[WIP]D12 Aerotech - A B9 Aerospace Expansion (Beta1)

[PolecatEZ]

If you are still looking at making a weapon turret you should see if you can track down Tosh's original sunbeam lazer code, that should be easier to understand and wouldn't require the rest of romfarers lazor plugin to function, you should be able to only use its tracking stuff and keep the gatlinggun code as a separate module as long as you make sure the hierarchy of the model makes sense.

That's exactly what I played with for a bit. The problem with that code is that it's extremely hard-wired, even the traverse and rotation of the turret are hard-wired and not model or .cfg based. It looks for very specific folders and files, so everything has to be in the exact folders you found it...ergo you need to compile a new .dll for each weapon. Other than that, its very easy to understand even for a non-programmer like me, I just need someone with a rudimentary understanding of coding to fix it.

[Adyx]

Sadly, no, S2W doesnt take it, its literally 5 millimeters too small.... well, i thought about the floaties, but i wanted something retractable and small (so it doesnt look stupid) ah well, guess i'll have to use the big b9 landing legs thanks for the answer!

LLL has a couple of smaller, retractable landing legs. Not as fancy as the B9 ones but they get the job done. They tend to suffer from the same slidey-ness as the B9 ones though.

[Taki117]

if i might make a suggestion: compartmentalize the folder. i.e. make it easier to delete parts by grouping similar parts together. (like how the Squad folder is layed out) mainly because I want the cockpits and a couple of other bits, but not anything else and it's dificult to figure out what I can delete with the current set up.

[PolecatEZ]

Its an idea, but the issue with that is the shared textures. It would force the game to load up thousands of extra 1kb files. This would be probably the last thing on the docket when I close the project. When I'm cranking out parts this fast, all I need to do is cut and paste and change a single file name, not worry about a whole directory tree. That being said, there are some little legacy things with certain types of parts that require a proper tree structure, so it will be done eventually.

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I think I've finally found the hardest type of part to make...landing gears. Engines and cockpits were a piece of cake compared to this. I don't think the 45 degree gear is coming out soon, but I switched to practicing with a bullet-shaped stock replacement just to try something.

----MINOR UPDATE TO THE DOWNLOAD----

* Firespitter plugin updated to latest stable beta - customized parts now update their symmetry in the VAB automatically.

* Drop tanks can now be fuel switched (for real!)

* Black casing added for GLADIUS engine

* Tomahawk class missile added

* Bugs fixed as reported.

* A few other tweaks and polish for some parts.

* Another minor optimization pass.

* Custom sounds for the Buzz Rotor

Edited June 4, 2014 by PolecatEZ

[Snjo]

I think I've finally found the hardest type of part to make...landing gears. Engines and cockpits were a piece of cake compared to this. I don't think the 45 degree gear is coming out soon, but I switched to practicing with a bullet-shaped stock replacement just to try something.

Ah hahahahahahaaaa ha haaaa, enjoy!

Sorry, just had landing gear flashbacks.

[CrazyOdd]

Now I have a question about the Buzzers again.... what exactly is "Cargo Throttle"? is it like a supercharger?

[BelgarionNL]

hey When thinking about making the vtol engines try it with this: http://www.curse.com/ksp-mods/kerbal/220667-throttle-controlled-avionics-1-3

the more smaller vtols you have the better it will stay balanced! it actually works really, REALLY well

[PolecatEZ]

hey When thinking about making the vtol engines try it with this: http://www.curse.com/ksp-mods/kerbal/220667-throttle-controlled-avionics-1-3

the more smaller vtols you have the better it will stay balanced! it actually works really, REALLY well

After kind of shelving landing gear, I started playing with the gear box and came up with what you're asking. Still not 100% though.

Each of these is about the size of a standard RCS block...I have to pick one eventually, as meshswitching won't be really an option. Texture switching will be for multiple patterns of whatever is picked.

The left - single flip door, retractable thruster, may or may not rotate VTOL style...and should it roll up/down for mounting on round hulls...or left right for VTOL/forward flight conversion?

Middle - Sensor block, scaled down (not finished). Eyeball will be hollowed out and widened, bottom will be heavily rounded. Would mount like an RCS block with a lot of gimballing power. Whole body would rotate with gimballing. Not retractable.

Right - 5-point vent system, opens and closes with throttle, thrust will point straight out, but will be invisibly gimballed.

Edited June 4, 2014 by PolecatEZ

[CrazyOdd]

LLL has a couple of smaller, retractable landing legs. Not as fancy as the B9 ones but they get the job done. They tend to suffer from the same slidey-ness as the B9 ones though.

well, I just checked them, none are what i want thanks for the suggestion, though! i would need bottom mounted wide landinglegs, not sidemounted... think the Bubbleship from "Oblivion", didnt like the movie but its the nearest i can think of right now...

[falken]

I really do like these new cockpits Polecat! Good visibility on the IVAs.

[How2FoldSoup]

Loving those thrusters polecat. If I could have it my way I would merge the first and third somehow. Adding the thruster that moves outward along with a more boxy shape that would look conformed to the hull. The first one looks great nozzle/door wise but it looks like it wouldn't be very aerodynamically stable (aesthetically and FAR speaking) if just attached to the side of a ship.

[petros_a_l]

Will those parts be included in the updated B9?

[PolecatEZ]

Those parts are part of the D12 expansion. The updated B9 will have their own couple of new things added, and a lot of optimization for the base package.

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In other news, the engine will be revisited...I saw some concepts for the new Chinese carriers and got a little excited. Shakedown trials for the basic hull parts are going well. Time to make a riser and carrier deck...

Base hull is about 30m wide built in 24m long sections. The riser will add about 3 more meters in height and 12 more in width if you use the pairs, but the deck will fit snuggly without the risers also. Elevators will be centerline (USS Lexington style). The screws will be a single piece for now, each with a built-in rudder, and running on electric which you can power by KSPI nuclear reactors, microwave beam, solar + battery, or an included ICE generator.

Also got a catapult animated, but I'm really not giving it much chance of success. Basically the aircraft sets its front gear in front of an animated collider plate and the pilot triggers the animation which is set to snap forward. Chances are it will obliterate the aircraft - I'll find out later today. Plan B is to have an animated ski jump you can extend or retract flat.

Arresting cables are cheated a bit. You can use a single landing gear of your choice attached to the rear of your aircraft with the break on, and your other gears are out but breaks off. In testing this stopped the aircraft in about 5 meters of runway. The deck plates will have a mesh-switching option to look like a cable setup from a French ACC concept I saw somewhere.

Edited June 5, 2014 by PolecatEZ

[RockoDyne]

Are you planning an arrestor hook system with this? I could have swore I remember you talking about a take off system, but I don't remember anything about slowing down.

[PolecatEZ]

For a dirty arrestor hook, try this:

- Put a landing gear on the rear of your aircraft, 1 or 2 as you wish.

- Remove it from the "gear" and "break" action groups.

- Add it to its own action group, put both toggle break and toggle gear actions on this group.

When you land, put down your gear/flaps/airbrakes/swing wings as normal. Trigger the arrestor group also. Do not otherwise put on the breaks. Get your airspeed to under 40-50 and you land with an identical profile to an arrestor wire landing. Start tapping "b" as soon as you touch down, which should alternate between regular gear breaks and arrestor group breaks until stopped. Then pull up your arrestor group. Profit.

[PolecatEZ]

She's getting close. There's 3 of about 12 alternate deck patterns, and I haven't done the risers yet with about 12-18 more meters on the width. I did get a side-loading door done for the main hull pieces. Elevator is about half done, though I can't decide between centerline and mid-deck models.

Designing the parts in such a way that you can strip out the mass, flip the hull parts upside down and stack them, and have a nice starship also.

[Hodo]

PolecatEZ, I can't help but like your project, but I have 2 questions.

Is it FAR compatable?

And

12th Legion of Vega really?

[How2FoldSoup]

Hey Hodo,

I had the same question a few days ago..here was his response regarding FAR:

All except swing wings and the Whispercraft rotor are FAR compatible, that leaves about 95% of the pack that works just fine (at least as well as Stock/B9/Firespitter parts). If you think something's not quite right, you can tweak the values and I'll be happy to update them. Please be sure to use the Firespitter version included in the pack (last official release).

In the future, I'm not sure how well FSpropeller will play with FAR, as the new way uses a derivation of FSliftsurface for propulsion. I may have to make 2 versions of engines like this, a FAR one and a nice tweakable one.

edit: I am curious though which rotor is the whispercraft rotor"? is it all of them or one in particular?

Edited June 7, 2014 by How2FoldSoup

[123nick]

hey where are those sweeping wings? like the ones that rotate inward or outward, i see the ones that fold, but not the ones that rotate like the B1 lancer bomber i think. also, the naginata lightwieght folding rotor i dont see. also im not sure if this is just me having installed D12 over a earlier version, but i got 2 copys of the shoutycraft war rotor.

[ThorBeorn]

I just discovered the B9 extension and also the Crossover pack you made PolecatEZ. I must say they both look really cool!

If this is thread also is for making wishes, I think that a "B9" texture for StretchyTanks/Procedural Parts would be awsome - just something to match your cockpits. That way part count could be decreased and we could be more creative with building B9 styled aircraft/spaceplanes.

Thanks!

[AccidentalDisassembly]

Maybe this is intentional, so ... sorry, if it is. As is, several of the expansion parts meant to replace stock parts don't have an "X" on the end of their name, and I think the duplicate part names cause crazy things to happen like spawning in space when you try to launch. Of course, if you delete the stock parts they're meant to replace, I suppose this wouldn't happen... just an FYI in case you intended them all to have the X unless users choose to replace.

[Fuminor]

First, awesome expansion!

But I noticed, that the bigger swept wings (sweptWingsXXX) are not FAR-configured. Another thing, which probably isn't a bug, but how do you activate the electric mode on the rotors and turboprops?

Thanks in advance

[Eskandare]

Fantastic expansion! Unfortunately, the lift is all messed up, but I gather that is something that will be fixed in the future. Nonetheless a fantastic expansion!

[ratfusion]

Would you please consider revisiting this one. I could use it for a current project. Thanks!

[123nick]

hey im not sure if this is bug or intended, but the missiles dont track targets. i have romfarer, and the romfarer guided missile thing, but it still doesent track. maybe its supposed to not track, but just asking incase its a actual bug.