Technical Ben

Just double the fuel pods for more fuel, they stack nicely. I might up the weight. But it\'s not for hover, just landing. You can avoid chutes altogether of cause. I\'m currently battling with modding the cutes...

Ok, one last quick question needed before I finish up the model. Can I turn off the 'cable' or string to the chutes? I just want them stationary. A shorter string would even work for me.

Not always true! Await the next update for proof. Thanks feanor, taken your points to use! Hopefully have an update later. I would welcome balance issue advice (power/fuel etc). So far, they work great for landing, ok in space and useless for launch. So balance well.

Ok thanks. I\'ve found a 'workaround' then. I only need to know, how do I seperate the models to work? I have exported successfully, but when I load, I get it loading with the deployed chutes model. What do I name them to let the game know which is the chute, and which is the cover?

Thanks for the idea. For now I\'ve left it as a standard rocket. You set the throttle, guess the altitude and hit 'fire'. It does work very well if you try it. I might try rcs as that would allow you to 'tap' the thruster button, and allow for more error. But for now, it\'s more 'fun' this way. I\'m just testing a second 'solid booster' version which may allow for easier (or more fun!) landings. As to the landing gear, I\'ve got 2 ideas to help with that. But have to test them first.

2 Seperate parts, so you can construct as you like. Mix and match. : Slowing down is easy, stopping is an art. I often shoot back up into the air, then run out of juice. It shows they work perfectly though, as if I can go up from a decent, I can just kill the engines and land. Which I have done a few times. Others I can get a dead on one click landing if I get the thrust and timing matched. You can even stack the fuel pods. Came in handy when I jettisoned my retro stage and was almost stuck in orbit.

### Download all here ### http://benart.www.idnet.com/TBKSPMOD.zip You can now use the nose of the command pod to launch satellites! Now includes: Kaplunk Micro Space Probe Nose cone Payload fairing Stackable Parachutes (to stack or add micro payloads and Launch Abort stages to) Tiny landing legs Nano Fuel tank Impact bags (replaces parachutes for last second impact cushion, mostly assists powered landings) Heatshield/landing retro rockets. Heatsheild/orbit decay solid rockets. Experimental Orion atom bomb rocket and an impact plate to connect it to. Some duct tape just in case... Video of rockets used to land: http://youtu.be/mcK7VJl0c7s Here is a video of an Orion style capsule launch. I am not sure if you can get an interstellar Orion ship in space in a single launch. You can hit escape velocity for small craft though! http://youtu.be/y95MnAk5hwI [update as of 29/10/11] Two new parts to add to the Command Pod landing mod. A solid state landing thruster and landing cushions. It\'s hard to get the numbers correct, I may have to adjust them still, so any feed back is welcome. Landing retro rocket. 'Fire and forget' landing. That\'s 'Forget about ever getting out alive'! Landing cushions. Opens at the very last moment, but helpful if you\'ve just run out of fuel in your landing exercise, and a parachute will not open in time. The rockets provide a small thrust and use little fuel. They come with a micro fuel tank to place under the command pod. It provides just enough thrust and fuel for landing in the atmosphere. Use at 'about' 600m and at half throttle. I suggest trial and error in getting a clean landing, but so far, no pilots have come back to complain of failures... Hope everyone likes it.

Hmmm. Must just be the cone then. I wondered if the chutes hit things too.

If you want a cylinder shaped part, use a plain 12 sided cylinder for your collision node. Just size it to the top, bottom and diameter of your part. Else, if you want a truly doughnut shape you will need to cheat. Split your part into 4 (or 6, 8 etc) and make it as a side attachment. Similar to wing parts. Except your will be wedge shaped.

I\'m currently adding the finishing touches to a small mod. But I need to know, do parachutes have 2 collision models? One for closed and one for deployed? If not, it\'s not the end of the world, but I had a great idea if they do allow for 2 modes on one object.

Can you use a 12 sided cylinder for the collision mesh? Does that simplify things and stop the stretching?

Nope. Thanks. I\'ve gone to just trying a 8 sided cylinder. It is already triangulated. I got a command pod exported yesterday, but without a collision mesh. Now I cannot export anything. So not sure what has changed. Currently getting a 'class \'[part name]\' does not exist'. [Edit] I can go back to my old command pod and load it up. But my new model, that is only a cylinder to test the export, is not loading at all, giving the above error. [Fixed! See first post!]

Fixed it now. I had accidentally changed the 'modal name' not realising this points to the actual object type. I should have known better. Noob failure. Hi. I\'m attempting to convert some of my existing models into something that works in KSP. Currently going very well. I can even get things in the game by using Blender to export the Collada file. However, if I try anything with a 'node_collider' mesh, the game (or PartLab) completely refuses to work. Any idea on what I need to change to the collider mesh? I\'ve renamed it, given it a texture and UV map (no .png file though). But it seems to corrupt the file or something. If anyone has had a successful export, could you explain how you did this? [/edit] Turns out Blender had defaulted back to 24bit textures on reload. Now I\'ve just got to figure out the collider mesh. Thanks!