[WIP] Coatl Aerospace ProbesPlus Dev Thread [Beta] 10/19/2020 (1.8-1.10)

[akron]

25 minutes ago, Dunrana said:

Maybe you should convert the textures to.dds rather than .mbm.  That way they would be smaller.

Also if  they were .dds I might try making a alternate texture pack for those who can’t stand the gold foil texture, not that I’m any good with textures.

This is planned. The textures will be converted to DDS once the mod nears completion. Basically anything texture related like Specular, Normal maps, and tweaks are coming on a later milestone; although some tweaks might make it in earlier. I could convert them to DDS for the next BETA release to Spacedock, but this will not be done for the dev releases to save time. Simply put, the texture change very often right now so I don't want to do any extra steps each time there is a small change. Unless there is a way to export DDS from PartTools, in that case, I'm game.

Alternate textures are also being considered. Again, for a later milestone.

[Dunrana]

3 hours ago, akron said:

This is planned. The textures will be converted to DDS once the mod nears completion. Basically anything texture related like Specular, Normal maps, and tweaks are coming on a later milestone; although some tweaks might make it in earlier. I could convert them to DDS for the next BETA release to Spacedock, but this will not be done for the dev releases to save time. Simply put, the texture change very often right now so I don't want to do any extra steps each time there is a small change. Unless there is a way to export DDS from PartTools, in that case, I'm game.

Alternate textures are also being considered. Again, for a later milestone.

I’m foreseeing a very near future where this mod is installed for every play through I make on KSP.  The Voyager Imaging Platform in particular was desperately needed.

Also, sorry for the slightly rude first post.  It Wasn’t intentional.  My PC ate the bit where I said how awesome this mod is.

[akron]

2 hours ago, Dunrana said:

I’m foreseeing a very near future where this mod is installed for every play through I make on KSP.  The Voyager Imaging Platform in particular was desperately needed.

Also, sorry for the slightly rude first post.  It Wasn’t intentional.  My PC ate the bit where I said how awesome this mod is.

Hehe, no worries. I have no judgement against honest feedback 

[akron]

quick update

Lowercase again. The Electrostatic and Ionization Experiment (ELIX) is now available for testing at the Github Repo. Please note that I have not finished the texture yet, but you can test the science definitions, animations, stats, etc.

~Cheers 

 

EDIT: It's this guy, in case anyone was wondering:

Edited May 12, 2016 by akron

[BetaguyGZT]

Bit OT for a sec:

You guys never cease to amaze and inspire me. So much so that I've started working on my own custom models with the intent of eventually releasing them as a mod.

I haven't even named the mod yet, that's how new it is. But it's going to follow the Novapunch idea of Rocket Parts with a little bit of something for everyone. The difference is that I want my mod to be as low-impact on RAM as possible, like yours is; but still be great-looking like yours too. So I'll be picking you and NecroBones' brains a lot for texturing and modeling advice, if you don't mind. I already know about using low-poly, and I'm pretty handy with Blender already (so that's no worry); but texture work is my achilles heel currently. I'll work to improve my artwork skills as time goes on. I'm not completely useless in GIMP; I just need some good critiquing and to be challenged to improve.  

Back on-topic:

You've outdone yourself again! Looks great, and I've downloaded the latest from Github. Will give it a spin shortly.  Thanks for your dedication to this already-great mod!

Edited May 12, 2016 by BetaguyGZT

[akron]

16 minutes ago, BetaguyGZT said:

Bit OT for a sec:

You guys never cease to amaze and inspire me. So much so that I've started working on my own custom models with the intent of eventually releasing them as a mod.

I haven't even named the mod yet, that's how new it is. But it's going to follow the Novapunch idea of Rocket Parts with a little bit of something for everyone. The difference is that I want my mod to be as low-impact on RAM as possible, like yours is; but still be great-looking like yours too. So I'll be picking you and NecroBones' brains a lot for texturing and modeling advice, if you don't mind. I already know about using low-poly, and I'm pretty handy with Blender already (so that's no worry); but texture work is my achilles heel currently. I'll work to improve my artwork skills as time goes on. I'm not completely useless in GIMP; I just need some good critiquing and to be challenged to improve.  

Back on-topic:

You've outdone yourself again! Looks great, and I've downloaded the latest from Github. Will give it a spin shortly.  Thanks for your dedication to this already-great mod!

This is awesome! I look forward to your mod progress. I do not use Blender or GIMP, but I can certainly help you with any general modeling or texturing questions since the basic techniques are the same. @CobaltWolf is a good critic too if you want some good feedback and he's done a lot of good texture work. Send me a message if you want help sometime.

Thanks for the compliment! If you are referring to the ELIX, I think it looks pretty bad, unfinished like that, but it'll get better. It's a very rough WIP, for testing, because I'm slow and can't finish anything quick 

[BetaguyGZT]

Thanks, I can use all of the good pointers and advice I can get.  

As far as the config files go, I think I've got a pretty good handle on that too. Only part that I'm not looking forward to is installing Unity to generate the .mu files, but maybe Blender can do that for me with the KSP Plugins.

And I disagree ... I like the ELIX. I think it looks fantastic. [EDIT] That burnished metal look on the legs suits it.  

Of course, I'm of the school of thought that "less is more", hehe.  

I meant to ask, what Program are you using to model and texture with? I'm dual-booting Linux Mint 64-bit and Windows 10, so I've got pretty much everything open to me; no preference although I prefer 'nix. I am uncomfortable on Windows, but I'll use it. Bad experience with Windows hosing my 1TB Storage drive in the past, and it took Linux to recover the data and fix the drive; so yeah. Never trusted Windows after that.

Edited May 12, 2016 by BetaguyGZT

[akron]

8 hours ago, BetaguyGZT said:

Thanks, I can use all of the good pointers and advice I can get.  

As far as the config files go, I think I've got a pretty good handle on that too. Only part that I'm not looking forward to is installing Unity to generate the .mu files, but maybe Blender can do that for me with the KSP Plugins.

And I disagree ... I like the ELIX. I think it looks fantastic. [EDIT] That burnished metal look on the legs suits it.  

Of course, I'm of the school of thought that "less is more", hehe.  

I meant to ask, what Program are you using to model and texture with? I'm dual-booting Linux Mint 64-bit and Windows 10, so I've got pretty much everything open to me; no preference although I prefer 'nix. I am uncomfortable on Windows, but I'll use it. Bad experience with Windows hosing my 1TB Storage drive in the past, and it took Linux to recover the data and fix the drive; so yeah. Never trusted Windows after that.

I haven't decided on a final color for the frame of the ELIX. I think it might be too "shiny" so I may use a darker gunmetal-ish gray. The sensor probe head going to have a design to it that is accented by gold.

I use Autodesk Maya to model and Photoshop to texture. I have used the Mac and Windows version of both. These are hard to access to the general public, unfortunately. I got them through school. If you have an "EDU" email address, I think you can sign up for a student license of Maya. There is no free version of Photoshop. Before I had access to Photoshop, I used Paint.NET and an ancient version of Paint Shop Pro, both on Windows. GIMP is a great alternative, I just never liked the interface. I've used Windows and Mac as my primary OS for a while. I have a Linux partition but I used it pretty much only for 64-bit KSP

[CobaltWolf]

9 hours ago, BetaguyGZT said:

Thanks, I can use all of the good pointers and advice I can get.  

As far as the config files go, I think I've got a pretty good handle on that too. Only part that I'm not looking forward to is installing Unity to generate the .mu files, but maybe Blender can do that for me with the KSP Plugins.

And I disagree ... I like the ELIX. I think it looks fantastic. [EDIT] That burnished metal look on the legs suits it.  

Of course, I'm of the school of thought that "less is more", hehe.  

I meant to ask, what Program are you using to model and texture with? I'm dual-booting Linux Mint 64-bit and Windows 10, so I've got pretty much everything open to me; no preference although I prefer 'nix. I am uncomfortable on Windows, but I'll use it. Bad experience with Windows hosing my 1TB Storage drive in the past, and it took Linux to recover the data and fix the drive; so yeah. Never trusted Windows after that.

23 minutes ago, akron said:

I haven't decided on a final color for the frame of the ELIX. I think it might be too "shiny" so I may use a darker gunmetal-ish gray. The sensor probe head going to have a design to it that is accented by gold.

I use Autodesk Maya to model and Photoshop to texture. I have used the Mac and Windows version of both. These are hard to access to the general public, unfortunately. I got them through school. If you have an "EDU" email address, I think you can sign up for a student license of Maya. There is no free version of Photoshop. Before I had access to Photoshop, I used Paint.NET and an ancient version of Paint Shop Pro, both on Windows. GIMP is a great alternative, I just never liked the interface. I've used Windows and Mac as my primary OS for a while. I have a Linux partition but I used it pretty much only for 64-bit KSP

I second the gunmetal gray on the ELIX. @BetaguyGZT just install Unity, it's not that big of a deal. You don't really have to learn much for it. You spend maybe 5 minutes setting up a part in Unity once you figure it out. 

I also use Autodesk Maya, but I think you can get a student (ie non-commercial) license for it even without an .edu email. I know several people here that have.  As far as I can tell as long as it's not for commercial use you're free to use it for personal projects.

I really can't speak to texturing programs. I just use Photoshop.

@BetaguyGZT I'm more than willing to help if you have further questions.

[Dunrana]

I made a quick run out to Jool to test the new parts. Everything works Great. Though something (not sure what) is bugging me about the imaging platform,  and the Electrostatic and Ionization Experiment just seems too small.

 

 

 

[akron]

2 hours ago, Dunrana said:

I made a quick run out to Jool to test the new parts. Everything works Great. Though something (not sure what) is bugging me about the imaging platform,  and the Electrostatic and Ionization Experiment just seems too small.

Good feedback. Launch some more missions to see if you can figure out whats weird about the Imaging Boom. ELIX is based on Ranger. When you scale it down to Kerbin scale, it comes out close to that. I scaled it further to better match my Quetzal probe, but I think I can enlarge it a bit

[rasta013]

@akron Ok, here's the link to the initial pass for the AntennaRange patch.  My next job is to get my spreadsheet I use for calculations migrated from Excel over to Sheets and I'll be able to share all the specific details for each antenna and would appreciate your input on balance once you can actually see it.  Once I get that done I'll be doing an entire overhaul of the balance I've built to date as I've now realized that, while it works, it's definitely not optimal and I know I can get it refined and working better.  Anyway, glad I was able to help you with this and will be more than happy to do more if you add any additional parts with the DataTransmission module.

Link to the AntennaRange patch

[BetaguyGZT]

14 hours ago, CobaltWolf said:

I second the gunmetal gray on the ELIX. @BetaguyGZT just install Unity, it's not that big of a deal. You don't really have to learn much for it. You spend maybe 5 minutes setting up a part in Unity once you figure it out. 

I also use Autodesk Maya, but I think you can get a student (ie non-commercial) license for it even without an .edu email. I know several people here that have.  As far as I can tell as long as it's not for commercial use you're free to use it for personal projects.

I really can't speak to texturing programs. I just use Photoshop.

@BetaguyGZT I'm more than willing to help if you have further questions.

- No worries, I'm a Student (attending College) and getting Autodesk's Suite of products is easily done legit-style for me.

- I've got Photoshop CS2. Never bothered getting anything newer since there was no need.

- I'm not opposed to getting or installing Unity. I've got a Dev account already. I just found Unity rather difficult to use, is all. My Dev work has of late been primarily focused around UE4.

- I'll likely take you up on your offer of advice. This'll be my first real foray into texturing; modeling, no. Texturing, yes. I've messed around Blender enough to know how to do it (applying UV's and such); but making my own should be .. educational. I'm aware of the fundamental concepts and what I need to (and don't need to) be doing, so I should be okay. All I should require are some peer reviews before I go making a complete joke of myself.  

[akron]

15 hours ago, rasta013 said:

@akron Ok, here's the link to the initial pass for the AntennaRange patch.  My next job is to get my spreadsheet I use for calculations migrated from Excel over to Sheets and I'll be able to share all the specific details for each antenna and would appreciate your input on balance once you can actually see it.  Once I get that done I'll be doing an entire overhaul of the balance I've built to date as I've now realized that, while it works, it's definitely not optimal and I know I can get it refined and working better.  Anyway, glad I was able to help you with this and will be more than happy to do more if you add any additional parts with the DataTransmission module.

Link to the AntennaRange patch

Awesome! Thanks again. I hope we also get some feedback from AntennaRange users. I can give you some info about the real-life antenna but I actually don't mind if they are just "kerbalized" with them getting better as they get unlocked further down the techtree.

8 hours ago, BetaguyGZT said:

*snip*

Adobe CS2 still has all the features you need, if you start modding in Windows again. My knowledge should still apply if you have questions. Good luck!

[rasta013]

7 hours ago, akron said:

Awesome! Thanks again. I hope we also get some feedback from AntennaRange users. I can give you some info about the real-life antenna but I actually don't mind if they are just "kerbalized" with them getting better as they get unlocked further down the techtree.

That's kind of what it does but probably in the opposite direction.  I know that, generally speaking, if you've got a large enough baseband array sitting on the ground and it is pointed in the right direction that you'll pick up a TV antenna from Jupiter.  Kerbalized version of antennas tend to actually restrict more than expand upon transmission capabilities to encourage people to diversify what antennas they must use in order to reach locations within the solar system.

[BetaguyGZT]

13 hours ago, akron said:

Adobe CS2 still has all the features you need, if you start modding in Windows again. My knowledge should still apply if you have questions. Good luck!

Shouldn't be necessary except for getting the .mu's generated if Blender can't do it.

Speaking of Blender texturing, I have a question about the UV/Image workflow if someone would be kind enough to let me PM them about it. Came across a bit where I was asking "do I really have to do it like this?!", so I need a little guidance.

[CobaltWolf]

1 hour ago, BetaguyGZT said:

Shouldn't be necessary except for getting the .mu's generated if Blender can't do it.

Speaking of Blender texturing, I have a question about the UV/Image workflow if someone would be kind enough to let me PM them about it. Came across a bit where I was asking "do I really have to do it like this?!", so I need a little guidance.

Shoot. Haven't used Blender in forever, so unless it's pretty general I can't actually help

[BetaguyGZT]

No worries. I'll work it out; whether it's the easy way or the hard way. Trying to save myself some time is all.

[CobaltWolf]

6 minutes ago, BetaguyGZT said:

No worries. I'll work it out; whether it's the easy way or the hard way. Trying to save myself some time is all.

oh that doesn't happen with UV maps. You can try. It won't happen.

[BetaguyGZT]

27 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:

oh that doesn't happen with UV maps. You can try. It won't happen.

Oh I'm aware of that.  Nah, just the tiling part of doing radius bits in texturing without having to re-position every single one of the areas. It's a chore and I would like to speed up the workflow.

[akron]

Shoot me a PM with some screenshots and I can try and help. Like @CobaltWolf said, UV maps are inherently a chore.

[BetaguyGZT]

3 hours ago, akron said:

Shoot me a PM with some screenshots and I can try and help. Like @CobaltWolf said, UV maps are inherently a chore.

Will do. UV Maps aren't that bad; it's the texturing around the radii of fuel tanks and other large parts that use cylinders that I'm finding to be time-consuming.

[akron]

I modded some alternate E200 Solar panels... 2x1 instead of 1x3.

I'm tired. Zzzzzzz

 

[rasta013]

5 minutes ago, akron said:

 

I modded some alternate E200 Solar panels... 2x1 instead of 1x3.

I'm tired. Zzzzzzz

 

TBH...I really like that layout.  The 1x3 get in the way of my pointy thingies sticking out all over my probes sometimes...

 

[akron]

4 minutes ago, rasta013 said:

TBH...I really like that layout.  The 1x3 get in the way of my pointy thingies sticking out all over my probes sometimes...

 

I totally understand. The original E200 are based on a somewhat unique NASA design (Odyssey) that I haven't really seen anywhere else so I decided to model it. It's probably not as practical in KSP, hence this new E200B.