[WIP] Universal Storage

[Helix935]

can't wait to use these

[Daishi]

Ooooo WANT THIS!!!!

Please please don't die like Flexrack, give us something at least.

I'll talk to Paul about releasing maybe just the hubs, the oxygen and the co2 parts to start with (seeing as they're pretty much done), and then roll out the full set later, with the converters and the fuel cells and the like. Don't worry, i'm not going to let this get abandoned. It's my baby

I've been thinking about something like this for months now, but on a larger scale. To be able to make proper service modules. With seperate oxidiser, liquid fuel tanks built into a central structure structure part along with life support parts. Then a seperate hull/siding part to wrap it with. I can't stand strapping crap onto the sides of my service modules when I know in reality this is never the case.

Awesome mod. Can't wait until its done. Here's hoping Asmi is making out okay with ECLSSv2.

Not sure about conventional fuel tanks because of the size they'd have to be - they guzzle far more resources than a Kerbal ever could. I might consider something in future mods. Glad you like it so far

can't wait to use these

[Daishi]

"And I'd do it again!"

Still testing out part collisions with Jeb and the first three segments - C02, 02, and the alkaline fuel cell. Reduced the collision mesh down by about 5% because the segments kept intersecting with each other during flight and popping off the central core

Based on some rough values from Paul Kingtiger, a single octohub of eight segments (as pictured above) will provide you with around 56 days of breathable oxygen. This varies of course if you'd rather give yourself a fuelcell or two, or pack food, or water, or dedicate a segment for part storage or collecting C02. The smaller quadhub only allows half the capacity of course - but when typically paired with a single Kerbal munching snacks in a MK1 pod resources will always last a little longer.

The wedges are small, a quarter of a 1.25 sized tank, but contain cylinders and equipment comparable in scale to real life. I've tried to keep this as close to stock as possible, while maintaining some sense of proper proportion. The gas cylinders are big enough to hold, and are similar to scale with Kerbals as the Apollo ones were to the astronauts. The fuelcells work out nicely, too.

Its also worth noting that when compressing gas, oxygen can be reduced down to a liquid and thus a smaller cylinder holds much more than you'd probably realise. My teammate has gone above and beyond with the math and has delivered capacity ratios for gas that allow for a much more sensible life-support experience. No more hulking 30+ ton behemoths of ships for half a year of travel. I cant say the same about food and water however (sorry TAC'cers) - that stuff is heavy. We'll be doing balancing soon to work this stuff out properly though.

Speaking of food, nearly finished it's basemesh. Sticking with a supply bag style, like the ones they use on the ISS

[PringleMan]

In response to the questions about similar functionality compared to flexrack, I believe he was using the approach of the "cradles." If you use KAS, you will find that with the part containers there are "cradle" structures that they sit in. This allows for easy popping on and off without having to muck about with the radial attach lining up, and also allows for some remote functionality like jettison of part containers proving to be too heavy for launch.

I believe that the requests for similar functionality would be most easily accommodated using this approach as well. Your mod will still function perfectly well if someone decides NOT to download KAS, it will simply not have that feature which will suit those who do not like to download other mods. It will also eliminate the problem you mentioned earlier about lining up the containers. I also believe that the functionality in question is part of the KAS API and relatively easy to program in. I think it is just an added transform and some rotation information in the config.

[Sethnizzle]

Wow, these models look great. I've been waiting to delve into life support mods because of the lack of nice looking parts. I've also been waiting for FLEXrack since November, so seeing this is really nice. If you make a first release with just oxygen, co2 and fuel cell parts like you mentioned, I will still download it immediately. I'd also like to second PringleMan, if you can get the parts to work in a similar way as the KAS "container and cradle", that would be really cool. Having attachment nodes would be much more convenient then trying to surface attach things.

[Paul Kingtiger]

Having attachment nodes would be much more convenient then trying to surface attach things.

The mod as is stands at the moment uses attachment notes. I don't see that changing.

[TerLoki]

Wow, this just keeps getting better and better! I neeeeed it!

[Camacha]

This looks great! I was just wondering whether you guys are taking streamlining into account. It would be very nice to be able to build rockets that are nice and smooth on the outside - some of the shapes might cause some odd protrusions.

[Daishi]

This looks great! I was just wondering whether you guys are taking streamlining into account. It would be very nice to be able to build rockets that are nice and smooth on the outside - some of the shapes might cause some odd protrusions.

Thanks! I should really explain things properly ><

They're made to be streamlined, sorta taking influence from the Saturn 1b. Those protrusions are opened service hatches We're planning to have some kind of tweakable system that you can access once you open the door, like adjusting the fuel cell output, or Co2 conversion rates, etc. No promises yet but should be possible.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Daishi

[Daishi]

Better shot of a large stack of multiple wedges you'd probably need for long-distance travel. That light isn't included in our mod, but you should get it because it looks so cool http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/57778-0-22-Surface-Mounted-Stock-Alike-Lights-for-Self-Illumination

Just sent the first pre-alpha set to Kingtiger for some final cfg tweaks and resource definitions, so you'll be getting a basic ECLSS-like pack for Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide soon. You guys can also be the guineapigs proud first testers for the fuel cell!

I'll keep working away at the other pieces, and release the full set once everything is done

(Oh, and for those scrimping with memory use, I've tried to keep our footprint as low as possible. This first release will use roughly 20mb of RAM on top of your stock install, and I'll endeavour to keep the final release under 60mb)

Edited March 28, 2014 by Daishi

[Camacha]

Thanks! I should really explain things properly ><

They're made to be streamlined, sorta taking influence from the Saturn 1b. Those protrusions are opened service hatches

Thanks for the explanation, but I kind of meant something else (although the explanation was useful!): due to the non-round shape of the combined segments, flat spots/segments will occur when combined with actually round ojects.

You mention the Saturn 1b, which actually had this too. However, there they used slanted segments to ease aerodynamic drag and forces. In the picture below, it is the part between the fins, on the transition from the seperate segments to a single round shape/hull. Will these types of adapters be provided?

[Daishi]

Thanks for the explanation, but I kind of meant something else (although the explanation was useful!): due to the non-round shape of the combined segments, flat spots/segments will occur when combined with actually round ojects.

You mention the Saturn 1b, which actually had this too. However, there they used slanted segments to ease aerodynamic drag and forces. In the picture below, it is the part between the fins, on the transition from the seperate segments to a single round shape/hull. Will these types of adapters be provided?]

Ah I see, sorry! Yeah I'm planning to include a combination cap\safety decoupler (cannot be staged, and only activated with a right-click menu) for a nicer transition from the scalloping to the circular crew capsules; but for lower down on the stack nothing is planned yet. It would finish the mod off nicely though, so i'll throw together some concepts later on down the track

[Commander Zoom]

This mod looks amazing. Very much looking forward to its release.

[Camacha]

Ah I see, sorry! Yeah I'm planning to include a combination cap\safety decoupler (cannot be staged, and only activated with a right-click menu) for a nicer transition from the scalloping to the circular crew capsules; but for lower down on the stack nothing is planned yet. It would finish the mod off nicely though, so i'll throw together some concepts later on down the track

Great! I am looking forward to those - and the initial release too.

[Daishi]

First rendition of the safety decoupler. Managed to squeeze that model into a 256px map too (does it need more details and a higher res map?)

Bit fuzzy though, and not sure how good it will look when put in game with a capsule on top, but we shall see.

[Bit Fiddler]

Any movement on this project? I really would love to use this. as the Service tubes are now one of my must have mods. I am assuming there will be a KAS storage box that fits in here? and just an empty container we can stick random surface attach parts like thermometer etc. in?

[PringleMan]

Any movement on this project? I really would love to use this. as the Service tubes are now one of my must have mods. I am assuming there will be a KAS storage box that fits in here? and just an empty container we can stick random surface attach parts like thermometer etc. in?

movement as in updates? Cause the post before you was posted 2 hours earlier from a dev for the mod...

[Bit Fiddler]

Movement as in soon to be ready. so we can DL.

[Daishi]

Movement as in soon to be ready. so we can DL.

I've sent the quad and octocore, fuelcell, oxygen and carbon block to Kingtiger to write .cfgs for and distribute. It shouldn't be long. Remember these first parts are like a pre-alpha (is that how it works?) so things are likely to change as I finish and revise the whole set.

[Paul Kingtiger]

I'm working on the configs as we speak. It's taking a while because I want to make sure that the method I use is well documented and repeatable with other parts. Capacities and resource usage rates are all based off real world examples, which I use to create spreadsheets for part production. From there on down you just punch in the numbers (size, resource type and so on) and it tells you what to put in the part.cfg file.

That all takes a bit of time to test and balance, but once it's done it's good for all future parts. I'll be writing a blog article on it if you're interested in this sort of thing, and I'll be making my numbers and research available for people to review.

[Daishi]

Finished decoupler, with better texturing on the top and bottom structural rings and warning stripes on the bolts. All in a 256 x 256 texture map (yay for optimized\cheaty mapping), which is the same size as the one for the Gravioli detector. The stock stack separator for comparison is 1024 x 512.

[Daishi]

Decoupler in-game - sent to Kingtiger for .cfg work. Please be patient guys, he has a job to balance his time between, I don't. He's working as fast as he can to get these configs done

[PringleMan]

Oh I think everyone is just excited. I don't know how long you guys were working on this before you started this thread, but you guys have turned this out in an amazingly short amount of time. Kudos! Take your time, quality of finished product is something I think just about everyone would rather have over an early release.

By the way, did you guys look in to the KAS "Bay Snapping" at all?

[Rockstar04]

I think everyone is just jumpy after seeing the KASPAR racks getting tons of hype and then being abandonded.

As long as you guys finish this (at a steady pace), we will all be happy

[TerLoki]

Indeed, steady progress is better than lots at once followed by a burn-out, so take your time. This mod keeps getting better every time I check in.