[WIP][1.9.1] KSI Wheels (v0.0.1 May 25, 2020)

[wasml]

This mod adds a number of wheels that I thought looked interesting. These are in development and are not balanced very well yet.

Note: The Perseverance wheel (second from the right on the bottom in the picture) is not working/not included at this point.

 

Wheels should work in 1.8.X but I haven't tested. Please test on a disposable vehicle before using on something you've put significant work into – some of these were leaping high into the air on load. I think I've eliminated this but...

 

Known issues:

I've done a first rough pass at balancing and placing in the tech tree but more work needs done – suggestions welcome.

A number of these wheels have a thin outer shell that the ground can show through – I've tried to reach a compromise between the ground poking through and the wheel not touching the ground.

 

Download:

Github

Spacedock

License: CC BY-SA-NC

 

[Nightside]

Nice rims!

[MacLuky]

That looks great! I tried resurrecting curiosity but the wheels were impossible.

well done

[wasml]

On 5/26/2020 at 5:00 PM, Nightside said:

Nice rims!

Thanks! Was looking for something to practice Blendering on and found a number of interesting wheels.

16 hours ago, MacLuky said:

I tried resurrecting curiosity but the wheels were impossible

At the bottom - second from the right - is my attempt at the Perseverance wheel (not included in the zip). Thought I could use the arm as suspension and the mounting point as steering - no go - couldn't get it to work. Tentatively concluded that the Squad wheel module requires the steering to be a child of the suspension. Managed to make the mount point the suspension and the arm the steering but is giving me odd results - not sure if I'll be able to get it to work.

[MacLuky]

Perhaps you can take a look at lion head’s old mod. I fixed the lifters back in the days, but the model of the wheels is really nice. The juggle in unity was too much for my nerves though

[wasml]

@MacLukyI took a look at lion head's mod - the Pandora wheels look really nice - unfortunately all the download links are dead

[MacLuky]

Let me dig a bit ;-)

here you go, includes the best patch I could make

https://we.tl/t-v0q4v8EIC7

 

[wasml]

Got - thanks! I'll take a look at it this evening.

[MacLuky]

Thanks man! And being the curious type: if you can share some screenshots on how you've setup unity, I think the community would benefit (I mean off course that I  can put some demons of my own to rest) 

[wasml]

@MacLukyI had a chance to look at the Lion Head's DSL rover that you provided - It uses some custom wheel code (not that the 0.25 stock wheel would have worked in 1.9.1). The entire chassis and all six wheels are one model! The wheels look similar enough to the Perseverance wheel (model wise - textures are much better than mine) that I don't think I'll try to recreate it. Still haven't gotten anywhere with making mine behave though - it confuses the stock wheel module to the point that symmetry doesn't work -  the wheels on back rotate opposite the wheels in front and the wheels on the left side appear to turn opposite the ones on the right side. inverting the back wheels makes the thing work but the visuals are messed up with all four wheels doing their own thing. I may give KSPWheel a shot.

I've created a series of projects for different items (fuel tank, Rocket motor, etc.) with the blender, Unity project, GameData folder and some notes. The wheel is one of them Link Here.

Edited June 2, 2020 by wasml

[JadeOfMaar]

On 6/1/2020 at 9:52 PM, wasml said:

The entire chassis and all six wheels are one model!

Sounds like @MacLuky used UbioZur Welding and fused everything together. A number of certain part modules don't work properly or at all anymore when the part has more than one of the transform used by that module. The wheel modules are among these, which is why there's no mod already that provides 4+ wheels in one part like an all in one car parts mod. And I have seen a few mods for custom wheels already.

[MacLuky]

This wheel is ancient and used bobcats special code. Always has been one piece, no welding (well probably inside blender)

I tried fixing it, and I tried slicing it. The latter being probably the best option, but I never figured out the exact setup in unity to make a wheel work.

[wasml]

@MacLukyThe wheel setup isn't to bad - the hard part is making sure there's no spelling differences between the Unity model and the config file. I usually copy/Paste the names so as not to mistype something.

Basic wheel setup:
Mesh/Collider that attaches to your vehicle
Suspension Transform
    Mesh that goes up and down
    Steering Transform
        Mesh that turns with steering
        Axil Transform
            Tire mesh
            Collision enhancer
Wheel Collider Transform
    Rigidbody - added in Unity
    WheelCollider - added in Unity

There are a few other little gottcha's but that's most of it.

Two things I've tentatively identified that haven't made it into the notes for the wheel template:
1) An under sized collision enhancer seems to to (often but not always) be responsible for the leap into the air on load. 80% to 90% of the wheel size seems to work (usually).
2) If the wheel slides around even with the brakes on increasing the suspension travel seems to help.

As far as the Perseverance wheel goes - I tried the KSPWheelModule and it doesn't act any better. I think something about the wheel confuses the code that decides what side/end the wheel is on. Which is odd as the setup is the same as other wheels that work fine. One more thing I'll try is creating a new setup and moving the meshes over. The picture in the OP - third wheel from the left - was launching the test vehicle high into the air (2.4Km was the record) and nothing I tried helped until I recreated the structure and copied the meshes over. ??? Who knows!

[catloaf]

The perseverance wheel is missing in 1.10

[wasml]

The Perseverance wheel is not in the download (see the note - second line in the OP). When I put the picture up I forgot the wheel was in there. I've been fighting with it but haven't managed to get it to work properly - or more accurately it works correctly but the graphics are messed up when symmetry is used - it rolls and turns correctly but the wheels on one side appear to roll backwards and turn opposite the other side.

Edit: Correction - when symmetry is used both sides face the same way, when symmetry isn't used and the wheels face outwards on both sides the the graphics are messed up in a rather disconcerting way.

Edited August 3, 2020 by wasml

[doggonemess]

What, no spinners? Are those a thing anymore?  

[wasml]

12 hours ago, doggonemess said:

What, no spinners?

Spinners? I'm not familiar with the term

[Stone Blue]

7 hours ago, wasml said:

Spinners? I'm not familiar with the term

Rims with covers, which free-spin...

Also, was wondering, how does the wheel "launch" you up to 2km high?
Is it like a "bounce", once spawned on the ground, or does the craft actually "spawn" at that altittude?

[doggonemess]

10 hours ago, wasml said:

Spinners? I'm not familiar with the term

They were big back in the early 2000's. It was a big Hip-Hop culture thing. 

[wasml]

OK - I have a dim recollection of seeing something like that - I take it that you were joking but I have no idea how to implement something like that.

17 hours ago, Stone Blue said:

Also, was wondering, how does the wheel "launch" you up to 2km high?

It would load on the runway and after a very brief pause would launch into the air - usually retaining most parts (but not always). What was really odd was that no matter what I did I couldn't get it to behave even though the structure was the same as other working wheels. I finally recreated the structure, moved the meshes over, and rebuilt - and it behaved!

Edit: Found one screen shot of a different wheel/different cause but was at 1 Km up and a "Physics  easing in progress..." is visible in the upper right corner - I suspect that's at least part of the reason they survived the initial launch.

Edited August 5, 2020 by wasml

[Stone Blue]

7 hours ago, wasml said:

Edit: Found one screen shot of a different wheel/different cause but was at 1 Km up and a "Physics  easing in progress..." is visible in the upper right corner - I suspect that's at least part of the reason they survived the initial launch.

Sounds like collider issues, but I'm no expert, and KSP wheels have lots of voodoo involved.

On the 1km spawning, in the air, thing, I would definately lean toward colliders, and/or animated stuff, that can intersect the ground colliders on spawning.

If you havent seen it, a workaround for much of the game loading physics nonsense, is to try installing this:
 

 

[wasml]

13 hours ago, Stone Blue said:

If you havent seen it

I had seen that but thank you for pointing it out. I believe the 1Km launch was a collider issue and I was able to fix in short order (if memory serves) but the record 2Km was something else. I wish I had kept the model - would have liked to see if I could change the mesh and make a propellantless launch system out of it.