Flat-Bottom Shuttle Systems

[linuxgurugamer]

38 minutes ago, Starlord Kerman said:

So it is purely by volume? In than case I'll just measure the volume in Solidworks  And dry mass is about 1/8 of fuel mass right? I think I have my parts pretty balanced as it is but they could use some fine-tuning. 

From reading through the Shuttle Challenge v5 thread and others, it seems like your Mk2.5 Space Plane  parts are very well balanced with the stock parts, so thanks for the help. 

 

That works, i used a spreadsheet.

[linuxgurugamer]

CKAN, perhaps?

 

Also, a .version file?  That would be helpful

Let me know if you need any help with either

Edited January 18, 2019 by linuxgurugamer

[linuxgurugamer]

I just watched the Kottabos review, very nice.

It's a nice mod, but I hope you don't mind a small critique:

One of the amazing things about KSP is the ability to take parts and make something that no one thought to do.  That is possible because most parts mods are a collection of various parts, but you can do with them whatever you want.

I can't do that with your mod.  The wings are apparently one solid piece (left & right), which means that they can't be used in any other configuration.  I was somewhat hoping to be able to use them with the Mk2.5 Spaceplane parts, but I can't do that easily.  It's an interesting way to attach the wings, but there is no flexibility on how or where to attach them.  I can't even angle them the way I would like.  Also, assembling it is weird, I don't like having to attach the wings almost immediately and then build the rest of the shuttle.  This really is my only issue.  I understand why you may want to do it this way, all I ask is that you break the wings up into two parts (you can leave the attached ones there as well), so that the flexibility is restored.

Just an FYI, these two mods can't really be used together right now because your parts stick out at the bottom more than the Mk2.5 does.  Not a criticism, just an observation.  Might be nice to design an adapter to be able to have the two used together

Regardless, this is still a very nice mod, you did an excellent job

 

[GrandProtectorDark]

Adding to @linuxgurugamers comment.
The stock fixed landing gear shows that it is possible to have an asymmetrical part like this and have it mirror correctly.
Those wings would really be much more versatile if they attached like this

Edited January 18, 2019 by GrandProtectorDark

[Starlord Kerman]

27 minutes ago, GrandProtectorDark said:

The stock fixed landing gear shows that it is possible to have an asymmetrical part part like this and have it mirror correctly.

Thanks for pointing that out. After it didn't mirror correctly the first time I didn't give it much more thought but I guess I'll have to take another look at it. 

[GrandProtectorDark]

2 minutes ago, Starlord Kerman said:

Thanks for pointing that out. After it didn't mirror correctly the first time I didn't give it much more thought but I guess I'll have to take another look at it. 

TBH, I haven't seen many other mods do this either. 
For most it prolly is just more straight forward to have dedicated L and R pieces than to figure out the magic behind those landing gears. 

[Starlord Kerman]

 

4 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

Also, a .version file?  That would be helpful

Let me know if you need any help with either

Yeah, I could use some help adding a .version file. I'm not entirely sure what it is, I've just been learning all this modding stuff as I go 

[linuxgurugamer]

1 hour ago, Starlord Kerman said:

 

Yeah, I could use some help adding a .version file. I'm not entirely sure what it is, I've just been learning all this modding stuff as I go 

Ok, here is an example, and I'll explain it following:

{
  "NAME": "TweakableEverything",
  "URL": "http://ksp.spacetux.net/avc/TweakableEverything",
  "DOWNLOAD": "https://github.com/linuxgurugamer/TweakableEverything/releases",
  "GITHUB": {
    "USERNAME": "linuxgurugamer",
    "REPOSITORY": "TweakableEverything"
  },
  "VERSION": {
    "MAJOR": 0,
    "MINOR": 1,
    "PATCH": 25,
    "BUILD": 3
  },
  "KSP_VERSION": {
    "MAJOR": 1,
    "MINOR": 5,
    "PATCH": 1
  },
  "KSP_VERSION_MIN": {
    "MAJOR": 1,
    "MINOR": 5,
    "PATCH": 1
  }
}

This is the .version file from TweakableEverything. Most is fairly obvious, I'll mention the ones which aren't.  It's a JSON file:

URL: This would be the URL to the .version file online.  It's used by the AVC mod to check to see if there is a newer version available

DOWNLOAD: This is presented to the user by AVC if a newer version is determined to be available via the URL, it should be a link to where the current version would be.  In this case, it's on Github

GITHUB:  totally optional, used by, I believe, CKAN.  It just contains the basic Github information

VERSION: This is the version of the mod.  As you can see, there are 4 levels of versioning.  They are listed in priority order in my files. 

KSP_VERSION:  This is used if the mod is for a specific version of KSP.  It's ignored in this case because of the next stanza

KSP_VERSION_MIN: This is the minimum KSP version the mod is good for.  

KSP_VERSION_MAX:  This would be the maximum KSP version the mod is good for.  If it doesn't exist, as in this case, there is no top limit.

Finally, after making changes, I strongly recommend that you validate the file using the following website:  https://jsonformatter.org/

JSON can be extremely fragile, a missing comma can screw things up

3 hours ago, Starlord Kerman said:

Thanks for pointing that out. After it didn't mirror correctly the first time I didn't give it much more thought but I guess I'll have to take another look at it. 

I'll second what @GrandProtectorDark said.  Don't knock yourself out, do 2 parts if you need to.

However, the following setting is what controls the mirroring:

mirrorRefAxis = 0, 0, 1

It's used in the fixed gear as mentioned above, code is here: https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Parts/Wheel/LandingGear/GearFixed.cfg

I believe the values are x,y,z.  Set the one you want to mirror to 1, the others to 0, and test.  You can also try to use -1.  I'm not too familiar with it, but there are a number of references to it in the forum

[MaverickSawyer]

If you need help with the mirroring, talk to blackheart612, who made and continues to add to the Airplanes Plus! pack, which makes heavy use of that feature.

[Daniel Prates]

What an useful parts pack!

[nasa legolas]

LOOOOL

[Starlord Kerman]

On 1/17/2019 at 5:11 AM, thomash said:

One thing you might want to consider is a module that contains a docking collar

Here's a preview of the docking modules. The one pictured deploys from the bottom and is clamp-o-tron compatible. I've also made one that deploys from the top and is clamp-o-tron Sr compatible. These will be added in the next update 

Spoiler

 

[thomash]

Nice!  Thx.

[Starlord Kerman]

On 1/18/2019 at 6:23 PM, linuxgurugamer said:

URL: This would be the URL to the .version file online.  It's used by the AVC mod to check to see if there is a newer version available

Whats a good place to put my .version online? Do I pretty much have to set up a Github? 

[linuxgurugamer]

11 minutes ago, Starlord Kerman said:

Whats a good place to put my .version online? Do I pretty much have to set up a Github? 

well, if nothing else, you can use the ksp-avc site:   http://ksp-avc.cybutek.net/?page=Home

Create an account, and you can enter the info, it will even generate it for you.  Then all you need to do is to keep it updated.

Personally, I'd go with a github, killing 2 birds with one stone:  Permanent location for the source code, and the .version as well

[Useless]

Is there a hatch on any of the command pods?

My kerbals are trapped on a mission that needed EVA.

[Starlord Kerman]

8 minutes ago, Useless said:

Is there a hatch on any of the command pods?

 the only crew carrying sections which do not have a hatch are the crew section and the K-1 Classic command pod. The rest all do.

[DStaal]

Also worth mentioning if you're having trouble with parts without hatches, since there are other mods with parts with even more severe issues:

 

[oguz]

I loved the models

Edited January 27, 2019 by oguz

[Antressor]

I suppose I am having trouble getting this mod to work if I have the community tech tree installed?

[The-Doctor]

I really enjoy these parts, I hope it doesn't go away like many other spaceplane parts packs.

[Starlord Kerman]

Updated!

Changes:

• Added IVAs to the K-1 Classic Command Module and the Crew Module
• K-1 Classic now also includes a built-in docking port, EVA hatch, and a re-texture
• Depth Masks added for:
  • TriAero
  • TriAero Short
  • K-1 Classic
  • Crew Module (which now holds 8 crew)
• All command modules are manned
• Updated the color variation names, now White, Black, and Red
• Tuned masses and fuel volumes for all parts to be better balanced with stock parts
• The Shuttle Wing flaps are now 4 parts instead of 2

New Parts:

• Docking Module compatible with Clamp-o-tron
• Docking Module compatible with Clamp-o-tron Sr

IVA Depth Masks

Docking Modules:

Spoiler

Shuttle Flaps, now 4 parts for better control

Spoiler

K-1 Classic IVA

Spoiler

Comments and critiques about this update are welcome, as are suggestions for future parts and changes

 

[akasha2000]

It is wonderful to have beautiful wings completed simply by connecting several parts with nodes

Spoiler

https://imgur.com/a/6qLnuKZ

Also, every cockpit has a wide window, and its cool iva can actually be used for landing

The only requirement is long fuel tank. Connecting short tanks is not very inconvenient, but long tanks are smarter

Thank you for a wonderful mod

（I'm sorry if translation was wrong

[Fr8monkey]

Sweet Googly-Moogly!  Excellent work!  Any ides to incorporate other mods?

[Starlord Kerman]

1 hour ago, Fr8monkey said:

Any ides to incorporate other mods?

Is there a mod you had in mind?

Besides maybe adding some adapters for other cross-sections the only other mod compatibility I was considering is to make the wings work with tweakscale, but that would be after I rework the wing attachment method.