Orbit Portal Showroom [Show me your OPT Spaceplanes!]

[Mycroft]

17 hours ago, njmksr said:

And the Freedomizer is a bit of a handful. It needs KJR and TCA to fly.

Hmm. Perhaps I could download it and balance its thrust?

Do you have a download link?

[JadeOfMaar]

@Andrew2070 That's a sweet set of upgrades there. The surplus oxidizer issue is a small thing that (I think) is normally avoided by any experienced SSTO designer who chooses to use air and rocket engines. A lot of LF will be consumed while air-breathing so there must always be a dedicated excess portion of LF and moreso if you build something with nuclear engines. I share your reservations about the Dark Drive for the same reason. When my Lithia L gets back from Jool (Although I'm in Sandbox, it has a Science Lab and its mission is to gain experience traversing Jool's SOI and to map out the moons) I'll release something with a Dark Drive attached.

 

---

This one of my more thoroughbred spaceplanes (that is, consisting of nearly entirely OPT parts) which sadly hasn't seen much action because I've tried to keep transport crafts small and it had an IntakeAir problem. After finally learning that intake specs (whether subsonic or supersonic) matter, I fixed that problem, and now that this thread is alive, I'll be using this ship a lot.

Thanks to everyone who's posted so far.

This is the FedEx MunEx transport drone SSTO featuring two J-92 and a J Linear Aerospike.  It's able to make 100~120km Apoapsis on air alone and then has a little over 2km/s dV with Oxidizer. There's no good screenshot yet because I wanted to confirm its range and optimal cargo weight first but now I'm impatient to share a pic. It should be able to make Mun orbit and return without refueling but Minmus reach is definitely nil/zero.

The MunEx Uber is the taxi service variant. It keeps a cargo bay in case essentials other than personnel need to ride, such as life support tanks. The next variant, MunEx Amazon, purely for shipping, replaces the crew tank with a second cargo bay for bigger cargo.

 

 

Edited October 15, 2016 by JadeOfMaar

[njmksr]

7 hours ago, Mycroft said:

Hmm. Perhaps I could download it and balance its thrust?

Do you have a download link?

Yeah, check the AHWP Challenge for DL.

[Andrew2070]

I built myself an orbital ring for my SSTO.

Until O.P.T Updates to 1.1+ I won't update.

Basically, my version of KSP uses unity 4 which utilizes 1 core for all the physics and part loading.

Unity 5 uses all four cores and reduces lag caused by part count significantly (So I have been told).

Anyhow, I can't use my carrier ships to transport my Longsword and have to rely on something below 250 parts.

 

So i built this off of some ideas I saw around the forums:

[Mycroft]

1 hour ago, Andrew2070 said:

Until O.P.T Updates to 1.1+ I won't update.

Basically, my version of KSP uses unity 4 which utilizes 1 core for all the physics and part loading.

Ummm I don't know how you didn't hear about it, but OPT has been 1.1.3 compatible for a while now, the title of the thread just didn't change because the person who was upkeeping it was not the original guy who posted the mod, so he couldn't edit the OP. But the SpaceDock link still works.

[JadeOfMaar]

@Mycroft you Ninja'd me D:

[Andrew2070]

Oh I had no idea.

I think I might have checked the title and closed the tab, then again I downloaded OPT 2 months ago.

Well, I found a solution to the process of shuttling my spacecraft in a more "Convenient" manner, opposed to updating.

 

I think it's fair to say after watching Independence Day: Resurgence I was "Inspired" to build bigger than before.

(Full designed version can handle up to 12 of my SSTO's stored in cargo bays. Literally inside a cargo bay.)

(10m Part Sizes, utilizing Mk 2 fuel tanks and bays as well as a probe drone core (mk. 2).

Im keeping it relatively simple, so that the part count of the cruiser remains relatively low.

 

Screenshots:

http://imgur.com/a/K4mYz

 

 

[JadeOfMaar]

But.... but.... why 12? D: _{People's eyes will bleed at the amount of Monopropellant that giant Mk2 tank is holding.}

[Mycroft]

Really? TweakScale? Come on bro. I prefer to build with parts like the B9 HX pack that are 10 by 10 meters big by design. TweakScale always seemed like a cop-out to me, not to mention that it wreaks havoc on the textures. I mean sure that's impressively big, but anybody can make a MK2 part super big. Not nearly as easy to make a good looking and functional craft within the constraints of mods. There are times, granted, when it's handy, but really? 

And now everyone jumps me for making a controversial opinion about a mod...

[Flashblade]

Ah an Orbit Portal Technology Showroom. Op you should really add the Technology in the topic as well after all that is what the T stands for. At least imho.

Now I'd like to contribute my baby to this thread.

This is the STARDANCER MK 2a SSTO

 

http://imgur.com/a/rUVAC

I have to rebuild this bird with every new version of OPT. This is not meant as a criticism. I just love her this much.

As she is equiped now she has a small cargo bay and could transport up to 2 satellites into orbit. She also has a docking port so crew transfer or refueling at a station would also be an option. The cargo bay could be replaced by the science module to make her a research platform. She is powered by two OPT-J61 "Starwaster" and currently the OPT Linear Aerospike, I had ARIEs on her before which also gave me the opportunity to place drag shutes for landing. I might pair two ARIEs with NERVA at some point since that would really boost her range as we all know.

The wings are B9 procedural parts. I am really proud of the fact that the Starwasters are properly integrated into the wing. The wing doesn't clip through the middle of the engine which would make the intakes useless in reality. B9 procedurals make this kind of thing possible. At this point I have written down the measurements for all wing parts so that I do rebuilt them exactly as they were previously.

Mods used: OPT, B9 Aerospace, B9 Procedural Wings, Aviation Lights

(P.S. Yes she is completely 1.2 at this point even though B9 Aerospace has not released yet, but since I help maintain that mod that grants me certain priviliges )

Edited October 16, 2016 by Flashblade

[Andrew2070]

16 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

But.... but.... why 12? D: _{People's eyes will bleed at the amount of Monopropellant that giant Mk2 tank is holding.}

Well, I haven't really come around to designing a fully functional one.

It performs well in orbit and the dark matter engines or whatever they are called seem to provide enough thrust.

The monopropellant tank in that thing is a real giant, It has like 20k monoprop in there.

(12 SSTO's cause kerbals aren't the best pilots compared to drone cores, plus have to be prepared for emergencies.)

8 hours ago, Mycroft said:

Really? TweakScale? Come on bro. I prefer to build with parts like the B9 HX pack that are 10 by 10 meters big by design. TweakScale always seemed like a cop-out to me, not to mention that it wreaks havoc on the textures. I mean sure that's impressively big, but anybody can make a MK2 part super big. Not nearly as easy to make a good looking and functional craft within the constraints of mods. There are times, granted, when it's handy, but really? 

And now everyone jumps me for making a controversial opinion about a mod...

Tweakscale maybe a cop out but it's comparatively easier to use.

It does not break textures if you know how to place the parts correctly.

I use TweakScale for aesthetic purposes, to fit ugly parts in unnoticeable places.

Or to use smaller parts on larger crafts by increasing their sizes (engines on J size bicouplers).

 

(I don't know what to build next, but I think i'll continue upgrading my SSTO).

[degenerate]

17 minutes ago, Andrew2070 said:

Tweakscale maybe a cop out but it's comparatively easier to use.

It does not break textures if you know how to place the parts correctly.

 

Maybe not.

But it does stretch them out, making them look very poor.

[JadeOfMaar]

The overuse of Tweakscale does come across as a tool of a lazy engineer. However, for my two non-stock hovercraft so far I've had to scale down nearly everything except the core section because those ships are meant to be very small. I've seen mention that @Andrew2070 is highly concerned about part count and game performance, especially in KSP 1.0.x,  which is completely understandable. Scaling something to be immense can save on performance but will degrade any texture, of course......But none of that justifies his use of (if he actually has use of) over 20 thousand monopropellant.

@Mycroft opened a serious can of worms. Lol.

I'm on the fence about mods making it harder to produce a good-looking and well-functioning craft. I've seen countless wonderful and functional vanilla ships. But then there's my USS Enterprise. Not just another trophy ship it does nearly everything expected of a working ship. Sadly it contains 5~7 mods but I know my mods. If anything makes it hard to build good-looking and capable crafts with mods it's that mods that make certain features easier to build in may not exist or are obscure and unknown to the designer...or how they operate may scare the designer, or the anticipation of technical issues with the mod which will hurt the design more than help it--and vanilla players never want/do to have to deal with that.

Speaking of technical issues, I happen to have this: I'm helping to develop a planet pack and OPT seems to not agree with it. Everything's there but I can't use fuel switch on hull sections and would have to compensate with procedural tanks. But as KSP 1.1.3 (which I'm still in) is phasing out, I'm not complaining.

 

4 hours ago, Andrew2070 said:

(I don't know what to build next, but I think i'll continue upgrading my SSTO).

Upgrade your game then marvel at the truckloads of new shiny OPT parts and then decide what to build. Make a castle ship or station and send it to Moho, Pol or Gilly... Something static and important for your SSTO to serve with.

[Andrew2070]

2 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

The overuse of Tweakscale does come across as a tool of a lazy engineer. However, for my two non-stock hovercraft so far I've had to scale down nearly everything except the core section because those ships are meant to be very small. I've seen mention that @Andrew2070 is highly concerned about part count and game performance, especially in KSP 1.0.x,  which is completely understandable. Scaling something to be immense can save on performance but will degrade any texture, of course......But none of that justifies his use of (if he actually has use of) over 20 thousand monopropellant.

@Mycroft opened a serious can of worms. Lol.

I'm on the fence about mods making it harder to produce a good-looking and well-functioning craft. I've seen countless wonderful and functional vanilla ships. But then there's my USS Enterprise. Not just another trophy ship it does nearly everything expected of a working ship. Sadly it contains 5~7 mods but I know my mods. If anything makes it hard to build good-looking and capable crafts with mods it's that mods that make certain features easier to build in may not exist or are obscure and unknown to the designer...or how they operate may scare the designer, or the anticipation of technical issues with the mod which will hurt the design more than help it--and vanilla players never want/do to have to deal with that.

Speaking of technical issues, I happen to have this: I'm helping to develop a planet pack and OPT seems to not agree with it. Everything's there but I can't use fuel switch on hull sections and would have to compensate with procedural tanks. But as KSP 1.1.3 (which I'm still in) is phasing out, I'm not complaining.

 

Upgrade your game then marvel at the truckloads of new shiny OPT parts and then decide what to build. Make a castle ship or station and send it to Moho, Pol or Gilly... Something static and important for your SSTO to serve with.

@JadeOfMaar Few things:

1. That monopropellant is meant for refueling SSTO's and use by 400% scaled RCS Thrusters

2. TweakScale is basically the cheap way out of a difficult situation, but it works for me and I prefer low part counts.

3. I brought down my part count from something around 200 to 134 without removing significant features at all.

4. The low part count allows me to send two Longswords on a Frigate with less lag (bout 290 parts)

5. My goals are to reduce part count and lag so that I can shuttle three Longswords per Frigate.

6. I have those Frigates of mine a.k.a Carriers on the following: Kerbin, Mun, Duna, Eve and Laythe.

7. I also have "Hyper Rings" on about almost every planetoid just for emergency use by all my ships.

8. I think I might look into building a "Iridium" network of space defense sattelites around kerbin.

 

~I have O.C.D : I can't handle uneven text/content thus the bullet points, makes me crazy 

 I seriously need ideas for OPT lol.
 

[JadeOfMaar]

Sounds legit, then. Alright, design something that uses the J Linear Aerospike or ARI-7x engines. And I see what you did there with that Iridium reference. *makes Vulcan hand gesture*

Spoiler

It might actually be really cool to have a mod for that. I know what to do with it already, I could flesh it out as an Addon request.

 

[JadeOfMaar]

OPT spaceplane seaboat. This is the "Giantess" hinted at in opening post. A J cargo bay at the very front opens downward for a tiny submarine, there's another phoenix cockpit under the water, and the craft has parts from the Karbonite mod to refuel while in ocean, but Karbonite is nearly non-existent on Kerbin so those parts turned out to be a waste of time. It may turn out just right on Eve, however, as the purple world is full of it. It also cruises at 28m/s and travels up to 60km. In addition to its limitations it's... not giant enough.

But it's a good start.

[Andrew2070]

This may not be OPT entirely but It compensates for my extremely heavy refueling mechanisms:

If i take out the convertatron and the ore tanks in my SSTO i basically reduce mass by nearly 5 tons.

 

(Don't ask me how i fit that rover in a fairing)  

I dislike Hyperedit for small craft as it reduces the challenge so don't draw conclusions there...

 

[JadeOfMaar]

Nah. Nobody's gonna ask that. The T1 aerospike is supposed to have a node behind it so you can mount a fairing base easy. So you're experimenting with having the SSTO not carry mining gear?

[gilflo]

My OPT Supertanker SSTO

503T on take off, running on Liquid fuel only with 2 OPT J61 2.5m Starwaster turboramjet engines and 2 MRS Nuclear quad engines of 3.5m

Total liquid fuel is 61360L (306.8T) - 80%Fuel left at 110km orbit

Take off 

Spoiler

Climb

Spoiler

Re-entry

Spoiler

Landing

Spoiler

 

[gilflo]

OPT Humpback Supertanker SSTO

790T LF 99000L (495T) - 4 Drag chutes to assist breaking on landing.  8 extra large landing gears (48 wheels) and 2 Nose medium landing gears.

4 OPT J61 starwaster turboramjet (2x2.5m and 2x2.05m) - 2 MRS Nuke quand engines (4.15m)

Working on 1.1.3

Exploding on launch on 1.2, whatever are the auto strut settings....Problems on linkage between gears and fuselage....!!! I can't solve it...

take off and climb

Spoiler

 

Edited October 22, 2016 by gilflo

[Flashblade]

And here is a new entry from me.

Do you wonderful ppl remember the OPT Trailer which K.Yeon created? If you don't, it is the link in my signature. You should go check it out! It is very well made. It has something to do with what I am about to show you as well so without further ado.....

I present to you the Apotheosis TAV

http://imgur.com/a/n1SG6

It's name is a synonym on what these parts have been clearly inspired by ;). Yes it is the craft that has the most playtime in the trailer. I think that this was the best "stock" craft that was ever included in the OPT mod. K.Yeons first take on these parts were also the best. In subsequent versions this cockpit or a similar cockpit made returns, but this was just the best version. This is not a copy though it is my own personalized remake as anyone who looks at the screens and compares it to the trailer can atest to. I liked the original engine setup the Aerospike the Screamjets and the four ARIEs, but as it is now it chews through to many recources to be viable. So this beauty is now powered by 2 OPT J-92 Deimos, the orginal 2 OPT J-60 Screamjets and a set of four OPT ARI-75B. It still takes a ton of fuel to get it into orbit. It launches with over 9000 LF -and over 5000 Ox. A short orbital hop with satellite deployment and landing leaves about 2000 LF in the tanks and i can't remember how much Ox.

The feature I am especially proud of this time is that the flaps are completely integrated into the wings. This is something I plan to use on the Stardancer MK3 as soon as K.Yeon makes 1.9 available (which will supposedly be the first one that will go into the release sub-forum). Changes include a full set of B9 RCS thrusters, 8 airbrakes, one of B9s most useful parts the shielded docking port for rendevouz goodness, no craft without proper aviation lights. There are also ladders below the access doors. Wings and tailfins are B9 procedurals of course, because versatility is king and enabling. Tailfins have been placed above the ARIs and not above the Deimos (Linear Aerospike in the trailer).

This is not as multirole capable as my Stardancer is since the now dubbed Avatar parts only ever included cargo bays and no crew or science modules.

Changes I plan to test are replacing the Deimos with B9 Sabre's and to use a single pair of ARIs instead of two. Replacing the Deimos with B9 SABREs would conserve more full and thereby make the entire craft lighter by reducing overall fuel.  I really like the Deimos engine effect though. Removing a set of ARIs would be intended for the same purpose, but 4 look way cooler. The original Screamjets are not optional though to conserve the look

Mods: OPT, B9 Aerospace, B9 Procedural Parts, Aviation Lights

Edited October 23, 2016 by Flashblade
Whoopsy no mod list

[JadeOfMaar]

@Flashblade Actually I don't think I ever saw it. Well that just changed. Well back in the day the ARI used IntakeAir and Squad's ion engines were uber so it's quite fine that the reference engine setup won't work now. Stardancer sounds like a flagship. As for me I have a use for every one of the service and RCS parts coming with OPT v1.9.

On 10/23/2016 at 9:18 AM, Flashblade said:

the flaps are completely integrated into the wings.

Eh? I hope you mean they blend perfectly, visually. There are very good reasons why OPT elevons are separate parts beside the newer wings.

On 10/23/2016 at 9:18 AM, Flashblade said:

over 9000

mhmm. I see what you did there.

[Flashblade]

8 hours ago, JadeOfMaar said:

Eh? I hope you mean they blend perfectly, visually. There are very good reasons why OPT elevons are separate parts beside the newer wings.

mhmm. I see what you did there.

@JadeOfMaar Yeah that is indeed what I meant to say. I am aware that putting the elevons extra is necessary. I have seen K.Yeons explanation for it as well. And as for the over 9000 thing, heh that was coincidence since it really has 9600 something LF in the tanks

[Flashblade]

OPT 1.9 release celebratory screenshot

Stardancer Mk 2B

Now with cockpit lights and control surfaces that are fully blended into the wing yay!

Not the Mk 3 yet since K.Yeon hasn't finished the MK2 engines yet.

Mods used: Same as Mk 2A

[stali79]

1 minute ago, Flashblade said:

OPT 1.9 release celebratory screenshot

Stardancer Mk 2B

Now with cockpit lights and control surfaces that are fully blended into the wing yay!

Not the Mk 3 yet since K.Yeon hasn't finished the MK2 engines yet.

Mods used: Same as Mk 2A

Mk 2 engines still available in legacy pack