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[WIP] Titan - Transport & Utility Vehicle v0.1 (Image Heavy)

VlamBallas

By VlamBallas
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VlamBallas

VlamBallas

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Hey, glad to see you're still with us. ;) Lol.

Looking forward to messing around with whatever you have. Like I've said before, this project is about the only sci-fi style ship being worked on or available. Well, there's Wayland's Eagle, but that has... issues. At least for me. Not the least of which is that it's pretty small and can't really carry anything, which shouldn't be a problem for the Titan. :) And anyway, at this point anything from Wayland or MSI or Infernal Robotics, et al, I pretty much consider to be vaporware. Which, I admit, I had started to worry about this project going that direction as well. Just sayin'.

So, both happy and sad for you, Vlam (happy for your new job, sad because of RL problems, hecticness, and no time to play or mod for KSP), but good luck & best wishes for your future. Ttyl, I'm sure. Later!

Btw, I think you missed your (self-imposed) deadline. Unless I'm doing the math wrong, with the GMT thing, lol. :D

Lol Missed it by a mile! and a lot. Was on the road, kinda slipped my mind:confused:

Anyhow, -> http://www./?dcdscng6xb0el85

Please note that this is only second in-game version ive put together yet, ie, No Cargo Bay doors on it yet.

It is however a huge flame spitting Frisbee, Should anyone own a Massive Robotic Dog to play with?

Ill try and set a reminder or something, to upload the later version, with the doors n such..

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sirkut

sirkut

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Hey, glad to see you're still with us. ;) Lol.

Looking forward to messing around with whatever you have. Like I've said before, this project is about the only sci-fi style ship being worked on or available. Well, there's Wayland's Eagle, but that has... issues. At least for me. Not the least of which is that it's pretty small and can't really carry anything, which shouldn't be a problem for the Titan. :) And anyway, at this point anything from Wayland or MSI or Infernal Robotics, et al, I pretty much consider to be vaporware. Which, I admit, I had started to worry about this project going that direction as well. Just sayin'.

So, both happy and sad for you, Vlam (happy for your new job, sad because of RL problems, hecticness, and no time to play or mod for KSP), but good luck & best wishes for your future. Ttyl, I'm sure. Later!

Btw, I think you missed your (self-imposed) deadline. Unless I'm doing the math wrong, with the GMT thing, lol. :D

MSI infernal robotics vapor ware? I'm in charge of infernal robotics and there are things being done like space station robotic parts, VTOL mounts, kOS integration, and I'm workin on the Dyna-soar. Work and real life gets in the way and some serious things happened on my end that don't warrant explaining.

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Neutrinovore

Neutrinovore

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MSI infernal robotics vapor ware? I'm in charge of infernal robotics and there are things being done like space station robotic parts, VTOL mounts, kOS integration, and I'm workin on the Dyna-soar. Work and real life gets in the way and some serious things happened on my end that don't warrant explaining.

Oops, I hadn't intended my comment to be a personal attack, my apologies if it came off as such. :( I was referring more to exactly what you mention, the fact that despite what you or I or anybody plans, real life has a way of throwing a monkey in the wrench, and things don't go as planned. But, to be fair, Sirkut, you'll have to admit that the MSI Animator Plugin, along with supposedly '30 or so different kinds of landing legs/gear' (this is my recollection of a comment from Devo on the MSI thread), has been 'ready to be released next weekend' (again paraphrasing) for, what? 3 months now? It's been quite a while, in any event.

Anyway, that being said, I know that you, Sirkut, nor VlamBallas, nor ANY modder 'owes' me or anyone anything. I'm glad you guys & girls work as hard as you do to put up these awesome mods that so many of us find so useful and necessary in this game. :) All I'm saying is that, when one keeps saying that something is going to happen at a certain time, such as a release, and then repeatedly doesn't deliver on that schedule... well, it's like the 'Boy Who Cried Wolf', you know? After a while, no one will take you seriously.

Alright, I know this is off-topic for this thread. Again, my apologies, no personal attack intended to anyone, I was commenting on the mods, not the modders.

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sirkut

sirkut

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Oops, I hadn't intended my comment to be a personal attack, my apologies if it came off as such. :( I was referring more to exactly what you mention, the fact that despite what you or I or anybody plans, real life has a way of throwing a monkey in the wrench, and things don't go as planned. But, to be fair, Sirkut, you'll have to admit that the MSI Animator Plugin, along with supposedly '30 or so different kinds of landing legs/gear' (this is my recollection of a comment from Devo on the MSI thread), has been 'ready to be released next weekend' (again paraphrasing) for, what? 3 months now? It's been quite a while, in any event.

Anyway, that being said, I know that you, Sirkut, nor VlamBallas, nor ANY modder 'owes' me or anyone anything. I'm glad you guys & girls work as hard as you do to put up these awesome mods that so many of us find so useful and necessary in this game. :) All I'm saying is that, when one keeps saying that something is going to happen at a certain time, such as a release, and then repeatedly doesn't deliver on that schedule... well, it's like the 'Boy Who Cried Wolf', you know? After a while, no one will take you seriously.

Alright, I know this is off-topic for this thread. Again, my apologies, no personal attack intended to anyone, I was commenting on the mods, not the modders.

No worries. Yes the legs have been an issue but thats Devo and his real life happenings. It's beyond my control at that point. I get what you are saying I was just a little nicked and the translation gets lost on the internet. All is well. :)

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Neutrinovore

Neutrinovore

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Lol Missed it by a mile! and a lot. Was on the road, kinda slipped my mind:confused:

Anyhow, -> http://www./?dcdscng6xb0el85

Please note that this is only second in-game version ive put together yet, ie, No Cargo Bay doors on it yet.

It is however a huge flame spitting Frisbee, Should anyone own a Massive Robotic Dog to play with?

Ill try and set a reminder or something, to upload the later version, with the doors n such..

Okay, phew, on to new bid'ness, lol. :D

Yay, a release! I'll definitely DL tonight. Thanks Vlam, much appreciated. :)

Oh, don't worry. I won't let you forget, lol. :P

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Neutrinovore

Neutrinovore

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No worries. Yes the legs have been an issue but thats Devo and his real life happenings. It's beyond my control at that point. I get what you are saying I was just a little nicked and the translation gets lost on the internet. All is well. :)

Kewl. :) As always, I look forward to your, and Devo's, new offerings as and when they're available. :)

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BostLabs

BostLabs

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Lol Missed it by a mile! and a lot. Was on the road, kinda slipped my mind:confused:

Anyhow, -> http://www./?dcdscng6xb0el85

Please note that this is only second in-game version ive put together yet, ie, No Cargo Bay doors on it yet.

It is however a huge flame spitting Frisbee, Should anyone own a Massive Robotic Dog to play with?

Ill try and set a reminder or something, to upload the later version, with the doors n such..

Ooo! Big flame spitting frisbee! Must have. :)

Downloading tonight!

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BostLabs

BostLabs

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Best flight to Duna I've ever had.

screenshot56.png

Landed and took off again to land at a different site.

However, this is what happens when you don't pay attention to what you are doing. :)

screenshot57.png

I was trying to hover and move to a new site without going into orbit and my wife asked me something. Oops!

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BostLabs

BostLabs

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So I gave it another go because Jeb heard about it and had to fly it. (You know how he gets...)

So took off and Jeb decided to go to Eve. We got a bit lost ( i blame it on MechJeb). So after achieving a very close orbit to Kerbol, we decided to try to return to Kermin.

This trip taught me a lot on planetary transfers. :D

I glad the Titan has a lot of fuel. 1 thing I noticed around the half tank mark was that it got kinda confused when using the rear engines. It could not stick to the node, just kept wobbling around it. I decided that it must be a COM issue and switched to the bottom engines. This corrected the issue and allowed me to return to Kerbin. My navigation issues are all my own. :)

So after an aerobreak (my first one that didn't end on impacted on the ground) we made orbit and I selected KSC as my landing spot.

Coming in HOT!

screenshot65.png

Right on course.

screenshot66-1.png

Jeb, you can fire those rockets any time. Jeb. Jeb? JEB!!!!

screenshot68.png

Funny guy! (give me a friggin heart attack)

screenshot71.png

Jeb is a bit tired after this long flight.

screenshot73.png

I poked him with a space stick and he decided to stand up. Proving, Once again, that Jeb can fly anything!

screenshot75.png

If you can't tell... I LOVE this thing! :D

Edited by BostLabs
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BostLabs

BostLabs

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So I gave it another go because Jeb heard about it and had to fly it. (You know how he gets...)

So took off and Jeb decided to go to Eve. We got a bit lost ( i blam it on MechJeb). So after achieving a very close orbit to Kerbol, we decided to try to return to Kermin.

This trip taught me a lot on planetary transfers. :D

I glad the Titan has a lot of fuel. 1 thing I noticed around the half tank mark was that it got kinda confused when using the rear engines. It could not stick to the node, just kept wobbling around it. I decieded that it must be a COM issue and switched to the bottom engines. This corrected the issue and allowed me to return to Kerbin. My navigation issues are all my own. :)

So after an aerobreak (my first one that didn't end on impacted on the ground) we made orbit and I selected KSC as my landing spot.

Coming in HOT!

screenshot65.png

Right on course.

screenshot66-1.png

Jeb, you can fire those rockets any time. Jeb. Jeb? JEB!!!!

screenshot68.png

Funny guy! (give me a friggin heart attack)

screenshot71.png

Jeb is a bit tired after this long flight.

screenshot73.png

I poked him with a space stick and he decided to stand up. Proving, Once again, that Jeb can fly anything!

screenshot75.png

If you can't tell... I LOVE this thing! :D

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Neutrinovore

Neutrinovore

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@BostLabs

Lol, yeah, I can tell!

Question: You have a 1 man lander can mounted on top in the second set of pics. Why? I saw you using MJ autoland on Duna without anything on top... anything VISIBLE, that is. Is it just so you could do the EVA at the end? I'd guess, being a prototype, that the EVA and IVA functionality isn't quite working yet. So anyway, 'Enquiring minds want to know'. :)

Also, glad to see that the hull is complete. I wasn't looking forward to a ship with a big hole in the bottom. That's how I interpreted VlamBallas's "No Cargo Bay Doors" remark, anyway. :)

In any event, keep flying, BostLabs, you lucky b@$t@rd! :P

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BostLabs

BostLabs

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Last bunch for tonight (so you guys won't get sick of me. LOL)

This baby lands anywhere.

Duna - South Pole.

screenshot78.png

screenshot79-1.png

Some hairy mountain I found.

screenshot81-1.png

Comes in, does a burn to come to zero H and V speed, does a little twirl and lands light as a feather.

Very nice! Can't wait to see what it does with it's landing legs. :)

All I need now is a robot that yells 'Danger! BostLabs, Danger!' LOL!

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bazz

bazz

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What a cool project, I just had my first go on Titan, she is pretty agile for her size!

Can't wait to see how this comes along.

Do you mind if I ask what is left to do?

Cargo bay doors and inners, landing gear, top port and IVA?

This is great already it will be epic when complete good job! :D

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Neutrinovore

Neutrinovore

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Okay, messed with the Titan a bit last night, some first impressions:

Epic. Win.

:D

When this is done, with the modular cargo bays that you were talking about, and functional landing gear, this thing will be unstoppable!

Warning: wall of text ahead. :)

In my opinion, the first priority should be to get cockpit and EVA functionality so that we can get Kerbals in and out of the ship. IVA isn't nearly as critical, at least in my mind. I went to the Mun last night and tried to plant a flag at an anomaly, but I couldn't get back in, so I had to revert the flight. Oh, yeah, I went into the config and added a command module with a crew capacity of 3, added a few other things, just a quick and dirty edit so I wouldn't have to bolt on an external lander can like BostLabs was doing. :) Anyway, I also put on 2 LLL airlock doors so I could EVA. The one on the top attachment node let Jebediah out, but not back in, because it was recessed below the collision mesh, bummer. Another one placed on the lower curve of the hull wouldn't let Jeb out or in, said the 'hatch was blocked' on the exit attempt, and then after he got out of the top hatch I couldn't get the bottom one to let him 'grab' it or 'board'. I guess I could've left him on the Mun to await rescue, but that seems mean. :)

Anyway, I only mention the above in case anyone else wanted to try a similar setup. Just be sure to test that you can get out AND in BEFORE you leave Kerbin, lol.

Now, thinking about it, the landing gear and crew hatch should probably be next on the list. Landing legs just for stability, and I picture a long-ish ramp dropping down from the hull, just like the Millennium Falcon's ramp, except I suggest centering the Titan's longitudinally, so that the crew exits/enters in the front or the back, instead of on the side. This way, you can have the ramp be a simple hinged animation, and then put a small landing at the top (inside the hull, obviously) with the EVA hatch located there. I hope I'm describing this adequately. The only issue is placement, how high off the ground/close to the rim it would be, because I'm still not sure what you're doing with the cargo area and doors. Ooh, brainstorm! It would be so cool if the ramp somehow could hinge at EITHER end! Meaning, if you're landed on the ground it would work as above, hinging at the hatch end and forming a ramp to the ground. But if you're in space at zero g, it could hinge at the OPPOSITE end, the end away from the hatch, and recess into the hull, leaving the hatch clear to exit. That would be so awesome!!

Sigh, I know, it's easy to visualize, but probably impossible to do with actual game dynamics. Oh well, I can dream. :)

Bleh, anyhow, other than that issue, the only other thing I might mention is that the Titan seems a bit sluggish. I know it's a big ship, but that's my point, I feel that it should be about 10 tons lighter to 'feel' right. As it is, I had added over 180 EXTRA torque, as well as a total of 16 RCS blocks, to get it to maneuver close to the way I was expecting. It still wasn't whipping around like a 1 man capsule, nor should it. But like I said, reducing the weight and increasing the torque should help. If you feel these changes aren't warranted, Vlam, that's cool, the ship is totally flyable as is, I can always tweak the config myself. :) Oh, I also doubled the VTOL engine thrust to 1500 kn, and increased the main engines from 2000 to 3000, but I haven't tested those changes yet, that's for tonight. And I still have no use for the front braking engine, so I just took all engine functionality out of the config, it'll just be an inert placeholder for me until I can convince you to design an alternate module to put there. :) A small probe bay, maybe? Mini rover garage with animated ramp? We'll think of something, I'm sure. :)

I'll let you get back to finishing the cargo bays, etc. (pretending that you're working on this to the exclusion of all else, yeah right). Now I go work for a few hours and then I'm free to play for the entire weekend, woohoo! :D

Later!

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BostLabs

BostLabs

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How close is this thing to being ready for download?

There is a version you can download now. This is what Neutrinovore and I are messing around with (and LOVING it!).

See VlamBallas posting here.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/50562-WIP-Titan-Transport-Utility-Vehicle-v0-1-%28Image-Heavy%29?p=763843&viewfull=1#post763843

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Neutrinovore

Neutrinovore

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Vlam, my man! :D

Had a fun few hours flying the Titan Saturday. :) There are a few issues I had, which I'll get to momentarily. Nothing huge, which is why I'll just say keep working on the ship, this first build is pretty solid already.

Now, aside from the obvious things that I'm sure you're aware of, like the weird one-dimensional properties of all the parts (you can only see them from one side, they have no volume, etc.), the only problems I had of note were when I was trying to attach LLL airlock and hatch doors, for the purpose of allowing the crew to EVA. In short, they could get out, but couldn't get back in. A dialogue pops up saying that I 'can't enter when the hatch is already full', even when it's empty. I don't know if this is a collider issue or what. I'm inclined to think not, if it were it shouldn't let a Kerbal exit either. Also, I forgot to test the same issue with another ship, so it may have nothing to do with the Titan at all. :) But I thought I'd give you a heads-up.

Btw, in messing around with the config file, I've settled on a few different settings, if anyone wants to give them a try. I found the ship to be much more flyable with these:

I changed the thrust of the VTOL engines from 750 to 1000, this gives much better control authority when landing, without being too over powered as it was at 1500.

Also went from 1500 to 2500 on the main engines, again after finding that 3000 was too much.

Most importantly, I changed the SAS torque of the 'command pod' -the bridge, as it's called - to 50 from... whatever it was, don't remember. AND, I cranked the main body torque way up to 250. Yep, that's not a typo, my ship has a total of 300 torque, and it reacts beautifully. Of course, I also have 8 RCS blocks with 3 kn thrust per evenly spaced around the rim as well. :) Yeah, I don't like having to wait for my ships to change heading, do I? Lol. Although, it's still really not all that quick to come around, it still has a nice weight to the controls.

Speaking of weight, I took the mass of the main hull down to 25 tons, from the original 30. Again, tried 20 tons, that was too light.

Finally, for those of you who fly with MechJeb, as I do, set your Tf to 0.2 in the 'attitude adjustment' tab. The default is 0.3, and while that may not seem like much of a change, it will slew around to a maneuver node heading just a touch more confidently. :)

Anyway, that's my experiences, your results may differ. ;P

For now the Titan is really just a toy, because you can't get Kerbals in or out no matter what you do, at least I couldn't. Well, I could get them out, I guess I could use it as a big 'space bus', one way tickets only. :) Problem is, I don't have anywhere to take them yet, in all the time I've been playing KSP, I've never gotten around to putting permanent bases anywhere, lol.

Alright Vlam, as I said, keep on doing what you're doing, because Titan version 0.00000001 (you sure you got enough zeros there pal?) is still a pretty fun ride. :)

Later days, everyone. :D

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  • 4 weeks later...
VlamBallas

VlamBallas

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Hey yall, just a small bit of news.. I Promise she is NOT DEAD yet!

Have been out of country for the last bit, I should be back home round the 20th.. 'en will get straight to work on that cargo bay update!

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bazz

bazz

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Hey yall, just a small bit of news.. I Promise she is NOT DEAD yet!

Have been out of country for the last bit, I should be back home round the 20th.. 'en will get straight to work on that cargo bay update!

Yay! Glad to hear it can't wait for some Xmas Titan action! :kiss:

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