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Project Intrepid (Chapter 61 - The Sirens Of Moho)


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  On 10/4/2018 at 4:13 AM, kerbalstar said:

I don't know, can you maybe move the chapters all to one post?

@Snark should know if it's possible. Right, @Snark ?

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Moving all the chapters to one post would make the problem far worse.

Loading times are slow just because there's a whole lot of content there.  Not much to be done about that, as long as the content is so big.

Perhaps talk to one of the other "long story" authors who hang out here in the forum,  to see what their strategy is for dealing with long page load times?

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  On 10/4/2018 at 2:10 PM, Snark said:

Moving all the chapters to one post would make the problem far worse.

Loading times are slow just because there's a whole lot of content there.  Not much to be done about that, as long as the content is so big.

Perhaps talk to one of the other "long story" authors who hang out here in the forum,  to see what their strategy is for dealing with long page load times?

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Fair point, thanks! @Just Jim, @Kuzzter?

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  On 10/4/2018 at 1:26 PM, roboslacker said:

I'm loving the action sequences. How many models did you create for the building interiors in part 53?

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...None in 53, so I'll assume you mean 52 and 54. And because I've always wanted someone to ask about the interiors, I'll do both!

In 52, there was the astronaut complex main entrance:

wOEqVxW.png

Which had an unused balcony, a lack of doors, and does not actually have a front side, it's open to the air.

e7Fs1tQ.png

Then there was the "hangout" section of the Astronaut complex, which had one or two tables, a pile of parts, a science trainer, an engine being repaired, a random antenna/sculpture, a trainer science lab, a flight simulator, and probably a few more things I've forgotten about!

Now, the underground tram... It took a lot of time to get to work correctly.

GvblofQ.png

This was the first version, but I think I increased the pipe diameter so I could use Mk2 parts, and I made upward facing wheels. This version was too small and finicky... Another version used the 1.25m form factor but that was impractical since it could only carry about 5 people.

Once I had the diameter figured out, I built a test track.

Y17R1k5.png

But the tram proved too unreliable to do the whole run in one craft without anything breaking, and the SPH does weird things if I have a craft this big.

egOWy5k.png

The actual station took many attempts to get right. I ended up taking Mk3 cargo bays and raising the bottom with structural plates.

wlaqKbO.png

I made a temporary 1.3.1 save to build all of this, and transferred that save to 1.4.5. I haven't actually brought the main save over just yet, there's a lot of story I need to write before we get back to business as usual. And 1.5 will probably be out by then... Meh. I'll probably keep it in 1.4.5, unless 1.5 offers something useful.

In this temporary save I ended up with 14 different tram craft files for the various scenes.

xrcB1k7.png

This is the exterior of the one where I crash through the station barrier and go down to the underground museum.

04opukf.png

And the part where I have a tram interior? That's this thing, the whole set is inside the mk2 bay, and I just rolled the thing around on its supports to get those moments where Jeb is knocking Doodgun back and forth.

b42kD7n.png

And then there's the museum, everything referenced in the story is stuff I actually built, most of it just for the museum.

QrLKLKH.png

And this part, where Jeb was floating in the void, was done with completely burned out heat shields, 6 of them. I had more pictures but they all had the parachute visible.

All of the damage done to the Paladin G2M was *mostly* real. Initially I wanted to actually use the BDA AI and try to outrun the missiles and bombs myself, but the Paladin kept crashing, and the BDA AI doesn't know that I don't have guns... I'd get a short machine gun burst from each plane every 2 minutes or so. Not paced fast enough. So I attacked the vehicle myself, which led to lots of quickloads and a few inconsistencies. I never actually loaded in a new craft as a broken one, except for the interior of the plane, so all of the damage was actually done by BDA, although I may have had to respawn a few Kerbals. Some of it was me on purpose shooting some parts from up close.

sHYOJgl.png

These explosion images were done using weavesilk.com, a cool art tool.

zfU5smK.png

This room is its own interior, as is the hallway with the guns... I think the gun hallway was the only one I launched from the pad instead of the runway, because the room set was already on the runway and I didn't want to reposition the Kerbals.

And then, of course, the airplane interior, which we're going to see more of, so I won't spoil that just yet!

 

So, basically, a lot.

  On 10/4/2018 at 2:10 PM, Snark said:

Perhaps talk to one of the other "long story" authors who hang out here in the forum,  to see what their strategy is for dealing with long page load times?

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  On 10/4/2018 at 8:58 PM, kerbalstar said:

Fair point, thanks! @Just Jim, @Kuzzter?

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Probably by having stories so popular and well written that there's 23 replies and 2 chapters per page! :)

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  On 10/4/2018 at 8:58 PM, Kerbalstar said:

Fair point, thanks! @Just Jim, @Kuzzter?

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Well, I post(ed) no more than a few comic pages at a time... each of which contains a laboriously edited collection of sometimes several screenshots. So, I don't think my readers ever really ran into a loading time problem. The downside is that not everyone has time to do it that way, including me right now :) 

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  On 10/10/2018 at 3:10 PM, Kuzzter said:

Well, I post(ed) no more than a few comic pages at a time... each of which contains a laboriously edited collection of sometimes several screenshots. So, I don't think my readers ever really ran into a loading time problem. The downside is that not everyone has time to do it that way, including me right now :) 

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Fair point, thanks!

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  On 10/4/2018 at 3:05 AM, Ultimate Steve said:

"Wait, aren't wheels electr-AAAAAA!!!"

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Ha! This is great :D

I feel bad for not taking the time to read these, sorry :P

I need to actually set some time apart from studying lol

EDIT: I love how the vehicle progressively fell apart XD

Also, Avocado Squadron :D

Edited by Earthlinger
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  • 6 months later...

Haven't been on the forums in a while and decided to catch up on this. Wow. What a turn of events.

Given how this thread has been gravedug before and you are still active, is there any chance of this being revived?

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  On 4/17/2019 at 5:30 AM, rlin said:

Haven't been on the forums in a while and decided to catch up on this. Wow. What a turn of events.

Given how this thread has been gravedug before and you are still active, is there any chance of this being revived?

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Eventually. The next few chapters require lots of set building, and I have decided that if I want to finish a story before I graduate, it will be Voyage. I intend to finish this story someday, but it is not my top priority and I can't say when the next chapter will come.

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  • 2 months later...

I don't know if I'll make more soon, but I felt the PI bug recently. It has been something like a year since the last part... Sorry to keep you waiting. I've had this battle planned out for at least a year, though, and it will probably be at least one more part after this one.

So without further delay,

 

Chapter 55 - The Hangar

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kraken, it really has been nearly a year...

Also, the Kraken reminds me of that party in H2G2. The one which flew around the world, raiding vinyards.

Edited by fulgur
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  • 1 year later...
  On 12/14/2020 at 5:08 PM, GuessingEveryDay said:

Oh no. Just finished reading all of this, and all I can say is

  Reveal hidden contents

 

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I hope not, but unfortunately probably. With infinite time and motivation I'd finish it eventually, but unfortunately I can't say for sure.

The screenshots for the next chapter are sitting around half done, though.

If we go another year without actual progress I'll summarize what I had planned. If it gets to that point, December 14, 2021, ping spam me.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 8 months later...
  On 12/8/2021 at 1:46 PM, Maria Sirona said:

Sooo... I hoped we had not got to this point. I know it's december 7th and not 14th, but does a week here or there really matter? :(;.;

I just ask that the summary at least be semi-detailed 

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Yeah I think I'm probably going to let this rest peacefully for the time being.

When it comes, the summary will be as detailed as I can manage, although it will probably not come until the 17th or later due to finals. Probably later as I have to reread a lot of this and dig around for my notes to make sure I'm getting it right.

There is a chance that I do end up continuing it anyway after I post the summary, though.

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