[WIP] Universal Storage

[Daishi]

I started using this, because I like the idea a lot. But I don't use life support systems, so I'm mainly waiting for the Kethane pack.

What would also be really cool: Containers for RCS and LFO, as well as a small engine. Would be perfect for compact probes or the like.

RCS and fuel is coming soon, not too sure about Kethane though. They've got a fair few tanks already and their models are top notch

Double bay doors essentially finished, now all i have to do is key in the proper animation and make a little mounting plate for the SIM bay, so things have a place to attach too. KAS pack imminent!

[landeTLS]

Daishi im curious about the multiple keyframes thing. I usually use the transformation constraint in blender to time things(have something start moving delayed) it seems to work ok tho maybe a bit tedious to set up. But i only end up with 1 keyframe for the start and one for the end of each animation. Is there any other advantages than reduced rigging complexity to doing it with multiple keyframes im not seeing?

I really like the look of those double bay doors. Im currently trying to make something a bit similar for an incased folding radiator.

Edited May 21, 2014 by landeTLS

[Daishi]

Daishi im curious about the multiple keyframes thing. I usually use the transformation constraint in blender to time things(have something start moving delayed) it seems to work ok tho maybe a bit tedious to set up. But i only end up with 1 keyframe for the start and one for the end of each animation. Is there any other advantages than reduced rigging complexity to doing it with multiple keyframes im not seeing?

There's no advantage to use more keyframes at all It just makes things much more complicated, hard on Unity, and animation much less smooth. I only used more for the older arm concept to keep the ends precisely aligned with each other as they unfolded, as they tended to drift off their axis while inheriting movement from down the joint chain. After realising how much slowdown can happen with excessive keyframes in KSP (it was some space shuttle cargo bay, i can't remember) i scrapped it.

These new push-plate bay things are just as simple as the stock doors - like you said, two keyframes per movement. Two for the bolt unlock, two to push the hatch out, then two (and maybe more for secondary animation) to swing out the first hatch. Then repeat for the second doors. The simpler the better IMHO.

I really like the look of those double bay doors. Im currently trying to make something a bit similar for an incased folding radiator.

Thanks, i'm quite pleased with it myself! Got pics of your own stuff? I presume its for Interstellar

[Daishi]

In game, testing collision meshes and comparing scale with stock parts. The door mechanisms still seem a little small to me, and i might remove the inner crossbracing. Dunno.

[cy-one]

RCS and fuel is coming soon, not too sure about Kethane though. They've got a fair few tanks already and their models are top notch

Depending upon if you can do that, maybe a "standard tank" would be cool. With plugins (dunno which one, but I saw it several times), one could switch between LFO, pure Liquid and Kethane. At the same time, the texture would change accordingly

[Paul Kingtiger]

Awesome doors! Love it!!

[Chris_Pi]

Yes, Very nice doors. They open waaaaay up without being very large themselves. Wonderful work there. Though I wonder if the wedge with the sepratrons could do with a "No smoking" sign. Just in case. Not that anything could go wrong, Right?

[landeTLS]

Thanks, i'm quite pleased with it myself! Got pics of your own stuff? I presume its for Interstellar

its actually for a small test project im working on focused on nuclear engines, im still not sure if im gonna use some plugin stuff from near future or from kspi yet. still working on the first batch of models

this is the compact radiator, im not so pleased with the folding doors mechanism. still need to do some more stuff on it but im finishing texturing on the other models first

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Edited May 22, 2014 by landeTLS

[Daishi]

Awesome doors! Love it!!

Yes, Very nice doors. They open waaaaay up without being very large themselves. Wonderful work there. Though I wonder if the wedge with the sepratrons could do with a "No smoking" sign. Just in case. Not that anything could go wrong, Right?

Jeb regrets nothing! *stages the sepatrons*

its actually for a small test project im working on focused on nuclear engines, im still not sure if im gonna use some plugin stuff from near future or from kspi yet. still working on the first batch of models

this is the compact radiator, im not so pleased with the folding doors mechanism...

Looking good, I don't think there's anything wrong with it! Got a dev thread I can follow?

Edited May 22, 2014 by Daishi

[landeTLS]

Looking good, I don't think there's anything wrong with it! Got a dev thread I can follow?

thanks,

not yet, i do intend to post one when the first models are a bit closer to completion

[Daishi]

Looking forward to it!

[Daishi]

Put the backplate in (don't worry it doesn't give you less room to attach things, a goo container fits perfectly in there), simplified the interior, pushed the interior crossbraces closer together, and experimenting with single-texture alphas in a wire mesh on the inside. Only drawback is that it doesnt seem to anti-alias properly from a distance (the mip-maps?) and shimmers, even as a TGA. Considering the wire mesh is so close to the wall, i might just make it a flat texture with no alpha for now.

Did a bit of playtesting and we might have to make this wedge non-grabbable in KAS too. If you try, all of your payloads and attached parts disconnect from the bay and float away. It was a bug Nothke experienced when he was developing his parts, and i'm pretty sure there isn't any way around it. Unless we pester the heck out of the KAS devs, but they seem pretty busy dealing with other things at the moment.

[Raptor831]

Those containers look great guys. I'm already thinking up uses for them. A rack of those inside the FusTek warehouse with a Infernal Robotics rototron to rotate the assembly for access. Nice...

[Chris_Pi]

If you make the cargo wedges un-grabbable, Would there be a simple way to undo that? It makes sense to set them that way and avoid unexpected problems, But I'd really like all the wedges to be movable. Something that had to be intentionally changed to permit that would avoid problems with people unknowingly running into buggy behavior without permanently locking the wedge in place for someone who knows there could be problems if they're not careful.

[Paul Kingtiger]

If you make the cargo wedges un-grabbable, Would there be a simple way to undo that? It makes sense to set them that way and avoid unexpected problems, But I'd really like all the wedges to be movable. Something that had to be intentionally changed to permit that would avoid problems with people unknowingly running into buggy behavior without permanently locking the wedge in place for someone who knows there could be problems if they're not careful.

Sure, it's a few lines of code in the part.cfg file. We can even include the code, commented out and you can remove the comments to activate it.

[Chris_Pi]

I was hoping for a pointer to the right spot to make the changes myself. Just un-comment some lines? Awesome. That's about perfect.

[Daishi]

Adding the new hinges and internals to my templates. Once KAS is released (which will be in a day or so) i'll be revising all the current wedges to replace them with the hinged\optimised versions, so when the TAC lifesupport pack is released it will arrive with parts that are more or less resolved. Considering its the pack everyone wants, its the one I want to release fully polished.

Hope everyones weekend is going well

Edited May 24, 2014 by Daishi

[Daishi]

KAS containers in game, pretty much waiting on the KAS developers to see if its possible to assign the door animation to play when you open or edit containers. Then some .cfg tweaks and the KAS pack is off to Paul to package

[landeTLS]

Looking really nice

[Daishi]

Looking really nice

Churs! Quick texture\visual detail mockup of the Liquid Fuel tank, and a rough estimate of its volume (as it stands at the moment, a quad-core arrangement has as much fuel as a FLT-100. Paul's working out its ideal capacity though). Then the monoprop and xenon wedge after this, and then TAC parts!

[JewelShisen]

Just a note but you may want to go back and check your math for the container volumes. I set up a craft with the battery and a spare oxygen and hydrogen tank and the OX ran out while the Hydrogen still had several hundred units left in it.

Other than that my only issue is how small the gap is in the nodes for the decouplers.

[Daishi]

Just a note but you may want to go back and check your math for the container volumes. I set up a craft with the battery and a spare oxygen and hydrogen tank and the OX ran out while the Hydrogen still had several hundred units left in it.

Other than that my only issue is how small the gap is in the nodes for the decouplers.

I'm not sure they're designed to deplete at the same rate - the amounts of resources are configured to the volumes of the containers, and the amount of compression per resource (oxygen and hydrogen differ slightly). We tried to get them as close as possible though. Hydrogen is used in a lot of generators\converters, so naturally there is going to be a discrepancy in how fast the tanks deplete vs other resources on the ship.

And yep those decouplers bug me as well. I'll be remaking them in the future

[CaptainCrunch]

Pardon my ignorance but which program/programs are used to design and texture these models?

Edited June 1, 2014 by CaptainCrunch

[landeTLS]

Pardon my ignorance but which program/programs are used to design and texture these models?

Looks like maya

[Duxwing]

Beautiful! The neat containers and their shelves and tanks make me giddy with logistical excitement!

Also, procedural Parts has a procedural Life Support tank that can be smoothly tweaked to contain whatever TAC supplies, whereas this mod makes storage chunky and imperfect. What is the practical advantage of this mod?

-Duxwing