Constellation Mission Packs Discussion Thread!

[Zucal]

MJ, does that mean we can expect a release sometime this week?

And MRS, your Orion is looking great! I'll probably be the last one to be done..

[Majorjim!]

MJ, does that mean we can expect a release sometime this week?

And MRS, your Orion is looking great! I'll probably be the last one to be done..

Yeah I just finished a full Mun return with it. The game really is buggy now. Encountered a strange docking port bug. I couldn't recreate it though.

Also game performance is really bad in this patch so even though the highest part count is below 600 you will need a good machine to run it at all smoothly.

And I will consider even finished craft WIP due to Squad hopefully fixing fairings and other things. When game performance increases I will add the detail back to the Altair lander.

The release will just be the Altair portion of the constellation mission. The Mars craft are even higher part counts so they may have to wait. I will be releasing a few very awesome screenshots though.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Majorjim

[Zucal]

Yeah I just finished a full Mun return with it. The game really is buggy now. Encountered a strange docking port bug. I couldn't recreate it though.

Also game performance is really bad in this patch so even though the highest part count is below 600 you will need a good machine to run it at all smoothly.

And I will consider even finished craft WIP due to Squad hopefully fixing fairings and other things. When game performance increases I will add the detail back to the Aries lander.

The release will just be the Altair portion of the constellation mission. The Mars craft are even higher part counts so they may have to wait. I will be releasing a few very awesome screenshots though.

Oh lord, you don't even know. I'm on OSX, which means I have had a crash literally every ten minutes. That means I have time for about 1 test flight, or one build session, and god forbid I try to revert or exit the VAB. It's the main reason I haven't put out any new builds in a month. Only reason I'm even able to do this is because I have free time for a week or two.

So far I only have Orion, Copernicus MTV, (almost) Ares I, and one of the Mars landers + SPR just needs the engines balanced and the legs installed. That means I still need Ares V, Altair, and the other Mars lander.

What's the part count on your crew Mars lander? You can give me a ballpark (+-50) if you want, I just want to make sure I'm not massively overdoing it.

[Majorjim!]

Zucal said:

What's the part count on your crew Mars lander? You can give me a ballpark (+-50) if you want, I just want to make sure I'm not massively overdoing it.

I'm sorry to hear of your crashing woes.. I feel your pain mate.

Off the top of my head the landers are around 400/500 parts each. Could be more, I haven't looked at them for a while. I massively reduced the part count of the SPR too.

Here is the Altair lander again in full detail:

 

I had to remove the airlock pod and the shell of the ascent pod to reduce lag.. And I adjusted the legs to allow for a smaller fairing. It still looks really cool though.

Edited May 3, 2016 by Majorjim

[Zucal]

For fun, I'm going to edit this post every time my game crashes in the process of working on this.

6:31 PM: Game froze and crashed while reverting Ares 1 flight to VAB.

6:57 PM: Game crashed while reloading a quicksave in-flight.

(Had dinner.)

8:24 PM: Game crashed while entering SPH.

(Watched a movie.)

9:12 PM: Game froze and crashed while loading a craft in the SPH.

9:49 PM: Game crashed while reverting to SPH.

10:06 PM: Game froze and crashed after loading a craft in the VAB.

10:21 PM: Game froze and crashed while editing in the VAB.

10:35 PM: Game froze and crashed while reverting a change in the VAB.

11:07 PM: Game froze and crashed while editing in the VAB.

11:59 PM: Game crashed while editing in the VAB.

12:56 AM: Game stopped allowing me to place parts in the VAB.

1:25 AM: Game froze and crashed while loading a craft in the SPH.

Edited June 9, 2015 by Zucal

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

I like the Orion. Maybe the lander is a little small compared to the Orion? The ascent pod looks big compared to the descent stage me thinks.

Thanks! The decent stage just fits inside the footprint of the EDS, the ascent pod is about the right size, the stayputniks are a bit big, though. But the RCS tanks are too small.

MJ, does that mean we can expect a release sometime this week?

And MRS, your Orion is looking great! I'll probably be the last one to be done..

Thanks!

Yeah I just finished a full Mun return with it. The game really is buggy now. Encountered a strange docking port bug. I couldn't recreate it though.

Also game performance is really bad in this patch so even though the highest part count is below 600 you will need a good machine to run it at all smoothly.

And I will consider even finished craft WIP due to Squad hopefully fixing fairings and other things. When game performance increases I will add the detail back to the Altair lander.

The release will just be the Altair portion of the constellation mission. The Mars craft are even higher part counts so they may have to wait. I will be releasing a few very awesome screenshots though.

I just finished a mun mission, too!

Oh lord, you don't even know. I'm on OSX, which means I have had a crash literally every ten minutes. That means I have time for about 1 test flight, or one build session, and god forbid I try to revert or exit the VAB. It's the main reason I haven't put out any new builds in a month. Only reason I'm even able to do this is because I have free time for a week or two.

So far I only have Orion, Copernicus MTV, (almost) Ares I, and one of the Mars landers + SPR just needs the engines balanced and the legs installed. That means I still need Ares V, Altair, and the other Mars lander.

What's the part count on your crew Mars lander? You can give me a ballpark (+-50) if you want, I just want to make sure I'm not massively overdoing it.

Wow, you actually are ahead of me! I only have Ares I, Ares V, Orion, and Altair.

Also, I just hit to green light bars!

[Zucal]

The Copernicus MTV is actually getting a fairly comprehensive redesign, especially the hab section. Never liked the one on my original anyway!

Edited June 9, 2015 by Zucal

[Majorjim!]

The Copernicus MTV is actually getting a fairly comprehensive redesign, especially the hab section. Never liked the one on my original anyway!

Cool! I look forward to seeing it man. Mines done, all tucked up in the VAB. Waiting.

[Yukon0009]

Aaand dammit, I'm the one with the least done, haven't even flight quailifed anything but the Ares.

[Zucal]

Aaand dammit, I'm the one with the least done, haven't even flight quailifed anything but the Ares.

You showed us your Copernicus MTV and Altair, though! And one of the aeroshells!

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

I already have made an Ares launcher (with orion).

Pictures?

- - - Updated - - -

How many engines does Ares V have? I built mine with 5, but that may be wrong, does anyone know?

[Majorjim!]

How many engines does Ares V have?

The main rocket has four, two SRBs.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

The main rocket has four, two SRBs.

Gah! I was looking at this picture:

Well, time to fix that!

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Post-booster sep TWR to low. Me sad now.

[pTrevTrevs]

Post-booster sep TWR to low. Me sad now.

http://i.imgur.com/DxXaF73.png

I'm not building my own mission, so maybe I shouldn't be making this post in this thread, but I believe Ares V was supposed to have six SSMEs on the core stage, and one J-2X engine on the Earth Departure Stage. Both can probably be represented with Skipper engines.

[Majorjim!]

Gah! I was looking at this picture:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Ares-I_Ares-V_%28Feb_2008%29.jpg

Well, time to fix that!

Dude sorry but It's 6! I just checked mine.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm not building my own mission, so maybe I shouldn't be making this post in this thread, but I believe Ares V was supposed to have six SSMEs on the core stage, and one J-2X engine on the Earth Departure Stage. Both can probably be represented with Skipper engines.

Yup thanks. Six on the main rocket, one in the Mun shot stage.

[Woopert]

There were multiple concepts. Some with five, some with six. I don't remember which was the current plan at the time of cancellation.

I believe it also depended on whether they were using SSME or RS-68.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

I'm not building my own mission, so maybe I shouldn't be making this post in this thread, but I believe Ares V was supposed to have six SSMEs on the core stage, and one J-2X engine on the Earth Departure Stage. Both can probably be represented with Skipper engines.

Don't worry about posting here!

Here's what wikipedia has to say on the matter:

[TABLE=class: infobox hproduct]

[TR]

[TH=colspan: 2, align: center]First stage[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Engines[/TH]

[TD]5 or 6 RS-68B^[2] or 5 SSME[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[pTrevTrevs]

There were multiple concepts. Some with five, some with six. I don't remember which was the current plan at the time of cancellation.

I believe it also depended on whether they were using SSME or RS-68.

But isn't the RS-68 just an improved variant of the SSME? Even if they aren't, they can probably be represented by the same type of engine.

[Woopert]

RS-68 is different. They both use liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, but RS-68 is gas generator and I think I heard it has a carbon engine bell lining or something.

RS-68 is also higher thrust. It depends what 'improved' means. SSME is reusable and has higher Isp, but is also more expensive.

[Zucal]

So there is some benefit to being last, you learn from the mistakes of those before

Just thought I would show this. This is a "concept image" of the Copernicus hab, but I decided against using it in part because of the high part count.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Well, with the NTR propulsion stage, my rocket is a bit to heavy, so I'm going to design my cargo and crew landers, first.

EDIT:

Here's a picture of my NTR propulsion stage:

Edited June 9, 2015 by Mad Rocket Scientist

[Majorjim!]

So there is some benefit to being last, you learn from the mistakes of those before

Just thought I would show this. This is a "concept image" of the Copernicus hab, but I decided against using it in part because of the high part count.

http://i.imgur.com/lHGThJd.png

Ooh very cool. Looks like the folds in an inflatable Hab. Nice. As you say, part count looks high.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, with the NTR propulsion stage, my rocket is a bit to heavy, so I'm going to design my cargo and crew landers, first.

EDIT:

Here's a picture of my NTR propulsion stage:

http://i.imgur.com/2mVvIjf.jpg

Lookig good man. Yup, quite similar to what I made. Good job dude. I left out the strutting at the base this time, simply because I'm basing my craft just on the ones in the animation.

[Zucal]

I'm using a 2.5m propulsion module for both landers and the DTV, simply because it does the job, is lighter than a larger one, and I think looks better even if the scale's off. So I guess it's just another compromise. I've also decided to do Ares V last, because then I'll know what the heaviest payload it needs to lift will be. It's looking like 60-odd tons for the lander + aeroshell.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Not really relevant, or my work, but now at least I know how Kerbals get to school: