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[1.12.5] Bluedog Design Bureau - Stockalike Saturn, Apollo, and more! (v1.14.0 "металл" 30/Sep/2024)


CobaltWolf

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Alright, I've teased enough...

 

 

 

 

Introducing...
ELBOW
European Launches, Boosters, and Orbital Widgets
t9bh5xD.png
(Above is heavily WIP and is made to natively use the Resurfaced PBR shader)

 

Some will remember, about 7 years ago, @Beale and myself made a mod called Commonwealth Rockets Expansion. I was interested because British rocketry has always had a special place in my heart, and there’s a lot of really neat designs to take inspiration from. Unfortunately, we ran into issues trying to define the scope - should a British-based rocketry mod include Europa? Europa 3? What about the French, German, and Italian contributions to European spaceflight? Ultimately, I wound up simply returning to BDB. There was lots to be done there, I was finally starting to get happy with the art style, and so eventually I dropped from the CRE team. Beale and @Well did a fantastic job completing it, but the end product never sat right with me.

Fast forward to now. BDB is in the best spot its ever been, in no small part thanks to the amazing collaboration of @Zorg, @Invaderchaos, and @Rodger. I never stopped thinking about the idea of a BDB, but for British rockets. But then that question of scope came up again. Then I saw a project @CardZLol was working on, and realized the simple solution - one mod, like BDB or Tantares, but covering the gamut of European space and rocketry projects. The name came easily - it was inspired by ELDO, or the European Launcher Development Organization, one of the predecessors to the ESA.

Just one problem - such a project is far too much of a commitment for me on my own. Luckily, I don’t have to be! In the spirit of collaboration, and yes, infighting so common of pan-European projects, I envisioned this as a large group effort, with each contributor bringing their own interests, time, and energy. Many hands make light work, as it were. So far at least 6 experienced modders have volunteered to contribute, either immediately or in the future when IRL allows. I personally am responsible for the British projects - Black Knight, Black Arrow, Black Prince, Blue Streak, and the Blue Streak’s derivates such as Europa 1, 2, and 3’s first stages. I’ll allow the other contributors to announce themselves on their own time - see the ELBOW thread for more info (eventually)!

Preemptive FAQ:

  • Are you still going to work on BDB?
    • Yes! I tend to not plan too much farther than my current project (no sense in thinking about parts I won’t be able to make for YEARS), but I have at least one major project for BDB that I’d like to share some time in 2025. I can’t promise a release for the 10th anniversary but maybe a dev version on GitHub.
  • Are you planning to add <X>?
    • Due to the nature of the project, the scope is essentially as big as the contributors want to make it. I’ve already stated my plans above, everything else will have to come from others.
  • When will it be released?
    • Right now we have assets for several part families that have received enough progress to show off, but none are close to being in game. Rest assured, now that the announcement has been made, we’ll be able to create a GitHub repository which will be updated as progress is made.
  • What happens if the forums die? How will we keep track of the project?
    • Failing all else, the GitHub repository should be a stable place that can be used to provide updates or direct people to a new place for discussion.

 

Edited by CobaltWolf
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On 12/20/2024 at 7:09 PM, CobaltWolf said:

Alright, I've teased enough...

 

 

 

 

Introducing...
ELBOW
European Launches, Boosters, and Orbital Widgets
t9bh5xD.png
(Above is heavily WIP and is made to natively use the Resurfaced PBR shader)

 

Some will remember, about 7 years ago, @Beale and myself made a mod called Commonwealth Rockets Expansion. I was interested because British rocketry has always had a special place in my heart, and there’s a lot of really neat designs to take inspiration from. Unfortunately, we ran into issues trying to define the scope - should a British-based rocketry mod include Europa? Europa 3? What about the French, German, and Italian contributions to European spaceflight? Ultimately, I wound up simply returning to BDB. There was lots to be done there, I was finally starting to get happy with the art style, and so eventually I dropped from the CRE team. Beale and @Well did a fantastic job completing it, but the end product never sat right with me.

Fast forward to now. BDB is in the best spot its ever been, in no small part thanks to the amazing collaboration of @Zorg, @Invaderchaos, and @Rodger. I never stopped thinking about the idea of a BDB, but for British rockets. But then that question of scope came up again. Then I saw a project @CardZLol was working on, and realized the simple solution - one mod, like BDB or Tantares, but covering the gamut of European space and rocketry projects. The name came easily - it was inspired by ELDO, or the European Launcher Development Organization, one of the predecessors to the ESA.

Just one problem - such a project is far too much of a commitment for me on my own. Luckily, I don’t have to be! In the spirit of collaboration, and yes, infighting so common of pan-European projects, I envisioned this as a large group effort, with each contributor bringing their own interests, time, and energy. Many hands make light work, as it were. So far at least 6 experienced modders have volunteered to contribute, either immediately or in the future when IRL allows. I personally am responsible for the British projects - Black Knight, Black Arrow, Black Prince, Blue Streak, and the Blue Streak’s derivates such as Europa 1, 2, and 3’s first stages. I’ll allow the other contributors to announce themselves on their own time - see the ELBOW thread for more info (eventually)!

Preemptive FAQ:

  • Are you still going to work on BDB?
    • Yes! I tend to not plan too much farther than my current project (no sense in thinking about parts I won’t be able to make for YEARS), but I have at least one major project for BDB that I’d like to share some time in 2025. I can’t promise a release for the 10th anniversary but maybe a dev version on GitHub.
  • Are you planning to add <X>?
    • Due to the nature of the project, the scope is essentially as big as the contributors want to make it. I’ve already stated my plans above, everything else will have to come from others.
  • When will it be released?
    • Right now we have assets for several part families that have received enough progress to show off, but none are close to being in game. Rest assured, now that the announcement has been made, we’ll be able to create a GitHub repository which will be updated as progress is made.
  • What happens if the forums die? How will we keep track of the project?
    • Failing all else, the GitHub repository should be a stable place that can be used to provide updates or direct people to a new place for discussion.

 

hell-yeah-breaking-bad.gif

Edited by Spaceman2000
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5 hours ago, NuclearFish said:

Is it somehow possible to install the mod without all the crewed capsules? I do not like them, and would prefer there to be less chance of my computer (already somewhat strained by the mods) blowing up.

Just remove the folders that has them. 

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On 12/22/2024 at 11:50 AM, NuclearFish said:

Is it somehow possible to install the mod without all the crewed capsules? I do not like them, and would prefer there to be less chance of my computer (already somewhat strained by the mods) blowing up.

Yes - once you've installed the mod, go to your KSP Install, and navigate to Gamedate/Bluedog_DB/Parts. There you should be able to delete whatever folders you don't want - I suppose that would be Mercury, Apollo, Gemini, MOL, Skylab, and X-15 (I can't think of any more?). If there's any rocket families you're not interested in, you can delete those folders as well to save overhead.

I've never used Janitor's Closet, but if it doesn't stop the assets from being loaded on game launch, it's not saving the system resources that @NuclearFishneeds.

Edited by CobaltWolf
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16 hours ago, CobaltWolf said:

Yes - once you've installed the mod, go to your KSP Install, and navigate to Gamedate/Bluedog_DB/Parts. There you should be able to delete whatever folders you don't want - I suppose that would be Mercury, Apollo, Gemini, MOL, Skylab, and X-15 (I can't think of any more?). If there's any rocket families you're not interested in, you can delete those folders as well to save overhead.

I've never used Janitor's Closet, but if it doesn't stop the assets from being loaded on game launch, it's not saving the system resources that @NuclearFishneeds.

Thanks for the help. I ended up not doing it and going with Tantares LVs for my modpack lol 

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21 hours ago, CobaltWolf said:

I've never used Janitor's Closet, but if it doesn't stop the assets from being loaded on game launch, it's not saving the system resources that @NuclearFishneeds.

Janitors Closet is great. It lets you hide parts, filter parts by mod, and delete ("prune") parts. If a part is pruned it won't load at launch.

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Hello all,

 

I recently started playing again and I love the new updates. I have a new computer and I no longer have my old mods from back around maybe 1.8 or so. There was a mod that worked well with this that had the Gallileo, TDRS, Magellan etc. does anyone remember what its called?

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4 hours ago, DriftNasty said:

Hello all,

 

I recently started playing again and I love the new updates. I have a new computer and I no longer have my old mods from back around maybe 1.8 or so. There was a mod that worked well with this that had the Gallileo, TDRS, Magellan etc. does anyone remember what its called?

You're looking for US Probes Pack

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