totm june 2018 Work-in-Progress [WIP] Design Thread

[selfish_meme]

This was a very quick draft, is this the kind of thing you're looking for?

http://i.imgur.com/I7N1ISI.jpg

The kerbals should be protected in any impact up to 80m/s.

Wow thanks, I didn't expect anyone would actually want to help! I have moved on a bit since though, it looks like rubbish, and the handling on Duna leaves a lot to be desired, but the part count is not too high. Let me know if you want the craft file to tinker with, I was going to leave it where it is for a while and come back to it. Currently I am working on another part of the pack, the Pathfinder Lander (it just had to have hinges and a bloody balloon didn't it).

Edited August 2, 2015 by selfish_meme

[BlueCanary]

Wow thanks, I didn't expect anyone would actually want to help! I have moved on a bit since though, it looks like rubbish, and the handling on Duna leaves a lot to be desired, but the part count is not too high. Let me know if you want the craft file to tinker with, I was going to leave it where it is for a while and come back to it. Currently I am working on another part of the pack, the Pathfinder Lander (it just had to have hinges and a bloody balloon didn't it).

Wow, that looks awesome, how does it do in crashes? That's the problem I always have with rovers, the trade off between aesthetics, survivability and part count.

This is what I'm working on at the moment:

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It's a pack of off road vehicles with a quadbike, a pickup truck and a sort-of-replica of the Warthog from Halo. They're all designed for maximum crash protection and performance over jumps, all except the quadbike have Vagani style suspensions and roll cages.

The quadbike is probably the most capable, but much less fun. The pick up truck is easy to flip, but has lots of payload space and good suspension so it's still quite useful. The Warthog though is my favourite, it can race down pretty much anything and come out fully drivable - you would have to try very hard to kill the kerbals. Still, until the new wheels come out in 1.1 they're all skiddy and rollover prone with braking generally not advised.

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Let me know if you want the craft file to tinker with, I was going to leave it where it is for a while and come back to it.

I would like the craft file if it's not a problem, what is the intended goal of the design? I'm guessing from the narrow wheelbase you want it to fit in a mk3 cargo bay?

[selfish_meme]

Wow, that looks awesome, how does it do in crashes? That's the problem I always have with rovers, the trade off between aesthetics, survivability and part count.

This is what I'm working on at the moment:

http://imgur.com/a/usLes

It's a pack of off road vehicles with a quadbike, a pickup truck and a sort-of-replica of the Warthog from Halo. They're all designed for maximum crash protection and performance over jumps, all except the quadbike have Vagani style suspensions and roll cages.

The quadbike is probably the most capable, but much less fun. The pick up truck is easy to flip, but has lots of payload space and good suspension so it's still quite useful. The Warthog though is my favourite, it can race down pretty much anything and come out fully drivable - you would have to try very hard to kill the kerbals. Still, until the new wheels come out in 1.1 they're all skiddy and rollover prone with braking generally not advised.

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I would like the craft file if it's not a problem, what is the intended goal of the design? I'm guessing from the narrow wheelbase you want it to fit in a mk3 cargo bay?

Those look very interesting, I like the warthog, we will have to exchange notes on suspension, I copied Majorjim's buggy suspension (three spider engines). I also use a jet engine to modify the CG (might help your pickup). Don't laugh I have started making a 'The Dunian' Mars Direct Pack (that's why the rover is named Watney - and yes it's supposed to fit in a Base in a Box type of MK3 Cargo Lander - copied from Rune). Who knows how far I will get though, the first two things I have tried to make are really hard (Rover and Pathfinder). I have some ideas in my head for the Habitat, Landers and how to put it all on the stock Duna map with an assets in place save file and a map (Interesting geography and anomalies included). The very distant idea is to have a playable scenario in stock that takes an hour or two and offers some interesting sights and a bit of fun gameplay to replay a Watney like trip, all in stock.

Craft File for Duna Manned Rover <- not very good on Kerbin, it is meant to be on Duna.

Edited August 2, 2015 by selfish_meme

[Azimech]

This was a very quick draft, is this the kind of thing you're looking for?

http://i.imgur.com/I7N1ISI.jpg

The kerbals should be protected in any impact up to 80m/s.

Except they won't be. They'll be flung from their chairs at far lower speeds, and the impact rating is for a part hitting something solo, without a whole construction behind it pushing it's kinetic energy forward. I've had 50t tanks driving around, with the front fender (and all made out of heavy steel beams and panels) giving away at speeds as low as 10m/s.

[BlueCanary]

Except they won't be. They'll be flung from their chairs at far lower speeds, and the impact rating is for a part hitting something solo, without a whole construction behind it pushing it's kinetic energy forward. I've had 50t tanks driving around, with the front fender (and all made out of heavy steel beams and panels) giving away at speeds as low as 10m/s.

Well, in testing they've stayed alive and well at over 60m/s, and in some 60m/s, 10 falls I've had rovers totally intact, so I think they should be fine. Yeah, bits break off, but I've yet to crash any of the rovers in my off road pack thing in a way that killed the kerbals without explicitly trying to do so. I guess with a 50t tank there's a lot more momentum there and I guess larger size so more leverage on joints. Now you mention it though I'm not sure why they don't get thrown from chairs more often, I guess it's the roll cage stopping anything directly affecting the kerbal/seat joint.

[Columbia]

In the works for a Boeing 747-400 replica.

As good looking as it may be, it breaks up mid-flight at the same spot every time.

I already have enough burdens in KSP, I can't stand another one that's impossible to solve.

[Yukon0009]

I think the fuselage is not strutted well enough perhaps, try that.

[BlueCanary]

Those look very interesting, I like the warthog, we will have to exchange notes on suspension, I copied Majorjim's buggy suspension (three spider engines). I also use a jet engine to modify the CG (might help your pickup). Don't laugh I have started making a 'The Dunian' Mars Direct Pack (that's why the rover is named Watney - and yes it's supposed to fit in a Base in a Box type of MK3 Cargo Lander - copied from Rune). Who knows how far I will get though, the first two things I have tried to make are really hard (Rover and Pathfinder). I have some ideas in my head for the Habitat, Landers and how to put it all on the stock Duna map with an assets in place save file and a map (Interesting geography and anomalies included). The very distant idea is to have a playable scenario in stock that takes an hour or two and offers some interesting sights and a bit of fun gameplay to replay a Watney like trip, all in stock.

Craft File for Duna Manned Rover <- not very good on Kerbin, it is meant to be on Duna.

Thanks for the craft file.

I really like the Mars Direct Pack idea, I actually tried to make a similar thing for Kerbin once, it was going to be a pack of all the base modules, cargo planes, rovers and infrastructure you'd need to set up a base on Kerbin, but I never really got anywhere with it. If you want any help I might have some stuff of use.

My suspension is the same as yours, although the pickup truck only uses two spiders on the rear wheels to allow for cargo weight. I'm kind of torn on the upside down jet engine thing, on the one hand it does help a lot but on the other hand I don't want to have 1.5 tonnes of dead weight, especially on a rover I want to airdrop.

[selfish_meme]

Thanks for the craft file.

I really like the Mars Direct Pack idea, I actually tried to make a similar thing for Kerbin once, it was going to be a pack of all the base modules, cargo planes, rovers and infrastructure you'd need to set up a base on Kerbin, but I never really got anywhere with it. If you want any help I might have some stuff of use.

My suspension is the same as yours, although the pickup truck only uses two spiders on the rear wheels to allow for cargo weight. I'm kind of torn on the upside down jet engine thing, on the one hand it does help a lot but on the other hand I don't want to have 1.5 tonnes of dead weight, especially on a rover I want to airdrop.

I may have bitten off more than I can chew, but I also decided to just recreate as much stuff other people have made as possible, people have been creating most of the infrastructure for a long time in KSP. I got a good recreation of a Delta II from KerbalX that I can use for pointers. I am thinking of including all the launch vehicles in the pack, but they will eat up a lot of time, but I think some players will want to do it the hard way, launch and land everything in their own save file.

In the video I posted earlier the rover was only using two spiders, which is great for Kerbin but too stiff for Duna. I'm sorta resigned to just having okayish handling on Duna.

I am basing it largely on the book (since the movies not out till October) So I need a DAV (conical) with refuelling base (left behind), rovers, a habitat, a Solar Recharger (maybe second rover with solar) that has wheels and can be attached to the rover (or two rovers) as the case may be (why it has docking ports front and back), and pathfinder (sojourner, I have a simple one already). I will accept anything from anyone who wants to contribute, all I can offer is your name on the contributors list (if it ever happens). I should make a thread huh?

[Rune]

Those look very interesting, I like the warthog, we will have to exchange notes on suspension, I copied Majorjim's buggy suspension (three spider engines). I also use a jet engine to modify the CG (might help your pickup). Don't laugh I have started making a 'The Dunian' Mars Direct Pack (that's why the rover is named Watney - and yes it's supposed to fit in a Base in a Box type of MK3 Cargo Lander - copied from Rune). Who knows how far I will get though, the first two things I have tried to make are really hard (Rover and Pathfinder). I have some ideas in my head for the Habitat, Landers and how to put it all on the stock Duna map with an assets in place save file and a map (Interesting geography and anomalies included). The very distant idea is to have a playable scenario in stock that takes an hour or two and offers some interesting sights and a bit of fun gameplay to replay a Watney like trip, all in stock.

Craft File for Duna Manned Rover <- not very good on Kerbin, it is meant to be on Duna.

It's always awesome to hear that you inspired something! I must note, however, that I got inspired by Cupcake on those CRADLEs myself... Anyhow, good luck with it, and feel free to ask! Even if you don't I'm likely to offer advice if you show it here, after all. xD

In other words, I am still playing with packaging options on the base. I think I have come up with another useful module, and can still pack the whole thing in three CRADLEs... only you would only need two to set up a functional base if you skip the ISRU stuff, and the ISRU itself has been somewhat improved (twice the extraction capability in less parts) and has it's own dedicated CRADLE. Basically, I realized that the ISRU unit doesn't work off-focus like the drills, so the fuel dump wasn't filling unless you were looking, so I just gave up and created an ore storage unit, which I am calling the 'Mining Module' (the resource module will henceforth be called 'ISRU Module' to distinguish them). Pretty much the same as the Fuel Dump, only it stores the stuff unrefined. That is also convenient in gameplay terms for other reasons, since refueling by converting ore means you don't have to right-click on any tanks, even if it is a bit slow (but nowhere near as slow as the extraction process!). I am thinking I could drop the Fuel Dump from the pack, actually, and only have ore storage on the base. The Node has a few small tanks that can be used to keep the fuel cells supplied!

Also, I have managed to pack three corridors and a rover in the same room a Fuel Module would take... and they can be removed and lowered to the surface as a unit with the rocketcrane... with less parts too! I figured only two out of three corridor sections really needed the removable legs, since I can use them to lift the other one from the ground to be picked up by another module, so there, another cheeky trick. And while I was at it, the new Mining Module gave me a lot of room to put extra drills in and increase the speed of the extraction (the refinery was barely working at 10% of capacity, now it should go over 50% if the yield is good enough, with just a lvl1 engineer). A couple of pics of the new stuff, in case you want to try on your own before I put them up:

Opinions/suggestions welcome, as always.

Rune. So yeah, might be an update in the future, once I have confirmed those figures.

Edited August 2, 2015 by Rune

[pTrevTrevs]

Another round of Guess the Missions

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/436073278209718501/B77F641EC7F2491542C317A12E5167F7A56FD488/

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/436073278209696387/F90186FE27572ADCF4D30955E03E742CEC9EB3D5/

MRO and LRO?

[Azimech]

Well, in testing they've stayed alive and well at over 60m/s, and in some 60m/s, 10 falls I've had rovers totally intact, so I think they should be fine. Yeah, bits break off, but I've yet to crash any of the rovers in my off road pack thing in a way that killed the kerbals without explicitly trying to do so. I guess with a 50t tank there's a lot more momentum there and I guess larger size so more leverage on joints. Now you mention it though I'm not sure why they don't get thrown from chairs more often, I guess it's the roll cage stopping anything directly affecting the kerbal/seat joint.

Fascinating. I've had Kerbals ragdoll in their chairs after performing an emergency stop.

[Majorjim!]

Fascinating. I've had Kerbals ragdoll in their chairs after performing an emergency stop.

Ive had this too. It seems quite random. They can survive huge impacts one time and a little nudge will throw them clear another. Hmm..

I have a fun idea. Someone make a test rig for seated kerbals. Something that eliminates variables and can perform repeatedly. Like car crash safety testing.

[BlueCanary]

Fascinating. I've had Kerbals ragdoll in their chairs after performing an emergency stop.

I had this, but when I put a solid rollcage around them, whatever happened I couldn't get them to ragdoll. Maybe it's torque against the kerbal/seat joint that ragdolls them? It definitely seemed to occur more when kerbals heads rubbed against the ground. Do you know if there is a way to de-ragdoll them? Imagine getting kerbals stuck, alive, in a ragdolled state on another planet. How would you even attempt to rescue them?

- - - Updated - - -

Ive had this too. It seems quite random. They can survive huge impacts one time and a little nudge will throw them clear another. Hmm..

I have a fun idea. Someone make a test rig for seated kerbals. Something that eliminates variables and can perform repeatedly. Like car crash safety testing.

Good idea, I might try this now.

[clivman]

MRO and LRO?

No, they are actually Indian missions Mangalyaan 1 and Chandrayaan 1.

[pTrevTrevs]

No, they are actually Indian missions Mangalyaan 1 and Chandrayaan 1.

Ah. I thought of MRO and LRO because they looked similar and were orbiting the correct planets to be those spacecraft.

Bristol Boxkite shenanigans continue, this time with a pair of tweakscaled basic jet engines.

Work, dammit!!!!

Edited August 2, 2015 by pTrevTrevs

[Jett_Quasar]

Czar Alexandra and Sidekick: Once I've finalized testing I'll be releasing them.

JR

[HoloYolo]

Little Boy look-alike. Working on future designs that will include a uranium bullet that sets off the bomb over it's target. If anyone wants more then this, I have a thread that also has a K-29 to deliver such bomb which is here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/130416-Project-Kahnhatten-Little-Kerb

[SaturnianBlue]

So my next modded craft project involves lots of extermination. Daleks.... *2005 version The Bottom isn't done yet, and i'm facing overheat issues due to overheat stock bug, i'm trying to make it real scale.

Edited August 3, 2015 by SaturnianBlue

[selfish_meme]

I had this, but when I put a solid rollcage around them, whatever happened I couldn't get them to ragdoll. Maybe it's torque against the kerbal/seat joint that ragdolls them? It definitely seemed to occur more when kerbals heads rubbed against the ground. Do you know if there is a way to de-ragdoll them? Imagine getting kerbals stuck, alive, in a ragdolled state on another planet. How would you even attempt to rescue them?

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Good idea, I might try this now.

In one crash I noticed Jedediah came out of his seat, then he bounced back when he hit the front aileron. Maybe it depends on movement distance from the seat. So BlueCanary's roll cage might not be protecting them so much as constraining their movement in a crash so they bounce back into the seat.

[BlueCanary]

In one crash I noticed Jedediah came out of his seat, then he bounced back when he hit the front aileron. Maybe it depends on movement distance from the seat. So BlueCanary's roll cage might not be protecting them so much as constraining their movement in a crash so they bounce back into the seat.

I did actually manage to ragdoll a kerbal in the warthog today, but it was going down a mountain at 60m/s and there was so much exploding going on I wasn't sure exactly what did it. I might try filming a few crashes to figure out what happens in what order. Do you know any good ways to record KSP without time limits and performance hits and stuff?

[selfish_meme]

I use Linux and MacOS so I am not sure its applicable, I use Quicktime on the Mac and SimpleScreenRecorder on Linux, sometimes I am streaming from Linux to the Mac and using Quicktime, so it gets confusing. I have heard Fraps (interesting story I met the guy way back, he is a friend of my brother in-law) is the way to go for Windows but it costs money, otherwise there is something called opencast? or something like that. Have to google Windows screen recording free.

Edit: when I say way back, I mean way back, like Half Life (the original) days.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Ive had this too. It seems quite random. They can survive huge impacts one time and a little nudge will throw them clear another. Hmm..

I have a fun idea. Someone make a test rig for seated kerbals. Something that eliminates variables and can perform repeatedly. Like car crash safety testing.

I'm building a rocket sled.

[Azimech]

Ive had this too. It seems quite random. They can survive huge impacts one time and a little nudge will throw them clear another. Hmm..

I have a fun idea. Someone make a test rig for seated kerbals. Something that eliminates variables and can perform repeatedly. Like car crash safety testing.

Interesting and funny ... I use VOID which has an acceleration meter. Together with slo-mo cams this might become a realistic testing device.

In the mean time ... maybe if we build seats with suspension, like trucks have ... Oh wait ... this give strange control values while the seats are tilted. And I build without probe cores nowadays, Take Command really has become standard in my Gamedata folder.

In most 3D games like Skyrim and such, there's a command line option to reset the character. When they're stuck between walls for example. Maybe Squad has that option somewhere?

Edit: well, there is a thread about the subject ...

Edited August 3, 2015 by Azimech

[BlueCanary]

Interesting and funny ... I use VOID which has an acceleration meter. Together with slo-mo cams this might become a realistic testing device.

In the mean time ... maybe if we build seats with suspension, like trucks have ... Oh wait ... this give strange control values while the seats are tilted. And I build without probe cores nowadays, Take Command really has become standard in my Gamedata folder.

In most 3D games like Skyrim and such, there's a command line option to reset the character. When they're stuck between walls for example. Maybe Squad has that option somewhere?

Could it be that the kerbals ragdolling in seats is the same as EVA kerbals ragdolling when they jump from too high or get knocked over? But then they can't stand up again, because they are glued to a seat. This wouldn't explain the loss of control when they ragdoll though, or would it?