Kerbodyne Plus Development Thread

[Siphonophore]

AWWW, CRAP! I should've looked more closely...

I'm so stupid  But hay, at least it helps in making gigantic ships like this mod promises 

Oh, is it just me or is the T404-size 3 adapter now hollow? And can I suggest another part? Maybe something like a T202 ISS-style cupola cockpit? With retractable shields like the real thing? Heck, my idea for the Leviathan Solar Wing got made into the main mod, and I'm eternally grateful for that, but you should really make people's ideas for parts more often. And here's another one; a MASSIVE T404 cargo bay with 2 opening doors that comprise 2 halves of it. it should open wide enough so that it allows spacecraft with the Mk1-2 cockpit to freely enter and dock inside 

[Siphonophore]

3 hours ago, Bonus Eventus said:

I'm currently working on this:

Ooo, is that a fuel tank for xenon or LFO? either way that looks awesome

[Bonus Eventus]

I think having these super structures over top of the sphere looks more interesting than the normal map I was playing with before. I plan on adding more supports which are much bigger to give it some contrast. This is not a fuel tank, rather the first sketches of a nuclear reactor.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Bonus Eventus

[Siphonophore]

11 hours ago, Bonus Eventus said:

I think having these super structures over top of the sphere looks more interesting than the normal map I was playing with before. I plan on adding more supports which are much bigger to give it some contrast. This is not a fuel tank, rather the first sketches of a nuclear reactor.

I was wrong again...

This looks beautiful and could go really, really good as a nuclear reactor or potentially the new NRAX converter. But it should have a size6 (7.5m) attachment node - and maybe you could place a nuclear hazard symbol on a few sides much like this -

I think those lines could glow blue when the thing is active

 

 

Edited March 17, 2016 by AJTheMighty
that could go good as an NRAX converter too ;)

[Siphonophore]

soo, decided on the final design for the giant nuclear reactor? I feel its 98% likely to be that sphere - but with T404-base attachment nodes on top n bottom - both supported by 8 skeletal struts and some thick cables and tubes, and also I suggested those lines glow blue when the reactor's active, decided on implanting that? Not trying to be pushy though 

[Bonus Eventus]

This is where I am with the nuclear reactor. Might add a couple more small structures here and there. Maybe some very thin tension cables to give it some scale. I really like how the geodesic sphere came out. This is the most detailed part model so far coming in at over 12,000 tris. Might be able to optimize that a bit. 

EDIT: Added some more details. Not sure if it needs it really :/

 

EDIT: Did one last test. I wanted to see what it would look like in game at double the size. Looks pretty good, even without the textures. Think I might keep it at 30M in diameter.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Bonus Eventus

[Azrael the Sorrowful]

Well, color me interested. My favorite thing about KSP is making large scale vessels and bases and this looks like something that'll help lead to that being easier.

One that note, as I know you're working on plenty of things, I would love to see some really heavy duty landing legs (preferably scale-able by tweakscale) as I make some very big and heavy ships (my latest is 72mx20.5mx22.2m and 4,466t) and I've yet to find anything that can quite handle the sheer mass of them. I did notice the landing legs you have on here, and I plan to try them, but I don't think even they will be enough.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Azrael the Sorrowful

[Siphonophore]

5 hours ago, Bonus Eventus said:

This is where I am with the nuclear reactor. Might add a couple more small structures here and there. Maybe some very thin tension cables to give it some scale. I really like how the geodesic sphere came out. This is the most detailed part model so far coming in at over 12,000 tris. Might be able to optimize that a bit. 

EDIT: Added some more details. Not sure if it needs it really :/

That looks really really good, and that detail makes it look super nice - keep that on this beauty 

Btw, have you kept my suggestion of adding glowing blue strips to the reactor when activated in mind?

Edited March 19, 2016 by AJTheMighty

[Siphonophore]

Sooo, about that centrifuge I frequently suggested, maybe this - http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/artificialgrav.php - can be good for deciding which design would be most credible and grounded in reality.

Edited March 19, 2016 by AJTheMighty

[Bonus Eventus]

Looking at different color options today. Still wondering if the scale is right at 30M.  It might work if it was a Rotating Multi-Megawatt Boiling Liquid-Metal Reactor as detailed here at Atomic Rockets. .

I've also considered repurposing if as a fuel tank if i decide to go with a different type of reactor. I mostly started making this because I felt that giant spherical shapes are part of the visual language of space travel and Kerbodyne Plus was lacking this type of form to build with.

Edited March 19, 2016 by Bonus Eventus

[Siphonophore]

On 3/19/2016 at 3:35 PM, Bonus Eventus said:

Looking at different color options today. Still wondering if the scale is right at 30M.  It might work if it was a Rotating Multi-Megawatt Boiling Liquid-Metal Reactor as detailed here at Atomic Rockets. .

I've also considered repurposing if as a fuel tank if i decide to go with a different type of reactor. I mostly started making this because I felt that giant spherical shapes are part of the visual language of space travel and Kerbodyne Plus was lacking this type of form to build with.

Aw no, keep this as the reactor's final design! And please, do make it a RMBLR reactor. That way it feels really believable and also does seriously look like something we could build in reality. After all, Kerbodyne Plus is supposed to be based upon stuff we could build IRL?

Also, for a reactor this size, this would be perfect for those titanic interplanetary ships, and speaking of which, that giant metal sphere in the center could spin at roughly 1.5rpm when the reactor's active- you can use ModuleAnimateGeneric to achieve that 

Oh, and is this the RMBLR you're talking about?

EDIT: I changed my mind - keep the whole thing at 15m with a 7.5m coupler

Edited March 21, 2016 by AJTheMighty

[Siphonophore]

@Bonus Eventus so, final consensus on the nuclear reactor's design AND the potential centrifuge I frequently suggested? You read that link I gave you to artificial gravity concepts didn't you? If so did you choose a design that best fits the mod's design?

Here's the link just in case you forgot: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/artificialgrav.php

Edited March 22, 2016 by AJTheMighty
missed link

[Table]

I was wondering if you can make some really big solar panels

[Bonus Eventus]

33 minutes ago, Table said:

I was wondering if you can make some really big solar panels

I think I already did

[Siphonophore]

@Table He's talking about the ISS-style solar panels, and btw wanna give some suggestions for some parts? Bonus would appreciate it

@Bonus Eventus any estimated release dates for 1.0.8 of KP? Sorry if I'm sounding a little pushy, but if I am, there's nothing I can do about it.

[Table]

1 hour ago, AJTheMighty said:

@Table He's talking about the ISS-style solar panels, and btw wanna give some suggestions for some parts? Bonus would appreciate it

@Bonus Eventus any estimated release dates for 1.0.8 of KP? Sorry if I'm sounding a little pushy, but if I am, there's nothing I can do about it.

Yeah I am,|| I'm in love with this mod right now because of all the attention put into the parts, btw I was suggesting a solar panel if the same size, which is already way bigger than ISS solar panels, I just wanted to see if you can make it longer, sorry if I wasn't clear @Bonus Eventus

 

I would love to see this mod expand, it has so much potential

Edited March 22, 2016 by Table

[cy4n]

The potential... it's over nine... This mod is amazing! It's a true expansion of the game, completely stockalike, and these new plans look amazing. Ion engines? Nuclear reactors? MASSIVE boosters? ISS solar panels? This has got it all, and I can't wait to see what it turns into.

[Siphonophore]

@Bonus Eventus take in any suggestion you can - that way people can help develop this mod with you!

@Table why not give Bonus every idea for KP you can come up with that'd be helpful

[Krullarikas]

I suggest adding a massive nuclear powered coffee maker for those long tedious burns to Jool. Muh Kerbs need their Kaffeine fix ya know

 

[cy4n]

On 6/26/2015 at 7:42 PM, Bonus Eventus said:

I'm thinking that instead of a command pod, I should make a crew capsule or science lab.

Here's the second concept with that in mind.

*Leaps into the air* PLEASE do a lab! The modding community has a serious lack of science modules and this would be PERFECT for _{very very very very}  large stations.

[cy4n]

On 2/19/2016 at 0:15 AM, Bonus Eventus said:

 

Started whiteboarding for the new Behemoth system. I went back and forth with this a bit. In the end I decided to make it a modular system more in keeping with the stock game. The behemoth booster will now become a system similar to the falcon 9 modular system. The system parts will look like this:

 

• B-1 Engine
• Behemoth Cluster (9 B-1 Engines mounted to a size 6 Bulkhead)
• 30m LFO tank
• Decoupler (size 6 Bulkhead)
• XL Radial Decoupler

 

Nice!  But can you keep the old Behemoth V1 in too? Maybe call it something else? (The 'Colossus' perhaps?)

[Siphonophore]

1 hour ago, cy4n said:

*Leaps into the air* PLEASE do a lab! The modding community has a serious lack of science modules and this would be PERFECT for _{very very very very}  large stations.

I think the upcoming T404 Data Server will do that for you - it's a huge automatic science lab with a vast amount of science storage - pumped enough?

[Table]

Sorry if I'm bothering you Bonus, but I suggest you make a centrifuge with a design similar to the one on the Hermes (The Martian), same structure, but like different design, and also it's larger

On 8/16/2015 at 9:39 PM, AJTheMighty said:

This looks absolutely incredible, Eventus! Congratulations on making it this far to beta with your mod!

My four ideas for Kerbodyne+ parts are an expandable, non-inflatable centrifuge for titanic stations and interplanetary craft, 3.75m NERVAs in addition to the giant ion engines, and an absolutely MASSIVE fusion drive for interplanetary travel. For the centrifuge, it should start out initially compact and 12m in diameter, expanding out to over a hundred feet in diameter, capable of housing 20 kerbals, 10 for each of the two sections of the centrifuge. I imagine the centrifuge to look like the centrifuge from the space station from the trailer for the Infernal Robotics Rework, "Sampling Duna," but Kerbodyne-esque, more streamined and with toggle-able lights: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yxh9En_Rd6E/mqdefault.jpg

As for the fusion drive, I'll let you decide on the design.

I don' think a circular or inflatable centrifuge will fit this pack, because it doesn't fit the rougher edge design of the parts of this pack

[cy4n]

12 hours ago, Table said:

Sorry if I'm bothering you Bonus, but I suggest you make a centrifuge with a design similar to the one on the Hermes (The Martian), same structure, but like different design, and also it's larger

Quote

This looks absolutely incredible, Eventus! Congratulations on making it this far to beta with your mod!

My four ideas for Kerbodyne+ parts are an expandable, non-inflatable centrifuge for titanic stations and interplanetary craft, 3.75m NERVAs in addition to the giant ion engines, and an absolutely MASSIVE fusion drive for interplanetary travel. For the centrifuge, it should start out initially compact and 12m in diameter, expanding out to over a hundred feet in diameter, capable of housing 20 kerbals, 10 for each of the two sections of the centrifuge. I imagine the centrifuge to look like the centrifuge from the space station from the trailer for the Infernal Robotics Rework, "Sampling Duna," but Kerbodyne-esque, more streamined and with toggle-able lights: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yxh9En_Rd6E/mqdefault.jpg

As for the fusion drive, I'll let you decide on the design. 

I don' think a circular or inflatable centrifuge will fit this pack, because it doesn't fit the rougher edge design of the parts of this pack

Table, he said non-inflatable, but I completely agree. Inflatable things would not fit this mod at all!

[Siphonophore]

11 hours ago, cy4n said:

Table, he said non-inflatable, but I completely agree. Inflatable things would not fit this mod at all!

Maybe it'd be circular but the core would be 3m and the ring would be wide as a standard T404 module