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

[Angelo Kerman]

4 minutes ago, Montieth said:

I think from a mechanical perspective, a sliding elbow might be more workable. 

The joints rotate against each other which, when the two wedges are slipped in opposite directions makes the tube straight instead of an elbow. 

That's actually my original design. Unfortunately, the FBX exporter won't take non-orthogonal axis when it exports the meshes, and as a result, the model is distorted when imported into unity. The non-orthogonal axis are needed to properly rotate the meshes in the manner you suggest.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Angel-125

[Montieth]

Hmm. I thought you were doing that initially. I can understand why you're not. 

In order to make things reasonably passable, why not make a larger bulge around the pivot point? It won't look sleek but won't have the same question of how it all really works for spacing. I've worked with electrical bits like that joint, they tend to be rather cramped with that sort of single pivot point joint. 

[Angelo Kerman]

38 minutes ago, Montieth said:

Hmm. I thought you were doing that initially. I can understand why you're not. 

In order to make things reasonably passable, why not make a larger bulge around the pivot point? It won't look sleek but won't have the same question of how it all really works for spacing. I've worked with electrical bits like that joint, they tend to be rather cramped with that sort of single pivot point joint. 

Despite appearances, there's actually lots of room. The junction before the pivot cylinders are 1.25m by 0.625m, which is big enough for a kerbal to fit through.

[TheSaint]

On 1/30/2017 at 7:02 PM, Angel-125 said:

If you want the ability to mount your own parts, use the existing Spindle, Hub, and Counter Torque Ring along with Infernal Robotics.

So those parts aren't going away? (I've been a little worried, because I use them a lot.)

[Angelo Kerman]

13 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

So those parts aren't going away? (I've been a little worried, because I use them a lot.)

They aren't going away. The new D2 Centrifuge is an alternative to using the existing parts.

[Angelo Kerman]

Got the exterior modeling done:

Now it's a matter of setting up the config file and working on the IVA.

[smotheredrun]

Yay!!

[budda]

very nice

[Angelo Kerman]

This weekend I made a lot of progress on the centrifuge's IVA:

And the IVA spins in lockstep with the external model.

[Jebs_SY]

@Angel-125

May I friendly ask if I could help bring these great mods to CKAN? I think I know a little bit about how CKAN works and your structure seems pretty ready for automated CKAN use. You have a version file in the zips, which CKAN reads and analyzes it for a new version. You have a good file name on github DSEV_*version*.zip, which can be indexed that way by CKAN so it recognizes a new release on github. The dependency for me seems to be the Wildbluetools. I think this is totally doable in CKAN and when it is set up correctly, you have nothing to do from you side when you update. Just make a new GITHUB release and the rest is done automatically. o/

[Angelo Kerman]

3 hours ago, Jebs_SY said:

@Angel-125

May I friendly ask if I could help bring these great mods to CKAN? I think I know a little bit about how CKAN works and your structure seems pretty ready for automated CKAN use. You have a version file in the zips, which CKAN reads and analyzes it for a new version. You have a good file name on github DSEV_*version*.zip, which can be indexed that way by CKAN so it recognizes a new release on github. The dependency for me seems to be the Wildbluetools. I think this is totally doable in CKAN and when it is set up correctly, you have nothing to do from you side when you update. Just make a new GITHUB release and the rest is done automatically. o/

I appreciate the sentiment but no. CKAN handles installations poorly, and as a result, I used get numerous support issues when the wrong versions of the plugins or their dependencies or the mod itself isn't updated properly. Combine that with last summer's incident where the CKAN team blatantly disregarded mod authors' requests to de-list mods- effectively forcing us to deal with their defective software- I had enough. About the only way I'd change my mind at this point is if somebody wanted to pay me $50,000 USD up front- because that's how much my time is worth to put up with the headaches caused by CKAN installs.

[Jebs_SY]

@Angel-125

A pity, but I can only respect your opinion. I can say, that CKAN manages my highly modded 190 mod install very well. And with that amount of mods, my decision is, that I only use mods, that can be managed by CKAN. I don't think that unpacking a folder from a zip is a hard task for CKAN, but maybe it was the fact, that CKAN doesn't remove files it doesn't copied in, first place. But I am sure you know what you are talking about. The de-list thing changed, cause this was the thing that roverdude made go back to also support CKAN, afaik. Anyway, thx for the answer.  o/

[Angelo Kerman]

In other news, I finished the D2 Centrifuge tonight:

The good news is that the IVA spins when you rotate the centrifuge. The bad news is that with IVA Overlay mode on, your render performance will suffer (which likely happens with other parts in other mods). But the other good news is that with the centrifuge done, I can quickly put together the individual hab, lab, and greenhouse parts. The only other challenging part remaining is the 12-kerb 3.75m D2 cryo module that works with DeepFreeze, but @JPLRepo generously provided directions and sample models to work with awhile back (originally so that I could turn MOLE's Botany Lab into a cryo pod, but I couldn't make the IVA dynamically change). The D2 Centrifuge was a slog, but I learned a lot from it. Special thanks to @Nils277 for providing some help with the rotation math. The IVA won't fold up when the arms do, but at least it spins with the arms.

[Angelo Kerman]

Got the D2 Science Module, Habitat Module, and Greenhouse Module done!

[panarchist]

Outstanding work, this is looking amazing.  Can't wait to give it a spin, pun intended.

[ISE]

8 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Got the D2 Science Module, Habitat Module, and Greenhouse Module done!

Im speechless! This is so gorgeous! Amazing modeling, and especially amazing texturing! I love ur work @Angel-125! Ur my favorite moder! 

On February 6, 2017 at 9:08 PM, Angel-125 said:

In other news, I finished the D2 Centrifuge tonight:

The good news is that the IVA spins when you rotate the centrifuge. The bad news is that with IVA Overlay mode on, your render performance will suffer (which likely happens with other parts in other mods). But the other good news is that with the centrifuge done, I can quickly put together the individual hab, lab, and greenhouse parts. The only other challenging part remaining is the 12-kerb 3.75m D2 cryo module that works with DeepFreeze, but @JPLRepo generously provided directions and sample models to work with awhile back (originally so that I could turn MOLE's Botany Lab into a cryo pod, but I couldn't make the IVA dynamically change). The D2 Centrifuge was a slog, but I learned a lot from it. Special thanks to @Nils277 for providing some help with the rotation math. The IVA won't fold up when the arms do, but at least it spins with the arms.

Again speechless!  So great!

[Angelo Kerman]

12 hours ago, panarchist said:

Outstanding work, this is looking amazing.  Can't wait to give it a spin, pun intended.

 

6 hours ago, ISE said:

Im speechless! This is so gorgeous! Amazing modeling, and especially amazing texturing! I love ur work @Angel-125! Ur my favorite moder! 

Again speechless!  So great!

Thanks guys. It's taken me a long time to reach PorkJet's level of texturing- you can see the progression through Pathfinder, MOLE, and now DSEV- but I finally figured it out. The trick for me now is to try and retain the old art style when I add new parts to Pathfinder and MOLE so they stay consistent, and then use what I've learned on DSEV. Anyway, with those parts done, I can focus on the last crewed part in the upcoming release: the cryo bay. This is another tough one because I need to build the interior so that it works with DeepFreeze. After that, I have an adapter to make, an instrument unit with RCS thrusters (you can see it residing behind the centrifuge in NASA's Discovery II), an AE35 communications antenna, and the mobile emitter for the hologram. With luck, I'll have all that done by the end of the month, if not sooner. Ideally sooner, I have other projects I want to get to...

Once again, here is a reference image:

You can see that my version of the Discovery II doesn't look the same- I like to be inspired by NASA's stuff without replicating it. For one, based on the image, my hex trusses should be 3.75m, not 2.5m like they are now, given that I made the Clyde, centrifuge, and new crew modules all 3.75m in diameter. But I made the hex trusses that way so they'd fit in the Mk3 cargo bay, and the centrifuge and command pod just didn't look right in 2.5m. I suppose I can simply make a 3.75m hex truss. If I did that, you'd be able to fit 2.5m fuel tanks inside.

[smotheredrun]

Really well done!  I am excited for the next release.  Looks like you're almost there!

[ISE]

19 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

 

Thanks guys. It's taken me a long time to reach PorkJet's level of texturing- you can see the progression through Pathfinder, MOLE, and now DSEV- but I finally figured it out. The trick for me now is to try and retain the old art style when I add new parts to Pathfinder and MOLE so they stay consistent, and then use what I've learned on DSEV. Anyway, with those parts done, I can focus on the last crewed part in the upcoming release: the cryo bay. This is another tough one because I need to build the interior so that it works with DeepFreeze. After that, I have an adapter to make, an instrument unit with RCS thrusters (you can see it residing behind the centrifuge in NASA's Discovery II), an AE35 communications antenna, and the mobile emitter for the hologram. With luck, I'll have all that done by the end of the month, if not sooner. Ideally sooner, I have other projects I want to get to...

Once again, here is a reference image:

You can see that my version of the Discovery II doesn't look the same- I like to be inspired by NASA's stuff without replicating it. For one, based on the image, my hex trusses should be 3.75m, not 2.5m like they are now, given that I made the Clyde, centrifuge, and new crew modules all 3.75m in diameter. But I made the hex trusses that way so they'd fit in the Mk3 cargo bay, and the centrifuge and command pod just didn't look right in 2.5m. I suppose I can simply make a 3.75m hex truss. If I did that, you'd be able to fit 2.5m fuel tanks inside.

I absolutely agree! You are the closest model to reaching porkjets style of texturing that I have seen ever! You're amazing!

[Angelo Kerman]

Starting to work on the CryoPod module:

[Angelo Kerman]

One more for the evening:

The kerbal's expression reflects my excitement that the parts are coming together. You can see the spinning centrifuge in the upper-right corner

Edited February 11, 2017 by Angel-125

[0111narwhalz]

On 2/6/2017 at 8:08 PM, Angel-125 said:

on

 

[Angelo Kerman]

I like this design for the cryopod better:

[rasta013]

I second that second one...

[Sudragon]

It's not polite to froth at the mouth about an update....but i appear to be frothing just a little over this.