[WIP, 1.0.5] Stock Replacement Assets 0.4 [25 Feb]

[maculator]

Any hint on what you're up to next?

(The third booster, cupola or the anoying black/yellow warning stripes arround engines? I'd love to see new engine textures!)

The thumbnails look good but I don't think the numbers are needed, they're usefull, but not needed.

And if you keep them I would go for only one number.

[spacecookie]

Hey I just wanted to say thank you for this, and RLA stockalike, which are incredible mods !

[hoojiwana]

4 hours ago, MelancholyFlapper said:

Those look great! As a side note, I really like AB launchers too. Firing off Zenits and Vulkans is a lot of fun

20 minutes ago, spacecookie said:

Hey I just wanted to say thank you for this, and RLA stockalike, which are incredible mods !

Thanks!

36 minutes ago, maculator said:

Any hint on what you're up to next?

(The third booster, cupola or the anoying black/yellow warning stripes arround engines? I'd love to see new engine textures!)

The thumbnails look good but I don't think the numbers are needed, they're usefull, but not needed.

And if you keep them I would go for only one number.

I mentioned the ion engine in my last post. I've found the thumbnail numbers to be hugely useful since they make those parts stand out at a glance, I don't need to go hunting for the Rockomax Brand Decoupler, or having to remember which heat shield is the right one. For those commonly used parts like decouplers it's great. As for the number, it's actually four in a square so that whichever way it's rotated (since they spin when moused over) you can tell which it is. I supped the square could be rotated a little so only one is visible on that static image though. Good feedback!

 

[Psycho_zs]

Nice touch with indicators

 

[legoclone09]

@hoojiwana Never mind, since I am terrible at UV unwrapping, so can't really do anything.

Edited February 13, 2016 by legoclone09

[Starbuckminsterfullerton]

Nice update! Decouplers look really good, the arrows are clear yet tasteful, and I love the lit window on the lander can attach points.

I'm a little disappointed that the 2.5m decoupler is still huge, did you do this to maintain node position?

10 hours ago, hoojiwana said:

Looking for specific feedback on the new thumbnails (is it clear what they mean, any odd bugs with the parts).

The numbers are clear and if you implemented them the way I think you did very clever, but I can honestly tell everything apart without them, and even if I couldn't a quick glance at the tooltip resolves any confusion. 

[maculator]

Why didn't you include the biggest seperator? Its kind of odd to have a nice numbered set of perfect matching parts .... and the TR-38-D.

[mostlydave]

On 1/29/2016 at 11:15 PM, hoojiwana said:

That's a good idea, I won't make such a change just yet since I prefer the completely smooth look rather than having that lip stick out from the stack where every heat shield is. I might try increasing the depth the shoulder on the current heat shield models to make that thin edge look a bit chunkier.

In other news:

these doors (specifically the orange chevrons) are amazing! Are you planning on adding these type of light up stripes to the Pod?

[hoojiwana]

On 11/02/2016 at 0:44 AM, Psycho_zs said:

Nice touch with indicators

Thanks! They'll be getting a few touch-ups in the next version to make them a little cleaner.

On 11/02/2016 at 6:05 AM, Starbuckminsterfullerton said:

Nice update! Decouplers look really good, the arrows are clear yet tasteful, and I love the lit window on the lander can attach points.

I'm a little disappointed that the 2.5m decoupler is still huge, did you do this to maintain node position?

Do you like the spray-paint effect on those arrows? The 2.5m decoupler is that long to keep node positions the same. I was surprised when I modelled it to see how tall it was, I guess the overly-chunky nature of the stock part hides that.

On 12/02/2016 at 9:46 AM, maculator said:

Why didn't you include the biggest seperator? Its kind of odd to have a nice numbered set of perfect matching parts .... and the TR-38-D.

It's less ugly than the others so I didn't feel the need to do it right away.

21 hours ago, mostlydave said:

these doors (specifically the orange chevrons) are amazing! Are you planning on adding these type of light up stripes to the Pod?

I am thinking of tweaking the Mk1-2 pod to improve the hatch a bit so the chevrons might make it over.

[mostlydave]

Yay!

[maculator]

After playing a while with the updated pack I just want to say I really like it.

But I'm stil voting for the TR-38-D to be transformed too. Its the only stack seperator wich doesn't fit the others.

edit: and I'm also voting for more cool orange glowy stuff. It makes things look really cool.

Edited February 14, 2016 by maculator

[Starbuckminsterfullerton]

On 2/13/2016 at 6:36 AM, hoojiwana said:

Do you like the spray-paint effect on those arrows? The 2.5m decoupler is that long to keep node positions the same. I was surprised when I modelled it to see how tall it was, I guess the overly-chunky nature of the stock part hides that.

Yeah, I do. It's subtle, but it's fitting because the arrows are the only colored area on an otherwise black and white paint job, so it makes sense that they would be added separately. 

[Sufficient Anonymity]

On 13/02/2016 at 2:36 PM, hoojiwana said:

The 2.5m decoupler is that long to keep node positions the same. I was surprised when I modelled it to see how tall it was, I guess the overly-chunky nature of the stock part hides that.

Any possibility of a 1/2 thickness version like @Ven made?

[legoclone09]

On 2/14/2016 at 3:55 PM, SufficientAnonymity said:

Any possibility of a 1/2 thickness version like @Ven made?

I'd like this too, in fact thinning all of the decouplers would be great. I use Tweakscale for that, but I usually don't want a seperator, only a decoupler.

[maculator]

22 hours ago, SufficientAnonymity said:

Any possibility of a 1/2 thickness version like @Ven made?

I don't like this idea since the best thing about this mod is that it doesn't screw things up if you deinstall it. I think the best thing would be to keep all the sizes and nodes like the stock parts.

[legoclone09]

Any progress @hoojiwana? I really can't wait for more updates!

[hoojiwana]

SpaceDock hosting is a go. CKAN support should follow in time, but since the CKAN team is so busy right now please be patient.

On 14/02/2016 at 8:15 PM, maculator said:

But I'm stil voting for the TR-38-D to be transformed too. Its the only stack seperator wich doesn't fit the others.

edit: and I'm also voting for more cool orange glowy stuff. It makes things look really cool.

On 14/02/2016 at 11:55 PM, SufficientAnonymity said:

Any possibility of a 1/2 thickness version like @Ven made?

On 15/02/2016 at 5:32 PM, legoclone09 said:

I'd like this too, in fact thinning all of the decouplers would be great. I use Tweakscale for that, but I usually don't want a seperator, only a decoupler.

On 15/02/2016 at 10:29 PM, maculator said:

I don't like this idea since the best thing about this mod is that it doesn't screw things up if you deinstall it. I think the best thing would be to keep all the sizes and nodes like the stock parts.

As popular as this idea is, I will not be doing it for the reason @maculator said. A core idea of this pack is to be as compatible as possible with pre-existing craft and uninstallable without issues, I hope you all understand!

More cool glowy stuff I can do though.

47 minutes ago, legoclone09 said:

Any progress @hoojiwana? I really can't wait for more updates!

I've been fiddling about with the ion engine, it's taken a little while since I was going back and forth on the model style and the colour palette. I wasn't going to show anything just yet since the texture isn't even done, but since you asked nicely:

[Captain Sierra]

Wow. That's .... a departure. Very very interesting looking but also a bit, hmm, unconventional. (coming from someone who has played with partially rebalanced RLA, Near Future, and stock for a long time).

Very interested to see how this one evolves.

[NecroBones]

I wish I had your patience for making pipes and wires.

 

[hoojiwana]

2 hours ago, Captain Sierra said:

Wow. That's .... a departure. Very very interesting looking but also a bit, hmm, unconventional. (coming from someone who has played with partially rebalanced RLA, Near Future, and stock for a long time).

Very interested to see how this one evolves.

Oh yes it is a very different beast to the stock version. I thought I'd make it more like the NSTAR-derived engines that its namesake uses, since it's ISP is closer to that type of ion engine than the Hall-effect thruster that the stock model seems to be. A lot of the shape was based on this wonderful report on the NSTAR engine used in the Deep Space 1 mission, though I tone down some of the wires and xenon-feeds, handwaving them inside the casing. I did consider giving the whole thing a big boat-tail style casing but it looked very boring and didn't make much sense on an engine that's near-useless in atmosphere anyway.

The colours were originally completely different, the majority of the metal parts were the darker colour of the neutraliser (thing on the side) and the strut joints, and the electrical icon was yellow. The idea was to make it look like this NEXT test engine but it really didn't fit with anything else, looked a bit weird and I was just not happy with it. I tried to make it work but that style just didn't sit right with me, so I moved to the lighter metal colours and put some of the ubiquitous white panels on the sides. The black line around the rim was added for some contrast on the bottom, and is going to be worn down and scratched paint with the goal of looking like the paint on the Mk55 "Thud".

The palette does fit more with the spaceplane parts and the Kerbodyne scheme, which to me is fine since a lot of it is near the end of the tech-tree anyway. It is completely different to the pre-existing electric engine scheme though, but the bright yellow doesn't work with the general lighter tone. I may swap out the white panels for yellow paint or something.

35 minutes ago, NecroBones said:

I wish I had your patience for making pipes and wires.

I used to model them manually, extruding and angling cylinders. Hated it, found out about bevelling curves in Blender and never looked back. Even the struts were originally (straight) curves that were simply mirrored and arrayed to I only had to deal with two vertices total for all six. When it comes to UV time, just convert to mesh with Alt+C in object mode, dissolve unneeded edge loops to cut down on the tricount and presto, one easy pipe/wire/strut.

Edited February 19, 2016 by hoojiwana

[CobaltWolf]

(0_0)

Oh lawdy Hooj that thar sho is purty.

[NecroBones]

2 hours ago, hoojiwana said:

I used to model them manually, extruding and angling cylinders. Hated it, found out about bevelling curves in Blender and never looked back. Even the struts were originally (straight) curves that were simply mirrored and arrayed to I only had to deal with two vertices total for all six. When it comes to UV time, just convert to mesh with Alt+C in object mode, dissolve unneeded edge loops to cut down on the tricount and presto, one easy pipe/wire/strut.

 

Cool, I'll have to try that.

[Han_Hecking_Solo]

Hey Hoojiwana! Great mod. I have two questions about it.

1. Are changes to style here going to be applied to RLA stockalike?

2. When are you going to be changing the Kerbodyne fuel tanks? I really dislike the barrel look in stock.

Thanks in advance, keep it up!

[Nothalogh]

Oh god, the Mk 1-2 pod is so glorious. But it makes the Hitchhiker look like a trashcan in comparison.

Please do the Hitchhiker as well.

[Starbuckminsterfullerton]

On 2/19/2016 at 11:32 AM, hoojiwana said:

I used to model them manually, extruding and angling cylinders. 

Lol I still do this. Rotate around vertex... 

Ion looks good, but I would urge you to bring back the yellow, and make the wires either the traditional red/black or stock red/blue. It's no good redoing the stock parts if you then have to redo all your mod parts too to match them. 

Edit: it occurs to me that what I thought was a grey wire is actually the neutralizer feed, and you might well have a red one hidden away somewhere.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Starbuckminsterfullerton