CobaltWolf

Correct, there are some users who have an interest in maintaining them on our end which usually helps avoid the configs getting too "stale" what with the pace of BDB and all the revamps.

I'm so glad that issue got sorted, we were looking forward to having proper / detailed EI configs for the next Bluedog release

I linked that doc in my reply to @BillKerman1234, and yeah, I chuckled when I realized the current SM is basically one of the configurations. I think the Agena is just one of several options. I would need to re-read it again to understand what is for flybys and what is for orbiting. I don't see Transtage anywhere, even though a flyby using that was also proposed at one point. Luckily for me the LES tower is the same design as the Gemini MORL Ferry LES, so it matches the one I already made. I notice another thing is that they'd replace the shingles on the outside of the pod with some other material, any idea what that would look like? I almost wonder if it would look like an Apollo CM's upper "heatshield". EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention. I don't have time to remake the Gemini SM, but I did take a moment over the weekend to re-export the SM texture with a brighter white to match the standard Restock color palette. Otherwise it looked really off next to the newer white parts I'm making.

I'm.... fairly certain that the Ascent stage on that is the same stage as the Lunar Recon Gemini

Ok I didn't want to wait any more... So, I don't want to give the impression I'm redoing Gemini right now - I'm not, I don't have time to at the moment. Right now I'm very specifically adding parts that are more or less independent of the specific configuration of the capsule and adapter. The existing "MOL" parts weren't really supposed to represent the MOL itself (I've become a lot more interested in the real-life designs since I made those parts) and I'd like to leave them in the mod as options for people to use. The new MOL module is the right width - all the diagrams I've seen of the "final" configuration, and the mockups they actually built, look like that. I honestly have no intention of making a telescope part, since... what would it accomplish, really? It would be a big low detail boondoggle that you could run a couple times in Kerbin orbit... Not to mention doing stuff like contracts is beyond my capability. There was a bunch of different MOL variants proposed, I imagine somewhat similarly to how Dyna-Soar had more and more proposals as it became clear that the program was going to get shut down due to the lack of purpose. They proposed several specifically to NASA as well, which seems like a non-starter considering Apollo was in full swing by then. I don't have any real interest in doing military type stuff unless if can be used for the more peaceful kind of missions you run in KSP. Arms/grapplers would require either Breaking Ground or Infernal Robotics, neither of which I'd want as a dependency. I think BDB in Colors has a Rescue Gemini configuration. I don't have any plans to revamp Saturn other than "it's something that needs to happen eventually" I actually had sketched out a Recon Gemini SM, I just decided not to include it. Maybe I should take another look at it. It's definitely cool. Here's a link to the study for anyone that's interested One of the sacrifices I had to make with the mini lander is that it can't fit in a 1.875m cargo bay. I'm not really sure what the best way to transport it is honestly. I think basically either dual launch LOR or single launch with a transposition and docking. I'd like to save this for when I can revamp the entire Gemini at once - the inaccurate hatch on the capsule itself bother me to no end. I'm not entirely sure what Gemini Taxi refers to - is that the Gemini Ferry, with the 1.875m (in KSP) service / cargo module and an Apollo type docking port on the back? MOL revamp is this update. See above for all this. That is not possible without more external dependencies. Also, the idea of having to actually worry about KSP's aero system terrifies me What I'm calling Big G 1969 (with the cylindrical service module) is coming this update. You correctly guessed that Big G 1967 (with the conical SM) will have to wait for the Saturn revamp. I honestly don't know if I have any intention of adding more Gemini based landers. I think I'd rather see my dream of eventually adding post-Apollo AAP type landers instead. I'm a bit confused, actually. I don't think any of the first batch of diagrams are accurate. For instance, the internal configuration of MOL seems completely off, plus the MOL itself wouldn't have flown with a Transtage (that was just the mockup flight). Do you have any sources to link for these?

LDC tank revamp is done, engine mounts are all in... just a few more things to take care of for LDC! ( @BillKerman1234 I still need to reply to you, just wanted to quickly throw up some pics before starting my work day)

LDC dev stream starting in a couple minutes! Going to go for the better part of the day so if you're not around now swing by later!

BDB says trans rights I need to fix a bunch of issues people have found with the Atlas parts, but for the most part they're done. Once I get that done I'm going to keep getting LDC stuff ready for some serious texturing tomorrow. I'm planning on streaming starting some time tomorrow morning.

There's definitely ways to expand Skylab if you're not building it exactly historically. Docking ports on the aft for instance, or using the radial structural nodes to add more nodes to the MDA, or whatever. Personally I like the idea of using the Gemini/MOL parts to make modules for it. Hopefully that will be a bit easier with some of the newer stuff - I haven't shown everything I've been working on. Pre-stream starting in a few mins over on Twitch! Working on finishing the Atlas SLV-3X stuff tonight!

I think the Gemini needs to be remade from scratch at some point, but that's a big project for right now. I'm pretty carefully not making anything that would have to change after something like that, just want to add more Gemini add-ons to give people chance to use the new rockets for crewed payloads. The IVAs for the Gemini pods were actually made by @tg626 specifically FOR those part, so they fit a lot better than the FASA Gemini IVAs that we used to use. One thing, I'm not properly representing the offset crew tunnel in these new parts. It's a lot of work for something that's going to either be a) covered up or b) incompatible with other parts. I am going to probably make the SM a proper Restock white for this update, though. I'm not sure what you mean about the Thor? I don't see the association between that and the Star-13.

Hey all! Planning on doing a dev stream tonight. Going to finish these Atlas touchups and get the SLV-3X parts in game! I'm looking to start around 6 PM Eastern, over on Twitch. EDIT: Completely unrelated to what I'm going to be streaming tonight, here's some Gemini update pics. That's probably going to be the last chunk of this update - giving y'all some more Gemini parts to use these new LVs with! So, first off, a proper Gemini LES, that will be useful for keeping crews safe when launching on rockets bigger than Titan IIs. Here's the MOL crew section sporting one... And here's a Gemini Ferry with one... The LES design is based on this, from the MORL Ferry studies As you can see, other Gemini parts are taking shape. The updated/more accurate MOL, Gemini Ferry, Big G 1969, and more station parts. Here's the old MOL RCS next to the updated version. Some people have mentioned they didn't like the old endcaps, here's the new standard 1.875m station endcap. Unwrapped and AO'd but not textured yet. Here's a better look at the Gemini Ferry Equipment Section. This and the MOL equipment section will be a single part with a B9 switch, since the change is mostly just aesthetic. You can see the various consumables tanks etc in there. Same as before, unwrapped and AO'd but basically untextured.

Like I said, I have a bunch of stuff to try. Reducing the intensity of the seams is one of them. idk about atlas texture switching. It's not really set up for that. It's a 2K texture sheet that maybe 1/4 would be used for a texture variant, so I don't want to waste that much RAM... https://github.com/jsolson/BDB-ProceduralFairings Are you sure your B9 is updated? The switches for both of those parts change the nodes, but that feature was added sometime last year.

I am so mcfreakin' ready for this.

So, I have been doing some touch ups to the Atlas. They're stuff I've been meaning to do for a while but haven't gotten around to. Adding some more raceways to add more accurate details and break up the model a bit more, I'm probably going to do some touchups on the engine textures, I want to add a B9 switch for the booster skirt so that it can have 'caps' to look right with other tanks... but, yes, I'm experimenting with the metallic shader again. This is a picture of what I left off on last night - you can grab it from the Github if you want to see it yourself, a single picture really doesn't do reflections like this justice. I spent at least two hours adjusting the settings in the shader and the textures. I'm not happy with how it looks right now. I have some more ideas to try, I'll see if I can test them tonight. Remembering some lessons I learned in my rendering classes... There's at least two different ideas I have to make it look a lot better. Basically, I want to give people a reason to remembers Atlas exists this update Improvements to the Atlas upper stages, unfortunately, will have to wait until next dev cycle.

Yeah, it all works fine as long as you update the dependencies. Those parts were in game like that for years before B9PartSwitch added those warnings. The parts in question have actually been remade completely from scratch, which is why I didn't spend an afternoon fixing those errors.

I more just meant, there should be two more clamps on the sides, higher than the ones on the front/back.

The way the Atlas is clamped up at the bottom could probably be improved too, see:

You should! I have never felt it is hard, just takes time and commitment to learn + get good at it!

Yeah, the Atlas Centaur also has a stretched first stage vs the essentially "unmodified" Atlas-Mercury EDIT: Perhaps more correctly, the straight stretch is replaced by the adapter, the adapter isn't simply placed on top.

Atlas SLV-3X fuel tanks I experimented with it already last year. Idk. I'm still not really looking to make a lot of use of that shader. I am planning on letting people just place their own using the Titan 2 retros or the Perfectrons. Very nice! I think your Mercury-Atlas is a bit tall though.

Very nice!

Holding off on making new Saturn parts because I'd like to remake them all from scratch someday, similar to the treatment the Titan parts are currently getting. But when I get there, there will absolutely be an S-1D and more avionics units.

Pretty much, with the Altair / Aquilae doing the perigee burn and the Syncom's internal SRB doing the apogee burn. No promise that the performance of the stages scales perfect, those parts are pretty old and not up to the current standards.

Unrelated imagery, modeling out some of the last LDC parts... I hopefully will have a lot of time this week to finish the SLV-3X (ie, hopefully I didn't disrupt the dev cycle too much more), and texture and finish all the new LDC parts.

Indeed, I was feeling sort of inspired while away on my trip...