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AlphaMensae

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  1. AlphaMensae
    Now working on the crew tower for the American Launch Stand (more complex than the unmanned tower, so it comes first), and already decided there will be at least two switchable height versions, in wide and narrow sizes. Probably needs a third, medium option, as it would work better for something like a Gemini-Titan II:
  2. AlphaMensae
    Did you install Animated Decouplers correctly? The full .zip files are included, and inside them is a Gamedat folder; inside that is the AnimatedDecouplers folder that you copy to your KSP Gamedata. Also check to see if staging was disabled for the arms. Otherwise I'd need to see screenshots, as I'm using KSP 1.3.1 and the staging icon does show:
  3. AlphaMensae
    The four clamp arms are released by staging (they have the decoupler icon), so put them with the base in the same stage. The Animated Decouplers plugin needs to be installed, two different versions are included.
  4. AlphaMensae
    Thanks, @smotheredrun @Cheesecake, Yes, I took the swing arms and all of the deprecated parts (all the original gray ones plus the snap-in walkway) out of any stock tab as a temporary fix to prevent clogging up the Structural tab. They're still available by doing a search, and I made a custom category for Modular Launch Pads. As for smaller launchers, presently there is a set of swing arms sized for 1.875m tanks without having to adjust anything. For smaller tank sizes, you'll have to move the arms and/or tower base to get a fit. There are plans to accomodate smaller launchers, they are still WIP. The American Launch Stand alternative that I'm working on now will be able to handle 0.625m tanks, and a revamp of the big Saturn pad will change the tower sections and arms to accomodate more tank sizes.
  5. AlphaMensae
    Finished the size 1 ring
  6. AlphaMensae
    Ok, started work on the American Launch Stand, the launch clamp-type counterpart to the Russian Launch Stand. Still WIP, but I got two of the three ring sizes (mostly) done: Yep, mesh-switchable ring sizes This is just the base, the tower and accessories will be nexr.
  7. AlphaMensae
    Just pushed v1.2.1 to Spacedock, this just changed the category of the Saturn tower arms and the deprecated parts to -1, so now they actually won't show up in the stock Stuctural tab. Apparently just commenting out the Category = line isn't enough, as they weren't in the Structural tab...but I found out that all those parts showed up in the Fuel Tanks tab instead. In dev news, Ive figured out that "node =" in a B9 Part Switch subtype enables a certain node (or nodes). That means mesh-switchable tower section sizes, in both height and girth, with nodes that match the selected size.
  8. AlphaMensae
    And get ready soon for mesh-switchable umbilicals on the swing arms...well, just one (plus a crew arm) basic type with a choice of umbilical type: A little test I threw together to confirm what I suspected with B9PS
  9. AlphaMensae
    Version 1.2 now on Spacedock! Changelog: 1.2 B9 Part Switch texture switching added to the Saturn Tower parts which had red and gray versions; these now only have one part which can be switched between red and gray variants. *** Texture Switching only available with KSP 1.3.1 and 1.4.x versions of B9 Part Switch *** All animated Saturn Pad parts (swing arms, hold down arms, tail service masts) can now be staged using Animated Decouplers as well as using the original animation movement. *** All the original gray parts are now in a Deprecated folder, they will not appear in any category or tech tree node. At a future update, these parts will be removed. The Crew access tower section now has an adjustable floor, done by the deploy limit in the right-click menu. The older alternate walkway part is now deprecated. Custom category created for the Modular Launch Pads parts. The tower arms also will not appear in any stock category. Some tweaks to the Saturn hold down arms and tail service mast parts and animations.
  10. AlphaMensae
    Well, all the dual-color parts have had the B9PS module put in. All of the original gray parts--the stuff in Tower_Gray--are now in a Deprecated folder, and will be included in this update so any craft files won't be broken. They won't be in any category (stock or custom) or tech tree node, and at some future date will not be included any more. Also, I decided to update the crew access tower section, by making the floor adjustable by deploy limit slider...one more part eliminated.
  11. AlphaMensae
    Success with B9PS texture switching! And no, I'm not using the 1.4 stock switcher, it's too limited and cumbersome to use.
  12. AlphaMensae
    I'm also going to try out texture switching with B9 Part Switch, hopefully I can eliminate the separarate gray versions of the Saturn tower parts.
  13. AlphaMensae
    Ok, as an intermediate step before the Saturn tower arm revamp, I created a custom category for Modular Launch Pads, and removed the category value from all of the Saturn tower arms' .cfg files (just commented it out), so they won't show up in the Structural category, but can still be found by a search. Custom categories are accessed by clicking on the big green arrow to the upper left of the part list window to switch to Advanced mode, as you would to get to Subassemblies. I've added the animated decoupler modules to all the Saturn red arms, hold down arms and tail service mast, and they work nicely. Just have to write out the gray arms now. Also, as part of the arm revamp, I'm also going to make the launcher base inserts configurable by animation deploy limit as well, so there will be just a general square and rectangular one. The crew access tower section will also have an adjustable floor, instead of the snap-in platform.
  14. AlphaMensae
    Ok, so adding another animation for ModuleAnimatedDecoupler to use is going to take a lot more time than simply replacing ModuleAnimateGeneric with ModuleAnimatedDecoupler, as I have to go into Unity and build a copy of the original animation with a new name. So, since I had to do that, I took the time to modify the Saturn tail service mast, giving it an actual blast hood shutter that closes: There may be a few more simple changes like that (not the arms...not yet).
  15. AlphaMensae
    Ok, test completed, and turns out I just have to give the animation used for ModuleAnimateGeneric a different name than the one used for Animated Decouplers. But yes, both methods can work in the same config. Time to get to work....
  16. AlphaMensae
    Do you mean the Saturn pad and tower? The launcher base does decouple, but all the swing arms, hold down arms and tail service mast require a right-click menu button or action group. But........Now that you mention it, and since I already crossed the "no dependency" line by using Animated Decouplers for the new Russian Launch Stand, I might as well and make all the Saturn pad .animated parts use it too, so they can work by staging. They will still work by action group, only now you select "decouple", even though nothing will actually be decoupled. Animated Decouplers basically allows an animation to work by staging...the decouple part is entirely optional, as I've found. However, I'll first test if the the normal animation module can be used along with the Animated Decouplers module, to retain the original animation method, so as to not break craft files and saves.
  17. AlphaMensae
    Version 1.1 released! This has the new Russian Launch Stand Clamp, plus the BDB/TantaresLV craft files and subassemblies for the big pads. The Russian Launch Stand requires the Animated Decouplers mod plugin by Starwaster, I included three versions of it in the download. Next will be the "American" Launnch Stand Clamp, a much smaller and simpler launch clamp version of the big Saturn mobile launcher, and like the Russion one, intended for early career mode. It will take it's design from a mix of Mercury-Redstone, Mercury-Atlas, Gemini-Titan II, original Saturn IB (LC 34 and 37) and various unmanned rocket pads from the '60s. There will be two types of adjustable towers, one for unmanned launches and one for manned ones. OP uodated @Tyko I have a better solution coming: I'm going to revamp the Saturn swing arms to have an adjustable end section, like I did with the Russian Launch Stand (which was practice, basically). I'll also look into making a custom category.
  18. AlphaMensae
    The "Russian" Launch Stand clamp-style is almost done! I added a service arm, for "fueling" purposes, that is separately retractable like the crew elevator. It also has an umbilical that can be adjusted in height (over a short range) and in length for tank sizes of 0.625m to 2.5m Demo of the launch stand in action:
  19. AlphaMensae
    I reworked the crew arm and elevator to make it easier to adjust, now it's a vertical straight elevator with both adjustable stopping height and floor (the "pad" I call it) length via deploy limit sliders; can adjust to command pods of 1.25m to 2.5m diamter. The arm itself is still WIP, still just a frame, but the elevator is working, as seen in this demo:
  20. AlphaMensae
    Working on a new addition to the "Russian" launch stand: a crew access arm, sorta kinda like something Gagarin used to board Vostok 1. The arm retracts separately from the clamp arms, has an adjustable-height elevator, and will have an adjustable exit pad to to bridge the gap from the elevator to the command pod. And to get to the crew arm, Kerbals will have to climb a ladder mounted on the launcher stand base; Gagarin only had to climb 12 steps, Kerbals will have to climb a few more.... Goes with the whole more basic and primitive design of this stand. The crew arm is still WIP. just have the basic frame done. After this launch stand is done, I'll make the "American" launch stand (will be squarre-shaped) for early career mode; it will work like a launch clamp as well, but will also have a detached umbilical tower. Proabably will have two versions of the tower, one with simple drop-pipes/cables for unmanned rockets, and one with simpler, narrower swing arms and crew arm for manned spacecraft.
  21. AlphaMensae
    I just put a dev build of the Russian Launch Stand on my Github: https://github.com/AlphaMensae/Modular-Launch-Pads/raw/master/TestRussianStand.zip It requires Animated Decouplers, so I included three versions of it as .zips, for KSP 1.2.1/2, 1.3.1 and 1.4.x, in case you don't have it. Just install the version you need. It's still a bit rough, but working, and the tech tree nodes are the start one. There are two parts, the launch stand and the arm assembly. Both titles start with "Russian Launch Stand" for searching. The base works like a node-attached launch clamp, attach to a bottom node of a rocket using the upper size 5 node in the ring. The arm assembly attaches to the lower size 5 node in the stand's ring (the two nodes have different direction vectors). Right-click on the arm assembly and move the deploy limit slider to adjust the arms from 0.625m tank size to 2.5m tank size. The arms will jump at first, still trying to get the deploy limit adjuster to match the initial positioning of the arms. Put both the base and the arms in the same stage to activate at the same time. The base just decouples, and the arms do the retracting.
  22. AlphaMensae
    Still don't know why the second animation for the arm adjustment isn't working...could be that launch clamp parts with ModuleLaunchClamp can't have a second unrelated animation. So, I made a workaround by splitting the arm assembly into a separate part, that uses Animated Decouplers for the arm retraction; there is no actual decouple node. Likewise with the stand base, there is no animation reference in ModuleLaunchClamp. So it's sort of a hybrid launch clamp: the clamp part doesn't animate, and the animated decouple part doesn't decouple. Works fine, and the arms are adjustable. Downside is two parts needed for the launch stand The alternative would have been to make different versions of the full launch clamp, each sized for a different tank diameter...but that's not as good. Would only be one part for the stand, but more parts loaded.
  23. AlphaMensae
    Success! Got the launch stand working as a node-attached launch clamp: But now the animation for the adjustable arms isn't working...not sure what is going on
  24. AlphaMensae
    The crane moves by using the Q and E (or roll control) keys after decoupling...did youu try that?
  25. AlphaMensae
    Well, I finally figured out how to make a working launch clamp. Here's my crude test clamp: Now to translate this to the "R-7" style launch stand, and there should be no need for a separate launch clamp or the animated decouplers plugin.
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