KOrion Capsule -- First Mesh Developed for Mod Work

[Avindair]

Hey, everyone --

I've decided to finally put on my big boy pants and try modeling an asset for Kerbal Space Program. I've wanted to do this since the early days (think 2011 here, folks) so it's about time I stopped thinking about it and do it.

So far the mesh weighs in at 13,000 polys, which is far too big for the game. Fortunately, I still have a working copy of the "Decimation" plugin for LW, so once I'm satisfied with the mesh and bake down the textures, I'll compress down her poly count to something more reasonable. After that? It's time for me to dive in and try to get it into the program itself.

Yeah. That's gonna be a learning experience.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited February 13, 2014 by stupid_chris
fixed the imgur album c:

[DasBananenbrot]

Looks quite nice...I will definitely follow this one

Edit: Have some +rep for this and not to forget

Edited February 12, 2014 by DasBananenbrot

[Deathsoul097]

Yeah, that is a pretty high part count. It would be fine if you only have one at a time, but things could get problematic later on. A good thing to do though, is to apply an invisible collider mesh, and with that, you can get away with almost any number of polys. (Also, Unity will most likely double or even triple your poly count when you import it, as unity converts everything to triangles for ease of use.)

This looks really nice, and I hope to see it in the game!

[CERVERUS]

Nice,beautyfull texture,you have and IVA to your plans?

Please keep it up!

[regex]

Another Lightwave user? Let me know if/how you get that into the game, I might see if I can dig up my copy!

Good luck, looks great!

[panzerknoef]

This looks so beautiful!! Have some reputation points! And good luck with the development!

[Ledenko]

Lovely! Careful with LW though, some time ago I tried getting a model made in LW9.6 (I think) into the game and got weird smoothing errors.

[mvronsky]

Awesome model

Looking forward

[CaptRobau]

It's almost too beautiful

[Avindair]

Thanks, guys!

Yep, current Lightwave user, but that's changing. Have to make the long-delayed move to Maya, Modo, and ZBrush. Excited about what I'll learn, nervous about the need to learn all new muscle memory. Oh, well. I can do it.

As for IVA, yep, planning on a full cockpit. Lots of excellent reference for the Orion, even if the sources often contradict each other. (Don't get me started on the window area! Some references have the two main windows recessed and rotated vertically, while others have it aligned to the hull as I've modeled it. It's maddening.) I look forward to seeing seven Kerbals jammed into this beast.

[xzxvrx]

If you need a reference for the IVA, there is this video if you haven't seen it:

[DasBananenbrot]

Thanks, guys!

Yep, current Lightwave user, but that's changing. Have to make the long-delayed move to Maya, Modo, and ZBrush. Excited about what I'll learn, nervous about the need to learn all new muscle memory. Oh, well. I can do it.

As for IVA, yep, planning on a full cockpit. Lots of excellent reference for the Orion, even if the sources often contradict each other. (Don't get me started on the window area! Some references have the two main windows recessed and rotated vertically, while others have it aligned to the hull as I've modeled it. It's maddening.) I look forward to seeing seven Kerbals jammed into this beast.

You definitely should use RPM for the IVA Orion also features a drogue and main parachute system so if you are not against including too many plugins you could also take a look at RealChute... I'm pretty excited what you will do^^

Edit:

If you need a reference for the IVA, there is this video if you haven't seen it:

You can also see a bit of the inside and the many monitors of the Orion cockpit here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22I7XzXCTr4

Edited February 12, 2014 by DasBananenbrot

[SkyHook]

Fantastic model. I will suggest now that the capsule be 3.75 meters, as this would succinctly differentiate it from the stock Mark 1-2 capsule. Again, it's the prettiest capsule ever!

[DasBananenbrot]

Fantastic model. I will suggest now that the capsule be 3.75 meters, as this would succinctly differentiate it from the stock Mark 1-2 capsule. Again, it's the prettiest capsule ever!

It should be as the Orion MPCV holds 3 to 6 (or 7 I am not entirely sure) crew members so it should be bigger than the Mk1-2 capsule

[Avindair]

You guys absolutely rock. Thanks for the additional reference!

[ndiver]

C'est beau

I will keep looking this mod, especially if it can transport 6 Kerbals as the original one !

[SkyHook]

It should be as the Orion MPCV holds 3 to 6 (or 7 I am not entirely sure) crew members so it should be bigger than the Mk1-2 capsule

Yea. The real orion capsule is 5m, so considering that kerbals are smaller than humans, 6 for a 3.75m capsule sounds about right.

[Avindair]

Initial test with 10k poly mesh was as disastrous as expected. (I reduced it by 3k with judicious use of bandglue in modeler.) It's far too heavy for even an i7 and, as feared, I'm getting terrible smoothing errors on the OBJ.

Off to do some research.

In the meantime, did a quick update to the surfacing to add the window's "raccoon mask."

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Avindair]

Oh! And, per suggestions, sized the model to 3.75 meters.

[lyndonguitar]

Nice job.. Looks very detailed, I hope it will not take up alot of memory

[NoMrBond]

Looks promising, good luck with the decimation work

The forum supports IMGUR tags as well so you can wrap the album descriptor (U5FaW) in IMGUR tags and it will be embedded automatically by the forum

like dis

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[blackheart612]

I would agree to 3.75 too. You know, there IS a 1.25m pod. There IS a 2.5m pod. There are no 3.75m pod which quite sucks. Also, considering the crew it carries... yep. 3.75 is perfect. It looks awesome too Now I got some idea on modifying the Mk 1-2 pod texture. hehe

[Camacha]

If you straighten the wobbly detail lines on the side out it will be pretty perfect I love the raccoon mask too.

[SkyHook]

So small tips that you may or may not have tried already:

Your mesh for the capsule should be a capsule. There shouldn't really be any special geometry on the mesh of the pod itself. That should reduce polys.

Things like windows, decals, etc. should be a part of the texture and normal map of the texture.

If you already know this, then you can ignore me and call me SkyHook.

[BLUAV8R]

Beautiful, as i always say, textures make or break it for me, and you sir have definitely made it May i suggest that if you ever do a color sweep that you make it not necesarrily the exact colors of the Orion capsule but rather a stock matching off white with decal colors of any preference as it would increase stock-alike-ness and make the mod even more desirable

Great work overall added to watch list