Norange

Hi all- sorry for necroposting here but a lil update- I'm reorganizing my work a little bit and hosting it on Github so I won't lose everything for a fourth(??) time. Anyways, some updates- got CZ-1 fully modelled and unwrapping should start soon!

Hi all! Work Stuff™ has finally started to calm down a bit, which means that I might be able to pick up again with XN and get something released. A lot of what I'm doing right now professionally also deals with modelling things and using Unity so that's hopefully helped me build up a tolerance so I can get something done, aha Anyways, hope people are doing alright and don't think this project is dead or cancelled at all ^-^ also, I'm thinking about starting a discord server for development stuff and so there's a good space for people to hang out and give feedback & advice on XN and to help find and share reference photos to make my job easier because goodness are those hard to find for some things, so let me know if that's something you think would be worthwhile or if you're interested ps: i hope the new pfp doesn't throw people off too much, it's the same one I use on Discord and Twitter and wanted to keep it consistent across platforms lol

Hey all!! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, I've been *really* busy with work and haven't had the time to dedicate to modding work. I still plan to keep working on it, though! Eventually I'd love to do this if there are enough people that would be willing to provide feedback/support on it!

Absolutely, yes! Possibly! We'll see how things go, but if I have the time/bandwidth for it, yes.

Working more from references, have a lil update- almost back to where I was previously

Just a brief update- switching workflow around so that I'm just working on getting one part in-game at a time. I'm gonna be starting off with the Shenzhou crew module, so keep your eyes peeled for that being more fleshed out in the near future.

Off and on, yeah. Been navigating all sorts of stuff, being busy, mental health struggles. That kinda thing. Still keeping on keeping on with it, though! Some shenzhou rework for ya-

I've been reworking some stuff with the models, particularly the first stage engine. I'm also redoing the second stage engine to be simpler to model/unwrap/texture. Overall though I'm really excited for the direction this is going rn! Sorry about the huge gaps between preview updates, mental health has been really really shaky lately so getting much done with it has been difficult to stay on top of. That said, I'm starting to find some motivation for it again, so hopefully more to come soon!

Hey, so, quick poll to gauge opinions- Which would you all rather see in a first release- parts to build Shenzhou, or parts to build a Long March 1 w/ the Dongfanghong probe? As it stands now both options are in the works and pretty far along, but I'll be able to get something usable out much more quickly if I'm able to get a sense of which people would rather see worked on to play with, rather than splitting my time between them both simultaneously.

Loosely, yep! I forget the exact scale ratio but Shenzhou is definitely scaled relative to Tantares. The capsule/service module parts are 1.5m and the Tiangong crew module/CZ-2 core are both 1.875m. CZ-1 is 1.25m. As far as simple adjustable fairings, I'm not sure! I'll look into that!

Xingniao Aerospace What is it? Xingniao* Aerospace is a mod intended to introduce parts for the Chinese space program, primarily focusing on launch vehicles, crewed spacecraft, and their space station program, ranging from the earliest satellite launchers of the 1970s to present. Stylistically, it's intended to be a blend of a stockalike and Tantares (which has been a huge inspiration/help with this project in general, go check it out) with a nice "lego-able" design that can be mixed and matched. These parts are being balanced against a 2.5x Kerbol system, so they may be overpowered in a stock-size game! *pronounced "shing-niao" What'll it have? Currently, my plans are to include parts to build: -CZ1/1D -CZ-2, its variants, and the upper stages to convert it to a CZ-3/4 -Shenzhou -Tiangong/Tianzhou -Tianhe and associated laboratory modules What're your standards of accuracy? I'm trying to have these parts capture the feel/essence of the original rockets, while still retaining a stylized quality to help it fit in better with stock parts and those from other mods. Additionally, a somewhat simplified representation of some of these may be somewhat necessary for the sake of unwrapping and texturing in any reasonable amount of time. Another important note on this is that, as someone in the US, there's a degree of difficulty in accessing image references and technical specifications for missile/rocket systems developed in 1970s China. As such, there's a good possibility that artistic liberties will be taken with some parts to fill the gaps in concrete knowledge. That said, if you do have suggestions for improvements and photo references to accompany them, I'd be glad to look into implementing them! Do these parts even exist yet, and what do they look like? Many of them do! Some of them have been put in-game in some fashion or another, and others are still-untextured blender models that're in the process of being worked on, but here are some samples of what I've got! ETA on release? No idea! Progress depends heavily on a lot of factors, like things going on in my outside life, mental health, school, etc. I've been working on this project for about a year or so now and I'm excited to finally be getting to a point where I have something worth sharing on the forums! Let me know what you think of this, if you have any questions/comments, etc.! I'd love to hear! I'll also be posting occasional updates here before moving to a release thread at some point, so feel free to stay tuned!

This is perfect! I've been wanting something like this for ages and it works super well playing alongside DPAI, really good work on this!

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment

ayy nice! Excited for the Venera lander parts

This looks really exciting! I love smaller parts mods and things geared towards early-game progression like this, can't wait to give it a try!