ELBOW - European Launchers, Boosters, and Orbital Widgets (Dev Announcement)

[CobaltWolf]

Introducing...
ELBOW
European Launches, Boosters, and Orbital Widgets

(Above is heavily WIP and is made to natively use the Resurfaced PBR shader)

 

Some will remember, about 7 years ago, @Beale and myself made a mod called Commonwealth Rockets Expansion. I was interested because British rocketry has always had a special place in my heart, and there’s a lot of really neat designs to take inspiration from. Unfortunately, we ran into issues trying to define the scope - should a British-based rocketry mod include Europa? Europa 3? What about the French, German, and Italian contributions to European spaceflight? Ultimately, I wound up simply returning to BDB. There was lots to be done there, I was finally starting to get happy with the art style, and so eventually I dropped from the CRE team. Beale and @Well did a fantastic job completing it, but the end product never sat right with me.

Fast forward to now. BDB is in the best spot its ever been, in no small part thanks to the amazing collaboration of @Zorg, @Invaderchaos, and @Rodger. I never stopped thinking about the idea of a BDB, but for British rockets. But then that question of scope came up again. Then I saw a project @CardZLol was working on, and realized the simple solution - one mod, like BDB or Tantares, but covering the gamut of European space and rocketry projects. The name came easily - it was inspired by ELDO, or the European Launcher Development Organization, one of the predecessors to the ESA.

Just one problem - such a project is far too much of a commitment for me on my own. Luckily, I don’t have to be! In the spirit of collaboration, and yes, infighting so common of pan-European projects, I envisioned this as a large group effort, with each contributor bringing their own interests, time, and energy. Many hands make light work, as it were. So far at least 6 experienced modders have volunteered to contribute, either immediately or in the future when IRL allows. I personally am responsible for the British projects - Black Knight, Black Arrow, Black Prince, Blue Streak, and the Blue Streak’s derivates such as Europa 1, 2, and 3’s first stages. I’ll allow the other contributors to announce themselves here in their own time.

Preemptive FAQ:

• Are you still going to work on BDB?
  • Yes! I tend to not plan too much farther than my current project (no sense in thinking about parts I won’t be able to make for YEARS), but I have at least one major project for BDB that I’d like to share some time in 2025. I can’t promise a release for the 10th anniversary but maybe a dev version on GitHub.
• Are you planning to add <X>?
  • Due to the nature of the project, the scope is essentially as big as the contributors want to make it. I’ve already stated my plans above, everything else will have to come from others.
• When will it be released?
  • Right now we have assets for several part families that have received enough progress to show off, but none are close to being in game. Rest assured, now that the announcement has been made, we’ll be able to create a GitHub repository which will be updated as progress is made.
• What happens if the forums die? How will we keep track of the project?
  • Failing all else, the GitHub repository should be a stable place that can be used to provide updates or direct people to a new place for discussion.

 

This post will eventually transition into being the thread OP for the mod with release info, screenshot gallery, etc. And I'm sure the other authors will add their voices over time.

 

[Beale]

Edited Friday at 11:27 PM by Beale

[Pxtseryu]

This will certainly be one of the mods ever.

[CardZLol]

I too am part of this mod

(shameless recycled screenshot )

[barleybun]

peak incoming

[sporpolaka]

Holy peak!

[Pappystein]

Awe man you mean I will have to put away my BREXIT BlueStreak?  (yes I still have those files from a million years ago)

 

I can't wait to see where this goes!

I seriously can not wait until this is playable...   Lots of fun toys in the inital posts already!

Edited yesterday at 01:19 AM by Pappystein

[Blufor878]

Well, I didn't think this would be the announcement, but consider me excited! Plus look at how shiny those British rockets look.
Though I have to ask, wouldn't this cover similar territory as the Knes mod?

[KeaKaka]

meant to post this earlier but the forums were broke

[Gupyzer0]

CRE on steroids!

Wish you guys the best of luck with this project!

[GoldForest]

I'm wondering. Is anyone doing ETS rockets? 

[Pappystein]

10 hours ago, GoldForest said:

I'm wondering. Is anyone doing ETS rockets? 

I mean, CobaltWolf has said doing stage 1 Europa I, II and III which as I recall are the basis for many of the ETS Euro rockets.  
 

 

[biohazard15]

So basically it's CRE+KNES? Neat!

[kurgut]

@CobaltWolf That looks amazing, hyped !

Quick question, since I'm currently learning a bunch about part modeling / materials and shaders : if your mod is natively made with Resurfaced shaders, does that mean you import the model into unity, apply the Resurfaced shader to the material, and then re export it ? Or can you apply directly the Resurfaced shader in the 3D modeling app like blender ?
thanks ! : )

[CobaltWolf]

25 minutes ago, kurgut said:

Quick question, since I'm currently learning a bunch about part modeling / materials and shaders : if your mod is natively made with Resurfaced shaders, does that mean you import the model into unity, apply the Resurfaced shader to the material, and then re export it ? Or can you apply directly the Resurfaced shader in the 3D modeling app like blender ?
thanks ! : )

It is applied in Unity, but the texture maps (diffuse, normal, metal) are made in Photoshop. (For me, at least). For Resurfaced, there's instructions on how to download the Unity package on the GitHub page.

[Beale]

[CobaltWolf]

[GoldForest]

33 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:

 

Just for the memes, would you please make a lipstick texture for the rocket? And make a Kerbal cosmetic company as well? Kevlon or some other kerbalized name.

[Lil_Bread402]

holy moly

[Iapetus7342]

On 12/20/2024 at 11:16 PM, CobaltWolf said:

Introducing...
ELBOW
European Launches, Boosters, and Orbital Widgets

(Above is heavily WIP and is made to natively use the Resurfaced PBR shader)

 

Some will remember, about 7 years ago, @Beale and myself made a mod called Commonwealth Rockets Expansion. I was interested because British rocketry has always had a special place in my heart, and there’s a lot of really neat designs to take inspiration from. Unfortunately, we ran into issues trying to define the scope - should a British-based rocketry mod include Europa? Europa 3? What about the French, German, and Italian contributions to European spaceflight? Ultimately, I wound up simply returning to BDB. There was lots to be done there, I was finally starting to get happy with the art style, and so eventually I dropped from the CRE team. Beale and @Well did a fantastic job completing it, but the end product never sat right with me.

Fast forward to now. BDB is in the best spot its ever been, in no small part thanks to the amazing collaboration of @Zorg, @Invaderchaos, and @Rodger. I never stopped thinking about the idea of a BDB, but for British rockets. But then that question of scope came up again. Then I saw a project @CardZLol was working on, and realized the simple solution - one mod, like BDB or Tantares, but covering the gamut of European space and rocketry projects. The name came easily - it was inspired by ELDO, or the European Launcher Development Organization, one of the predecessors to the ESA.

Just one problem - such a project is far too much of a commitment for me on my own. Luckily, I don’t have to be! In the spirit of collaboration, and yes, infighting so common of pan-European projects, I envisioned this as a large group effort, with each contributor bringing their own interests, time, and energy. Many hands make light work, as it were. So far at least 6 experienced modders have volunteered to contribute, either immediately or in the future when IRL allows. I personally am responsible for the British projects - Black Knight, Black Arrow, Black Prince, Blue Streak, and the Blue Streak’s derivates such as Europa 1, 2, and 3’s first stages. I’ll allow the other contributors to announce themselves here in their own time.

Preemptive FAQ:

• Are you still going to work on BDB?
  • Yes! I tend to not plan too much farther than my current project (no sense in thinking about parts I won’t be able to make for YEARS), but I have at least one major project for BDB that I’d like to share some time in 2025. I can’t promise a release for the 10th anniversary but maybe a dev version on GitHub.
• Are you planning to add <X>?
  • Due to the nature of the project, the scope is essentially as big as the contributors want to make it. I’ve already stated my plans above, everything else will have to come from others.
• When will it be released?
  • Right now we have assets for several part families that have received enough progress to show off, but none are close to being in game. Rest assured, now that the announcement has been made, we’ll be able to create a GitHub repository which will be updated as progress is made.
• What happens if the forums die? How will we keep track of the project?
  • Failing all else, the GitHub repository should be a stable place that can be used to provide updates or direct people to a new place for discussion.

 

This post will eventually transition into being the thread OP for the mod with release info, screenshot gallery, etc. And I'm sure the other authors will add their voices over time.

 

KNES and CRE? (Happy Scottish ascension noises)

[DaveyJ576]

This really needs to be part of the mod...

[Spaceman2000]

[DiscoSlelge]

Oh yes the sweet come back I'll follow the dev with interest

[septemberWaves]

Glad to see this. The original mods have certainly aged, it'll be good to have the european rockets updated to the current standard of quality for mods.

Edited 2 hours ago by septemberWaves