[WIP] KERES - Stockalike launch vehicle and spacecraft mod

[Borklund]

Kerbin Exploration Systems

What is KERES?

KERES will be a collection of modular, stockalike launch vehicle and spacecraft parts with a realistic skew. By realistic skew I mean that they will fit in aesthetically with stock KSP parts while simultaneously having realistic features. For example, a crew pod with a service module that has an umbilical connector. While it serves no actual purpose in the game it makes the whole thing look more functional and realistic. Another example would be radiator panels, which would serve no actual gameplay purpose in stock KSP but they would make an orbiting habitat module look more functional and realistic.

The logo symbolises the idea behind the mod and the order in which I intend to iterate on it. The three coloured celestial bodies are Kerbin, the Mun and Duna, with a rocket launch going up into the stars which is meant to represent exploration of all the celestial bodies of the Kerbol system. The latin phrases translate to "To the stars through adversity" and "From the stars, knowledge", representing, well, what you'll be doing in the game using my parts. The idea is to progressively add mission elements in phases with increasing capability (sort of like NASA's journey to Mars plan) that ultimately combine to make an epic series of missions. You will be able to do a lot of things using only parts from this mod. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here is an image to help illustrate what I'm trying to do:

This should give you a rough idea of the types of parts I'm going to make and the order in which I will make them. I have a better idea in my head and some rough sketches that I don't want to share (I am awful at drawing). Instead I have been prototyping and iterating in 3ds max, the tool I am the most experienced with. For inspiration I have looked mostly at modern Russian, Chinese and American spacecraft and launch vehicles. I will use this thread to post work in progress renders as I refine the various designs as well as answer your questions and address any requests you may have. Any and all constructive feedback is much appreciated. With that said, this is not going to be an easy task to accomplish by myself so if there is anyone out there who wants to collaborate do send me a PM. I'm mainly looking for a texture artist.

Work in progress gallery:

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Edited May 18, 2015 by Borklund

[sharpspoonful]

I'm interested, but your album needs to have [imgur][/.imgur] around the 8x0sk part of the albums URL.

Edited July 26, 2014 by sharpspoonful

[Borklund]

Thanks, that did the trick.

[Wren]

I'm also intrigued.

**edit**

Ooooh, oh, okay, very neato start to this. Looking forward to your updates, and here is some nummy rep.

[Budgie]

Hope to see this come to fruition, looks really interesting. I like your approach and idea

[SuccessPastaTime]

This... looks... awesome!

Excited to watch the development and eventually try out myself!

[Jaybtlr]

will certainly be keeping an eye on this

[NathanKell]

Well, that's a handsome start!

[Kerbal01]

Interesting!

[Borklund]

Thank you all for your comments, I really appreciate it

I came up with a new design for the 3 engine 3.75m core engine part that fits in better with the design for the 5 engine variant:

Variation is important to me and to a game like KSP where you want to give players the tools to come up with as many unique designs as possible. With that in mind, here are a bunch of nose cones you will be able to pick and choose from:

For this mod I am going to use the standard 2.5m and 3.75m diameters but I am also going to create parts in new diameters to add more incremental steps, giving you more ways to come up with unique designs. There will be several 2m parts for you to build a 2m core stage with, plus a 2m to 2.5m interstage adapter. You can use these parts to make an Angara 1.2PP/all-liquid Ares 1 lookalike:

Or why not strap on a few of those LRBs for a more powerful launch vehicle:

Again, please keep in mind that this is all very much WIP.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Borklund

[Bomoo]

Looking at your 3.75m engine cluster concepts, one thing occurs to me: why not make them simple mounting brackets for Skippers so that only the nozzle pokes through, perhaps? Or possibly even Mainsails. Likewise, your Soyuz 4-engine cluster might be a shrouded mounting bracket for LV-T30s or 45s. Saves you a bunch of work, I'd imagine, and creating mounting brackets for existing engines as opposed to engine clusters would also give your mod something more that is unique and stands apart from the likes of, for example, KWR.

Edit: *light bulb* And the 3-engine 3.75m cluster might also be an upper stage solution, generating a fairing with enough clearance for mounting Skippers when something is mounted underneath it.

For the 2.5m crew pod, as there already is a 3-kerbal stock one, why not try to cover something new like a bulkier 4-5 kerbal pod? Forgive me if you were planning on doing this already, but I've seen half a dozen mods that try to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.

Everything looks great and super promising, and I wish you the best of luck in keeping a good pace going & not burning out, and wish I could contribute more to your project than my obnoxious backseat-driver "feedback."

Edited July 27, 2014 by Bomoo

[Fox62]

Expanding on Bomoo's suggestion, why not make it so that the CSM can be built with either your 4-5 kerbal pod or the stick 3 kerbal pod?

[BlazingAngel665]

This is looking pretty sharp. Carry on.

[NathanKell]

Bouncing off Bomoo's suggestion--I definitely support new engines.

I just would much rather see 1 single engine part (*without* that giant tank-butt mounting piece) and a separate mount with three stack nodes.

For an example of how that's done, check out hte Saturn stuff in FASA. (Vs, say, the Titan stuff in FASA).

[Bomoo]

Aaannd I realized that my suggestion about Skipper clusters wouldn't work because of their base plates sticking through the side of the rocket - sigh. Apologies.

[NathanKell]

Yeah, tankbutts are the bane of my existence. And many of our existences. Y U DO THAT, people who make parts?

[RedAV8R]

Borklund, love the new work, still rocking your KerbX with RO:)

[Fox62]

Why are there *chirp chirp chirp* crickets on this thread?

[Darknighthb]

Ooooh. This looks very promising. Can't wait to see what will come out of this!!!

[Kerbal01]

will KerbX be finished?

[jonrd463]

Very nice concept and philosophy you've got there. It sounds a lot like how I'm playing KSP right now. At first, I blitzkrieged the science collection game and then basically found myself in Sandbox mode once the tiers were opened up. Now I'm busy colonizing the Kerbol system with self-sustaining outposts using TACLS + greenhouses for the LS stuff, and Karbonite for the fuel side of things.

Actually, no, I lie. Lately I've been bug chasing and desperately seeking a stable, modded 64 bit install, but I digress.

Gonna watch this one eagerly.

[Guest]

Ask in KerbX thread, or wherever. This is KERES thread.

As for the rocket, I like the look of it. Could you make it not too stockalike? It reminds me on Yenisei and Energia 5K rockets.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/yenisei5.html

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/energia5k.html

[Borklund]

Thanks RedAV8R, BlazingAngel665, Darknighthb and jonrd463!

Bomoo: Excellent post, thank you for taking the time. You already partially answered the first part of your post (base plates clipping through the rest of the model) but I also just don't want to make a mount for other engines. I want to create a whole part with engines already in place, like the stock engine part from the ARM update. I am not looking to make unique parts in the sense that I'm plugging a hole in the spectrum of mods that are out there and what they're offering. This also applies to a 4, 5 or however many kerbal crew pod. I feel like 3 is a good number for a number of reasons. It's stock default and if I have a crew of 5 it would necessitate much larger landers and habs which in turn would require a larger diameter launch vehicle so it doesn't look stupid (also, imagine a 3.75m pod docking to a 2.5m space station). A 4-5 kerbal pod and lander and all that would probably work well with 5m diameter, but I am personally not a huge fan of anything larger than 3.75m in diameter. There's Chaka and KW Rocketry if you do though, and I believe Kyle and Winston were working on a 3.75m pod with a larger crew size at some point.

Fox62: I already answered some of your post above, but I'll also add that I don't want to make a service module to go with the stock pod for a number of reasons, chief among them that SDHI (which is excellent) already exists and I don't like the shape and size of the stock pod and want to create my own.

NathanKell: It's a good suggestion, it's just not something I want to do. Also, I can think of one reason why engine mounts (or tankbutts as you've called them) exist and that is that a lot of different fuel tanks have ends which look different. For example if you were to mount an engine, just the nozzle and pressure chamber, under a KW rocketry tank, it would appear to be floating unattached mid-air below the tank with no attachment or fuel pipes, which would in my opinion look a little stupid. For my mod I am going to design fuel tanks that look realistic on their own (domes visible on both ends) and the corresponding enging parts will have an end cap that when combined make it look functional.

DarthVader: No, I am not going to be working on KerbX again.

Dragon01: The Yenisei and Energia 5K designs are very much my main inspiration for a lot of the launch vehicle parts. With regard to stockalikeness (pretend it's a real word) and visual fidelity I would like to aim for something like helldiver's excellent Kerbin Shuttle Orbiter System. I am nowhere near as talented as helldiver but I will make an honest to God attempt. This is a learning experience for me more than anything else.

--

3.75m SLS inspired upper stage parts:

Example 3.75m launch vehicle:

Exploded view:

This is still very much WIP and lacking a lot of detail, some of it on the meshes themselves but mostly (obviously) texture detail.

[wasmic]

Looks really great, even though it's not textured yet. Any chance that you'll make a 2m->1.875m adapter for use with HGR?

[Bomoo]

Lookin' good, dude. Love that SLS upper stage.