HGR 1.875m parts R&D Thread [Mod reboot in progress] (First Dev build now available)

[frizzank]

Awesome, just get that IVA rock'n with some more detail and you will have a new community favorite.

[Sido]

Really nice. I really like your job, i use this capsule every day now

[komodo]

Checking in after having a chance to poke around with the test article: So far, no problems at all!, it's much better balanced/weighted than I expected (It rights itself fairly well, I mean to say.) The only thing I could think to suggest, is that the backside isn't obvious that the hatch is located there. Maybe a handle texture?... In any case, a very minor quibble.

I had had that thought for the RCS lander, but you beat me to it! (Curses to me for starting a new game on the vertical tech tree!)

[Orionkermin]

Ok ver. 0.2 is up. It's mostly an artistic upgrade, but there's some minor tweaks as well. I dropped the reaction wheels down to only 4 torque to make it fall between the Mk1 pod and lander can. I don't want to lighten it anymore because I feel that would take the specialized advantage of the lander can away. (Just imagine this pod is heavier because its made of stronger materials) Its starting to look better, but there's still a lot to do on the visual front, but you can get an idea of the direction I'm taking this in.

@Komodo

I actually lowered the CoM so that it would be weighted and face the right direction during reentry.

On that note I wanted to mention that once this pod is finished and I add it to the main release, I'll be making some tweaks to the radish as well. Notably further lowering its CoM as it's still a bit unstable when reentering with stuff attached to the nose. I could probably make it heavier, but I like having the radish able to land with a single chute. (I'll need to do some testing to see what works best)

[CERVERUS]

Oh my God...is awesome,i need a pod,really shape sphere!!!

Keep it up,and thanks for this beautyfull pod!!!

[DGatsby]

YES! YES! YES! Thank you so much for these new parts! I've always felt KSP has been lacking in good command modules, especially for smaller ships and especially for Soviet-alike craft, but between this and the Radish pod we finally have some great alternatives to the limited stock options. Thank you so much!

I love you.

...

I hope that doesn't make it weird.

[Taki117]

It looks interesting, Does it come with the tiny RCS tanks or are those from a mod? Also, will this be compatible with DRE?

[Orionkermin]

It looks interesting, Does it come with the tiny RCS tanks or are those from a mod? Also, will this be compatible with DRE?

Those little tanks are just a part of the shroud to make it reminiscent of the Vostok in a kerbal kind of way. You could think of them as holding the RCS fuel inside the pod.

Is DRE deadly reentry? If so then yes it has a heatshield built in by default but it's weaker than the standard 1.25m versions to keep it a little more balanced with the mk1 pod.

[Taki117]

Those little tanks are just a part of the shroud to make it reminiscent of the Vostok in a kerbal kind of way. You could think of them as holding the RCS fuel inside the pod.

Is DRE deadly reentry? If so then yes it has a heatshield built in by default but it's weaker than the standard 1.25m versions to keep it a little more balanced with the mk1 pod.

Ah, ok. and yes DRE is Deadly Reentry. I have some ideas that involve clipping the parachute inside and having a falling ball come shooting through the atmosphere.

[Kommitz]

Cute pod, would fly.

The IVA layout is nice too, and I like the double windows. Gives some nice views.

[AlternNocturn]

Oh my gosh, I love this so much. It kinda resembles the TMA-1 pod from Porkjet's mod, which fits in with the stock 3-man pod. This fits with the 1-man pod, so consistency is maintained. My brain is happy.

[Masakakihara]

Same here man, Kudos, cute little pod is awesome!

[Orionkermin]

Ver. 0.3 is out now, it's pretty minor changes compared to 0.2. mostly just fleshed out the IVA props, adjusted the lighting in the cockpit, and more texture tweaking. I also removed the normal maps because frankly they weren't really helping the pod look better but, were taking up a lot of memory. I need to study up on all the aspects of bump mapping because just letting GIMP create a normal map is not enough.

This might be the last update before I add the pod to the release thread, unless there is something gamebreaking or terribly wrong with the pod. I feel that I need to improve my skills more to get anything better than what I have now and that's a matter of study and practice which takes time.

Edit: looking at it more I still think I can improve it. Maybe I'm just in a little funk and need to take a break from it for a few days and come back fresh.

Edited February 2, 2014 by Orionkermin

[wminsing]

VERY cool looking pod, I was hoping for a good stock-alike spherical pod and this perfectly fits the bill. Thanks for your hard work!

-Will

[aeTIos]

Orion, could you make a parachute to go with it? Could just share the mk16 chute's parameters, but that way there isn't a silly white hat on top of this great spherical pod

[likke_A_boss]

Orion, could you make a parachute to go with it? Could just share the mk16 chute's parameters, but that way there isn't a silly white hat on top of this great spherical pod

This. Very much this.

[Orionkermin]

I don't like the jack-in-the-box look either so it's not out of the question. The only problem is that I don't know the first thing about animation and I'm pretty sure that parachutes require an animated object in unity. I also want to focus on getting this pod up to spec, so for now I'm just going to say its a possibility but don't count on it soon.

What can do though is flip the mk16 upside down to hide it, it still works fine as long as your not using deadly reentry. (Itl burn up) If you are using DRE, what I've done is create a config for a half size radial chute. I can post the code for it after work if there's interest.

[Taki117]

Another option with DRE is to use a cubic octagonal strut and hide it inside (or use one of the larget girder segments, does the same thing) I've not tried this but it should work.

EDIT: So I ran a test using the cubic octagonal strut, and it appears to work fine. I had another idea and that was to add a Paracute Module to the actual command pod and see if that worked like I want it to, that way you don't have to sacrifice the look of the pod for crew safety.

Edited February 3, 2014 by Taki117
Test Result

[komodo]

About the parachute, i'd say its simple*: Make a recessed node, and use (License, optional dependency, etc) one of the in line .625m chutes from realchutes, such that when it's installed, a textured 'cap' appears over the node, for a smooth finish. For other parts that may go atop that depending on the user, it would just clip through the cap? Not ideal, but the nice thing about KSP is using parts lego style that they never were intended for! Keep up the (very!) good work, don't worry about funks; if it takes a few days off, it'll still be well enjoyed in the mean time.

*May not actually be simple.

[Orionkermin]

Hmm I haven't used real chutes yet, how tall are the inline ones? I kinda like the mini radials I made because they look better on the radish and mk1 pods too, for those times when you need a docking port on top. I halved the fully deployed drag too, so 2 together are about equal to a normal chute.

[komodo]

Hrm, scratch what I said already, it seems to work like how I describe already, if the *top* node of the inline is mounted inside. I'm not yet sure about the DRE interaction yet, testing at the moment.

The inline parts are such that only the outer rim of the cylinder is visible outside the curve of the sphere, when mounted top node inside. (So, not tall ...I would say no taller than an inline is thick.)

EDIT: Fifth photo in the realchutes thread has a sample photo http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/57988-WIP-0-23-x-RealChute-Parachute-Systems-tweaks-and-bugfixes-v0-3-3-2-9-01-14 )

Edited February 3, 2014 by komodo
Added link

[Captain Sierra]

Orion, what about attaching this to 0.625m stacks? I know with the radish, you have both the small and large nodes. Could this come with a small and tiny node option?

[aeTIos]

Just tried this out. Excellent little pod! I made a quick-'n-dirty Vostok lookalikethingamadoo which did not make orbit. That was my fault, however.

[Captain Sierra]

Also, before I forget, the Radish pod was just featured in my latest chapter of From First Flight to14 Flags. You can see it in action as a stockalike Gemini replica, and read the story here:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/68171-From-First-Flight-to-Fourteenth-Flag-%2AWith-Mission-2%21%2A?p=945111&viewfull=1#post945111

[komodo]

Still testing, incinerating chutes about 50% of the time. If I can get it nailed down, i'll report back.