released!
Normak replied to CardBoardBoxProcessor's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
Ghost of Kosmos past reporting in. I'm surprised that CBBP has taken this approach so soon after I left the team. Through this project's history, we didn't collect donations from anyone as far as I'm aware. I didn't really care all that much, while I could've certainly used the money for university expenses I wouldn't resort to "early releases" to skirt the non-monetization policy. -
[0.21+] Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau: Updated (9/27/13)
Normak replied to Normak's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
Hello everyone. I haven't posted in a long time here due to the hiatus the project was on until recently. The road bump Cardboard is referring to was a dispute the two of us had while discussing the future of the pack, and as a result, I will be leaving the project. Please refer to the following explanation, which we agreed would be the only word on the matter: Kosmos was founded as a partnership between me and Cardboard. For a period of time, ownership of the pack and the question of future profitability became the chief concern of the project, during which time we agreed to mutual ownership of the intellectual property and proportional ownership of the physical property which was understandably favorable to Cardboard. In this arrangement, neither member could dismiss the other, and future updates would require collective approval. In the time since, I feel that the project has grown to no longer represent its original vision, and this has created a dispute which I believe can not be resolved with the partnership intact. For that reason, I am renouncing my share of ownership of the project. My exit will not disturb the update process nor will it restrict Cardboard from any of the development materials. Kosmos has been a rewarding experience, and I thank each and every person who supported Kosmos during these last few years. Here's a link to the new thread, which will be managed by Cardboard. -
Cardboard just contacted me about this pack idea and we're in agreement to give you permission to use our materials in your pack. Sorry about my non-responsiveness, I haven't logged into this website since early Autumn of last year.
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[0.21+] Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau: Updated (9/27/13)
Normak replied to Normak's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
Thanks for the compliments, Headhunter. Your post has motivated me to speak about the pack in general for a bit. I have been working to create concept sketches for a replacement to the "Drotik" runabout package we released for the VA during the days of SSPPv2. Cardboard updated it at one point to match the rapidly improving quality of our parts, but I believe it has since disappeared because it arrived between generations of parts and doesn't match his current output. This is my current proposal: The new design would be based partially on the Fregat engine used to propel Soviet lunar landers and such, but in this design is entirely monopropellant. It would contain a central crew tunnel (green in the concept), meaning that a docking ring could be attached to the underside as shown in the picture. Two rendezvous engines would be mounted at diagonals, nozzles facing toward the nose of the craft. This means the new Drotik would fly in the same fashion as the TKS- with the docking side prograde. Four surface panels (blue in concept) would be placed across the RCS tanks to allow for equipment to be mounted to the part, such as RCS blocks and solar panels. At the moment, the Drotik is currently on low priority though, since other parts are closer toward completion. The state of development is such: 1. Improved Strut (release candidate ready) 2. RD-275K (formerly proposed as RD-210, currently being reworked and is nearing completion) 3. Improved Fuel Line (not ready yet) 4. N1 Block A (Flight testing and configuration complete, but model is far from completion) 5. Drotik (concept stage) Beyond these five projects are literally tons of other ideas we'd love to implement but must wait while we ensure maximum polish on what we release. I would imagine that after our next update, which is slated to contain the first two items, and possibly the third, Cardboard will begin work on Block B and V of the N1, which might supplant Drotik development. We also have an interest in reviving LK station-landing capabilities, but our concepts are not currently feasible and are sitting on the backburner. Cardboard and I spent the last three hours debating what paint job to give to the N1, you can imagine how difficult it will be to reach a decision on the method of landing station parts. -
[0.21+] Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau: Updated (9/27/13)
Normak replied to Normak's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
The old Angara pack isn't in circulation anymore because of numerous changes to the game engine as well as some technical issues on our end. Scale differences, changes in part requirements, and lost development files temporarily killed it. Cardboard and I are working to restore the engines and tanks from the last working version of Angara, and are going to outfit the pack with many more features to make it much larger and more elaborate. To give you an idea, we won't be calling it the Angara pack anymore, because it will contain not just the Angara parts, but parts from N1 and Rus-M as well, and possibly even Soyuz parts. -
[0.21+] Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau: Updated (9/27/13)
Normak replied to Normak's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
You might be getting thrown off by the revisions the Soviets made to the rocket over the years. The one on the left has a vertical "skirt" like the 6L and 7L versions, while the one on the right has no skirt like the 3L and 5L versions. http://api.ning.com/files/uROX6gz-CytldNyMvnu7YBVvHXKBkR0iLL7HqS8NEJTjSAC8UunjdZOSpsna27SfAPGU6mTNkR1dL56OX723htydxl9pf4fP/threeset.jpg This image shows three versions of the N1, the 3L, 5L, and 7L. -
[0.21+] Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau: Updated (9/27/13)
Normak replied to Normak's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
If there is, I guess we could bundle it in the pack, but I believe Cardboard is still weary of working on rocket parts. -
[0.21+] Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau: Updated (9/27/13)
Normak replied to Normak's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
N1 parts would probably be too large to fit in the VAB. Squad needs to remove the vertical height restrictions. But also, as far as I'm aware, CBBP isn't working on Kosmos right now, and is instead working on another side project. Apparently he lost a huge chunk of the development files for the project when he replaced his harddrive, and now a few of the old parts will need to be remade from the raw models because the existing (previously released) files are incompatible with the new KSP, specifically, a few of the old RD engines don't have their thrust vector packed into the unity file, and this can't be fixed unless with go all the way back. I don't have the technical know-how to remake the engine, so in the meantime I'll be updating the fuel tanks and other pieces of the old LK pack. If Cardboard gets around to remaking the RD-862 then we can release those parts and you guys will be able to land stations on other planets again. -
[0.22.X] BobCat ind. Historical spacecraft thread
Normak replied to BobCat's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
The whole point of that post was that modders shouldn't be expected to work on a universal standard, especially not the mythical 64% that people keep bringing up. Kosmos is scaled to 90% size, and we did it to make sure our capsule would fit on 2.5m parts, just like the Mk1-2. As for making the two packs work together, some experimenting in KSP has shown me that the Mir parts work best with Kosmos when the Mir parts are rescaled to 1.1. Doing so requires you to rescale the Proton parts just the same. I don't know if this causes any problems with the Soyuz parts because I didn't test this, although in a separate test I found that resizing the Kosmos VA did not affect IVA the way Cardboard told me it would. I'm not going to dog BobCat's parts in his thread- I love the way they look and I think Kosmos can take a lot of lessons from it, but I will say that I am having a difficult time getting them to mesh with other parts packs. -
[0.22.X] BobCat ind. Historical spacecraft thread
Normak replied to BobCat's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
Hi everyone, Cardboard and I were just discussing the ongoing scale issue and the differences between Kosmos and BobCat parts. While it's going to take some more discussion to figure out which pack should rescale and how much, one thing that we need to dispell here and now is the "64%" ideal that has been discussed recently. The logic for the 64% idea comes from the assumption that the Apollo capsule and the Mk1-2 from KSP are equivalent. Therefore if Apollo was 3.9m in diameter, it follows that the Mk1-2 would be 2.5, because 0.64*3.9=2.496 They aren't equivalent, and shouldn't be treated that way. The reason is because of the seating arrangement in Apollo. It isn't enough to say "they both seat three, so they're the same," because Apollo seats three men shoulder to shoulder, while the Mk1-2 seats the commander in front and two men overlapping and slightly behind him. Assuming that a man's shoulder-to-shoulder width is about 0.6 meters, this gives us a minimum of 1.8 meters by 1.75 meters space needed for this configuration. For simplicity, let's say it's a square of 1.8 by 1.8. If you overlay a 1.8x1.8 square on a circle with diameter of 3.9, you'll find that you'll have a meter of space on each side of the square, allowing the astronauts freedom of movement inside the capsule. If Kerbals were human-shaped, this configuration would result in over half of a meter of space on all sides. (In reality though, the passengers aren't sitting at the base of the cone, which means we would have a little less space in every direction, but still totally livable.) Unfortunately, Kerbals aren't human shaped. Their heads, as Bobcat showed in his overlay on the previous page, are beyond shoulder-width without their helmets. With helmets on, Kerbals have a width of 50% of their height, meaning if humans shared these propotions, three shoulder to shoulder would be 0.9mx3, or 2.7 meters. What makes this especially difficult is that, unlike humans, who have their widest section in their torso, Kerbals are widest at eye-level. If you want to place your Kerbals so that they can see the instrumentation, this means that their eye level needs to be above the bisector of the cone cross-section. The higher above the bisector you go, the more rapidly lateral headspace decreases. This means that the radius of the the entire craft needs to increase the further away from center the Kerbals' eyes are. Imagine you have a circle, and then draw a line from left to right through the center. Now draw a 45 degree angle in quadrant I. The trigonometric unit circle denotes that the point this angle will hit on a circle is ((sqrt2/2),(sqrt2/2)). The quantity of the square root of 2 all over two is about 0.7. On a unit circle, the radius is always 1. The length of a chord parallel to the diameter that intersects this point will therefore be almost exactly 70% the length of the diameter, every time. If I just lost you there, what I'm trying to say is that if we place the Kerbals in a seating position similar to the way a human would sit, with the torso at the center of the craft, the diameter of that craft will need to be 1.4 times the amount of required lateral head room. This means that the width we found earlier of 2.7 meters would be that eye-level width, whereas the diameter would be 3.78. Accounting for these dimensions takes 96% of the original craft width. If we want the interior of the craft to be as roomy as it was for the Apollo astronauts, we would need to increase the diameter to 5.78m. So where are we now? If a Kerbal is, as they say, 1m tall, we know that he will also be 0.5m wide with his helmet. A meter's worth of space at the hip of a human would be equivalent to 0.6 meters of space at the hip of a kerbal, meaning that our KSP Apollo would be 3(0.5)+2(0.3), or 2.1m diameter. This doesn't disprove the viability of the 64% rescale because it's 2 dimensional. We have a circle here, whereas we need to start talking about cones. The Apollo capsule was 3.2 meters tall, so the ratio between height and width is 3.2(x)=3.4. X therefore equals 1.0625; to get the height of the KSP Apollo we would use y(1.0625)=2.1. This gives us a height of 1.97 or so. Do we have a cone 2 meters tall, then? No, because the Kerbals sit inside the cone, not flat against the bottom. This height covers a cone that reaches a ring centered midway across their bodies in profile. To get the rest, we need over another quarter meter of height, preferably half a meter to include the seats and such. So instead, we have 2.5(1.0625)=Z. Z is 2.65625. TL;DR? It is impossible to build an Apollo at proper specification using the 64% scale. At a bare minimum, we need almost 70%. To be comfortable, I recommend 75-80%. In the end, it really comes down to what Dragon was saying: -
[0.21+] Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau: Updated (9/27/13)
Normak replied to Normak's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
Created a new thread because of the large number of broken links and images in the archived post. -
Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau Kosmos, the latest addition to the Kerbal Space Program's stable of unstable contractors, is the product of two things- a grand vision of the future, and a lack of planning for today. Originally attracting investors throughout Kerbin for their promise of 'permanent manned-facilities' in orbit, this ragtag group of what Jeb likes to call 'college-jockeys' produced enormously heavy hunks of science for years before anyone in the investment game realized that no rockets available could propel them to orbit. The company then quickly went bust, and it disappeared from the public's knowledge. Years later, long after rockets became available that could lift the heavy loads, the Kosmos company warehouse was discovered fully intact, undisturbed, and full of dusty modules. The KSP was able to purchase the entire company (including the engineers, who were found living in the warehouse subsisting on tube-food and several types of rodent!) The station parts themselves were sold cheaper than the metal they were made from. Freshly employed and entirely grateful, the Kosmos engineers strive to continue to not live in a warehouse. -Space Station Parts Pack- As always, delete earlier versions of Kosmos from your parts folder before installing new ones. http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/kosmos-tks-spacecraft/ Low resolution version for older machines: http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/kosmoslite/ The Space Station Parts Pack contains everything needed to construct big, beautiful space stations. The pack includes the Kosmos VA capsule and TKS functional cargo block, a rugged and reliable vehicle for orbital operations, trusted by Kerbalnauts everywhere. Also included are the Salyut series of space station modules, which are split into customizable segments to build any station configuration. Using Kosmos parts, you can control your station without manning it by using the Pravilo computer system, or dock to it using the androgenous APAS-69 docking ring. Recent additions to the pack include the Balka series of ISS-style solar panels, truss pieces to connect your intersteller infrastructure together, and engines to propel you to new heights. Version 4.7 (8/27/13) - Changed many textures to .tga format, allowing users to resize textures and reduce memory requirements as needed - Added several new small parts - Added URM 1.25 meter parts package - Now includes procedural fairings with matching Kosmos textures (special thanks to E-dog) Version 4.6 (8/18/13) - Includes updated Firespitter Plugin - RD-210 mistakenly released in previous update changed to RD-275K - Added new enhanced strut connector - Some textures changed to .tga format for personal resizing and compression Version 4.5 (8/10/13) - Added RD-33NK and RD-0146 engines - Fixed glitch with Balka solar panels - User Satcharna has provided translations for the included flags: "For Peace and Progress" - "Glory to the heroes of the fatherland!" - "The Soviet People are Space Pioneers, Glory!" Version 4.4 (7/30/13) - Replaced final remaining first-generation Kosmos parts. - Battery, ASAS, and reaction wheel modules added to various parts. Version 4.3 (6/2/13): - Files are repackaged to comply with post-0.20 KSP builds. - Several silly flags featuring Soviet propaganda have been added. Version 4.2 (4/19/13): - Added smaller solar panels based on early Salyut series. Version 4.1 (4/8/13): - All reasonable pressurized modules now have crew manifest support for non-EVA crew transfers. Plugin available here: http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/18-1-kerbal-crew-manifest/ - The VA Capsule now supports the built in Mechjeb 2 plugin. - VA Capsule texture and UV Mapping has been redone to improve appearance. - VA Capsule glows a bit brighter for reentry but effects are still missing do to a bug. - Added the single TKS style RCS tank. - Added Ladderless VA Lockdown for sleeker-looking spacecraft. Who's responsible for this? Kosmos is a project started by Normak, CardBoardBoxProcessor, with help from Xemit and NoMrBond, whom have worked together to recreate the innovative yet often forgotten Soviet/Russian space station programs. Others have contributed by testing, proposing bug fixes, and scores of modders have contributed indirectly by creating plugins and adding features to the game that have paved the way for our team. A warm thanks to all of you! Kosmos and its derivatives are the property of Kosmos Team and is distributed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license. You are permitted to redistribute the parts in their original form, so long as this readme is bundled with them. You may not modify Kosmos parts without verified permission from Kosmos Team, and you will not be permitted to sell Kosmos-derived work. Please don't even contact us about this. Modified Kosmos parts will not be supported by Kosmos Team. For more information on this license, please visit this page: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
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Almost definitely, sorry.
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Payload farings will be included in Angara Pack B when Cardboard returns from working on ORDA. The farings are actually already made; they're enlarged versions of KW's PLF system. However, I've noticed a tendency for those parts to come loose during launch and explode, so this will be fixed when Pack B releases. The farings are slightly larger than 3m, so they fit snugly over a KVTK fuel tank, and attach to the 2.5m upper stage.
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Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau Kosmos, the latest addition to the Kerbal Space Program's stable of unstable contractors, is the product of two things- a grand vision of the future, and a lack of planning for today. Originally attracting investors throughout Kerbin for their promise of 'permanent manned-facilities' in orbit, this ragtag group of what Jeb likes to call 'college-jockeys' produced enormously heavy hunks of science for years before anyone in the investment game realized that no rockets available could propel them to orbit. The company then quickly went bust, and it disappeared from the public's knowledge. Years later, long after rockets became available that could lift the heavy loads, the Kosmos company warehouse was discovered fully intact, undisturbed, and full of dusty modules. The KSP was able to purchase the entire company (including the engineers, who were found living in the warehouse subsisting on tube-food and several types of rodent!) The station parts themselves were sold cheaper than the metal they were made from. Freshly employed and entirely grateful, the Kosmos engineers strive to continue to not live in a warehouse. Recently, Kosmos has shifted initiative to produce safer, better quality parts, due to its increasing role in the space community. The entire line of space station parts was removed from the company catalog, and some of the company's best engineers went on a soul-searching quest to the south pole. For weeks, the company's future was in doubt, until Kergei Kerman, the legendary designer of the Angara engines, returned from his own soul-searching quest to the north pole. With vision restored, Kosmos has released updated versions of its most important components, and is currently developing a new generation of space station modules. -Spacecraft- As always, delete earlier versions of Kosmos from your parts folder before installing new ones. Version 1.0x (October 4th, 2012) The VA capsule and its accompanying Drotik RCS module has carried the company through some rough times, and its classic ruggedness and reliability has won it a special place in the hearts of many. The capsule has an ejection-capable control tower, which itself is a retro-engine/escape tower, that can be customized to use either ASAS or MechJeb. Kosmos is proud to say that its capsule has safely completed spacewalk missions, and will be around for years to come. Zip Download Backup: http://www./?rzrvrbbzdr7rrbj Version 1.0x (October 4th, 2012) In the early days of Kosmos, money was widely available and ambitions ran wild. Kergei Kerman, a lone engineer commissioned to produce an RCS block, produced the enormous RD-170 quad-chambered engine instead. His department scrambled to excuse the error by labeling it as the beginning of a Universal Rocket Module program, or URM, and Kergei happily obliged by producing an array of engines and tanks in all shapes and sizes. While brilliant, the plans were rejected by management as 'unnecessary' and 'counter-intuitive to the macro-conceptual ideascape that is Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau.' Kergei was fired, and was later found working at a kitchen appliance R&D department, producing high-thrust refrigerators and aerodynamic blenders, before taking a long soul-searching quest to the north pole. Now that he's back and leading the Angara division of the company, he has helped produce a new wave of designs that strives to push Kosmos into the future, both figuratively and literally. However, it was recently discovered that Kosmos' aerodynamics division was producing parts from low quality metal, and by low quality metal we mean asbestos. Until new parts can be machined, Kosmos is only selling its engines, tanks, and a few structural elements. Zip Download Backup: http://www./?p9eiw4a5xz1udx7 Version 1.0x (October 4th, 2012) Inspired by the way that cats always land on their feet when dropped, several engineers were injured while attempting similar aerial maneuvers. This confirmed suspicions that landing a large craft on 'all fours' would require special mechanical attention. The product of these experiments was the Powerpack, a decoupler designed to attach small fuel tanks and engines to the sides of modules, doubling as a location to place landing legs as well. Clusters of LK fuel tanks can also be used inline for a more traditional lander configuration when placed under a capsule. Zip Download Backup: http://www./?z744gdxsdtz24bp Who's responsible for this? Kosmos is a project started by Normak, CardBoardBoxProcessor, and Xemit, whom have worked together to recreate the innovative yet often forgotten Soviet/Russian space station programs. Others have contributed by testing, proposing bug fixes, and A number of other people have contributed indirectly by creating plugins and adding features to the game that have paved the way for our team. A warm thanks to all of you! A still more glorious dawn awaits!
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As sad as it is, Cardboard tried to upload to kerbal.net tonight and it didn't work for him, either. We're curious if the website's owner has to personally approve all submissions, which might be what's holding us up. We may not see the parts uploaded until tomorrow, but the good news is that they are finished and they are on the way.
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Most of the assembly and packaging for the new release of Angara, LK, and VA was done last night, but there are a few remaining bugs to be sorted before release, and I pushed back uploading to today because of connection problems. These packs should become available this evening. As for SSPP, we've begun poking around with that and experimenting with plugin features such as electricity. New plugins in development may also add long-awaited features to the pack, so it's a very good thing to allow us more time with those parts. Edit: Release is currently being held up by kerbal.net. I'm going to wait until cardboard gets online and then have him upload the packs.
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We created the parts together. Cardboard is now retroactively taking credit for the entire pack, which of course is highly unpleasant. Considering that Kosmos was my idea, I sought out cardboard's help, and that we created work together under the name Kosmos Team, I don't see why Cardboard thinks I'm stealing anything.
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Hi everyone. Things are moving along, albeit slowly. I posted an absolutely scathing critique of the work we've done so far on the Facepunch boards about two weeks ago, and like Cardboard was just saying, I'm rebalancing the pack and trying to fix problems that have been persistent for months. Hopefully things will start to come together soon.
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[Collection] Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau (SSPP 4.1 6/12/12)
Normak replied to Normak's topic in KSP1 Mod Releases
We need to get a mod to lock this thread because of its extreme length. I\'ll be working on a new minor revision over the next few days, and start a new thread when those packs are ready. Sorry for falling behind, everyone.