Technical Ben

It\'s on my blender tutorial. Gives you a quick example of skinning a cylinder.

That and 'cylindrical:from object axis' turns any cylinder/cone into a nice uv map like a tin can lable. As long as the axis is not back to front.

UV maps take some time. 'project from view' has saved my space bacon on a few occasions. Might adjust the current mapping, just because the engine seems to dislike seams a bit, so I could lessen the amount a bit.

I think you may be able to do the OMS engines too. It\'s just you need to make sure they line up with the model centre, or are set correctly in the config for angles and direction they face. PS, Epsigma, your model was a closer match on the first draft. Most of mine was setting up the polys to mold into the final shape. Do you do texturing?

If multiple part types is supported in 0.15 (or close to it) then we could add the manoeuvring + RCS thrusters into a single pod that goes on the back of the shuttle. Would be easier to put together then, instead of having 2 pods (one for RCS and one for return rockets).

The 'new' engines have red on them out of the factory. No idea if this washes off, or burns off on the test runs? I can kill the colour easy. [edit] Ooops! I failed, they were the saftey blankets! (Artist see, artist do?) At least I get to keep the one red pipe. I\'ll change it to plain old black ASAP!!! [edit] Any photos of the stencils? I\'ll have to scale up some texture points to get a nice resolution to display such small detail, but should be able to pull it off (stencil, pull it off, get it!? ). This one has some colour on the pipes, and a stencil on the outside. I can replace the red paint with a stencil. http://www.rv-103.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Space-Shuttle-Main-Engine-web-pic.jpg This one shows some stencils half way up too. I\'ll make note of all these... http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2012/04/16/597193main_2084_full.jpg

Can you add rouge moons? The ones that are only really asteroids that occasionally get caught in a planets gravity for a moment or two. Then they just fly off again. ;D

Here it is. Test to your hearts content. I\'ve no idea what stats it needs, so feel free to change the config. If you can think of any way to improve the textures, I\'ll give it a go. Perhaps some more wear and tear on the edges? It animates too now.

If you set the scene to 'metric' and leave the scale at 1.0 you can write down the positions by hand and put them in the part.cfg. I just did if for my shuttle engine, and it worked perfectly snug. I did round the numbers up a little, from 5.30934 to 5.3094, and it seems to work fine so far.

Yep, that would work. Don\'t make it past the top, else it will wobble again. Or you could keep it secured in the middle, but you would need 2 struts to help secure the top and bottom, instead of just 1 extra if you move the securing point. Once the 'adjustable sizes' of parts are supported or implemented things might be a bit more stable. Or is some sort of multiple node connection could be made. But for now struts will help!

The game will use the actual shape of the node_collider to detect the collisions and shape on the launch pad. This means, if your node_attach position is far away from the top or bottom of the node_collider, you have a gap. The rocket will tend to pivot and wobble along that open joint. So, if you bring your attachment node up close to the fuel tank, it should sit a bit more flush and solid. You can also change the tanks shape (and the node_collider to match) to help give it a better contact too. For example a cone would have little support on the top, but lots on the bottom. Oh, unless it\'s just the extra weight! That will pull the rocket apart. It\'s not made of titanium you know.

Got you.

Does it finish loading (loading for along time) or never finish loading (stuck loading forever)? If it never finishes, you could post it here... but there is a 5mb limit. My shuttle engine I\'m working on is 10k polys I think. It takes an ages to pass the first time, because the game checks it and loads it into the games files. But after that the game loads quick and smoothly. Anything over 3mb (about 20-30k polys?) is probably pushing a little too far right now. If you can post the error or part we could help solve the problem.

It should be workable now, right? With the inclusion of fuel pipes? What is holding the project back?

I have shortened the rocket engine a bit. The extra length was really just coming from my giant mounting base. I was keeping it too close to Kerbal style, and not enough to the shuttles style. But a close look at the shuttle has allowed me to get a closer match. I\'ve made the texture a bit more subtle, but the colour is still there. I can shrink the length a bit more if needed. The Nozzels might need to be a bit wider. I will add a gimbal point next.

Hey! Wish I had those images for reference when I was modelling! I\'ll work on V2 this week if you want and I get time. I did not even add gimbling.

My version of the shuttle engine is done. Feel free to use the part. Just keep me named in it\'s credits. The texture is nothing special, but it is rather a plain engine to model. Adjust the stats as needed. It has a slightly better stats than gimbal engine currently.

Meh, mine have pipes! ;P (PS, the model is basically done. The textures are just colour right now. Details and shading to be added.)

I was just about to finish up my engines... then I saw the latest posts. Doh! If you want the mesh/parts/textures just say. [Gah! I remember why I quit this forum again! It fails to post my images!!!]

I just... Oh... My... My... It\'s... [5 mins later] Nope, my brain still cannot express the joy of seeing that! We have mechs in KSP!?! ???

I got a mic but it crackles like a WOW player eating cheetos... (Is that too low?)

Ok, note taken. It might be a rainy week this week. So might get a chance to redo it all. Oh, I\'ll have to brush up on all the recent changes.

OtherDalfite OUT! You realise the mod is still compatible with KSP and works right? ;P PS, back in my day it use to take a month to get a reply over the phone, and even then it was delivered by pony!

Edge split will also do this for you automatically. If you leave it in the tray, it will also leave your model unchanged, but apply the split on export to .dae/KSP. So you can continue modelling without any difficulty or changes.

Your welcome. I might eventually change the stats when some form of standard is reached for the size of mun craft. But for now, it\'s not too bad for capsule moving. They still struggle with bigger craft, so not too unbalanced IMO. I\'m just waiting for some sort of landing gear support before I do any other updates.