ZodiusInfuser

Hi, blackheart, Unfortunately I've not had chance to play around with this concept yet, and not sure i'll get chance in the next few weeks. Thanks for the info.

I guess it depends on whether the solution needs to create fresh geometry or just modify existing elements within a .mu file. I suspect the optional meshes in Universal Storage perform the latter approach, and to be honest that would be fine for my applications, since it gives the greatest control over final model style. Edit: Looks like Universal Storage makes use of the AdvancedAnimator plugin to be able to have meshes be hidden and shown, by having a fade in animation occur extremely fast.

If you downloaded the version of the 16th, you may have the issue that the rework parts are in MagicSmokeIndustries/Parts rather than MagicSmokeIndustries/Parts/_Rework_Robotic. If that is the case then delete the ones with the IR_ prefix in the parts folder and all should be good . If you don't you will likely end up with duplicate or non-working parts when you load the game up.

Since my skill is modelling, having solid colour textures makes it easy for me to iterate on the design of parts. The 'final' style will be similar to these, in the sense that there will be dark end caps, with a white hinge, copper-ish motor on the side, and glowing amber lights at the base. Texture work will be outsourced to Porkjet though if he's still willing (he did the structural texture before). I do intend to maintain the current palette since it matches well with much of the reference material I've seen for such joints on real spacecraft and the like. FYI, i'm using things like these as reference: Ok, I was imagining a completely different setup to what you described I'll have a think about this one.

They are next on my priority list

New Robotics Update Out!! It includes the Off-Axis rotatron, and latest TweakScale plugin. Please read the red warning text when downloading Edit: I should probably ask. Are people still ok with me pre-releasing these parts in their MS Paint textured state? Would you want this to continue for the rest of the planned parts (such as ship trusses, athlete arms etc)? -------------------------------------------------- The first joint in your list is now released! As for the second, since tweakables are a thing, you can achieve the effect you want with the Basic Pivotron, by setting it to not go in one direction. Although it would be nice to add a version of the Half Basic without an offset, I'm trying to avoid part bloat where possible. Regarding the hinge, I plan to do a reduced selection of 1.25m parts (scaleable down to 0.625m, and maybe up to 2.5m) for where the dimensions of these aren't suitable. Is this the kind of thing you'd be after? More structural parts are on my list. For the elbow would you prefer it to be sized to fit with the Joint Pivotron (0.3m from axis of rotation), or Right-Angle Rotatron (0.35m from axis of rotation). Up to now I've been leaning to the latter, as that could make the rotatron far more useful (see curiosity rover arm image) Also, should hubs conform to this same size or be something different? -------------------------------------------------- Pistons are on my list, but I'm not happy with my current design yet. For now you can use the existing telescopic pistons, since these seem to fit fine inside the current truss segments. As for the docking port idea. I think I get what you're saying, but could you show me a picture with the current parts to clarify how it doesn't line up?

The question is whether KSP lets you instance part geometry. If not then it would be a case that the model would need to contain all the geometry needed to cover all planned size variations. I PM'ed Biotronic with a suggestion for this but have no idea if it's viable, as it relies on the "showing" and "hiding" of specific model nodes from code. This approach may also have a performance impact. It could also give modders more control over the final visual appearance of the scaled parts, which I like

This is similar to what I observed with my own parts in the VAB. The axis of rotation for the parts seemed completely arbitrary, depending on where the part was attached. The only time it "worked" was when vertically stacking the parts. I use that word in quote marks because of the previously mentioned issue of it rotating around the origin, which may not be the attachment point.

Ha! Real engineers don't use struts. Sellotape on the other hand

If that was a real feature, I'd definitely put the effort into redesigning my parts for it. I would say what's lacking from that concept are mid-caps to place between repeated sections, and the ability to apply a rotation from one section and cap to the next (since I use a 90 degree offset). Obviously the collision/attachment nodes could just be scaled along the length. I presume no one took you up on your idea at the time?

Real life tinkering you say

Extending on this, having a mod like tweakscale that can switch between a set of models of various lengths would be extremely useful for reducing structural part bloat in IR, whilst retaining the visual style. For instance I could model various lengths of truss and using a tweakable, be able to switch between the models (with the collision and attachment getting scaled along a specific axis). I could then have 1m, 2m, 3m, 4m, 5m lengths all appear as a single part in the editor

Ok, thanks. I'll just put a disclaimer out for people to delete the dll from Gamedata/Goodspeed/plugins, where it originally was.

Ah I see. The problem with this though is that it rotates the part around the origin, not the attachment point making it completely unviable for the rework. Just tested this to confirm, and I think there may be a bug in the rotation anyway, as after the first step the rotation behaved erratically and I was unable to return it to zero. Also, isn't what you describe an issue for all parts anyway, hence the ability to transfer sub-assemblies between SPH and VAB?

Technically this issues stems from the hinge being oriented incorrectly in Unity. With the model rework hinges I've not had any problems with SPH symmetry, hence me questioning the usefullness of rotate buttons.

\o/ I'll look into applying this ASAP. Will such a change be save breaking? Also I notice you moved the DLL from Goodspeed (understandably). Am I to assume this is the new directory I should place the dll in my download?

The download has both "Long" and "New" fuel tanks in it. Which are the deprecated ones?

This is a great way for mod creators to reduce part spam!! Thanks Biotronic for taking this over and expanding on it.

Thanks for spotting this. I've uploaded a new version if people wish to download. Edit: Love the experimentation people are doing with the parts! Keep it up!

I have considered making hubs for the RoboTruss versions of the structural parts (not for the tubes). This is low on my priority list though, since my main focus is on making parts that enhance the robotics experience and I'm not sure how useful hubs would be for that. What types of hubs would you be suggesting, and what dimensions? Oh, and that central line (on a visual level anyway) is intended just for electricity

Soon . I assume people will find a use for this part

If I understand your meaning, then yes, at some point I do plan to add cube blocks (and other variations) to the selection of structural parts. This is low on my priority list though. Honestly, no. Using TweakScale on the structural parts goes against my design direction for this mod. Yes it would reduce part bloat, but also reduce the amount of visual variety in the arms and other contraptions that are made (i wanted to represent the range of stylings seen in much of NASA's reference material). I use TweakScale on the robotics parts because I intentionally designed them to be identical at the three different sizes. I feel it's important for the joint types to be easily identifiable from an image etc regardless of size. This isn't a consideration for structural parts.

Thanks. I'll make a note to do a fresh image when I release the next update, to avoid similar confusion by others. I could even do a video, but I'm not sure about that.

In that case that's fair enough . All the structural parts share the same texture so hopefully they're efficient on memory. FYI, here's what the robotics parts look like with the structural parts (an old image): -------------------------------------------------- Also, a teaser of the current part I'm working on: This was requested a long time ago, and recently I was reminded that such a joint was used to lift the mast on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers.

The "other" IR has now been updated to 0.15, so you won't need to manually change the CFG files. Would have liked to upload this with Sirkut's update, but time-zones