[1.2 - 1.4][WIP] Joolian Discovery v0.8 (2015-08-14)

[NecroBones]

 

Joolian Discovery

Inspired by the USS Discovery One from 2001: A Space Odyssey

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Supports TweakScale and AVC. Contains some settings for Snacks, Life Support, and RemoteTech2

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This is an EARLY BETA -- While we'll try to avoid breaking people's savegames with future updates, it may be unavoidable at some point.

 

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Future plans:

• Add a proper IVA. Right now it's using a generic stock interior. (updated: IVA in progress. Half-completed copy included)
• Maybe add a working pod bay. Ideally, I want the pod-bay doors to work, and also add EVA pods as well.

Interesting notes:

• Command pod functions as a probe-core when no crew are on board. Heh. The command pod also has RemoteTech2 modules to function as a probe core within that mod.
• The boom-segments come in 1x, 2x, and 3x lengths to help you keep the part-count down, and also minimize the "twisting snake" effect. In the "movie configuration", with 6 segments in front of the antenna, and 4 behind it, this can be done with two parts on either side of the antenna mount. The ship is pretty solid this way.
• Crew capacity is 5, though no one goes into hibernation on THIS Discovery.
• The engines and fuel tanks use their own specialized fuel. This is of course incompatible with the stock fuels, but this seemed like a good opportunity to make something that is slightly more realistic (nuclear engines don't use oxidizers).
• Includes a radially-attachable monolith. It's silly, but it it can be used for "rapid gravitational acceleration" (drop) tests in career mode (via contracts, as a staged decoupler). Or you can just send them off into space, or whatever you want.
• Some of the parts are multi-function. The command pod, neck adapter, and engine "block" all have reaction wheels. The neck-adapter is also a large battery, and the engines function as RTGs. If you're using Life Support, the command pod contains the equivalent of the 2.5m general life-support and waste collection units.
• For career/science games, all of the parts are in the 1000-point tech tree nodes, since they're "advanced" and "experimental" technologies, with specialized fuel.

 

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Image Gallery:

(Note that the stats, appearances, and descriptions of the parts shown below are subject to change, or may be out of date)

 

 

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Information:

This parts pack is inspired by the USS Discovery One ship, from the 2001: A Space Odyssey feature film. It is not meant to be an exact replica, nor is it constructed to scale. However, it's meant to be highly reminiscent of that ship, with the correct general overall shape and proportions. After searching for similar models made by other KSP modders, and finding that little had been done, I decided that it fell to me to fill the void.

Installation:

Please backup your savegames first! This is always recommended when adding or updating mods.

Simply copy the "JoolianDiscovery" folder into your GameData folder. If upgrading from a previous version, be sure to delete the old one from GameData first (this is the cleanest option).

 

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Download:

SpaceDock

-or-

Curse.com download page

-or-

ksp.necrobones.com

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Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

CC BY-NC-SA

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Change History:

0.8 (2015-08-14) - Tweaks.
 - Added Community Tech Tree support, moving parts to more advanced tech nodes.
 - Added a radially-attachable KAL-9999 probe core, using existing art assets.

0.7 (2015-08-11) - Monolith tweaks.
  - Monolith scaled up 85% to give it dimensions close to the TMA-1 monolith from 2001.
  - Monolith given a probe core, small reaction wheel, battery, internal generator.
  - Monolith classified as a "Space Object" instead of debris.
  - Monolith mass drasitcally reduced, to give it air-density, as mentioned in the 2010 book.
  - Monolith texture problem fixed. Should be black again.
  - Monolith now has top and bottom stack nodes, in addition to its surface attachment node.

0.6 (2015-05-01) - KSP 1.0.1 corrections
 - Adjusted engine heat & thrust for KSP 1.0.1 compatability.
 - Converted textures to DDS format.

0.5 (2015-04-30) - Beta Release
 - Added more advanced SAS functions to the command pod
 - KSP 1.0 compatibility updates
 - Re-assigned tech-tree locations.
 - Now uses LiquidFuel instead of NuclearPropellant.

0.4 (2014-10-30) - Beta Release
 - Tiny bit more progress on IVA
 - Fixed IVA seat orientations
 - Slightly brightened exterior textures.
 - Switched textures back to MBM format for best performance and memory usage.

0.3 (2014-10-07) - Beta Release
 - Fixed texture problem in the neck-adapter part.

0.2 (2014-10-07) - Beta Release
 - Added a starter IVA (work in progress)
 - Changed version file to not be as picky about KSP version

0.1 (2014-10-03) - Inital Beta Test

 

Edited March 12, 2018 by NecroBones

[SouthPhilly]

Very, very cool m8.....

Just watch 2001 on my day off.

[physicsnerd]

I'm impressed.

[hieywiey]

Does it have a HAL 9000, and do you plan on making a Leonov?

[Z3R0_0NL1N3]

I saw this on Curse, and shouted "YESYESYESYESYES!" until I downloaded it. This is a must-have!

In seriousness, though, I am a great fan of 2001, and this is an amazing piece of work!

[Matrix Aran]

Very very awesome mod. I too second the request for a Leonov.

[E.Nygma]

Finally! A better substitute for the Discovery-1-pod by Goodspeed. Workable pod bay doors would bei awesome, but downloading anyway Thank you very much!

[DavidBowman]

Open the pod bay doors, Jeb!

[kiwiak]

Open the pod bay doors, Jeb!

You meant MECHJEB.

[NecroBones]

Thanks everyone! Glad you like it.

Does it have a HAL 9000, and do you plan on making a Leonov?

When I work on the interior, it'll definitely have the HAL-eye in several places. For now, the command pod will function as a probe core without any crew on board.

I hadn't thought about a Leonov, but that's a good idea.

[CaptRobau]

Would it be possible for there to be a pod bay, with doors and attachment nodes attachment of pods or custom craft? IXS Interstellar showed how awesome such an interior cargobay is.

[hieywiey]

Thanks everyone! Glad you like it.

When I work on the interior, it'll definitely have the HAL-eye in several places. For now, the command pod will function as a probe core without any crew on board.

I hadn't thought about a Leonov, but that's a good idea.

Also could you possibly do the Discovery Ambient sound, and maybe the little things (like NAV, COM, etc.) on the screens (they can just be fake IVA stuff, or it could be done through RPM, just an idea at this point)?

[NecroBones]

Would it be possible for there to be a pod bay, with doors and attachment nodes attachment of pods or custom craft? IXS Interstellar showed how awesome such an interior cargobay is.

That's kinda what I'm thinking. If I can get doors working, and internal attachment nodes, then there's nothing to prevent sticking small pods in there. Most of the mods that do things like this (such as the IXS) are doing it with the FireSpitter animation DLL. But the stock game is getting something similar, now that the SP+ cargobay is getting added in 0.25. I'll want to see how that's working and see how possible it is without resorting to mod DLLs.

Also could you possibly do the Discovery Ambient sound, and maybe the little things (like NAV, COM, etc.) on the screens (they can just be fake IVA stuff, or it could be done through RPM, just an idea at this point)?

That would be cool. No idea how doable it is yet though.

[Nicholander]

Ah, someone made something from 2001: A Space Odyssey! rep for you!

(Also, did you take some inspiration from my stupid attempt at creating some parts from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and it turns out that it's WAY harder than I thought, so I sort of abandoned it... Maybe I'll make the EVA Pod, though that's probably WAY too hard for me to do...)

[NecroBones]

Ah, someone made something from 2001: A Space Odyssey! rep for you!

(Also, did you take some inspiration from my stupid attempt at creating some parts from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and it turns out that it's WAY harder than I thought, so I sort of abandoned it... Maybe I'll make the EVA Pod, though that's probably WAY too hard for me to do...)

Ah, no actually, I had missed that. I see it now, though. Yeah, I could see what you were trying to do, and it does get pretty tricky. I did something similar to what people were showing you, with booleans, to make the window cut-out.

When I googled for it initially, mostly I was just finding the attempts people had made, using only stock parts. That is, 2001-inspired ship designs in the stock game. Plus, I found the Deep Space Mission Pack, and that was about it.

[dbmorpher]

I want to see a battle between this and the IXS Warship

[Mekan1k]

All it needs is an IVA.

[hieywiey]

That would be cool. No idea how doable it is yet though.

I know the ALCOR has a ambient sound for IVA, but the screen things would have to be done through IVA textures.

[wreckreation]

This is frickin' awesome! Nice job!

There's already a monolith on the mun. Please tell me this mod puts another monolith in orbit around Jool.

[Nicholander]

It unfortunately doesn't put a TMA-2 analog in the game...

[Helix935]

I want to see a battle between this and the IXS Warship

first we need lasers...

[mike9606]

This is frickin' awesome! Nice job!

There's already a monolith on the mun. Please tell me this mod puts another monolith in orbit around Jool.

It does not actually, but there is a Monolith part that you can put into orbit around Jool.

[NecroBones]

Yeah, at some point it would be cool to add discoverable monoliths out there (even though technically, there are Squad monoliths in the game). But of course, that means either injecting objects into people's savegames, or doing something with plugin code to place them out there.

[Nicholander]

Does this work with 0.25?

[NecroBones]

This pack didn't really need an update for 0.25, since nothing broke. However, the version file would have kept complaining, so I figured it was a good time to change how that works.

Also, since I'm half-way through the IVA, and won't have time to work on it for about a week, this was a good opportunity to let people play with the half-finished IVA for the time being.

0.2 (2014-10-07) - Beta Release
 - Added a starter IVA (work in progress)
 - Changed version file to not be as picky about KSP version