Procedural Capsules

[O Nerd]

Hello. I'm new to this section of the forums, so any support is welcome.

Also, I've never actually looked into the game's code.

The idea is simple. Since we already have Procedural tanks, wings, etc. I think capsules should be included in that procedural mess. Similar to Procedural Parts, the crew capacity should be measured by volume, multiple textures should be possible and a few shapes should be allowed.

Why? Because when you're trying to build (for example) Soyuz, Vostok and Buran designs, it's very hard to get circles, kind-of-cockpits-but-actually-not, etc. right. Also, it would save a ton of memory.

Please let me know what you think about it.

[hab136]

What about IVA?

[O Nerd]

What about IVA?

I have no idea. Maybe a single high-res texture that would be expanded the bigger the capsule would be. And the kerbals could be just floating around in the cabin.

[astropapi1]

This is one of those things that, while seeming relatively simple, would be a living hell for a developer. Capsules are pretty much the most complex parts in the game, that's why you don't see a lot of them.

[zxczxczbfg]

And the kerbals could be just floating around in the cabin.

No! Bad idea! Acceleration, remember!

IMO, I think we just need more "regular" capsules*. Procedural capsules would have difficulties that procedural fairings wouldn't; crew capacity wouldn't scale linearly, the weight would go up much faster than the diameter (square-cube laws, heh), any integrated ladders would have to scale in length but not width, any hatches would specifically have to not scale, the RCS capacity and internal batteries would be hard to scale accurately if the crew capacity changes (more space for Kerbals means less space for anything else), reaction wheel strength would have to scale nonlinearly (due to the aforementioned square-cube laws).

* A four-man 2.5m capsule springs to mind so that we can carry our new Orange Suit along with her co-workers.

Edited April 27, 2015 by zxczxczbfg

[O Nerd]

This is one of those things that, while seeming relatively simple, would be a living hell for a developer. Capsules are pretty much the most complex parts in the game, that's why you don't see a lot of them.

No! Bad idea! Acceleration, remember!

IMO, I think we just need more "regular" capsules*. Procedural capsules would have difficulties that procedural fairings wouldn't; crew capacity wouldn't scale linearly, the weight would go up much faster than the diameter (square-cube laws, heh), any integrated ladders would have to scale as well, any hatches would specifically have to not scale, the RCS capacity and internal batteries would be hard to scale accurately if the crew capacity changes (more space for Kerbals means less space for anything else), reaction wheel strength would have to scale nonlinearly (due to the aforementioned square-cube laws).

* A four-man 2.5m capsule springs to mind so that we can carry our new Orange Suit along with her co-workers.

Firstly, thanks for your thoughts.

Astropapi, how complex exactly? Do you mean the number of modules, IVA, stylization?

zxczxcbfg, I'll list my replies one by one.

No! Bad idea! Acceleration, remember! - Hm... I have a funny idea for that. Depending on the tech level, when kerbals were subjected to acceleration (any form), they could be thrown on the ground while one kerbal sits on a chair and controls the craft (low level), be holding onto something (mid level) or all sitting in chairs (high level). But I think that would take a lot of programming skills, and i think that it would be very hard to do. Also, it was just an idea.

I just think we need more "regular" capsules. - I agree on that.

Crew capacity wouldn't scale linearly. - I think that a developer of this mod (in theory) could just round down the number of kerbals. For an example, an capsule can hold 4,759 kerbals. The dev would round it down to 4, so that one kerbal doesn't lay down on an edge of the cabin (lol).

the weight would go up much faster than the diameter (square-cube laws, heh) - Of course.

any integrated ladders would have to scale as well - Don't forget that Kerbals don't scale. But you could also use TweakScale for that.

any hatches would specifically have to not scale - The hatch could be a part, so that when a Kerbal does an EVA, the mod would search for the closest hatch and put him there. Or we could have giant hatches.

the RCS capacity and internal batteries would be hard to scale accurately if the crew capacity changes (more space for Kerbals means less space for anything else) I think that if you have >6 crew members, you are probably going to put batteries, RCS, etc. somewhere else.

reaction wheel strength would have to scale nonlinearly (due to the aforementioned square-cube laws) Well, same answer of the previous objection.

I think that sums it up. Let's keep discussing.

Edited February 23, 2015 by O Nerd

[Solarspaceprobe]

Sounds hard, but it could be done in theory, I'd think it would be cool, even if a few more normal capsules would be good too, maybe a few more inline 1m(and at least 1 2m?) spaceplane cockpits?

[ultrasquid]

I don't see this working for command modules, but it wouldn't be too unreasonable to make a stretchable passenger compartment. A fuselage segment with a row of seats could be repeated, plus an access hatch at selectable intervals. Diameters probably have to be hard-set and not scalable, though, but maybe it's possible. It would take someone knowing how to use arrays to make an IVA set.

[O Nerd]

I don't see this working for command modules, but it wouldn't be too unreasonable to make a stretchable passenger compartment. A fuselage segment with a row of seats could be repeated, plus an access hatch at selectable intervals. Diameters probably have to be hard-set and not scalable, though, but maybe it's possible. It would take someone knowing how to use arrays to make an IVA set.

Exactly what I was thinking. Capsules (in theory) should be a lot more complicated than that idea you just described, but passenger cabins should be ok.

[Van Disaster]

Well, if the capsule had passenger rows you could combine the above approaches. Procedural IVA sounds horrible to actually do though.

[X10Z]

Instead of an actual procedural capsule, why not have a radially attached one that can be inserted into a procedural tank or battery? It would be much simpler to code, and the IVA's would work much better. It could come in a variety of sizes, and could be accompanied by some sort of a decorational window piece for more customizability.