CobaltWolf

Officially moved to full release today. Would a moderator be kind enough to move me to the Add on Releases board? I'd like to keep the 12 1/2 months of stupid posts.

Today’s the day! The BDB team is happy to present to you the v1.0 release of Bluedog Design Bureau – “Eagle!”. As you read, please remember these are primarily my own thoughts on the update, and often reference ‘my work’, ‘my blablabla’. I absolutely don’t mean to make it seem like this project is solely my own anymore. As always, I’m blown away by the level of community involvement and activity here on the thread. The mod truly wouldn’t be the same without y’all. I consider myself exceptionally fortunate to have such a devoted fanbase that has continually kept me interested in creating more cool parts, and dedicated contributors who work endlessly to keep the mod updated and working. This update is somewhat of a capstone for BDB. I have held off on tackling Saturn and Apollo for months, first out of a lack of interest, then out of fear that I wouldn’t be able to live up to the expectations of both the community, and myself. Though there’s certainly room for improvements, I am relieved to feel that these parts were up to our standards for release out the door. Part of my hesitation was a fear that my takes on these iconic spacecraft would never be ‘good enough’. I believe that I accomplished my goal of creating a detailed interpretation that fits into the stock art style. Over the course of 2.5 months (I started modelling Apollo in July 2016) we worked almost daily to get the v1.0 beta ready for release on September 30th. After that, we continued to work, at times making hourly updates on the Github to continue pushing the polish and content of the update. In the release, you will find new parts to build the Saturn 1B, Saturn V, Apollo Block II, and the Lunar Excursion Module. Also included are the beginnings of future updates – parts for advanced Apollo variants, and parts for the S-1E first stage from Eyes Turned Skywards. I started Bluedog Design Bureau just over one year ago – the thread was started September 30th, 2015. In many ways this release is a one-year anniversary gift, for myself as much as you guys. I wanted an excuse to practice my modeling and texturing skills, something I didn’t have much chance to improve on in my classwork. Like many mod authors before me, I was inspired by @Beale's Tantares, and @frizzank's FASA, two massive parts packs that greatly increased the number and variety of parts in the game, while representing real world rockets. I wanted to create several cool antennas that I had seen picture of, but weren’t represented in game yet. After that I wanted to make a stockalike Explorer 1 probe, then a Redstone, then an Atlas V… things quickly got out of hand. As of this release, we have around 300 parts included in the mod – about the same number as in stock - almost all of them created with bespoke assets, some of them coming from other modders. In the span of 1 year, BDB has become one of the biggest mods for Kerbal Space Program, spanning from the earliest launch vehicles to the biggest ever made, and beyond. In that time, I’ve also had the pleasure of becoming close with two very awesome people. @VenomousRequiem was one of the first people to take interest in the mod, and has become a great friend. I’ve been continuously impressed with how much your skill at modeling has developed given your limited time to practice. I know that life hasn’t been the easiest for you the last few months, but I know things will get better for you. @Jso, I really have no idea where I would be if you hadn’t joined the team as a full time developer. Not only would this release not be happening today, it also would have been absolutely nowhere near as good. I can only do so much with modeling and texturing – you’re the one that makes the mod actually playable. A message from @VenomousRequiem A message from @Jso: I also want to take a moment to thank the many contributors that have helped the project, specifically this update. A more complete list of credits is in the OP. In no particular order, these are the people that made the release happen: @Kurld for creating the Apollo LES, and working with Jso to create its unique functionality. @komodofor working with Jso on a number of projects, and generally helping keep things working. @cxg2827 for adapting his APAS docking ports to serve as CADS docking ports from Eyes Turned Skywards. @anthonyjolson87@gmail.com for assistance with information about the paint scheme and greebling on the Saturn V. @IronCretin and @Araym for helping pull through a lot of bugfixes and improving functionality of the mod. @Mods_o_joy for creating the awesome base model for our LEM IVA. @Ledenko the original creator of our Apollo IVA. @Daelkyr for adapting the K-P0110 IVA to carry 5 kerbals. @akron for feedback on parts, especially the models for the J2 and F1 engines – they would not look nearly as accurate without him helping me figure out how to model them. @TimothyC for research on the various stages and functions of Apollo, as well as forever increasing the length of my roadmap. @Foxxonius Augustus for providing even more help with research, as well as taking on the role of Hypemaster General on the thread. @frizzank and the FASA team, for their launch clamps which have been packaged in this update, pending further modifications. @Nertea for creation of Cryogenic Engines, and @RoverDude for creation of Community Resource Pack, on which our hydrolox engines are based. @MrMeeb for a project that y'all haven’t even seen yet. Anyone other contributors that I might have missed – BDB has grown far bigger than just myself, and it’s hard to keep everyone straight. All those that have donated to support the mod – I’d be stuck eating instant ramen for the next few months without you! Everyone on the thread! Especially during this last update cycle, the participation and excitement on the thread has been heartwarming. Even though this release is massive – the largest we’ve ever done – I know the first thing that most of you are thinking is ‘what next?’. Well, BDB isn’t over. If you check our roadmap, you’ll find that it is longer than ever – and still probably too long to ever reasonably be completed. Things will continue to be added to the mod, and likely in no particular order. Things will continue to be improved, better balanced, more compatibility. As a bit of a side note – earlier I mentioned @Beale and his Tantares mod. Currently he is remaking his N1, Soyuz spacecraft and LK lander. Here’s to him, for teaching me how to mod, and my best regards concerning his current work. #SpaceRace2016 Anyways, without wasting your time any further… BLUEDOG DESIGN BUREAU – V1.0 – “EAGLE!” – 11/Oct/2016 DOWNLOAD FROM GITHUB NOTE – Only for KSP version 1.2 full release. WILL NOT WORK IN 1.1.3. 64bit recommended. NOTE – BDB is balanced to have parts inline with stock values. This means that the rockets significantly overperform in the stock system. The alternative would be to have parts that are very underpowered compared to contemporary parts. To achieve proper balance, we recommend using a 3.2x rescale, which requires rockets to be built with more realistic proportions. NOTE – The BDB Manual has not been updated. Since Kronal Vessel Viewer has not been updated, and might not be, myself and @DiscoSlelge will have to find a new way to take the renders for the manual. Changelog: Updated BDB to KSP 1.2. New modules, etc Added Saturn S-IVB upper stage (3.75m) – Saturn V 3rd stage / Saturn 1B 2nd stage Added Saturn S-II stage (5.625m) – Saturn V second stage Added Saturn S-IC stage (5.625m) – Saturn V first stage Added Saturn S-IE stage (3.75m) – Saturn 1C first stage (Eyes Turned Skywards) Added Apollo Block 2 CSM (2.5m) Added first parts of advanced Apollo variants Added Lunar Excursion Module Added FASA Launch Clamps courtesy of Frizzank and the FASA team. Added APAS variant courtesy of CXG Included Community Resource Pack, for resource definitions. Saturn upper stages and Centaur converted to run off lqdHydrogen resource, for balance reasons. Additional functionality will be added to the cryogenic engines in future releases. Probably a bunch of other stuff. Changelogs aren't our strong suit. Known Issues: Saturn, like any large KSP rocket, can be very unstable. It is recommended to turn on Advanced Tweakables and apply auto struts liberally. Similarly, the connection of the Apollo LES to the docking port is very weak. Recommend autostrutting to the command pod. Some science experiments rely on DMagicScienceAnimateGeneric. Since it has not been updated, and is probably not high on @DMagic's priority list, we’ve decided to release without it. Apologies for the inconvenience! One final note – I’ll be PMing the moderators to move this thread to the Add On Releases board. If you can’t find us in our usual place, look there. Here’s to BDB, our players, and the KSP community. We’ll see you on the other side. -Matthew ‘CobaltWolf’ Mlodzienski and the Bluedog Design Bureau development team. (Image credit: /u/KazanNinja on Reddit. That dude is awesome!)

you could wait a couple hours for me to finish taking care of housecleaning on the release, or you could not bother me about 1.2. Your choice.

Whoops, yes should be 'Crow'. I need to remake the Atlas engines including those. @Drakenex there was a lot of discussion a couple years ago on the ETS thread, and our own resident NathanKell actually built out the Saturn 1C in Realism Overhaul to test it. The ETS authors usually don't define hard details for their stuff unless pressed on it, and their explanation of the Saturn 1C's roll control was basically 'it has verniers of some sort'. NathanKell built ant tested it with LR-101s (the Atlas + Thor verniers) and they were able to provide the small amount of roll control needed. As E of Pi noted, if they wanted they COULD have very easily, and cheaply, crash developed a larger vernier; it's just one had never been needed, since any large rockets at the time used clustered engines. If you want something 'bigger', I recommend using the old B109-D 'Ros' radial engines that I made all that time ago. It's also worth noting that the LR-101s are still used on Delta II, pretty much unchanged. EDIT: I do plan on remaking the Finch to have gimbals, so you can put it straight onto the bottom of the S-IE engine mount.

these ones

Wut. 0.o

K. Release late-ish tonight then. Have a lot of IRL stuff that unfortunately has to happen today.

Pak can you make it compatible with the original Mk3 parts? Including art style etc?

Don't try me... Especially coming from an SSTU user. Were you even planning on using my Saturn? Not casting shade; SSTU is cool I just wouldn't expect it.

Soooo I'm seeing a lot of issues here on the thread. Do we still want to release tonight? Or take a couple days to resolve things a bit more?

Work faster.

Theoretically. I think Saturn 1/1B/1C are underperforming right now. And yes, I forgot it used the J2S as well. We are planning on leveraging the part upgrade system to give y'all the F-1A and J-2S.

It's accurate length. Remember it's also supposed to used the F-1A, which is significantly higher thrust (less gravity losses) and more efficient (to some extent). I also rounded down on the fuel tank amount - though it's worth noting that the biggest increase in dV isn't the greater fuel value, it's the drastically reduced dry mass.

Spies deep inside enemy lines were able to bring you this shocking footage...

You always could do it... FASA decided not to. So stock scale FASA is really inaccurate. Also, worth noting that at the time 3.75m and 5m were non-standard.

oh dear

w-why And I think I might work on Aardvark (Kanaloa!) tonight. I have the Blk3 Mission module and HGA mostly done. Should I split the front of the AARDV off so that it can have different docking systems placed on top? In fact, having 'Apollo' texture style adapters would be nice... Meanwhile... Cleaning up the Saturn 1C meshes that @VenomousRequiem sent me. Might be able to slap a texture on tonight!

The art for ETS (speaking as someone who recently read through the thread, as well as having studied the art a lot for reference) is very inconsistent. it's also telling that the second image does not appear as a canon image on the wiki.

T.T It's ok. Don't worry. Meanwhile...

@Araym can you just make a Pull Request? And it's a double exposure - one half of the lens was covered to leave the film blank after one launch, repeat for the second, have artists clean up the middle (probably using blank exposure plates taken of each just before launch).

I need someone to get them working since I was planning on bundling them... EDIT: New fodder for y'all:

I like the implication that @Beale just made two more copies of the same engine mesh

What's the point of a Ghidorah 3.75m? Falcon 9 scales to 2.5m in KSP (rounded for KSP sizes of course)

well I've gotten a ton of requests for that, including some off the forums. I'll try and take care of them sometime tomorrow night if I can but Tuesday is a big day and I can't be up late.

Dare someone to recreate this... (Gemini 11 w/ Saturn 500F in the background.