[WIP][Download]MK-5 Fuselage for 2.5m cargoes

[FireStormOOO]

Need feedback and taking requests! Fuselage section to for space-planes carrying medium (2.5m) cargo to orbit. I'm modeling a parts pack that will allow space-planes to carry 2.5m sections + radial attach goodies into orbit, while being considerably more manageable in size that TT's Mk4 sections. I need to know what types of segments people want me to do, and need feedback on existing ideas. I have the core parts in a usable state, and am working on configs for them now. I'm making my modeling work available under a Creative Commons Share Alike license with download here. No part configs in that download, but it includes the work in .dae as well as KSP's .mu format.

Current and planned sections:

In white we have the Mk3 fusalage for size reference,

Behind it in tan is the Mk3-5 long adapter,

The dark grey section is the cargo bay, with the green parts beside it being bay doors; those doors will be able to retract into the lower cargo fuselage in order to allow cargo release;

The blue section is a cargo bulkhead, which will contain the attach node for your cargo, as well as probably some batteries and/or a fuel cell.

In the background you can see a flat cross section showing my two original concepts for the Mk5. I ended up going with the thinner doors shown on the right. The red circle is exactly 2.5m diameter, representing your cargo, and the outside width of the fuselage is just under 5m.

Planned, need feedback on idea

Command section of some sort; need to know just how big and bulky people want it, and what cross section they want the nose to terminate in. Also taking thoughts on balance.

Shorter adapter, likely half the length of the tan one. Won't look as streamlined, but will also be more compact. Need to know what goodies people want crammed in the adapter sections.

Tail section, terminating in either Mk2 or Mk1, and allowing a raised tail section above your engines' cone of death.

Concepts

Bomb bay doors,

Front or rear cargo doors,

Fuel and rocket fuel sections,

taking suggestions!

Post your two cents and let me know what you want to see pursued. Also if you'd rather see this balanced against stock parts, or TV Aerospace.

-FireStorm

Edited June 13, 2013 by FireStormOOO
Update!

[Greys]

the host for your image seems to be down for some reason. Try imgur maybe?

[FireStormOOO]

You're right. Apparently puush is down. Give me a moment and I'll re-upload.

[Greys]

I would say, as long as the end bits where it connects to other parts are a standard size, or you provide an adapter section, there's no reason you couldn't make it wider than the rest so it's wide enough to be comfortable and looks the way you're happy with.

But short of that, more wiggle room is always preferable.

Might I suggest, take the example on the right but them make it so when retracted, the entire upper portion above the lower dashed line is hollow and on a hinge pivoted around the side fillet, so then it swings open 30-45 degrees to increase the opening further. You could have an additional swing where the retracted section will roll a bit to prevent it from hitting the cargo.

[entaran]

Take some pointers from the HL cargo in B9 Aerospace and check the radial attachments for fuel so you can have a full length cargohold etc. (or make it compatible with them)

Also the slide-in version seems more interesting to me Just because there are plenty that open outwards already (including the real space shutttles)

And some thought on how wings might attach too

[FireStormOOO]

Here's a 3D-ifyed version of the slide in cargo section. Also connected to an adapter, with a Mk3 section in front:

The adapter is already quite large compared to the vanilla adapters, but I'm afraid I may have to make it even longer for the segments to look streamlined. I'm fairly happy with how the cargo section looks so far... Especially as I've been using sketchup for all of 3 hours

[Payload]

Here's a 3D-ifyed version of the slide in cargo section. Also connected to an adapter, with a Mk3 section in front:

The adapter is already quite large compared to the vanilla adapters, but I'm afraid I may have to make it even longer for the segments to look streamlined. I'm fairly happy with how the cargo section looks so far... Especially as I've been using sketchup for all of 3 hours

Lookin good. However I must point out a few things that will bite you later.

I see a lot of tris in that pic. Your model needs to be made of quads only. Also the doors parts have too much geometry. You should decimate that a bit. Using the proper smooth shaders will keep it from looking clunky.

I think it's time you went for some more robust asset making software. You will eventually have to do UV unwraps and all of that. Sketchup isn't exactly the best for that sort of thing. Get Blender and learn to use that.

[Kommitz]

I see a lot of tris in that pic. Your model needs to be made of quads only.

Ah that's not really true for game assets, as every quad is split into it's constituent tris for realtime rendering. Using tris intentionally can give you some more flexibility in making realtime models.

I would definitely recommend getting Blender or another polygon modeler if you want to learn about making game assets though.

[FireStormOOO]

Lookin good. However I must point out a few things that will bite you later.

I see a lot of tris in that pic. Your model needs to be made of quads only. Also the doors parts have too much geometry. You should decimate that a bit. Using the proper smooth shaders will keep it from looking clunky.

I think it's time you went for some more robust asset making software. You will eventually have to do UV unwraps and all of that. Sketchup isn't exactly the best for that sort of thing. Get Blender and learn to use that.

I've imported into blender, and that already went a long way towards making it look smoother. Unfortunately I have next to no clue what I'm doing in any proper 3D modeling program; I only get along with sketchup because I have some formal CAD training. I've figured out some stuff in blender, but I still can't for the life of me determine how to pan the camera

[toomtoomX]

press, hold, and drag the mouse wheel to pan. Here is a site that hosts a series of tutorials for blender users: http://gryllus.net/Blender/3D.html

Oh, and I like the Mk. 5! Do you plan on making a cockpit and/or opening tail section?

Edited June 12, 2013 by toomtoomX

[FireStormOOO]

press, hold, and drag the mouse wheel to pan. Here is a site that hosts a series of tutorials for blender users: http://gryllus.net/Blender/3D.html

That seems to rotate the camera about a focus point rather than panning. It's odd because you'd expect camera controls to be bound to something obvious. I will definitely need the tutorials though, so TY.

EDIT: herp derp - panning is shift middle mouse, same as in Sketchup.

Oh, and I like the Mk. 5! Do you plan on making a cockpit and/or opening tail section?

I'll make whatever people need/want for their space-planes. This stuff is really easy to mock up in Sketchup, then I can just export as Collada into blender to finish them up(or should be able to once I make heads or tails of blender). I'm planning on reusing the MK3 textures for these sections, so it'll just me a matter of figuring out the UV mappings part I think.

I'll start keeping track of section requests in the OP. I'm currently planning for Mk5 to Mk3 compatibility, but I'll add stuff that people request. If I did a MK5 cockpit, what would you want the other end to be? Would you rather the tail section end in Mk2 or Mk1? Is there an interest in other types of cargo bays, such as a bomb bay style one, or front/rear cargo doors?

Edited June 13, 2013 by FireStormOOO

[FireStormOOO]

I got some additonal work done last night and this morning. I now have the crudely textured parts in unity. As a first project, my philosophy is something along the lines of "make something useful; it doesn't have to be perfect". With that in mind, the textures are very basic, the models just on par with the stock pieces, and I haven't done the animation for the cargo bay, but I want to get these parts in game sooner rather than later. Once I make the part configs, I'll do a alpha release, including the original models and textures as well as the KSP usable parts. Take a gander at the parts in unity with the KSP shaders applied:

I should have stuff out later today, pending no further problems, workflow or IRL(#BlackForestFire is getting mighty close). Looking to release under one of the more permissive Creative Commons licenses.

[A-Stax32]

I'm assuming this thread is dead and development has been stopped but what happened? It's really a shame this isn't being worked on or released by someone else unless I'm mistaken.

[DasBananenbrot]

I'm assuming this thread is dead and development has been stopped but what happened? It's really a shame this isn't being worked on or released by someone else unless I'm mistaken.

The last post was over a year ago..Did you really need to necro it? Well, I guess I necro'd it too now. Better some mod closes this thread for good