[Min KSP: 1.12.2] Deep Space Exploration Vessels - Build NASA Inspired Ships In KSP

[SR]

How does the rotating hub work?

I cant get it to spin?

[Ciaran]

On 03/11/2016 at 9:29 PM, SR said:

How does the rotating hub work?

I cant get it to spin?

You need Infernal robotics to get it to work, And infernal robotics isn't updated yet, So you can't if you're in 1.2

[Angelo Kerman]

On 11/3/2016 at 2:29 PM, SR said:

How does the rotating hub work?

I cant get it to spin?

I have to look at how to do a spinning habitat, it's on the books. That would limit things a bit but at least you wouldn't need IR. The biggest stumbling block is how to make the IVA spin.

Anyway, here is DSEV 1.3.3.

- Updated to KSP 1.2.1
- Cleaned up some logging issues related to missing part modules and textures when supported mods aren't installed.
- For DSEV's docking ports, added the ability to enable/disable angle snap, and the ability to set the snap angle.
- If a targeted docking port doesn't support angle snap, then angle snap will automatically be turned off on the active docking port.

[Geschosskopf]

5 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Anyway, here is DSEV 1.3.3.

Many thanks!  I have become dependent on these engines for some of my more grandiose projects, and I prefer these tanks to the stock equivalents.

[theJesuit]

9 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

I have to look at how to do a spinning habitat, it's on the books. That would limit things a bit but at least you wouldn't need IR. The biggest stumbling block is how to make the IVA spin.

Check out the Mother thread and have a chat with @Bonus Eventus

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/137900-mother-development-thread/

Peace.

[Angelo Kerman]

7 hours ago, theJesuit said:

Check out the Mother thread and have a chat with @Bonus Eventus

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/137900-mother-development-thread/

Peace.

I had a feeling that it was a matter of rotating the external part, just wasn't sure I could rotate the interior as well. Good to know that I can.

[Geschosskopf]

Howdy @Angel-125.  I ran into a minor annoyance with the Supernova engines just now.

I'm playing sandbox and, when creating the game, checked the box that says "upgrade all parts".  Despite this, I still had to upgrade the engines before they could use the pulsed plasma mode.  This required launching the ship with some radially mounted RocketParts tanks to upgrade the engines on the pad, then jettison the tanks, and finally switch the engines to pulse mode.  It would be nice if in sandbox, you could just build ships with the pulsed plasma mode ready-to-go

Other than this, however, the engines appear to work fine.

 

BTW, those are 2.5m radial tanks there.  The central stack is 10m.

Edited November 21, 2016 by Geschosskopf

[Angelo Kerman]

Just now, Geschosskopf said:

Howdy @Angel-125.  I ran into a minor annoyance with the Supernova engines just now.

I'm playing sandbox and, when creating the game, checked the box that says "upgrade all parts".  Despite this, I still had to upgrade the engines before they could use the pulsed plasma mode.  This required launching the ship with some radially mounted RocketParts tanks to upgrade the engines on the pad, then jettison the tanks, and finally switch the engines to pulse mode.  It would be nice if in sandbox, you could just build ships with the pulsed plasma mode ready-to-go

Other than this, however, the engines appear to work fine.

Thanks for the heads up. The Supernova upgrade is a leftover from when KSP didn't have part upgrades. I have to rework the engine plugin to support the new upgrade system. I'll put that on my list to work on after finishing the Buffalo parts. Just about done with those.

[Geschosskopf]

@Angel-125, just how hot are the Supernova engines supposed to get?  I've been using the stock large folding radiators because they appear to provide more cooling with fewer parts than the DSEV radiators.  However, even with 2 of the big stock radiators per engine, the engines get red hot and have to be throttled back before the radiators themselves get more than slightly warm.  Is this intentional?

[Angelo Kerman]

2 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

@Angel-125, just how hot are the Supernova engines supposed to get?  I've been using the stock large folding radiators because they appear to provide more cooling with fewer parts than the DSEV radiators.  However, even with 2 of the big stock radiators per engine, the engines get red hot and have to be throttled back before the radiators themselves get more than slightly warm.  Is this intentional?

Well, before heat radiators became stock, I had the Supernova calibrated to require 10 of the large radiators included in the pack. That's about how many NASA's Discovery II has on their ship. I think I did the same after KSP 1.0. I might need to take a look at the radiators again; they're supposed to be on par with the largest radiators in stock. So now that I've got Buffalo in a good spot, I can focus on DSEV for a bit. My plans for the next release include:

- Updating the Supernova to use the new stock part upgrade system and do away with the current upgrade path.

- Re-tuning the large radiators to be on par with the largest stock ones (if needed).

- Liquid-droplet radiator.

- Discovery II centrifuge (with rotating IVA). This oft requested part won't require Infernal Robotics. It will function as a hab/MPL, and ties into Pathfinder's Habitation (Ponderosa/Casa) and Science (Doc) templates.

- Discovery II "Clydesdale" command pod. If I can design it right, it will double as a 3.75m Orion-like command pod, and might share its IVA with the NAUTILUS-X.

- Possibly a part that goes behind the Clyde to complete the Discovery II's look.

As always my designs are inspired by NASA but don't try to closely duplicate their appearance, so expect some differences.

The above will finish out the Kerbal Discovery II at long last.

 

Edited November 28, 2016 by Angel-125

[Geschosskopf]

3 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Well, before heat radiators became stock, I had the Supernova calibrated to require 10 of the large radiators included in the pack. That's about how many NASA's Discovery II has on their ship. I think I did the same after KSP 1.0. I might need to take a look at the radiators again; they're supposed to be on par with the largest radiators in stock. So now that I've got Buffalo in a good spot, I can focus on DSEV for a bit.

Er, egad, that's an inconveniently huge number of huge parts.  Makes it hard to find room for them all, especially if you want to use more than 1 engine per ship .

 

3 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

My plans for the next release include:...

Lots of cool stuff.  I especially look forward to the 3.75m command pod.  There's a major market for one of those, especially one that looks more suited to stay in space forever instead of reentering Kerbin's atmosphere, although a Dragon-like thing is also needed.

[Angelo Kerman]

18 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

Er, egad, that's an inconveniently huge number of huge parts.  Makes it hard to find room for them all, especially if you want to use more than 1 engine per ship .

 

Lots of cool stuff.  I especially look forward to the 3.75m command pod.  There's a major market for one of those, especially one that looks more suited to stay in space forever instead of reentering Kerbin's atmosphere, although a Dragon-like thing is also needed.

Yup. My original plan was to create a liquid-droplet radiator as an upgrade. You'd only need two of those. If I instead reduced the number of required radiators to 4, then I could save myself from making a complicated part. It's something for me to consider.

I'm also trying to figure out how to minimize the work I need to finish the Kerbal Discovery II and make the Kerbal Nautilus. Right now I'm faced with making cylindrical parts for the Discovery, and hexagonal parts for Nautilus, and two centrifuges (one like the Discovery II's tripod, and one ring-shaped for Nautilus), and that's a bit too much.

Here's a reference of the NAUTILUS-X:

And here is NASA's Discovery II:

Maybe Kerbal Nautilus uses cylinders for its front part, the centrifuge from Kerbal Discovery II, and then the stock 3.75m cargo bays for the hexagonal hangars. I'd just need to make the Mk3 Homestead inflatable module, and of course you'd use the hex truss system that DSEV has. It wouldn't look the same but I wouldn't be endlessly building parts that way, and I'd like to finish up DSEV.

Another option is to modify Kerbal Discovery to use a hexagonal style front end with an inflatable habitat ring instead of NASA's tripod centrifuge design. Basically, take the front of Nautilus and use that for Discovery II.

[Angelo Kerman]

6 hours ago, Geschosskopf said:

Er, egad, that's an inconveniently huge number of huge parts.  Makes it hard to find room for them all, especially if you want to use more than 1 engine per ship .

 

Lots of cool stuff.  I especially look forward to the 3.75m command pod.  There's a major market for one of those, especially one that looks more suited to stay in space forever instead of reentering Kerbin's atmosphere, although a Dragon-like thing is also needed.

I think I've got a design for the Clydesdale Orbital Pod that works and meets my need to cut down on the number of parts needed for the Kerbal Discovery II and Kerbal Nautilus:

Essentially, the decks will be 90 degrees to each other, with a hatch in the "floor" that leads to the transfer corridor. Great visibility and in-space only.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Angel-125

[Angelo Kerman]

Seating Order:

1. Portside pilot station

2. Starboard pilot station

3. Captain's chair

4. Portside flight engineer station

5. Starboard flight engineer station

6. 10 Forward seat 1

7. 10 Forward seat 2

Edited November 30, 2016 by Angel-125

[Angelo Kerman]

I'm simultaneously designing the IVA and exterior, a technique I discovered while building the Heisenberg's gondola. It takes longer but it's much easier to make everything line up. Anyway, here is the last pic of the evening:

I designed the flight deck with a bit of inspiration from @Kuzzter's ongoing Jool Odyssey. Unlike the Intrepid's bridge, the Clydesdale Orbital Command Pod has lots of windows. Somehow I'll have monitors up front if they'll work in the IVA and you can see them. I'm also finding that going with a design optimized for microgravity makes it easier to layout the interior. And taking another inspiration from Jool Odyssey, I'll swipe the code I did for the Heisenberg and build in a nameplate function. Simply add a custom flag with the vessel's name, and use the stock flag selector to change the name of the ship. What's nice is that the nameplate is separate from the mission flag. Not sure where to place the nameplate though, perhaps on the nose or on the sides.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Angel-125

[Mister Dilsby]

7 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Simply add a custom flag with the vessel's name, and use the stock flag selector to change the name of the ship. What's nice is that the nameplate is separate from the mission flag. Not sure where to place the nameplate though, perhaps on the nose or on the sides.

Oh, I like this VERY much! Put that IVA in the front and this may well become a Kerbfleet part  

Or, if I may suggest--create an inline version with open ends fore and aft. Not sure if that's possible with a crew space, but if it is--then instruments, viewscreens etc could go on the fore and aft bulkheads when the bridge is assembled in line with fuel tanks, cargo bays etc.

[Geschosskopf]

11 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

I designed the flight deck with a bit of inspiration from @Kuzzter's ongoing Jool Odyssey. Unlike the Intrepid's bridge, the Clydesdale Orbital Command Pod has lots of windows. Somehow I'll have monitors up front if they'll work in the IVA and you can see them.

Me likes!  Is there going to be a part holding more crew, too?  7 seats is a good start but I might want rather more

On the display, is there any way to make it "holographic"?  That is, the screen and the images displayed on it are always translucent.  Then the whole thing could float in the space between the pilots' consoles and the windows and would function as a giant HUD.

 

11 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Not sure where to place the nameplate though, perhaps on the nose or on the sides

I think yeah, the sides of the nose between the pilots' and observation deck windows.  I was originally going to suggest the cylindrical area on top behind the cockpit but no, that's prime real estate for attaching antennae, lights, science instruments, etc., which would cover it up.

[Angelo Kerman]

4 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Oh, I like this VERY much! Put that IVA in the front and this may well become a Kerbfleet part  

Or, if I may suggest--create an inline version with open ends fore and aft. Not sure if that's possible with a crew space, but if it is--then instruments, viewscreens etc could go on the fore and aft bulkheads when the bridge is assembled in line with fuel tanks, cargo bays etc.

I can easily add independent nametags on the sides and the nose. That way people can choose what they like. Making an inline command pod is possible, but IVAs don't really let you have open ends. Still, an inline command pod could have view screens up front.

21 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

Me likes!  Is there going to be a part holding more crew, too?  7 seats is a good start but I might want rather more

On the display, is there any way to make it "holographic"?  That is, the screen and the images displayed on it are always translucent.  Then the whole thing could float in the space between the pilots' consoles and the windows and would function as a giant HUD.

 

I think yeah, the sides of the nose between the pilots' and observation deck windows.  I was originally going to suggest the cylindrical area on top behind the cockpit but no, that's prime real estate for attaching antennae, lights, science instruments, etc., which would cover it up.

Or that, yeah! I'll have to look at making a holographic display. Translucent is definitely possible. Ideally there would be a holo-emitter that you click on to change the image, and change the transparency. That would be cool! Thanks for the suggestion.

For a part that holds more, I've got two parts in mind. First is the D2 Centrifuge:

It holds 12 kerbals, and ties into Pathfinder's Science and Habitation templates. Unlike other centrifuges, the D2 Centrifuge arms fold downward not just for compact storage during launch, but to provide "downward" gravity while the ship is under acceleration.

Next is a 3.75m CryoBay that works with DeepFreeze. It will give the Kuzzter Instruments 9000 computer, located in the command pod, something to play with. I'm hoping it will hold at least 12 kerbals.

[Mister Dilsby]

Just now, Angel-125 said:

Kuzzter Instruments 9000 computer

You gave the all-powerful shipboard computer the personality of an adventure fiction author? Well, sign me up!

[Angelo Kerman]

1 minute ago, Kuzzter said:

You gave the all-powerful shipboard computer the personality of an adventure fiction author? Well, sign me up!

Yup, it doesn't need to kill the crew to keep entertained (I'm sure the Kerbulans' Bill 9000 does that), it just uses the crew names in fantastic stories while the ship cruises through the void.

[Angelo Kerman]

7 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Oh, I like this VERY much! Put that IVA in the front and this may well become a Kerbfleet part  

Or, if I may suggest--create an inline version with open ends fore and aft. Not sure if that's possible with a crew space, but if it is--then instruments, viewscreens etc could go on the fore and aft bulkheads when the bridge is assembled in line with fuel tanks, cargo bays etc.

Here's what I came up with this morning:

Here you can see the two name tags: one on the nose, one on the sides. Just below the side name tag is the flag logo. In-game you'll be able to change all three independent of each other and hide them if desired.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Angel-125

[Geschosskopf]

2 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Or that, yeah! I'll have to look at making a holographic display. Translucent is definitely possible. Ideally there would be a holo-emitter that you click on to change the image, and change the transparency. That would be cool! Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm flattered you liked the idea.  Hope you can make it work

 

2 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

For a part that holds more, I've got two parts in mind. First is the D2 Centrifuge:

Nifty.  I'll put KAS winches on the ends so the crew can get twirled around to break up the monotony of long interplanetary trips

But what about a 3.75m Hitchhiker or some such?  You know, more inline.

 

2 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Next is a 3.75m CryoBay that works with DeepFreeze. It will give the Kuzzter Instruments 9000 computer, located in the command pod, something to play with. I'm hoping it will hold at least 12 kerbals.

The 2.5m version holds 10 so  you should be able to more than in a 3.75m.  You might even be able to fit in a central column.

Cryopods are the greatest invention in Sci-Fi, a source of endless plot twists and tropes

 

48 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

Here you can see the two name tags: one on the nose, one on the sides. Just below the side name tag is the flag logo. In-game you'll be able to change all three independent of each other and hide them if desired.

What about putting the name on the angled struts between the upper and lower deck windows?  The flat cylindrical part of the cockpit is where I'd like to see a hatch or attach some small parts without covering up the name.  But I wouldn't stick parts on those window frames because they'd block the view.

Comme ça:

 

Edited November 30, 2016 by Geschosskopf

[DStaal]

As a way to fake open ends: could you have the entire end be a window?

[Angelo Kerman]

22 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

But what about a 3.75m Hitchhiker or some such?  You know, more inline.

Oh don't worry, I have a plan in mind for an inline 3.75m Hitchhiker-alike. I need it to make the Nautilus' corridor.

For the decals, I tried this:

That yellow patch on the side is where the airlock goes. I don't really like having the flag on the sides where you suggested because it makes it look like it has ruddy cheeks. I could instead make the flag smaller and tuck in in just under the window.

Edited November 30, 2016 by Angel-125

[Geschosskopf]

1 minute ago, Angel-125 said:

That yellow patch on the side is where the airlock goes. I don't really like having the flag on the sides where you suggested because it makes it look like it has ruddy cheeks.

Ça c'est bon, ça!