[WIP] DCCPW, Spy Sat stuff

[dishycourier]

While I will revisit the Spertnik set and smooth out the models, I've been really excited to finish the Microintel Spyglass Reconnaissance set. Pictures will follow as I settle on textures. Most of the models are done and unwrapped, but the textures either suck or just don't fit the aesthetic I'm going for. Think 60's Bond. Sort of.

The Spyglass system contains a film canister housing (pod), a mission section, a main utility section, and a main engine section. Most of these components can be mixed and matched for science, recon, or any need. I've built some of the system in anticipation for .17 in terms of mission longevity (working reactor. This is mostly because I can't animate a solar panel yet), so there's that to look forward to as well.

Questions, comments, critiques, whatever would be nice. Support is always welcome too.

Q: Can I have your parts right now?

A: No. Most of them don't work/are incomplete/look like crap/look like a 5 year old made them.

Q: When will they be done?

A: Soon. There are a lot of parts. I need to texture, test, debug, retest, retexture, and finish each one myself.

Q: Does the telescope surface work?

A: Yeah, kinda. It's actually pretty simple to make one. The multioptix actually works and zooms --sort of. There are limits to what the engine will do in space.

Q: So, like, one of your parts might look like another part from someone else. Did you steal it again?

A: I once made the mistake of using parts from other packs and didn't even think to ask permission. Dick move, my mistake. Now I just imitate their basic shape. The KSP community has far more talented artists than me, so they look like obvious knock-offs, but have an aesthetic and function that fits their purpose. You know what they say about flattery. Seriously, though. A fuel tank and satellite dish really only have a few shapes. All of them are new models unless specifically given permission. Thobewill's given permission to re-release parts from his defunct mk2 stock parts pack and Yorik not only provided a model, but gave permission to use his stuff.

Q: Can we have the bronze Neil statue?

A: No. I'm sorry. The model is open source, but I don't own it. KSP devs are pretty clear on that. I could ask for permission, but I'm selfish and want to have my own statue. He's like 5 meters tall. If I have time, I'll do a low-poly Apollo suit and release that.

Q: Why should I download your parts?

A: Well you probably shouldn't. Adding assets to the game can make it unstable. However, if you want to pretend you're an agent at SMERSH, you should do it.

Q: Why do your parts suck?

A: They don't. You suck. But on the off chance you don't and they actually do, it's because I'm not a pro modeler. I'm actually a historian.

Q. How do you model like 5-10 things in only a few days?

A. I'm a jobless hobo with a decent computer, coffee pot and 30 years of sci-fi inspiration and the ability to research really quickly. I also used to use Lightwave so I'm pretty familliar with the basics.

Check the thread, too. There might be more.

Magnetometer

Meteorite detector:

Radiothermal generator (the bigger one)

Smaller RTG on a boom, similar to Pioneer - just a much shorter boom and fewer fins:

I'm not clear on what this sensor does, but it kept popping up and it's easy to make, so there's this:

And finally, not the best view, but here's the KH-11-like surface.

Edited September 30, 2012 by dishycourier

[stubbles]

Looking good man. I like the sputnik sat

[dishycourier]

Looking good man. I like the sputnik sat

Well you're in luck! I'm testing it right now with various options. Set it up as a powersat commsat and I've assigned a sound to it, but I'm not sure it will work. (Launching one now)

The sound doesn't play. Spoiler: It's just beep-boop-beep-boop. If anyone knows how to make this play when it's deployed, please help?

Images of this week's work. I'll probably take a break for the next few days. I'm modeled out for now.

Spertnik

The texture is horrible. I know. I put foil over the unwrap because I got tired of looking at it the seams.

Cesium Cell Battery

Satdish:

Needs a texture. I just smoothed out the mesh. Unwrap looks good. Texturing tomorrow or something. ISA mapping DOES work.

Edited August 21, 2012 by dishycourier
pictures

[LaydeeDem]

OH MY GOD. We now have THREE probe packs! YES!

This looks amazing.

[dishycourier]

OH MY GOD. We now have THREE probe packs! YES!

This looks amazing.

Thanks. This is what I'm shooting for. The only problem is that although I've been able to refine my models a bit, I still have no idea how to animate anything. Any solar panels I do will have to be static and I don't really like that. I really like the Dynasat and MMI panels, but unless they want to help with this I'm probably on my own. I'll probably just make everything compatible with them. I do have ideas for unique panels drawn out, though. Hexagonal panels that fold open, a circular panel that extends out of a housing, an arm swings up, and the panel fans out 360 degrees like a Japanese fan. I just need to learn to animate these things and we're good.

[dishycourier]

How about an update?

Got some textures done. Did the stick-on hullcam, the telescope lens, Spertnik is complete, minus a texture touchup (I don't know how to do a mirror surface in KSP... Battery is done. More parts on the way soon. Here are some pictures for now. the nubs on Spertnik are hullcams, some of the RPG beacons in the back of it. I tried to get the collider in as close as possible to allow people to stick crap to it:

Here you go

Dish- now with sheet metal/alloy finish

Orbital Eye telescope lens

It works!

As always, please, more feedback this time. Last time we did this, I accidentally everyone else's licensing.

Edited August 21, 2012 by dishycourier

[Menecroth]

Oh wow! This is looking really good. I too would love more probe type stuff.

By the way, I like the name just fine. Honestly, the more crappy parts warehouses, the merrier. I also wholeheartedly approve of the used-car salesman like approach to R & D. I can really respect that.

Looking forward to the release of this one.

[rasheed]

I know this is gonna develop into a huge probes pack. :D

[LaydeeDem]

Might I suggest putting smooth shading on Spertnik?

[dishycourier]

The first bit is up:http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/showthread.php/17866-Dishy-Courier-Crappy-Parts-Warehouse-1b-AKA-the-Spertnik-1-release

I'll smooth it out in the next one. I think this one was about getting some parts out to play with.

[dishycourier]

alright. this thread is now updated at the top post with a layout of things I'm working on.

[togfox]

Very nice. Well done.

[dishycourier]

Cleaning the mesh up for this one. Going all 60's with the texture, I think.

The multicam surface DOES work, sort of. Fov gets wierd when not up close (Read: zooming doesn't do much in space, but it looks cool when traveling over land or close to the munar surface).

Do you want it now so someone can test it, or wait until the whole satellite is done? Also, I can model a solar panel, but I can't animate it without about 2-4 hours of studying that I don't really have. Anyone up for it?

And as always, critiques? Yes, I know the shroud doesn't connect properly. I might make it a bit shorter, too. It shows up in the cam view a little much. That's the mesh issue I'm fixing

Edited August 30, 2012 by dishycourier
updated multioptix

[longbyte1]

Here's an adequate description for the Spertnik:

"Little more than a piece of metal covered in aluminum foil and polished, the Spertnik's body is a cheap and easy solution for rockets that need built-in lander legs and that require enough fuel for <s>the mission</s> Jebediah to be happy. Kerbonauts with claustrophobia should not enter the ship. The manufacturer is not responsible for Spertnik bodies made from salvaged water towers."

[dishycourier]

My new favorite model after fixing the texture:

[dishycourier]

Here's an adequate description for the Spertnik:

"Little more than a piece of metal covered in aluminum foil and polished, the Spertnik's body is a cheap and easy solution for rockets that need built-in lander legs and that require enough fuel for <s>the mission</s> Jebediah to be happy. Kerbonauts with claustrophobia should not enter the ship. The manufacturer is not responsible for Spertnik bodies made from salvaged water towers."

It's cute and would be perfect for a the command section, but Spertnik is really meant as an unmanned satellite and sort-of clone of Sputnik. I'll update it and refine it a bit more after the spysat.

[dishycourier]

Working out some details with the mesh and texture. Part works though. Generates about 1 energy/second.

I'd ask for criticism, but no one ever says anything, so this is what you'll get:

Fun fact: "137 revisions to Dishy_SP.reactor.png in the last 4 hours." It was rough to settle on something.

Even the mesh:

Edited August 31, 2012 by dishycourier

[TheCardinal]

I don't see anything wrong with it, so why do i have to criticise it?

I could say that i expect a reactor to have a lot of piping and tubing, wires, control units etc. (an idea which is based on the currently existing large steam generating reactors) but in space-going reactors this is never the case. I personally would have added some red flashing lights even though they wouldn't be of any use in space (nobody is around to see those warning lights).

[dishycourier]

As for the wires and tubes. I had a ton for a while, but the game really bogged down on load, so I decided to use the box shrouds instead. I got to a point where I had so much detail it didn't make sense. The thing is only 60 cm tall. Balancing is an issue. This thing could be abused.

Holds: 600, charges to 1200. Regen is about 1/second.

What I don't want is a universal cheat part. I'm working on building in a fuel source. I can make it run on liquid fuel, but custom fuels really bug out a bit.

[dishycourier]

The film return canister (pod) and bonus Jeb9000 are done. While Jeb's not exactly a part of this set, I wanted a new radial mount Jeb that was a bit more inconspicuous. None of these things have effects in Unity yet, so nothing glows. Eventually, Jeb's camera will glow and the screen on the canister will glow.

[MaverickSawyer]

Nice! Good reference to Clarke, btw.

Personal opinion: the optics package needs a larger opening. what you have wold work as a context camera, but to perform the spy mission, you need a much bigger lens.

[togfox]

Im not sure were to put my comments, but that camera, can it hae a small light that flashes off (black/dark) and then red for a second, as if it were functioning periodically? And also can it be "thicker". It seems very then. There should be something behind the lens - im sure high tech cameras have motors and moving parts and focusy things

Liking the u iqueness of what youre doing.

[dishycourier]

Ok. Working on both suggestions. I've got another surface that's just a huge 1m lens to go with this as another mission section. I've been thinking the "mission computer" (we'll just call them that for now) would house an S.A.S. and whatever mechanics the lenses would use. So for this surface, should it remain as a cap section or be extended as a full on telescope? I'll finish a few of the other sections to give an idea. In testing, it looks really cool on top of a mechjeb 1m.

[TheCardinal]

A one meter lens?!!!!! Isn't that overdoing things? Although ... it IS the Kerbal way!

It is not the size that counts, it's the quality of the lens that determines the quality and details of the picture.

[dishycourier]

A one meter lens?!!!!! Isn't that overdoing things? Although ... it IS the Kerbal way!

It is not the size that counts, it's the quality of the lens that determines the quality and details of the picture.

Overdone is definitely an understatement. Here's an alpha version of some of the parts mixed together. Everything but the dishes and panels (probekit) are mine:

1m lens in its glory, model and texture are still being worked on:

Triangle truss visible here:

Bonus updated multioptix after suggestions. Originally, the lenses were actual 55, 80, and 140mm. Now they are much larger. One of them still says "Kerbolta" :

Edited September 2, 2012 by dishycourier