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AlphaMensae

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  1. AlphaMensae
    You now can turn off the TLC-19 towers, there's a toggle in the KK static window.
  2. AlphaMensae
    Nicely said! Though the positioning would have to be after putting a craft on the launch pad, then adding in the KK statics and adjusting them in flight mode I'll add that statics are exactly that: static. Towers as statics would be single-piece units that would have to be sized for a specifc rocket. There was a good reason why Squad removed the old launch pad tower in an ancient version of KSP. Not to mention all the animated parts--swing arms, umbilical pipes, hold-downs and such--would be of fixed size and position, and wouldn't be able to be staged at launch. "Modular Launch Pads" is meant to be just that, Modular (though it was a grandiose title in the begininng ). Mix and match them in the lego-style of KSP. But the fundamental reason against doing towers as KK statics is that I simply did not want Kerbal Konstructs to be a requirement. Sure, Damon's Tundra's Space Center is a great addition for MLP, but the MLP parts are made to work with the stock launch pads. A lot of KSP players do not use KK, and it would be very unfair to cut them out. In fact, I know of a certain stock-part user who used MLP to make the launch platform and tower for his stock Atlas V-ish rocket There's probably more like that, stock users who may use some visual mods but use MLP because it is not rocket parts and adds a lot of immersiveness to a launch. In fact there is one more: SnacklessKerbal (who makes some really nice stock-only craft) used the shuttle pad for his stock shuttle:
  3. AlphaMensae
    This is how the current one is supposed to be located: The front panels of the access room should almost come up to the capsule. But that is about to be rendered obsolete, as the new one is coming together in Unity: Still have to add the internal platforms into the main tower and make the animations, but those will wait until I do a fit test in KSP to make sure the height is correct for the BDB Titan II GLV. The front white panels represent the expandable/collapsable work area covers, and will be retractable. Not sure if there will be extra height variants for the new one, as it's now limited to a max size of 1.875m tanks. May add one or two extra heights. If I do, I'll at least be using the B9PS transform move function to move the whole upper section up as I turn on tower core extensions, so I won't need to duplicate the upper section in the hierarchy.
  4. AlphaMensae
    @OrbitalManeuvers Redirecting from your question in the BDB thread: Which version of the Gemini Crew Elevator are you using, the AlphaDev one or current release? The AlphaDev one has an extendable walkway to connect with the capsule hatch; the first half of the walkway is attached to the elevator car and moves with it. The current release version has a separately adjustable platfoorm without an extenable section. Also, the Geminiu elevator was made as just an elevator, not as the Titan II erector, so it doesn't go around the Titan II.... ...which is changing with the remade one, currently being worked on and almost ready to assemble in Unity. This one is made like the erector and will mostly surround the Titan II and fit above the Titan II launch stand, and has the white room on top with an adjustable height floor.
  5. AlphaMensae
    That's what I thought it was. The Extras are just that, bonus things that are not required, which is why it isn't in the download's GameData folder.
  6. AlphaMensae
    @XxUnstableStarxXThank you, but a note: you should not quote the whole OP to just ask a question. You can just use the @ tag function. I'm thinking you also copied over the Extras folder from the download, as there is a basic RO patch there that makes everything bigger.
  7. AlphaMensae
    Did a quick side-trip to revise the single-piece Delta II tower to have configurable details: Platforms can be the default full-type, bare-type or off Side panels can be 2 sides, 4 sides or off The back detail can be turned off The top masts and detail can be switched like that of the modular top. Shown here with everything off and in red: I did this as I realized limiting the tower to the late Delta II configuration was too limiting, as the tower was first used in a simpler form with the Delta D (Thrust Augmented Improved Delta), marking the point where the old Thor-Able fallback tower was stopped being used for Deltas. (Delta #34) The revised single-piece tower is now on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub. The two Delta II modular tower sections will have the new panel options added and will be put on the AlphaDev branch real soon.
  8. AlphaMensae
    The revised modular section Titan II Tower parts, matching that of the new single-piece tower, are done and now on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub. The platforms in the tower core sections (1 for the 3m short, 4 for the 12m tall) are now adjustable over a 2m range in height via deploy limit slider, as well as being switchable on-off. The platforms in the tall section are all separately toggled and adjusted. The detail pole can now also be adjusted in height. The new UI Groups feature of the newest B9PS version (v2.16.0) has been used to organize the platform and pole settings: The UI Groups will be added to more parts for v2.1 (the Titan II Tower Umbilical has one now as well), and eventually every part that can benefit from them will have them added. Because of this, I have removed the KSP 1.7.3 version of B9PartSwitch from the AlphaDev branch and updated the included version to the latest, v2.16.0. When MLP v2.1 is officially released, the changes will carry over, and KSP versions before v1.8.x will no longer be officially supported. The MLP parts should still work with older versions of B9PS, I think the new features just get ignored, but I'm now writing the part .cfgs around the new features, so the PAWs may not be as clear with the old B9PS versions. B9PS also has module switching, and while I can turn off the deploy limit slider animations when they are not needed, unfortunately they won't turn on again when they are needed. So for now I don't use that feature, but if and when B9PS gets it sorted out, I will add it to MLP parts.
  9. AlphaMensae
    New revised Titan II GLV Tower is done and on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub It's now a little skinnier, but the same length, so the mount rails for the arms are in the same X-axis position. Poly/vert/tru count was greatly reduced, and the .mu size slashed as well. The Titan II Launch Stand tower nodes were also given switchable Titan II tower and standard tower options. The Titan II tower ones are offset so the umbilical arms will line up with the center of a rocket. The revised modular section version of the Titan II GLV tower will follow soon.
  10. AlphaMensae
    Those flanges on the BDB Titan II SRBs are the actual hold-down points, much like how the Shuttle was held down at the SRBs only (4 huge bolts per SRB). Whether the core was held down as well is unclear. So you can use the flat bolt hold-downs like that, or the side-arm ones. At some future date I will make a dedicated Titan III/IV launch base.
  11. AlphaMensae
    Well, that usage wasn't actually intended, but it does work for those flat vert bolt hold-downs They're meant to be a very low-profile hold-down. I went through several ideas for how to handle large SRB/LRB hold-downs, and all proved to be complex and impractical. One idea was to make something like the Shuttle SRB hold-down but in a general-use part. Well, with the Shuttle SRB on the Shuttle Base, there were single defined sizes for the exahaust hole and SRB skirt, so just one part was needed. A general version would have to accomodate all kinds of exhaust hole and booster sizes, and so would need a huge number of variants, and I don't want to make the same part a dozen or more times. I might revisit the idea in the future, as I'm now thinking of alternate ways of doing it.
  12. AlphaMensae
    I decided to bring back a remade Small Service Tower 3, now part of the the Mini Modular Service Towers, this one also #3. It now is a single 9m high section with three platforms that are all on by default, but can be switched among multiple configurations. Like the other Mini Modular towers, the section can be stacked to create taller towers by turning off the base pad. The new Mini Modular Service Tower 3 uses the old part name of the former Small Service Tower 3, which the new single-piece Titan II Service Tower had been using. The Titan II tower now has its own new name, which will change craft files using it. The modular section parts remain the same. I'm also going to modify the new Titan II tower as well, by making it rectangular in profile rather than square, with a narrower width. Certain details will be removed, and other meshes be optmized to bring the poly count down. Just felt it was a little too big, and would look better if it was slimmed down a bit. Then comes the Gemini Crew Elevator remake.
  13. AlphaMensae
    Make sure the launch base/stand is not the root part, or else it won't work. Commonly happens when you start with the base first, then attach the rocket, and don't reroot.
  14. AlphaMensae
    YEP
  15. AlphaMensae
    The whole bottom of the Soyuz should be down into the hole of the launch base, simulating how the real one sits below the pad level. The top of the clamp arms should then rest just above the tips of the side boosters.
  16. AlphaMensae
    "Jeb Glenn" launches aboard "Kerbship 7"; my new Mercury-Atlas Crew Elevator is featured. Yeah, it actually was the emergency egress tower (and launch umbilical tower) and had no elevator, but that's no fun. Besides, Damon already made the mobile service gantry for Tundra's Space Center TLC-14.
  17. AlphaMensae
    The new Mercury-Atlas Crew Elevator, Walkway and Mercury Umbilical are done and on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub! The craft file for the demo launch is also in the AlphaDev Ships folder; requires the latest v1.7 dev build of Bluedog Design Bureau (for the remade Mercury)
  18. AlphaMensae
    That's a KSP thing, unfortunately. You can do the "elevator up" from the Kerbal, but not the other way. They used the mobile service gantry (the big A-frame thing), which at the time of boarding would have been in place around the Atlas. Tundra's Space Center TLC-14 pad has one in its stowed position.
  19. AlphaMensae
    I would have no idea, that has never happened to me nor have I ever gotten reports about that before. The usual response is make sure the launch base is not the root part when you go to launch, or weird/broken things will happen. Not sure if that's one of them. ======================================== Ok, still needs a few tweaks and the Mercury umbilical mast added, but the Mercury-Atlas Crew Elevator is mostly done: Note, the new BDB Mercury capsule has a hatch that is not aligned with the Z axis like most pods do, nor even the X axis. Instead it's true to the real one and rotated 45°. I had to rotate the caspule 180° to get it to work with the elevator as seen in pictures. The walkway can work with stock-like pods, as boarding can be done on the left, right and front. Of course, the real one was just an emergency egress tower, and I don't think it had an elevator, but mine does so it can be used for boarding.
  20. AlphaMensae
    Make sure the launch base is not the root part, or weird/bad things happen; that could be one I haven't seen yet. I've warped at 1000x with whole rockets on a launch base, and nothing abnormal happened, but the base wasn't the root part.
  21. AlphaMensae
    Well, after using Kerbal Konstructs (v1.8.1.15 and KSP 1.8.1) and Tundra's Space Center for the very first time and following all the steps needed, I was able to spawn something to TLC-14. Then the next day when I restarted KSP, I couldn't spawn to TLC-14 anymore, got the stock pad instead. I even tried removing KK and TSC and reinstalling them, but that didn't work, still spawn to the stock pad. I am soooo confused.... That means I have to cancel the TLC-14 variant of the Atlas Crew Elevator and make it work for the stock pads. It can still be used with TLC-14, but will have to be placed on the pad in front of the Atlas, not exactly like IRL but will have to do.
  22. AlphaMensae
    I forgot to mention this, but the new Redstone Crew Elevator also works with the Mercury-Atlas from BDB, in case you want a A-Frame type elevator for that as well.
  23. AlphaMensae
    Well, I have been planning the Mercury-Atlas Crew Elevator under a rather large misunderstanding. The Mercury-Atlas astronauts actually boarded their spacecraft from the big mobile service gantry. The tower that sits close to the Atlas was actually the emergency egress tower as well as the Launch Umbilical Tower (there's an umbilical line going to the Mercury capsule, it has a similar semicircle thing the Gemini used). No wonder I have never seen the flip-up walkway in the down position in all the photos I've seen. With that cleared up, I'm still going to call mine the Mercury-Atlas Crew Elevator, used for both boarding and egress, even though the actual one didn't appear to be an elevator. It will have a switchable style between one for the stock tier 2 and 3 launch pads (wide ones) and the TLC-14 pad from Tundra's Space Center, which like the real one is narrow; the egress tower sort of half hung over the side, with a support going to the ground. Also, the upcoming Atlas Launch Stand will be a new part, as it's too different from the existing Rectangular Launch Stand to be a replacement. The Rectangle stand though will be modified like the Round one was, and become a full square shape, and renamed the Square Launch Stand.
  24. AlphaMensae
    Boarding Mercury-Redstone the low-tech way....
  25. AlphaMensae
    New Mercury-Redstone type Crew Elevator is done and now on the AlphaDev branch of the GitHub. It replaces and uses the same part name as the old Mercury type crew elevator. The Atlas type elevator will be next. The elevator shaft has been raised about 4.5m so it can sit over the launch stand and any fins present on the rocket, with the front of the shaft sitting snug (well, not that snug ) against the rocket. To access the elevator car, there is a ladder to climb, a suitably low-tech way for the early career for which the elevator is intended. There is only one height available, due to the A-frame style of the side supports. It is also not meant to be a full recreation of the Redstone gantry, as that is way beyond the scope of a crew elevator, and there already is one in Tundra's Space Center/KSC Extended.
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