[WIP]Escape Pod Mod - REKT development thread

[steedcrugeon]

Right, so i have started the work for building some very compact escape pods. At this stage i'm still trying to figure out what to call it, i have a couple of idea and your input is welcome:

KEEP (Kerbal Emergency Escape Pod)

R-EKT (Rescue - Emergency Kerbal Transport/Tube (either transport or tube or maybe even both?)

REK (Recoverable Escape Kapsule)

KARP (Kerbal Auxiliary Rescue Pod)

So that the first issue, dependent on feedback i'll make a decision probably by the end of next week, maybe?

- the Recoverable Emergency Kerbal Transport (REKT) name has been adopted -

This mod is mostly escape pods and a few supporting parts

the beta parts can be found here:

https://github.com/steedcrugeon/REKT - This mod is not yet at the v.1 release stage.

Just put the SHED folder directly into the GameData folder.

 

Mods that improve parts of this mod:

Landertron

IndicatorLights

 

Coming soon:

i) Emmissive meshes that would greatly benefit from InidicatorLights

ii) MM patches to make the mk1N play nicely without having the user comment out the Landertron module.

iii) MM patch to add life support supplies to the pods

iv) IVA's for all the pods

v) implementation of the 'Pod status' emissive reliant on IndicatorLights (mk1A and mk1N)

vi) DeepFreeze compatible Cryo pod - the mk1C

 

License: the REKT Parts are under CC-BY-NC-SA 

the recommended supporting mods are under their respective licenses which may differ from the one above - for info

Edited May 19, 2017 by steedcrugeon
updated the 'coming soon'

[steedcrugeon]

Early modelling pic:

[Nansuchao]

What about Kerbal Safety? Short names are usually easier to remember.

[steedcrugeon]

6 hours ago, Nansuchao said:

What about Kerbal Safety? Short names are usually easier to remember.

hmm, hadn't considered something short and sweet (I'm a fan of acronyms).

[Superfluous J]

13 minutes ago, steedcrugeon said:

hmm, hadn't considered something short and sweet (I'm a fan of acronyms).

So am I (See "Drop A Maneuver Node").

I personally like "REKT" but without the dash. Maybe "Recoverable Emergency Kerbal Transport"?

[Bombaatu]

Personally, I'd go with this: KRAP (Kerbal Rescue Auxiliary Pod)...

[steedcrugeon]

right well I've made it a little bit further along with this:

and i'm fairly happy with the overall size of the unit (the mk0 fuel tank is on top in this picture) and where the ladders/airlock is:

Problem i have at the minute is only one of my RCS ports is working as it should, its the last one in the config file. Now this is the text from my config file, all the RCS transforms have the same name (it doesn't matter if i name them individually, its still only the last one that actually works).

EFFECTS
	{
		running
		{
			AUDIO_MULTI_POOL
			{
				channel = Ship
				transformName = RCSjet
				clip = sound_rocket_mini
				volume = 0.0 0.0
				volume = 0.1 0.0
				volume = 0.5 0.025
				volume = 1.0 0.1
				pitch = 0.0 0.75
				pitch = 1.0 1.5
				loop = true
			}
			MODEL_MULTI_PARTICLE
			{
				modelName = Squad/FX/Monoprop_small
				transformName = RCSjet
				emission = 0.0 0.0
				emission = 0.1 0.0
				emission = 1.0 1.0
				speed = 0.0 0.8
				speed = 1.0 1.0
				localRotation = -90, 0, 0
			}	
		}		
	}

	// INTERNAL
	// {
	// 	name = TBC
	// }
	
	MODULE
	{
		name = ModuleRCS
		thrusterTransformName = RCS
		thrusterPower = 3
		resourceName = MonoPropellant
		resourceFlowMode = STAGE_PRIORITY_FLOW
		runningEffectName = running
		atmosphereCurve
 		{
   		key = 0 260
  	 	key = 1 100
 		}
	}

So if anyone has any clues as to how I can get the to behave, that'd be great!

[steedcrugeon]

well not sure how i did it but the RCS ports now all work as intended. I've made a scaled down version of the stock airbrakes (approximately 1/3 scale) and tested to see how it behaves.

Here's Jeb with the pod for scale

 

So far it's looking promising. i'm trying to figure out how to incorporate the airbrakes into the pod but it is problematic. more likely they will be a seperate part and i'll nee to figure out to to have a radial node which 'snaps to' when the appropriate part is present (like the Universal Storage assemblies).

[steedcrugeon]

well I have made more progress this evening. refreshed the texture and think i have gone with the REKT acronym.

Tested my RCS in suborbital to see if they did the business (still need to do a proper retrograde burn/jet from orbit yet).

managed to get the integral airbrakes to behave after a fashion. Despite offsetting the CoL the thing still prefers to fall prograde once the brakes are deployed, SAS holds it retrograde though and the descent profile is not different:

not to long later the chute deploys, as a test i've been setting the altitude trigger to 500.

but i have now come across and unexpected issue. i'll need to fix the buoyancy issue soon i think:

[nascarlaser1]

You could always borrow airbags/floaters from another mod, then just integrate them into the side, and after the parachute deploy if your above water, the floaters come out and it floats.

[akron]

Cool idea. I would reverse the colors though. As an escape pod, you'd want high visibility so it may be better to be colored yellow with black letters and details rather than the other way around.

[Mekan1k]

Yes. Color it something florescent: maybe whatever color kerbal blood is supposed to be.

[TheKurgan]

LOVE it... want it... need a beta tester?

[steedcrugeon]

11 hours ago, akron said:

Cool idea. I would reverse the colors though. As an escape pod, you'd want high visibility so it may be better to be colored yellow with black letters and details rather than the other way around.

this is a good point, I EVA'd the Kerbal on a subortibal trajectory and after letting go I lost sight of the Pod, this is what brought about the first re-texturing to add some form of identification to the pod door. Thing is I still wanted to emulate the black/dark emissive colour of heat shield's (given it's tendency for re-entry). I'll have a tinker with textures again soon then.

8 hours ago, Mekan1k said:

Yes. Color it something florescent: maybe whatever color kerbal blood is supposed to be.

What I was hoping to add (if I can get in touch with it's author: @Snark) was a bunch of indictors/beacons using the IndicatorLights mod plugin and bundle it. That way it's be obvious wherever it is.

12 hours ago, nascarlaser1 said:

You could always borrow airbags/floaters from another mod, then just integrate them into the side, and after the parachute deploy if your above water, the floaters come out and it floats.

I'll send a message to @RoverDude and see If he minds me using some of the inflatable plugins from DERP. That's a pretty cool mod and inspired parts of mine.

7 hours ago, TheKurgan said:

LOVE it... want it... need a beta tester?

Soon ™

[Snark]

Looks great! 

A few comments/suggestions:

• Will it be radially attachable?  I'm thinking it would be a cool look if a large, multi-crew ship could have several of these radially attached around the sides, so that the whole crew can bug out if needed.
• Possibly make it a little shorter, top-to-bottom?  Might make it a little friendlier for putting in-line with stacks, without making them too tall/skinny.
• Might be an interesting idea to play around with additional attachment nodes, 1.25m size, floating in space a short distance past the ends of the pod, such that if someone attaches stuff there, it automatically makes a rigid 1.25m shroud around the part.  (Look at what SpaceY does with inter-stage thrust plates.)  Would make it easier/friendlier for people to put it in-line in the middle of their stacks, without necessarily requiring that it has to be on the top of the rocket. (I suppose a player could accomplish much the same effect by mounting the REKT inside an in-line interstage fairing, but having the extra nodes could make it look nicer and be more convenient to use.)

An interesting accessory part might be a "socket holder", e.g. a 2.5m stack part that has several radial "cavities" of the right shape and size for the escape pod to fit snugly, perhaps with a built-in radial decoupler to stage them out.  Basically, a way to fit a set of the pods radially (and aerodynamically) in-line with a 2.5m stack.  ...Though, if you made the pods radially attachable, I suppose someone could get much the same effect using an interstage fairing with radial decouplers around a central spindle.

If you want lights and such on the pod:  take a look at how Squad has added cabin lights to all the "old" parts (such as the Mk1 command pod) in KSP 1.2.  There's a nifty new PartModule called ModuleColorChanger that allows you to have glowing lights, colored however you want, that can toggle on/off with action groups (including the ability to be in the Light action group by default).  Depending on what effects you want, that may be enough to do the trick.  On the other hand, if you want to get fancy with it (fancy blinking animations, a crew occupancy indicator, resource-level indicators, etc.), you could certainly instrument it to use my IndicatorLights mod-- let me know if you have any questions, I'm happy to help. 

 

[EDIT] ...One other idea that occurs to me.  Does the part have any "stage" action yet?  If it's not staged, then one possible addition might be to give it "landing jets".  Basically, give it a tiny amount of SRB propellant, which when staged will activate a trio of radial SRB jets around the bottom, designed to cushion the landing.  Make them strong enough so that at full thrust, they generate a brief burst of ~3g acceleration.  Suppose that the sea-level terminal velocity of the pod on Kerbin is, say, 60 m/s.  If the pod can withstand reasonably high impact (say, 20 m/s), then a two-second burst of 3g deceleration would be enough to cushion a landing without requiring a parachute.

I bring it up because it opens some interesting design choices for the player.  For example, it could become more viable as an emergency landing pod for places other than Kerbin. Players could tune the thrust limiter (and amount of propellant) based on where they plan on landing.  Could have a "staged / not staged" toggle in the VAB, so someone who wants to use a chute wouldn't have to use the jets.

Have you tried it out with the new 0.625m heat shield in KSP 1.2?  Would be nice if it's aerodynamically stable with the shield, to allow very high-speed reentry.

[steedcrugeon]

@Snark what you've done there is basically take all the surprises out of my WIP progress aspects. although you have confirmed that there would be want of the retro-rocket cushion variant. so i'll break down the full extent of the planned mod as it stand:

the core part has three variants:

mk1A - Atmospheric re-entry variant (kerbin, etc) features airbrakes, minimal supplies and RCS thruster to get that retrograde push for suorbital path

mk1D - Deep space lifeboat variant no airbrakes, lightweight no RCS but has a tiny inbuilt solar panel, comms array and additional supplies (for the long wait to be rescued)

mk1N - Non-atmospheric re-entry variant, the airbrakes removed and has small (spider-esque) LFO engines. 

Th plan is for radial attachment principally and i was going to (hopefully when i have modelled them) an assortment of specialised inline adapters to maximise being outfitted with escape pods. pretty much exactly as you have mentioned.

although i do prefer the idea of fire and forget 'rocket cushion (i did originally model the triple SRB's alongside the airbrakes) i had forgotten you can set thrust limit. it would then make them ideal for use with stations.

The are still a few parts i have planned that you haven't mentioned but i'll keep those to myself for the time being.

[Snark]

26 minutes ago, steedcrugeon said:

what you've done there is basically take all the surprises out of my WIP progress aspects

Whoops... sorry about that! 

[cxg2827]

2 hours ago, steedcrugeon said:

what you've done there is basically take all the surprises out of my WIP progress aspects

though you are the one that officially let the cat out of the bag

looking forward to seeing your other planned parts.

 

[steedcrugeon]

here's a few picture from tonight's efforts (i really need to figure out how to GIF my screen for the animations):

and a bit of early texturing:

As you can see this version is not nearly so dark! I've been talking to snark who's given me some good stuff to think about for my lighting arrangements. When i get some more time i'll have a good play with it.

[ISE]

This looks amazing, I look forward to seeing how it comes out @steedcrugeon !  

[plausse]

Looks grand! There was once a plugin that allowed 'fire and forget' solid rocket retroboosters that was pretty neat and would fit well I think. 

[plausse]

Appears it is called Landertron and that a community update is in the works. 

[njmksr]

If you need help on this, I'd love to lend a hand. 

I've been playing around with updating SpaceTech's escape pod, but that's not possible due to licensing

Also I agree that REKT is the best name for this. 

"Problems with Rapid Unplanned Disassembly? Get REKT!"

Edited October 12, 2016 by njmksr

[steedcrugeon]

4 hours ago, plausse said:

Appears it is called Landertron and that a community update is in the works. 

this looks like the ideal plugin! this was on my pipe-dream lists for this mod.

[steedcrugeon]

getting  bit closer, having multiple parts on one model is proving difficult in game though:

it would seem typing coherent sentences at this hour are difficult too.

Very early in game teaser:

Edited October 12, 2016 by steedcrugeon
i cannot spell for toffee!