SpannerMonkey Space Engineering projects

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

Hi all

SpannerMonkey content engineering manufacturers of vehicles and mods for Cities In Motion with over 20,000 downloads is proud to announce the opening of a new aero space division, to be known as SpannerMonkey Space Engineering. or SMSE

Our first tentative steps into space, start nice and simple, a fuel tank, but unlike the long term modders we dot have any piles of unobtanium lying around so all the parts have been scrounged from around the workshop and behind the shed.(no not the shed!!!!)

The final parts list came to 2 truck tyres some washing machine parts and a bit of copper plate, cos it was shiny

After getting to grips with the mod tools , having watched the video a dozen times before i finally got it, the test version was complete,

and it actually works suprise suprise, I'm a bit mystified as to why i cant connect a tank of the same size to the bottom of it, but i can connect any other part part to the bottom face, a noob error is highly likely.( now fixed was importing old way , mesh collider too large)

So here the unveiling of the mk one trash tank, submitted for your criticism praise or even derision

Edited October 16, 2012 by SpannerMonkey(smce)
update

[Ranged23]

uhm..... its..... creative.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

yes well it wasnt meant to be taken seriously more as a test and a bit of lols( although still too new here to know how seriously the game is taken)

just so you dont think I'm going to produce junk mods only, An aircraft i had planned to use in another game can be converted for use here, another learning curve to surf, dont know if a vulcan has been done before, couldnt find one, although i'm sure thers's someone who'll post a link to an overlooked post,

At present I am splitting it into modules in the hope that i can master the nodes

And a look at my other stuff

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

After coming to terms with the high std of modding in ksp I need to raise my game a bit so I've been getting to grips with the unity side of things and aside from a few issues with scale its going ok i think

A couple of pics from my recent adventures, a few parts made and imported

A set of pulse jet style engines, they'd be much better once Ive got the new methods sorted and they really should make a god awful noise, as I know from experience.

A huge fuel tank that i thought might be handy for orbital fuel dumps, still a noob so still not up to speed on whats possible in the current wonderful state of the art.

And because i',m a bit of a petrol head I though i'd need some Trucks for the dirty jobs , so my first a little on the large side Command cab, complete with full life support( a fan on the dashboard) and a high quality entertainment system(8 track tape deck), work proceeds o the vulcan pictured above, but still have to learn about wings and things.

PS awesome game

[JMBuilder]

Recycling level: Over NINE-THOUSAAAAAAND!!!!!

Some suggestions:

Even though it's an LOL-style add-on pack, you should still give each part unique advantages, like giving the semi-truck command pod room for only two Kerbals, making it lighter than other pods, and giving it awful crash tolerance (still enough to land, of course). In addition, there should be attachment nodes where the tires would be, and there should be a heavy tire part that would act as both ballast and better crash tolerance for the semi-pod.

The tire-tank should have a lower fuel capacity than the standard tank, but should be somewhat lighter as well. Kind of a mix between the rocket fuel tank and the jet fuel tank. As a bonus, having tires for the main body, it should have excellent crash tolerance.

The pulse-jet should be lightweight and have good thrust while having terrible efficiency (as well as the god-awful sound you mentioned). This engine should have significantly higher impulse inside the atmosphere than in space.

The large tank (of course) should be super heavy and have bad crash tolerance.

You should also add a super light RCS thruster with rusty nozzles, giving it lower thrust than the other RCS parts. Also, the stock solid boosters already look like trash bins, but I'd crack up to see an actual aluminum trash can as a solid booster in this pack! High thrust, short burn time, and horrible crash tolerance. I'd love it!

One more thing: Dynamite decouplers! Smaller, lighter, but with MUCH more separation force! They would also explode instead of just sheering off with the lower stage.

Edited October 1, 2012 by JMBuilder

[tjitte]

i can help you build internals for your pods

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

Hi, I'd not even thought about interiors, good idea though, still such a noob i wouldn't know where to start but i bet there's some info somewhere, anyway thanks for the offer, if you pm your email i'll send you a copy of the truck pod as dae with its textures, its a bit on the large size still though, I'm not possessive, so you can have a look at it.

The recycling continues with a part taken from an aircraft boneyard that i made for another game, So a recycled 747 nose and cockpit is the next thing from SMSE( looks like it'll be known as the spanners space junk collection:wink:)

Had a bit of trouble with this due completely to noobishness with unity but its test flown now at least, and aside from the junk texture i think its okish.

[tjitte]

i pm'ed you my e-mail

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

Firstly apologies to tjitte for not sending pod mesh, RL sometimes get in the way.

I've been working on some new pods , something more suitable for starships, I've had several complaints from K,A,N,D,I,S kerbals against needless deaths in space (otherwise known as candies) about the lack of escape hatches on the pods, soo another go at adding hatches to all the pods is required, I've gone over the wiki tutorial a dozen times but seem to be missing something ( is there another tutorial perhaps),

Knocked up some more sensible engines, nuclear/ion hybrids,. converting heat into motion, they are currently being tested on spaceplanes.

Ive also experimented with giving the pods some lift where applicable and the results are promising

A pic of some of the completed pods

[tjitte]

i hope you continu the other pods tough xD

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

A little update, things much improved, now got 30 ish unreleased mods, just getting to the end of my latest attempt at something original, difficult considering the hyper activity of the long standing modders, but heres a couple of pics of the stuff i'm working on at present, having some trouble attaching the wings /solar cells to the tie ish fighter, not sure why, its the nodes of course, THe tie ish fighter flies very well thought i'd have trouble with the ion engine, electrickery and all that but in all its a breeze to zap about in, but anyway a couple of pics, I hope the meet with the communities approval...

Jebs childhood fantasy finally comes true, his own tie fighter

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

Very happy today, got the wing nodes sorted and also the electrical plugin works a treat, the wings being the solar panels that charge the batteries for the Ion engine. I think its almost ready for release. considering its shape it flies reasonably well in the atmosphere a the solar panels are scripted to provide lift as well as electrickery

And i made a second set of larger wings to cope with the cloudy days

Any comments or suggestions are always welcome

Rear view showing Ion engine and escape hatch

[orson]

Nice one , quite a collection building up .

When i saw the truck cab it made me think of " ACE trucking co. " from 2000 AD comics .

http://www.2000adonline.com/books/assets/covers/ace-trucking-volume-2.jpg

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

Test flights of the tie Fighter thing now complete, discovered that it got a bit wild and wooly with just the pods stability system so designed another unit to fit between the pod and the motor.

As i mentioned earlier the thing is electrically powered using the plugin by Kreuzung And I'm pleased to say that it all functions perfectly, the solar charging works well and not too unrealistically fast.

Atmospheric flight is quite pleasant, but due to the nature of the wings it must be flown on its side, so that wings produce lift, hard turns around and above 5G should be avoided to prevent in flight separation of components but all in all it s quite neat. happy bunny

AS I'm new to this I'm not sure as to the conventions on addon release and credits for plugins etc , some guidance please.

Once I've made sure I'm not stepping on anyone's toes i'll tentatively release a beta version for ridicule.

PS i remember 2000AD my mrs was an avid collector and reader for years, is it still published?

Tie thing visits Duna,( I didn't know it looked like that )

Edited October 18, 2012 by SpannerMonkey(smce)