[0.20] 2 better and more realistic wheels for the Kerbals who are still alive

[zitronen]

As a side note, zitronen, every time I see this thread I get that song stuck in my head again, thanks for that

Heh

I also suck at textures, I can do the basic UV stuff that is about it. My work flow is so F**ed up, I make the part in CAD first (Catia V5), export it as STL to blender, then texture it in blender, then export it to unity.

Here's what I'm working on now, the lines represent the size of a kerbal.

[itsme86]

I love these tires! Thanks for the effort.

[zitronen]

New wheel released for testing! See first post!

[Tommygun]

Very nice, they are very reminiscent of the NASA Moon rover wheels especially with the orange fenders.

[angusmcbeth]

I look forward to trying these. I'll be sure to post some screenshots!!

[Keenan Smith]

ooh i like..

DL'ing now

[Tommygun]

These are perfect for making small Mun buggies.

I might suggest a small Moon Rover chassis to go with the wheels.

Maybe just the NASA body with all the science equipment etc minus the wheels and seats?

After Bob failed his rover certification test, he must now wear the Cone of Shame.

[Kenobi McCormick]

Whooooo. Seats two, absolutely impossible to flip no matter what Jeb does to the controls...I'm adoring the little kart wheels. They drive perfectly.

[MR4Y]

I'm yet to test those wheels, but I like the way they look already. You sir is full of win.

[localSol]

Fantastic tires and suspension! Seeing the picture next to the stock tires made me finally realize, that the stock ones have the appearance of various kinds of non pneumatic wheels. Then I thought, 'wouldnt pneumatic tires explode or something in no atmosphere?' , I don't know... but the ones you made could be some kind of (solid) urethane with a special more durable, 'grippier' outer layer or something. Good to have variety and good modelers out there.

[Kenobi McCormick]

After some more testing and one field launch, I'm 100% pleased with the kart wheels. They perform beautifully. Drive like a dream on the Mun. Even the Kerbalnaughts I tasked with driving it agree!

[zitronen]

Awesome guys, love the pictures!

If you can give me some feedback about the performance it would be great, i.e.:

Spring stiffness

Damping

Forward + lateral friction

Suspension travel

Too fast too slow?

Any weird problems

That would be great, since I am still testing the values.

Also what do you think I should do next? I should at some point make the broken wheel models just for completeness, do you guy want those? Fixing broken wheels can be a bit annoying. Or I can start work on another wheel.

Tommy: while it would be cool to have a NASA Apollo buggy frame, I think it's more fun to simply build it yourself. It would be nice to have some kind of parts to make it easier to build rover chassis though.

LocalSol: tires shouldn't explode in a vacuum. Their internal pressure are already many times the pressure of the atmosphere, without outside pressure they will just be 20-40% more stressed but well within bursting limits. But that's just normal tires, these Kerchelin tires are engineered for space!

[PLB]

Once there was a monstrous ground, who always over-gripped the wheels of kars and caused them to flip over unexpectedly. But along came the Kerchelin Kerman, who gave better tires to the kars, and the monstrous ground couldn't flip kars again.

Edited June 9, 2013 by PLB

[Kenobi McCormick]

If you can give me some feedback about the performance it would be great, i.e.:

Spring stiffness

Damping

Forward + lateral friction

Suspension travel

Too fast too slow?

Any weird problems

That would be great, since I am still testing the values.

Just make your wheels perform like the small ones you just made. Those things are an absolute dream. You absolutely nailed it with them. The only issue I have with them is that they can still go flat, but the game doesn't seem to know it. They drive just fine afterwards.

Also what do you think I should do next?

Something huge. Like, Rovemax M3 huge. You do that and you'll have a Kerchelin tire in the same sizes that the stock ones came in.

Or maybe some other rover-specific parts? Chassis bricks, lightweight panels, that sort of thing?

I should at some point make the broken wheel models just for completeness, do you guy want those? Fixing broken wheels can be a bit annoying. Or I can start work on another wheel.

I wouldn't mind it, actually. The settings you use are quite generous, the only times I've ever gotten flats are when I've been screwing around with rockets. In normal use the Kerchelins are very durable indeed.

[mushroomman]

I don't really like the look of the rubber wheels. They're unrealistic and just out of place. Would it be possible to use the stock wheel models instead? Or at least make some wheels fit for a vacuum?

[zitronen]

If I could change the stock ones I wouldn't have bothered with this mod! Unless someone has access to the dev's unity files I don't think it's possible.

[mushroomman]

Of course I have no idea how to do any of this, but why isn't it possible to use the stock wheels with just a different config or something?

[entaran]

I would really love a radial "control arm" part that is ~20cm long or whatnot, kind of like a short strut to help mount wheels EXACTLY at the same height/location. Especially useful for large vehicles that have to dock together (munbases etc). ATM you have to get creative with 2-3 girders or such which increases your part count. Also they don't mount together very well and parts always clip together and don't look particularly smooth. So like, an L shaped control arm or a 45 degree inclination control arm with a flat surface at the bottom for the wheel connection. Literally a girder with a flat plate on the end for aesthetic purposes. It'd have to be _strong_ too, so it doesn't snap off all the time/require a lot of struts (PART COUNT!)

[Kenobi McCormick]

Of course I have no idea how to do any of this, but why isn't it possible to use the stock wheels with just a different config or something?

Because the trick that makes these slide is done from within the 3D modelling program. Cracking open .mu files is possible, but it's a pain in the ass. Easier to model new wheels from scratch.

[zitronen]

That said I bet someone can probably make a plugin that works. I do like the stock wheels, I hope squad will change them some day.

[wasmic]

And the science gets done

And you make a neat gunwheel

for the kerbals who are

still alive

[angusmcbeth]

I really like these wheels Zitronen, Thanks!...GREAT FUN!!!

[Black-Talon]

Great stuff. Very much enjoying these! Makes me crave a re-engineered Modular Multiwheels and Omniwheels to use similar new physics and the games standard wheel mechanics.

They do seem a bit excessively strong ... I like the new medium sized stock wheel you can push it pretty hard until the tire pops, repair it, and continue on. Would be nice to have a similar play style here with these. But either way, they're really great, thanks!!

[0Kev]

I gave these a try on a very large vehicle intended for use on Kerbin, driving around on a continental scale. 12 wheels on it. It's for retrieving heroes who have landed on the same continent within a reasonable driving distance. Since you can't time accelerate very much while driving, I needed moar speed.

I edited the wheels to have a bunch more power and a much higher top speed.

The vehicle is quite stable with these wheels. It is able to reach and maintain over eleventy (110) m/s. Until I start driving up a slope. When reaching the first significant slope to the west of KSC, speed drops to around 55 m/s. When getting up higher than that where it gets a little steeper, I am unable to continue at all. I suppose this is a traction issue still.

These wheels did solve the problems of my previous attempts with stock wheels, where it would flip over as soon as any turning happened.

I suppose for now I could use these wheels in conjunction with jet propulsion to maintain or increase speed.

Also, I'd like to put in my vote for giant wheels. Like nearly the size of a Mk3 cockpit, and a whole lot of suspension travel.

Is it possible to give the wheels an angled suspension travel, emulating macphearson or even double-wishbone? This could maybe help further with stability and rollover-prevention.

[zitronen]

Great stuff. Very much enjoying these! Makes me crave a re-engineered Modular Multiwheels and Omniwheels to use similar new physics and the games standard wheel mechanics.

They do seem a bit excessively strong ... I like the new medium sized stock wheel you can push it pretty hard until the tire pops, repair it, and continue on. Would be nice to have a similar play style here with these. But either way, they're really great, thanks!!

You can change the impact tolerance and breaking speed in the cfg file. They do break, and you can fix them, but I don't have a broken model yet.