[Min KSP 1.12.2] Buffalo: NASA Inspired Modular Space Exploration Vehicle

[vardicd]

2 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

That is going to let you build flat platforms made of regolith by placing statics on the ground. Ideally with help from Kerbal Konstructs. The idea is you drop a Buffalo Bulldozer on a planet and give it time to build up the regolith. Once said time expires you then place the static model in similar fashion to Kerbal Konstructs. No more slanted bases built on a hillside... It is the next piece of Project Sandcastle.

I don't think I'm familiar with kerbal konstructs. Guess that's another mod I'll have to look for when I get home.

[vardicd]

10 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

That is going to let you build flat platforms made of regolith by placing statics on the ground. Ideally with help from Kerbal Konstructs. The idea is you drop a Buffalo Bulldozer on a planet and give it time to build up the regolith. Once said time expires you then place the static model in similar fashion to Kerbal Konstructs. No more slanted bases built on a hillside... It is the next piece of Project Sandcastle.

 

8 hours ago, vardicd said:

I don't think I'm familiar with kerbal konstructs. Guess that's another mod I'll have to look for when I get home.

Just spent 2 hours installing and re-installing Kerbal Konstructs and a few other related mods, and getting frustrated that I couldn't make them work. finally noticed in the last post on the thread, KK and related mods broke in 1.4.4, and the author's on vacation for another week and a half. oops. Oh well. Just have to wait.

[Angelo Kerman]

14 hours ago, vardicd said:

 

Just spent 2 hours installing and re-installing Kerbal Konstructs and a few other related mods, and getting frustrated that I couldn't make them work. finally noticed in the last post on the thread, KK and related mods broke in 1.4.4, and the author's on vacation for another week and a half. oops. Oh well. Just have to wait.

It may be awhile before the functionality catches up to the part...

[adsii1970]

Hey, @Angel-125,

Here's the latest abuse - I mean, use of the Buffalo mod for you:

When driving on the surface of Kerbin means driving through the ocean...

"Meh, it's just an oversized water puddle. We can go through it!"

I've toyed around with a small mod that converts a fuel tank into a ballast tank using a stock part. When I figure out how to design a decent part, I'll release it. I already have something in mind, but now to do it...

[Angelo Kerman]

3 hours ago, adsii1970 said:

Hey, @Angel-125,

Here's the latest abuse - I mean, use of the Buffalo mod for you:

When driving on the surface of Kerbin means driving through the ocean...

"Meh, it's just an oversized water puddle. We can go through it!"

I've toyed around with a small mod that converts a fuel tank into a ballast tank using a stock part. When I figure out how to design a decent part, I'll release it. I already have something in mind, but now to do it...

Way cool! Looks like a cool rover.

I still have plans for submarine parts for Buffalo on the books, it’s just taking awhile due to a slowdown resulting from having a job. Not complaining, I like having an income to pay the bills, but it does mean that the KFS mothership is taking longer than expected.

[adsii1970]

8 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

I still have plans for submarine parts for Buffalo on the books, it’s just taking awhile due to a slowdown resulting from having a job. Not complaining, I like having an income to pay the bills, but it does mean that the KFS mothership is taking longer than expected.

I knew you had plans for boat parts, but had no idea about the submarine parts. Want me to shelve development for a while?

[Angelo Kerman]

Just now, adsii1970 said:

I knew you had plans for boat parts, but had no idea about the submarine parts. Want me to shelve development for a while?

Not needed. It might be a few months before I can get to the Buffalo. My side project is to finish up the rover parts for the Bison, but even that is slow. The mothership has a lot of IVAs and they take up a huge amount of time. So if you need aquatic parts soon, you are better off looking at another mod or make your own.

[adsii1970]

5 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

Not needed. It might be a few months before I can get to the Buffalo. My side project is to finish up the rover parts for the Bison, but even that is slow. The mothership has a lot of IVAs and they take up a huge amount of time. So if you need aquatic parts soon, you are better off looking at another mod or make your own.

No, don't need them anytime soon, but thought it could be fun to play with. For now, I am using one of the small stock .625 lander fuel tank for the ballast tank. Once I get familiar enough with Gimp, I want to make an actual part for it which will be able to stick to the undercarriage of the Buffalo. I've got an idea of how I want it to look, so now the hard part is making it work. Right now, though, I am revising Nohochacyum. I want to get this star project finished before I dive into another project...

[Angelo Kerman]

First new command pod for Buffalo in 3 years...

Context:

The fueltank & battery combo are placeholders for an electric water-only motor that double as control surfaces. They're part of the Water Buffalo parts...

Edited July 21, 2018 by Angel-125

[Angelo Kerman]

The Guppy Submersible Cab is a modified Buffalo cab that's specialized for water operations. It comes equipped with a dive computer that will trim the boat (make it level in the water) and control the ballast tanks. You'll have a tank that can be set to a forward trim tank, aft trim tank, or ballast tank. For the dive computer to do its job, you'll have to have at least one forward trim tank and one aft trim tank to level the boat, and at least one ballast tank to dive or surface. These parts have been on the books a long time, and since I'm again stuck on the flying saucers, I figured it's time to clear the books. Anyway, here's the latest:

The Guppy cab is more rounded and tapered than the Buffalo and a bit longer, but it's basically the same inside.

[adsii1970]

And as usual, I cannot wait to abuse it...  

[Angelo Kerman]

While on the subject of submarines...

https://www.wired.com/2014/08/how-we-can-get-submarines-to-travel-at-supersonic-speed/

I'm thinking supercavitation can be done in KSP...

I can see burning LFO to produce the air pocket that would reduce hydrodynamic drag, then additional rockets let you move fast underwater. Too advanced for the Water Buffalo, but might make an interesting thing for a larger sub...

Edited July 22, 2018 by Angel-125

[Angelo Kerman]

And last image for tonight:

[Angelo Kerman]

The Water Buffalo release progresses... Below is the new Buffalo Ballast Tank:

You can manually open the intake to let in IntakeLqd, star/stop the Ballast Pump to vent ballast, and if needed, hit the Blow Ballast button to immediately vent all the IntakeLqd. The functions can be controlled through the Part Action Window as well as through action groups. The Guppy's dive computer will handle the controls for all ballast tanks...

If you look closely, you'll see small vents on the top of the ballast tank and at the lower sides. Here's the sub taking on ballast and displacing the air inside the tanks:

And a view of the side vents active, indicating that the tanks are emptying the ballast:

Be sure to close the intake vents when venting, or you'll keep bringing aboard ballast!

The Buffalo Ballast Tank is a half-unit in length (the Guppy has 4 of them). That Saddle Tank will get replaced with radially attached ballast tanks- you'll be able to decouple them in an emergency.

[Angelo Kerman]

Making progress, had a relearning experience on radially attached parts. The external ballast tanks have vents on the sides:

I have some plugin work to do to cut down on the number of part modules, but I think I've got a workable system.

[Angelo Kerman]

"Dr. Angelo" is getting more ideas...

For Science! research!

[vardicd]

4 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

"Dr. Angelo" is getting more ideas...

For Science! research!

Loved the hell out of that show. would love to have similar parts in KSP to build something like that. Just saying........

[Angelo Kerman]

22 minutes ago, vardicd said:

Loved the hell out of that show. would love to have similar parts in KSP to build something like that. Just saying........

Oh, something like that is already called WIld Blue Submarines. Combine a large submarine with *fast* underwater propulsion...

[vardicd]

4 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Oh, something like that is already called WIld Blue Submarines. Combine a large submarine with *fast* underwater propulsion...

Wait, I know you're working on sub parts for buffalo, are you saying you're working on a different submarine mod that I don't know about too?

[Angelo Kerman]

4 hours ago, vardicd said:

Wait, I know you're working on sub parts for buffalo, are you saying you're working on a different submarine mod that I don't know about too?

At present, I am working on the submarine parts for Buffalo, known as the Water Buffalo release. It's Buffalo's last major parts update. It will complete the Buffalo's ability to explore the sea, air, land, and space. I'm also looking at a dedicated parts mod, Wild Blue Submarines, to explore the oceans with, that'll introduce a kerbalized SeaQuest into the game, complete with labs to do science with, workshops to make new parts or whole craft, maybe that helicopter from The Sixth Day, and the like. Not just some lumbering sub, it'll use the real-world phenomenon of supercavitation to go really fast underwater. Rocket-powered submarines? You know the kerbals would go there.

Meanwhile, I've got my ballast tank part module refactored and working the way I want. No "compressed liquids" needed, the part module handles filling and venting tanks that hold IntakeLqd. It'll work on dedicated ballast tank parts like these (the parts with the mist coming out the top):

You can also place a new ballast vent part on any part that holds IntakeLqd to turn it into a ballast tank. You can even place the ballast vent on a part that doesn't have IntakeLqd, and it'll fill and vent all parts on the vessel that have IntakeLqd. With that done, I can make the dive computer to do things like trim the boat automatically and dive or surface it. You can control the ballast tank using action groups of course, but the dive computer frees up action group space.

[Just Jim]

57 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

known as the Water Buffalo...

[JoE Smash]

1 hour ago, Angel-125 said:

At present, I am working on the submarine parts for Buffalo, known as the Water Buffalo release. It's Buffalo's last major parts update. It will complete the Buffalo's ability to explore the sea, air, land, and space. I'm also looking at a dedicated parts mod, Wild Blue Submarines, to explore the oceans with, that'll introduce a kerbalized SeaQuest into the game, complete with labs to do science with, workshops to make new parts or whole craft, maybe that helicopter from The Sixth Day, and the like. Not just some lumbering sub, it'll use the real-world phenomenon of supercavitation to go really fast underwater. Rocket-powered submarines? You know the kerbals would go there.

Meanwhile, I've got my ballast tank part module refactored and working the way I want. No "compressed liquids" needed, the part module handles filling and venting tanks that hold IntakeLqd. It'll work on dedicated ballast tank parts like these (the parts with the mist coming out the top):

You can also place a new ballast vent part on any part that holds IntakeLqd to turn it into a ballast tank. You can even place the ballast vent on a part that doesn't have IntakeLqd, and it'll fill and vent all parts on the vessel that have IntakeLqd. With that done, I can make the dive computer to do things like trim the boat automatically and dive or surface it. You can control the ballast tank using action groups of course, but the dive computer frees up action group space.

That sounds awesome....

Sounds like I should delete my Lynx and Malemute (sp?) mods and use this instead....

[vardicd]

2 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

At present, I am working on the submarine parts for Buffalo, known as the Water Buffalo release. It's Buffalo's last major parts update. It will complete the Buffalo's ability to explore the sea, air, land, and space. I'm also looking at a dedicated parts mod, Wild Blue Submarines, to explore the oceans with, that'll introduce a kerbalized SeaQuest into the game, complete with labs to do science with, workshops to make new parts or whole craft, maybe that helicopter from The Sixth Day, and the like. Not just some lumbering sub, it'll use the real-world phenomenon of supercavitation to go really fast underwater. Rocket-powered submarines? You know the kerbals would go there.

Hell Yeah! Sign me up for this!

[Angelo Kerman]

New aero cones:

The ballast tank has two cones that can be filled with lead, and the new aft tailcone has mounting points for two size0 engines.

[Angelo Kerman]

When I originally made the JetWing, I wanted the part to attach to the back of a kerbal via KIS and it would let you fly around. Sadly, I could never make it work that way, and it became a single part that you board and fly. But it felt wonky because it lacked a proper seat- until now:

While KSP now has parafoil chutes, the JetWing still has a special place in the Buffalo mod, and it still has its accessories. It also flies pretty well with Aircraft Autopilot!