noonespecial

I'm having a few issues that are slowing my progress. The first issue is a scaling issue. I'm still learning Blender, so I'm doing must of my models in Sketchup and using Blender for post processing. The problem lies in importing the dae file into blender. Take a look: You can see that the sizes of the truss and the radial fuel module fit perfectly (pictures 1, 2, 3). However, when I import them separately into blender, the import as drastically different sizes (picture 4 and 5). I've combed the forums and found several issues with earlier version of SU, but no mention of a scaling problem. The second issue is with attachment nodes. I've had no problems with Top, Bottom, Left, Right, Front or Back (I just use Blender to find the coords), but I can't seem to figure out FrontRight, FrontLeft, BackRight, or BackLeft. The problem is with the angle. I can get it working with the angx, angy, angz, but it is a time consuming process. Change it by 0.01, reload from debug, VAB, check, rinse and repeat. Is there a better way to configure attachment nodes other than simply plugging in a number, checking the VAB, an adjusting? Here is a photo of what I mean

That's GREAT Speedy! I can't wait to see them

A few more parts to be added soon. A 6-way adapter (2 stock, 4 trihex) A 5-way adapter (5 trihex) A trihex to 2.5m adapter An end plate A "Stayputnik" style probe core

Thanks for all the information! What I'm doing is rather simple. On the models that would have complex meshes, I do a two step process. First, I export the completed model to dae, then I build a simplified shell over the model (pretty much following the example you gave above). I then export that into a separate dae. Then I finish them both in Blender (remove doubles, texture (on "hero mesh"), scale, align, etc.) and then move to Unity. I import both models, then substitute the collider mesh with the outer shell mesh I made. It's probably doing more work than needed, but as I'm still learning Unity and Blender, it's the best method I've found for me so far and it gives me total control on exactly how the collider will wrap around the model.

Greys, this is the second time you've posted here and given me more information than I've found in a dozen tutorials. . I think without these little instructionals I'd be sitting here with barely functional naked models of unreinforced tri-struts. Haha. Thanks a million mate. The colliders I was using did leave a fairly large air pocket on all three sides.

6/29/2014 Update. I took a small break from modeling to work on textures. Here's what I got so far. This is a concept piece of a 1.25m command pod with built in air intakes that I've knicknamed "Arrowhead". I don't know if it will actually make it into the release, I'm mainly using it to practice modeling and texturing.

Thanks a lot! The encourage is really great, I've only started learning how to model about 4 days ago. I'm glad it's turning out well

There are a lot of places I could simplify the models. If performance becomes an issue, I will most certainly adjust. However, I'll need feedback for this. My PC is a monster and it takes a lot to lag it. My rig: Intel i7 4770k MSI MPower Max GeForce 770 16 GB Ram I run KSP (and all my games) off an SSD. Oh, did I mention that it's liquid cooled? Yeah... I'll need other people to tell me if there is a performance hit. I probably won't notice it myself.

Hey SpeedyB, I was going to make a classic version when I finished these, but if you want to take the initiative, by all means! . Also, if you'd like to help with textures, I would love the help. - - - Updated - - - Updated models with Cross members that don't clip with fuel modules.

I agree 100%. The model in the picture is incomplete. I read Greys's post and gave it a try with an unfinished model. I'm going to model and attach the radial modules before I place the cross members so I can find a suitable place for them that makes sense without clipping. The modules look like this (again, this was just a half meter concept part).

The face is wrong. Go back into blender, select the offending surface and in edit mode, select the Shading/UV tab and click "flip direction". Repeat for each surface that is invisible in KSP. That should fix your problem. Be careful when you're making models, some programs are a little stupid about which side is face up or face down.

Wow, Greys, that helped a lot! That was exactly what I was looking for. I tried it out and it worked pretty good. I'd like it darker, but I'll play around and see what I can do. DMagic, thanks for the link. I will most definitely checked it out. Here is the result of the first texturing attempt:

Fixed the config nodes. Now for sleep....

I don't plan on ignoring FusTek. FusTek has been one of my favorite mods since I discovered KSPs modding community. In fact, it was FusTek that got me interested in doing this project. I mean... there I was, building a FusTek Antimatter mining station and I couldn't get the trusses to quite fit... then I remember THSS! But alas... it is no more. Unfortunately, the docking adapter was the one thing I always hated about THSS. Especially considering the FusTek or KSO docking adapters are SO nice. But, we'll see. This is my first modding project and so far this week I've taught myself Sketchup, Blender and Unity. Now I have to figure out texturing (The UV Mapping confuses the hell out of me) and configuration files. That being said, without further adieu... here are some screenshots of the half meter truss, fuel cell, and battery in KSP. Without textures or proper config files anyway...

An alternate to the above alternate. This is my favorite so far, so unless there are any objections, I think this one will be the base for my designs.

Additional Alternate configuration. (Concept models only, I have no idea if these will work as shown in KSP). Also shown with optional fuel and battery modules.

Part Study: For personal reference

Thanks for the invite, I will check it out though I keep odd hours. I'm currently working in China, so I'm usually asleep at this hour. No work tomorrow, so I stayed up late to toy with the models.

I like that actually... I believe he means like this... THSS is sized that it would dock perfect with a FUSTEK station, while stock trusses do not. That's precisely correct, they were lined up with the line between the outer and inner corners. The reasoning is... no reasoning, it's a limitation of my modeling skills as I've been playing around with the software for less than a week. I've since replace both the original 24 side circular supports on the 1m and the square supports on the 2m with hexagon supports. The two meter lacks cross beams simply because it is incomplete (at the time of the model, I hadn't quite figured out how to do them, but I figured it out today). Also, additional support is (assumed) to be provided by an accompanying module. Such as an external fuel tank, battery, or solar panel array.

Alternate base model configurations: Both are 0.5m in height. The third is a picture of the radially attached battery model that would fit either truss. The truss with three attached modules would be 1.25m.

I hear what you're saying Greys, however, as far as I'm away "THSS" (Tri Hexigonal Structural Struts) is a physical description of the product. JARFR was the mod name. Semni made Jafra THSS, Jafra HOSS, and Jafra CRSS. So I don't believe there would a license conflict. Regardless, if that is the case, I haven't actually named my mod yet. I'd probably go with something silly like NOSTech. Also, the derivatives refer to the different THSS (THST (Truss instead of Strut)) being created by You, Biotronic, and I. Semantics either way and easily changeable. As far as sizing them to be compatible with FUSTEK, my opinion is to make the sizing as "stock" as possible and not overly favor one mod or another. If I favor FUSTEK, it wouldn't work well with KSO or KOSMOS. I think the best I could do while keeping with this paradigm is making a FUSTEK "adapter" (an odd sized part to match the stock-sized to FUSTEK). However, I haven't really measured FUSTEK... for all I know my plans are already compliant, haha. Modeling Update: As per suggested, I've simplified the parts somewhat, with hopes of duplicating the complexity with texture. In the pictures above, you'll notice a difference between the 1m truss and the 2m truss (2m still isn't finished). I'm also developing an additional variant to show to see which model is preferred before I throw together all the other models. P.S. Thanks for catching my embarrassing typo... Struss. Not sure if I was thinking Truss and typing Strut and combined them or if I hit a wrong key. Haha

As suggested, I created a new thread. I would be honored if Biotronics and Greys would join me in a discussion on the thread so we can discuss a potential collaboration. If not a collaboration, at least a coordination so that our different projects might work together. Three minds are better than one http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/84178-WIP-THSS-Tri-Hexigonal-Structural-Struss-Reborn

THSS is a well known older mod started by Semni. Unfortunately, the mod appears to be dead as there hasn't been an update to the mod in over a year and the original creator also appears to be inactive for an equal period of time. The bad news is, the original creator did not specify a license, which defaults to "All Rights Reserved". As such, there is no way that we of the KSP community can continue Semni's work. The good news, however, is that multiple people have taken the initiative to re-create THSS (or similiar) from scratch. Those people being myself, Biotronic (developer of TweakScale and Strip Symmetry), and Greys (developer of HexCans and Virgin Kalactic). Currently, all three of us are developing our THSS derivatives independently. I'm starting this thread in hopes of starting a collaboration on the future re-development of this wonderful mod. Currently, I have worked on the models for several replacements to the aging THSS, though I originally chose to move in a slightly different direction. My inspiration for my rendition is a modular construction system with the THSS at the core. As such, I scaled down my version of the THSS so that it's radius with it's radially attached modules would be the same radius as stock fuel tanks. Which is unlike the original THSS as it's trusses were of a larger radius than the stock 1.25m tanks. This is what I have completed so far. Special Technologies Tri-Hexagonal Structural Truss (THST) [Working Name, I'll think of something more clever later] Update v1.0 Release Candidate 1 7/19/2014 Head over the to the Release Forum and check it out. SpeedyB has also released his version of THSS, which is more faithful to the original than mine. Beautiful work. Speedy's Hex Truss System Update v0.3 Beta 7/4/2014 Added a few more adapters. I'm still having difficulty with the radial modules, so they are withheld from this release again. I've also started working on animating for deployable solar panel modules. Download Curses Mediafire v0.2 Source License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Update 7/1/2014 #2 v0.2 Beta Release is now available for download. I'm having some trouble with the radial config nodes for the modular fuel tanks and batteries, so I removed them from this release. I think I know the problem, but it will take some time to fix. Cheers! Update 7/1/2014 I've slightly changed the scale for the trusses and related components, which means the upcoming v0.2 Beta Release will probably break your game if you're using the parts (It was an alpha release after all). The models have been refined with more efficient colliders (Thanks Greys!). The Trusses will still be using the baked placeholder textures for the time being. Also added the modular fuel tanks and batteries. Both will be using temporary textures until I can refine them. I have to finish tweaking the part.cfg files, then after that I'll release the v0.2 Beta. Hopefully within a day or two. Cheers! Update 6/28/14 Alpha Pre Release Version 0.1 Added models and placeholder textures for 1.25m diameter trusses in 0.61, 1.148, 1.875, and 3.712m lengths. Added TweakScale configurations for the 0.62m Diameter and 2.50m Diameter parts. There is a lot of tweaking yet to be done on the part.cfg, but I'm still trying to figure those out. Update 6/28/14 Concept design finished. Structures in this series will follow this basic design I have mapped out six phases. Each phase will be followed by an pre-release. Phase 1: 1.25m Diameter Structures. 0.61m 1.148m 1.875m 3.712m Plus accompanying fuel and battery modules for the three larger sizes. Phase 2: 2.5m Diameter Structures. 0.959m 1.875m 3.712m 7.315m Plus accompanying fuel and battery modules for the three larger sizes. Phase 3: 0.62m Diameter Structures. 0.36m 0.72m 1.44m Phase 4: Adapters 0.62m to 1.25m 0.62m to 2.50m 1.25m to 2.50m 1.25m to 3.75m 2.50m to 3.75m T-adapter Tri-adapter Quad-adapter Hex-adapter Phase 5: Electrical Systems Animated Solar Panels. Phase 6: Command Systems 0.62m Probe Core 1.25m Probe Core 1.25m Command Pod 2.50m Command Pod Phase 7: Maybe? 3.75m Diameter Structures (is there really a need for these?) Mod Compatibility (B9, FusTek, Interstellar, Universal Storage, others?)

I've never modeled before, but I'm going to give it a go. So far, I've got the modeling learning under weigh. Still trying to figure out how to do UV Maps. After that, I'll wrestle it into Part Tools and see if I can figure that out. So far I've modeled two parts. A basic 1m struss and side attachable fuel tank. I'm planning on also making side attachable batteries and solar panels, but one step at a time and I'll try not to get ahead of myself. Here are some pictures of what I've go so far. Very rough and I'll probably redo it a few times (as a learning experience as well as to improve it) before I move onto additional models.

Syrio Kerman! Hahaha. Hrm, maybe if I get off my lazy arse, I'll write a mod to rename all Kermans to GoT inspired names. Maybe even throw in a Jon Snerman for good measure.