[1.0+] CORE Solutions [19JAN16]

[Absolution]

So, that mean you're not going to work on this any longer?

I know I've been doing a crud job at keeping this thread updated with my progress. I don't just play Engineer on the internet; I play one in real life too. I spend my working days designing the heck out of stuff and it saps all of my creative energy leaving me struggling to find motivation after I get home. Bad excuse but it is what it is.

However, there is light on the horizon. I am very close to the next release. So close, in fact, I've decided not to upload my currently released mods to the internet (since Spaceport no longer exists). I will get everything sorted in the next week and release a fresh version then.

Although the next release does not include anything about Dune Raider I do plan on revisiting it very soon. I've got some sweet ideas I want to try out. I also, of course, want to solve that bouncing bug.

Stay tuned.

[wasmic]

Alright, sounds great!

[Absolution]

Ran into a small problem during part testing today. When I started putting things together I noticed there was some very goofy shading that made the parts look horrible. Hard to describe but it was easy enough to fix. The new release is very quickly approaching and I expect it to come out this weekend. Just need some last minute fixes and some solid testing to get it ready.

I can genuinely say that I am quite proud of what I've managed to come up with. I appreciate that there are plenty of far better mods out there by far more talented people but this new stuff really is next level for me and I look forward to sharing it with the community.

[Absolution]

Finally, after several months of revisions and lessons learned I present to you the first release of the second generation of Anvil Rockets. Why "Release 17"? Because this marks the 17th release of the Anvil rockets and it is part of my new version scheme. The "1.7.2" type system doesn't really tell you anything so I decided to go with a simple linear numbering. In the event of a small bug fix I will use letters; for example "Release 17a".

What's so great about this new release and why did it take me so long to figure it all out?

1) Smooth shading

A staple for all designers since just about the dawn of 3D graphics. Instead of shading every edge and giving the shapes a faceted look those edges are now smoothly shaded and it produces a nice, you guessed it, smooth appearance for rounded objects. Anvil now appears to be a true cylinder and I was able to give the appearance of a more realistic rounded shape in a variety of areas; in particular the fairings. It took me a while to get it all right and learn all the little tricks to make everything show correctly. In early test parts the shading just looked like awful and, for example, when you put two fairings together they wouldn't appear to be one continuous part like they do in the release.

2) Normal Mapping

Also a must for 3D designers. This gives the appearance of bumps and ridges on an otherwise flat surface. Done right you can make a very simple object look like a very complex 3D one. The trouble I had was the whole "done right" part. Even now you can see that my parts are much more simple appearing than they used to and that is because I have a great deal yet to learn about normals and implementing them right. This occupied most of my trial and error time as I tried to navigate my way into this world of "painting" 3D features. Yeah, I know it looks really simple, and it is, but that's the cost of doing something new. You start small and work your way up.

3) Specular Shading

This determines how shiny a material is. This was a really simple feature to implement since there are pre-set shaders that include specular highlights in the KSP part tools. It was just a matter of finding it and tweaking it to look right. Many rockets have a nice shiny paint job that makes them very glossy so this was a nice little touch that I think makes my new rocket designs pop.

See below and on the opening post for full details and download links. I had plans on making a video but maybe Imagur does the job well enough... still on the fence on that one. Maybe I will save it for the release of the second generation Anvil IV.

If you are looking for the old parts then look no further than the LEGACY release link in the opening post. It contains all of my first generation parts just in case you still want to incorporate them into your rocket designs.

ENJOY!

Anvil Series Rockets

Release 17 - Second Generation Anvil V

15JUN14

DOWNLOAD LINK:

Release 17

https://mega.co.nz/#!SNQUWLwI!WOH1H_rBYAUr1ylMB9TzNpPXifoIxIvmBAZFmiYuBBI

SCREENSHOTS:

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[Justin Kerbice]

Great to see you still here and work on your rockets and improve them . Thanks.

Any chance to get a fix for the wheels of Dune Raider ? (sorry even with the last release which supposed to have been fixed, wheels still "melt" into the terrain and make the vehicle bounce more or less hardly for a while, it's happen on possibly every bodies, seen it on Kerbin and Mun)

[evilC]

I really like the idea of the dune buggy bay, but I have a few suggestions...

What we really need is a way of being able to detach and reattach the buggy.

The FH-CRD-1A seems kind of redundant. What would be better is some kind of extending docking port, so that you can re-attach the buggy with a decent tolerance for how high off the ground the FH-COR-1A is.

Also, fitting a docking port to the top of the DR-BDY-1A gets a little ugly. Mainly to do with the way that the clamp-o-tron extends into the body of whatever it is attached to.

I tried using the telescopic docking ports from TiberDyne, but they do not extend / retract properly when something is attached. Also they lack variable extension.

Could you make the FH-CRD-1A able to move up/down?

Also, the way the legs attach on to the FH-COR-1A suffers from usability issues - mainly to do with the fact that you cannot attach by symmetry due to the fact the the sides are not at 45deg angles.

Suggest that you fix this by adding a node to each of the side panels.

That way, we could attach something like a 1x1 plate, then use v-snap to snap each of the legs to dead center of the 1x1 plate, thus ensuring all legs are perfectly aligned.

With your legs, you could add a corresponding node, so you do not need to do the 1x1 plate trick.

Cheers, keep up the good work.

[Absolution]

Thanks for the replies! Instead of answering individual concerns how about I outline my current, informal, schedule and plan?

First Light:

This is my main focus for the time being. I've never left Kerbin SOI despite playing this game little by little since it first came out. I want to do it "my way" and that means the First Light. It's a quirk of mine; just run with it.

Second Generation Anvil IV:

Work has already started on updating the Anvil IV with the new methods I've learned on the Gen 2 Anvil V. Even though my main energy will be spent on the First Light I suspect this project will make it out first. I've gotten pretty good at modeling simple rocket shapes and I wont be doing any major redesigns so it should go relatively quick. The biggest pain in the rear will be all the different payload fairings and that's just because it's so tedious. Blah.

Dune Raider:

Work has also already started on refreshing the wheels of the Dune Raider. I am adding knobby tires and smooth shading to make them extra sweet looking. That's the easy part. I also, of course, need to fix that bouncing issue and who knows how successful I will be at that. My first plan is to add simple colliders outside of the tires to act as guards. I suspect that the wheel colliders don't like being on their sides which may explain the goofy behavior.

Next, I am going to give the instrument panel a refresh and incorporate a normal map and emmissives. The plan is to give it a 3D look and to make the instruments glow.

Also, I've long planned to add a means of refueling the Dune Raider during a mission and that means a docking mechanism of some kind. I have an idea to add a custom one to the roof of the chassis which will allow the Dune Raider to drive under a refueling point and "hook up". That's just brainstorming, though, so maybe it won't work out that way.

Lastly on the Dune Raider I plan to add thrusters pointing in a "Y" shape about the chassis. This *should* allow the Dune Raider to "jump", "squat" and "barrel roll". Of particular interest is the "barrel roll" because I hope to allow players to flip the Dune Raider back onto its wheels after a rollover. Picture the drilling machine from "Armageddon" and you'll get the idea.

All of that work will trickle in over time as I focus and the first two projects.

Fire Hawk:

Way down at the bottom of my list in the Fire Hawk. Simply put I hate the way it looks and works now. It's not bad and I could salvage the design as is but honestly it was always a stop-gap measure to get the Dune Raider from point A to B and never an honest design effort on my part. The future Fire Hawk will be a drop ship type design (think Aliens or Halo) with the Dune Raider or other payload riding under the "belly". I've got a hundred different reference images of different designs I want to incorporate and hopefully the final product will turn out as I hope.

The biggest challenge for the new Fire Hawk will be the VTOL capabilities and the aerodynamics; neither of which I have touched before. For the VTOL I would like to design a system that relies on a single set of engines that can vector thrust where its needed; there's a few ways I think I can accomplish that. Plan B is to put in two sets of engines (one for forward thrust and one for downward thrust). Aerodynamics shouldn't be too hard to figure out but I imagine there will be a LOT of testing to get it right.

The Fire Hawk will stay a concept in the back of my head until I can get at least two of the above 3 projects released but I am excited and eager to get to it. It should pose an entertaining challenge to overcome.

Stay Tuned!

[Neutrinovore]

Neato, I'm quite interested in the 'First Light' project. Do you perhaps have any new pics of the development process for us to drool over?

[Justin Kerbice]

Thanks for the replies! Instead of answering individual concerns how about I outline my current, informal, schedule and plan?

Dune Raider:

Also, I've long planned to add a means of refueling the Dune Raider during a mission and that means a docking mechanism of some kind. I have an idea to add a custom one to the roof of the chassis which will allow the Dune Raider to drive under a refueling point and "hook up". That's just brainstorming, though, so maybe it won't work out that way.

Lastly on the Dune Raider I plan to add thrusters pointing in a "Y" shape about the chassis. This *should* allow the Dune Raider to "jump", "squat" and "barrel roll". Of particular interest is the "barrel roll" because I hope to allow players to flip the Dune Raider back onto its wheels after a rollover. Picture the drilling machine from "Armageddon" and you'll get the idea.

Thanks to you

for the two highlighted points:

- clamp-o-tron junior fit really well on it (I did it) so does it worth the time and energy to add your own on it ? I don't think so.

I use this to deliver the Dune Raider on Kerbin by a dedicated plane.

(too bad imgur prevent me to show you my creation)

- for this, I know it's "cheating", gravity hack can really help, I waste a lot's of time doing such rescue on my own with KAS magnet without much success, evne one time I have 3 vessels which "drop on their head", including a plane which have the bad idea to land on the hatch !

KSP is a game after all so...

[Absolution]

Neato, I'm quite interested in the 'First Light' project. Do you perhaps have any new pics of the development process for us to drool over?

Actually, I was thinking I was going to release parts one by one as I develop them fully to allow anyone who is willing to to test them out and dream up feature requests. You'd think that a box that floats in space would be easy to drum up but there's just so many tiny little details and I am likely to miss many.

Of course, with a one-by-one release schedule you wouldn't get a functional ship for some time but it's a way of getting community input in real time during development.

[Absolution]

Well... I did it AGAIN. The latest iteration of the First Light just wasn't coming together. The detail features I was adding just weren't looking like they belonged and the whole ship seemed cobbled together. The other problem I started having was that it wasn't aesthetically compatible with the rest of KSP. I had initially dismissed that concern and decided to forge ahead because this was MY work and I wasn't going to let Squad's art direction influence me on this particular project. However, it just wasn't working and the artistic disconnect was distracting and taking away from my efforts. I won't say that I dislike my work because I don't its just that what I came up wasn't compatible with what is already there.

There were also technical issues arising from all of the tiny detail parts I had included. This last iteration of the First Light pre-dates me learning how to apply Normal maps properly. There were also a lot of other lessons learned while I was refreshing the Anvil that I suddenly was inspired to apply to the First Light.

So, I started over. The results thus far are quite significant. The old First Light was pushing 40k polygons which isn't the end of the world but the new iteration (seen below) so far only has 13k. I feel like I've gotten a heck of a lot more out of those 13k than I did with the previous 40k. Also, I've gotten very far in the design in a very short period of time. The WIP image below represents about 3 days of work. I do stress the "WIP" but based on how far I've come thus far in such a short period of time I am very encouraged I can get a working model operational very soon.

Thoughts?

[Neutrinovore]

Well... I did it AGAIN. The latest iteration of the First Light just wasn't coming together. The detail features I was adding just weren't looking like they belonged and the whole ship seemed cobbled together. The other problem I started having was that it wasn't aesthetically compatible with the rest of KSP. I had initially dismissed that concern and decided to forge ahead because this was MY work and I wasn't going to let Squad's art direction influence me on this particular project. However, it just wasn't working and the artistic disconnect was distracting and taking away from my efforts. I won't say that I dislike my work because I don't its just that what I came up wasn't compatible with what is already there.

There were also technical issues arising from all of the tiny detail parts I had included. This last iteration of the First Light pre-dates me learning how to apply Normal maps properly. There were also a lot of other lessons learned while I was refreshing the Anvil that I suddenly was inspired to apply to the First Light.

So, I started over. The results thus far are quite significant. The old First Light was pushing 40k polygons which isn't the end of the world but the new iteration (seen below) so far only has 13k. I feel like I've gotten a heck of a lot more out of those 13k than I did with the previous 40k. Also, I've gotten very far in the design in a very short period of time. The WIP image below represents about 3 days of work. I do stress the "WIP" but based on how far I've come thus far in such a short period of time I am very encouraged I can get a working model operational very soon.

Thoughts?

http://i.imgur.com/HHXRfog.jpg

Ooh, I like this one the best of them all! Yes, I agree with you, the previous iterations were... interesting, functional, but they didn't really seem to fit into the game. It's the same with, say, Devo's various Wayland ships. They're neat in a standalone way, but it doesn't really work if you want to integrate them into an overall gameplay scenario. It doesn't mean that I don't like them, as I also liked certain aspects of your previous concepts, but ultimately they're really only useful as 'toys'. I'd download and install them, mess around with them a little bit, but then end up deleting them because I didn't really have a use for, as a for-instance, a Dropship from 'Aliens', because that's all that ship can do and be. Same thing for his current 'Oblivion Bubbleship'. It's really neat looking, and I'd probably still have it installed if I wasn't having a problem with getting Infernal Robotics to work, but I wouldn't really USE it for anything. The only thing it's really good for, imo, is just flying around and rotating the engines and the pit and just generally looking cool. It doesn't actually DO anything.

Bleh, sorry for the digression. My point is that this ship, the 'First Light' as you're calling it, looks like it fits well into the KerbalVerse, and it also looks like it will be useful for carrying modules and landers and whatnot for setting up a Duna colony, or a Kethane mining base on Laythe. So that's why I like it.

I'm hoping that this version gains enough traction so that you'll actually get it finished soon! I'm eager for a useful, yet still 'sci-fi-ish' style ship like this. Keep up the great work, Absolution, and I look forward to continued development of the 'First Light'.

[Smurfalot]

I just wanted to say I use the Dune Raider chassis/wheels for all kinds of strange non-prowler applications. I am compiling my mods for a new v.24 build. Is it by chance .24 x 64 comparable?

[shadowsutekh]

Well... I did it AGAIN. The latest iteration of the First Light just wasn't coming together. The detail features I was adding just weren't looking like they belonged and the whole ship seemed cobbled together. The other problem I started having was that it wasn't aesthetically compatible with the rest of KSP. I had initially dismissed that concern and decided to forge ahead because this was MY work and I wasn't going to let Squad's art direction influence me on this particular project. However, it just wasn't working and the artistic disconnect was distracting and taking away from my efforts. I won't say that I dislike my work because I don't its just that what I came up wasn't compatible with what is already there.

There were also technical issues arising from all of the tiny detail parts I had included. This last iteration of the First Light pre-dates me learning how to apply Normal maps properly. There were also a lot of other lessons learned while I was refreshing the Anvil that I suddenly was inspired to apply to the First Light.

So, I started over. The results thus far are quite significant. The old First Light was pushing 40k polygons which isn't the end of the world but the new iteration (seen below) so far only has 13k. I feel like I've gotten a heck of a lot more out of those 13k than I did with the previous 40k. Also, I've gotten very far in the design in a very short period of time. The WIP image below represents about 3 days of work. I do stress the "WIP" but based on how far I've come thus far in such a short period of time I am very encouraged I can get a working model operational very soon.

Thoughts?

http://i.imgur.com/HHXRfog.jpg

I think this looks great

[Absolution]

I just wanted to say I use the Dune Raider chassis/wheels for all kinds of strange non-prowler applications. I am compiling my mods for a new v.24 build. Is it by chance .24 x 64 comparable?

I have no reason to believe its not. The 64-bit version of KSP is still in its infancy stages though so it may be unstable or buggy (unless I misunderstood the KSP announcement on that). I will be downloading the 64-bit version myself and playing around with it to see if anything leaps off the page at me but, again, there is no inherent reason to suggest it wont work just fine.

[Smurfalot]

I have no reason to believe its not. The 64-bit version of KSP is still in its infancy stages though so it may be unstable or buggy (unless I misunderstood the KSP announcement on that). I will be downloading the 64-bit version myself and playing around with it to see if anything leaps off the page at me but, again, there is no inherent reason to suggest it wont work just fine.

I tried the 64 bit, but it was just too unstable so I went back to 32 bit.

[Absolution]

First Light Update:

I've been bashing my head against the wall for about a week trying to get the lights to work on the Command Module Unit (CMU). I'd like to make it so that you can turn the lights on and off. Not only would the side of the ship get lit up but the cockpit would also glow like the bac9 Aerospace pack. It's fighting me every step of the way. If you have any insight into such matters please consider helping me out below:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/87683-Combining-LightModule-with-others-causes-broken-parts

However, there is good news. The CMU and Universal Docking Module (UDM) are both in game and looking fine. There's still a lot of work to do on the CMU. I need to figure out the lights (of course) and also make it so Kerbals can enter/exit the CMU via the hatch on the side of the hull. At the moment it's just eye candy. My plan is to save those two issues until later. I'd like to get the Kinetic Energy Generator (KEG) a.k.a. 'the engines' into game and assemble this very basic, robotic, ship in orbit and take it for a spin around Kerbin.

I'm trying not to burn out so I'm rotating through my work-flow from concept to result before going back and tackling the next milestone. It may not be the most efficient pathway but it helps me see the fruits of my labor and serves to motivate me to move on to the next challenge.

I was a little worried those normals were not going to turn out but artistically I think this is really coming together. It's missing fine details such as rivets and, maybe, weathering but I'll come back for an art pass later. I needed to prove to myself that I was on the right path.

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By the way; that third picture was me testing the docking modules on the ground. No sense in spending 30+ minutes trying to rendezvous and dock in orbit when I can just slap on some wheels (god bless those gigantic rover wheels) and take it out into an open field next to the space port.

Thought of the day: Why does that image remind me of a Sand Worm from Dune?

Edited July 23, 2014 by Absolution

[wasmic]

Wow, the First Light looks awesome! It's just plain beautiful.

BTW, is there any chance for an ANVIL 0.24.2 release any time soon (i.e. balanced part costs), or should I balance it myself?

EDIT: I don't think you should add any weathering to the First Light. It wouldn't fit with the style, IMO.

Edited August 6, 2014 by wasmic

[Absolution]

Wow, the First Light looks awesome! It's just plain beautiful.

BTW, is there any chance for an ANVIL 0.24.2 release any time soon (i.e. balanced part costs), or should I balance it myself?

EDIT: I don't think you should add any weathering to the First Light. It wouldn't fit with the style, IMO.

Thank you for the compliment!

I downloaded Squad's part balance spreadsheet and plan on trying to shoehorn my parts into their scheme soon. I lost a week of development time due to a vacation but I've got a solid design direction for the fuel tanks and engine modules. I should be able to show something on those in the next week.

Once I get those done and I get a chance to build my first functional prototype of the First Light I will revisit Anvil and do some balancing. That means I probably wont have anything until early September based on my recent development pacing.

[Arron Rift]

"Does the Dune raider come in black?"

-Bruce Wayne

[Absolution]

"Does the Dune raider come in black?"

-Bruce Wayne

That been on a to-do list ever since I first released the Dune Raider. I was going to offer an alternative texture pack that changes the green to several other common colors. It's still on that to-do list but who knows when I'll get around to it. In the short term one could use a free program like Gimp (my choice) to edit the textures themselves to make any number of bespoke color choices. It's pretty straight forward. Just open "CORE_DR-BDY-1A.png" and play around with the green parts of the texture.

---

In First Light news I've been hard at work modeling the Engines, Fuel Tank, and Payload Assist Module. The first two are done and I only need to UV unwrap the PAM. I've already started on texturing the Fuel Tank section and should be done with that this week. It's finally coming together and hopefully I will have a functional test ship in orbit in a few short weeks.

Here's hoping.

[Absolution]

Here is a preview of the Fuel Tank Module:

I was browsing a couple of the aerospace packs (notably Spaceplane Plus) and trying to reverse engineer the way they did their textures. To my shame I discovered what they can do with a 1024x1024 texture I can't do with a 2048x2048. Oh well. It's not like I had illusions of being nearly as good a texture artist as those guys but it's still disheartening.

What I did take away from their techniques is to edge the panels with a very gentle dark color. It's almost weathering but not quite. It just gives the panels slightly more depth even if you don't notice it. It's one of those subtle details that really make the texture pop. I gave it a go on the fuel tank module and I like the results. You can kind of see it in the screenshot above if you squint. When I go back for an art pass on the CMU I'll be adding that detail.

I've been painting miniatures for decades and I've employed all of these techniques on those. Edge highlights, shadowing, washes, etc. For some reason it never clicked with me that the same techniques can be applied to a 3D model. That was a major 'duh!' moment.

There's still a fair share of config work to do on the tanks but artistically I consider it done. What do you think?

[Neutrinovore]

Here is a preview of the Fuel Tank Module:

http://i.imgur.com/LAEbflo.jpg

I was browsing a couple of the aerospace packs (notably Spaceplane Plus) and trying to reverse engineer the way they did their textures. To my shame I discovered what they can do with a 1024x1024 texture I can't do with a 2048x2048. Oh well. It's not like I had illusions of being nearly as good a texture artist as those guys but it's still disheartening.

What I did take away from their techniques is to edge the panels with a very gentle dark color. It's almost weathering but not quite. It just gives the panels slightly more depth even if you don't notice it. It's one of those subtle details that really make the texture pop. I gave it a go on the fuel tank module and I like the results. You can kind of see it in the screenshot above if you squint. When I go back for an art pass on the CMU I'll be adding that detail.

I've been painting miniatures for decades and I've employed all of these techniques on those. Edge highlights, shadowing, washes, etc. For some reason it never clicked with me that the same techniques can be applied to a 3D model. That was a major 'duh!' moment.

There's still a fair share of config work to do on the tanks but artistically I consider it done. What do you think?

Liking this! Any time you want to post development pics, you go right ahead.

[Percebob]

Hey, that looks great ! Can't wait to see that in game, the front bit also reminds of the Pillar of Autumn from the Halo series.

[Absolution]

One more step has been taken in the development of the First Light. I am particularly pleased to post it since the design currently stands as "complete" as far as what you will have once you assemble it in space. It's a complete interplanetary ship now. The next step is to design the tools to assemble it in orbit. There will be a disconnect module and a special type of bi-directional engine using mono-propellant as fuel. This "Payload Assist Module" (PAM) will allow you to thrust in either prograde or retrograde directions without having to spin the First Light Module. That should make orbital rendezvous a snap. Have you noticed those weird hand-hold looking objects on the side of the CMU and, now, Kinetic Energy Generator (KEG)? That is where the PAMs will attach. Pictures soon.

I've been trying to complete one module a week but I missed my target last week. In part I was enjoying the Labor Day weekend but more significantly is the fact I had to redesign the KEG. It's an old story: I finished it and suddenly hated it once I attached it to the side of the fuel tank module. Also part of that old story is the fact it wasn't a bad design. It just didn't work with the rest of the ship. Another issue I ran into just today was that the latest Unity build hates the way KSP does emissive textures and, in fact, doesn't work without some back door config work. I was lucky to find a post on these forums that explained how to make it work and you can see the results of my tests in the image gallery below. I tested the fix on one engine and not the other.

Enough with the typing. Time for some screen shots. I've added pictures from the KEG static tests to the album you've already seen in the previous pages. What do you think of the engines?

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Edited September 4, 2014 by Absolution