CobaltWolf

Last night @Jso integrated @JadeOfMaar's new Plume Party RCS into the mod. Let us know what you think, and if anything needs to be changed! Right now they're all using the 'Soyuz' plume, and some probably need to be rescaled.

yes

That's RealPlume, right? I need to fix the plumes it looks like...

I am just so in love with these LDC Titan parts, easily my new favorite LV from the mod. It occurred to me that it could be build in a configuration similar to another proposal from the 80s... the Atlas II CELV! This was one of the competitors for the CELV contract, which in real life went to Titan IV for a nominal 10 missions to take pressure off the shuttle flight rate. Of course in real life, Titan IV was a very very expensive dead end... We definitely need a 5x engine mount for this thing, it can even use the side-walls from the 4x engine mount I've shown previously. I knew there was a good reason I made those GEM-60XLs...

Looks like a bit of Photoshop, at least for the glow.

I don't actually know, and I'm pretty busy both IRL and trying to get things finished for the BDB update.

Oh, something else exciting going on in the world of B9 Part Switch, thanks to @Gotmachine and @blowfish. Super excited to see the possibilities the new features bring to BDB - not only will this let us condense the parts list, but it will also encourage me to make more variants of certain parts like the RCS clusters. https://thumbs.gfycat.com/TestyWideeyedAttwatersprairiechicken-size_restricted.gif https://thumbs.gfycat.com/TestyWideeyedAttwatersprairiechicken-size_restricted.gif

Two questions: What adapters do people need for LDC? I was thinking a new interstage that switches between a 2.5m top and a 1.875m top might be good, since it would be useful for Centaurs as well as Apollos... and then I suppose you could attach anything of those diameters to the top as well. What should the 'canon' solution for the upper stage's attitude control be? Would people be interested in a LDC version of the Saturn's APS thruster packs? Also, we still need a fair number of parts for the LDC diameter - decoupler, fairing base, nose cone?, avionics core?... if anyone has ideas for what these should look like (coming up with unique fairing bases or decouplers can be hard) let me know!

1) the cylindrical-ish SM for Big G would fit nice. 2) I agree. I'll look into it. 3) you touched on some of it. The LDC parts in game were made on stream and I pushed them in game to test them /show them off. I have improved some techniques like the paint strokes since then. Some areas are missing FX layers making them inconsistent. 4)reacaled for messing around in unity 5) might be possible . the big lobes were like that so the rim-less version of the upcoming Titan engine revamp fits under them.

Had to cut the stream early since I have a lot to take care of today... but, some more work on two of the main variants for the LDC-Titan engine mount! I am planning on also including a 2x mount inspired by Titan IV's, and maybe a 3x mount as well? Please note that while the new Titan engines, which will have switchable rims, should be able to fit in the 4x mount's holes, but only barely. Those engines will not be available for some time however... I'm also becoming aware of how rushed/unfinished the existing LDC tanks are. They'll need a good bit of work still.

Not feeling the greatest, but I still want to get some more stuff done. Booting the stream back up in a few minutes! Here's some screenshots from yesterday:

Thanks everyone! They're just rough sketches (Though I like what I did with the booster-side of the medium decoupler) because I wanted to get some ideas down. Dev stream starting on Twitch!

I made those parts before there was a technique for mesh switching engine fairings. I won't fix it until I get a chance to redo those Titan engines - there is already a new LR-87 model untextured. RE: New decouplers, test model of medium decoupler: (for 0.9375m, 1.25m and 1.5m parts) And heavy radial decoupler for 2.5m and 3.75m parts, think Saturn Multibody: Any thoughts?

Another heads up that I'm planning on starting a dev stream sometime between 7 AM and 8 AM Eastern tomorrow morning on my Twitch channel! We've got a lot to work on so I'm not sure what's going to happen first - probably getting the last few solids in game to start off!

The good news is this is a known bug! The RealPlume configs are still activating since you still have a 'SmokeScreen' folder in your install. Its easy enough to fix - go to Gamedata/Bluedog_DB/Compatibility and delete the RealPlume folder so they stop activating. EDIT: Also, I appreciate the picture of your Gamedata - it is super useful for diagnosing issues like this, and saved me having to ask for one!

No...

1) Maybe. They're definitely going to be better shaped than they were. No matter what they have to be remade from scratch. 2) Hmm, I want them to be a little more unique to each other. SoonTM. I still don't have a solution for the interstage that I'm happy with but I might just suck it up and finish the boattail anyways. Yes, they do. I'm planning on redoing the Titan solids entirely... and the rest of the Titan stuff... eventually. Speaking out loud a little bit (as I am want to do on these thread posts) I feel a little bad for spending so much time on launch vehicles and not as much on payloads, even though theoretically payloads are what you spend more time with... Yup, and pretty much already possible in BDB!

Just brought to my attention, page 231 of the doc: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19940014197.pdf

@Shadowmage I don't know what the issue would be. Most of the parts listed have B9 Part Switch on them, is there any known issue between B9 and TU?

I was hoping I could come up with two more distinct designs, both because that sounds cooler and because that will help make them easier to tell apart in the parts list.

Possible. I have vague plans to redo all the Titan stuff, they're a mess right now. So if I redo them I'll think about adding that. I think I've said it before but I regret trying to clean up all my old models last year as opposed to creating new ones like I have been. The old parts were made with a minimal level of research and have a ton of inaccuracies, in additional generally being lower quality...

I've always just used stock struts for those... there isn't a very good way to represent those, at least right now the decouplers can handle a variety of lengths of parts attached. If I were to do that the 2-segment or whatever the really short ones are wouldn't be able to use the decouplers for example. On some level it's the recurring issue we've always run into where real life rockets don't have as cleanly delineated parts as KSP needs. Most SRBs are basically just held on by pegs IRL, for instance.

Yes, the separation solids would have their own small texture sheet.

Oh, a slightly unfortunate topic of discussion - I remembered more stuff that has to be finished for the update. Does anyone have feelings on the design of the small radial decoupler and the Perfectron/Retrotron/Lateraltron separation SRBs? They lived on old texture sheets that have since been replaced. I like the model for the small radial decoupler, will probably redo the little motors but they are simple. Also, if anyone has designs for a medium (0.9375m to 1.5m) radial decoupler and a large (for thing like Saturn Multibody) radial decoupler, please let me know (heck, post drawings if you like!). Those have been on my list for a while and if I can just make them share a texture sheet that'd be great. I'm trying to move to having things like that live in a sort of 'Generic' folder so they are prune-resistant / not tied into random part families; if I ever get around to doing the Thor/Redstone/Vanguard (those all share texture sheets) I would similarly move the decouplers, fairing bases, etc to a generic format. The only reason I have to redo the small radial decoupler at all is it lived on the old Scout texture sheet... anyways, I don't want these decouplers to be size locked the same way the Titan decoupler is.

Alright @Natokerbal it sounds like you can go to the BDB Github's homepage, click the green download button, and download the ZIP of the current repository. Then you can replace the Gamedata/Bluedog_DB/Compatibility/RealPlumes/BDB_Apollo_LES.cfg file in your install with the updated one. Don't copy the entire RealPlume folder. Should fix things! Interesting, in real life they do it the other way I think, so the asymmetric thrust helps pitch the booster over and they just use the RD-180's gimballing to control the pitch rate.