Raptor's Craft Download Catalog - Tested & Proven

[Raptor9]

17 hours ago, Neil Kerman said:

I’d love to write a story or series of stories using the Ranger Corps concept and the Kerbalverse @Raptor9 has put together

This is something I've considered multiple times before, however haven't ruled out.  It's just real life commitments have made it difficult to expand my Kerbal activities.

11 hours ago, Jestersage said:

Just comparing notes. So unless they rebalance it so an uberpowered thuster comes out, 6x Kodiak or Skiff is pretty much the best option without going too costly.

The other side of it was the Proton analogue was a 1.875m rocket, which was way too small for some of the payloads I wanted to lift.

11 hours ago, Jestersage said:

I actually ran an experiment with your OV-4 with its Crowssbow-U stage. When out of CommNet Range, it needs 2 pilot to control the URM-2

Hmmm...Interesting; I may have an inaccurate or incomplete understanding of how the CommNet logic works.  When it comes down to it, nothing beats a field test.  I have yet to do any serious Career mode play for over a year, so haven't had a chance to test out a lot of my new craft outside of a token test mission.

[AlchemicRaven]

Speaking of Career mode... I really love your craft, the best analogues out there! But, no to criticize, the catalogue as a whole, at least the early craft, do not seem to be very career friendly. You stated many times that these craft are for use in your career save/s. A lot of your craft, presumably for early career, require a lot a of research nodes, notably your EV-1A. Now I have not tested the OV-1X in career yet, but I really doubt it is easily available during an early career save. Again, this is not to criticize, I would feel terrible if you sacrifice the function and aesthetic of your craft just to conform to tech tree limitations. I was just curious about how you get around that in early career saves. Please don't take this as a criticism, I honestly think that your craft are the best analogues out there.

[Raptor9]

19 minutes ago, AlchemicRaven said:

But, no to criticize, the catalogue as a whole, at least the early craft, do not seem to be very career friendly. You stated many times that these craft are for use in your career save/s. A lot of your craft, presumably for early career, require a lot a of research nodes, notably your EV-1A.

You're more or less correct, but a better description would be "these craft aren't tech tree friendly". Whenever I started a new career, I would do a lot of early career grind by farming local KSC science, ad hoc craft for part test contracts, or other such things.  But since I've already gotten past those early career grinds multiple times (around five times already), I simply don't do them anymore.  Whenever I get around to starting my new post-1.7/Breaking Ground career save, I'm just going to grant myself the prerequisite science to unlock the required tech nodes as needed.  I'll still need to do some of those early career contracts to build up my funds for more advanced missions, like early LKO or Mun missions, but I really don't care for going through the stock tech tree non-sense anymore.

[Neil Kerman]

6 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

This is something I've considered multiple times before, however haven't ruled out.

Do you have any established Kerbalverse cannon? If you do I’d love to get some sense of what it might be. I really like your craft and do a lot of role playing with them. 

[selpheed]

Hey! where is the video "Red planet Rivals" on youtube? is missing!

[Jestersage]

Hey Raptor9, since you played it longer than I did: Did you create the story first, or did you made the crafts, then start to create some kind of background of The Space Program on Kerbal?

Quote

The other side of it was the Proton analogue was a 1.875m rocket, which was way too small for some of the payloads I wanted to lift.

I see. I decided to go with 4~5m = 2.5m Kerbal, seeing how the Orange Tank would be analogue with Delta-IV/Atlas series.

Edited July 4, 2019 by Jestersage

[Raptor9]

9 hours ago, Neil Kerman said:

Do you have any established Kerbalverse cannon? If you do I’d love to get some sense of what it might be.

36 minutes ago, Jestersage said:

Did you create the story first, or did you made the crafts, then start to create some kind of background of The Space Program on Kerbal?

In the early alpha days of KSP, prior to v0.25 when there wasn't a career mode, I never really had any background story.  Around the time v0.25 and career mode came out, that was when Squad was adding a lot of detail and lore to the game, such as companies/agencies, the Admin building strategies, and a lot of parts grouped by manufacturer.  Shortly thereafter I started publishing craft files with their associated graphics.  Some of the details that I included in those craft summaries had some background story for flavor, but not really any sense to it beyond that.

After 1.0, I started to solidify my building and publishing strategies, standardizing my rocket lifters aligned with manufacturers, and creating clear-cut craft naming conventions.  This was the time when I started to revise and link the various craft file descriptions/captions/summaries into a coherent timeline and space program progression with consistent background information.  But it was strictly for immersion.  There was nothing formal; just a common thread that I had in my head on how it all linked together.  A lot of it obviously came from real-life inspiration, so it's not like I was creating anything new.  For example the Kerbals started with suborbital launches with single capsules, progressing to Mun landings, then space stations in LKO, then returning the Mun, Minmus, and then going to Duna.

The first serious concepts for an established "Kerbalverse" materialized when I had the idea for Ranger Corps, mainly as a way to justify certain aspects of the project.  A volunteer government organization with a separate charter than the Kerbal Space Agency, but with similar operating locales (to include space), was how I could justify the Ranger Corps' craft files in a game that thus far had no indications of separate nations or a major space race.  Plus the alternative launch sites (Dessert and Woomerang) gave me options as well.  The recon/scouting functions of the Ranger Corps stations/aircraft and the forward logistics functions of the KALV series was justified using a storyline thread that the Kerbals had always lived along the coastal regions, and hadn't ventured into the unexplored regions of Kerbin (also as a way of rationalizing why Kerbin lacks civil infrastructure outside it's launch facilities, airfields, and ground stations).

So essentially, I made the craft first, but in a style that seemed (to me) logical; and the story and background "Kerbalverse" sort of grew after the fact and really took on a life of it's own.  Until the idea of the Ranger Corps, I really hadn't thought about formalizing my take on the Kerbal story.  But since I finished the Ranger Corps project, I am seriously considering throwing my hat in the Kerbal story-writing ring.

1 hour ago, selpheed said:

Hey! where is the video "Red planet Rivals" on youtube? is missing!

I removed it and a lot of the others because I'm migrating to a new youtube channel and I wanted to remake a lot of those older videos with the latest designs and filming techniques.  I watch those older vids and I cringe.

Edited July 4, 2019 by Raptor9

[Space-Anon]

Sorry to push, or be rude, but are you going to bring back the SVR-23 Raven? My early space stations were serviced with those, and they were super easy to fly. 

Sincerly,

Anon

[Raptor9]

23 minutes ago, Space-Anon said:

are you going to bring back the SVR-23 Raven?

Unfortunately not.  Besides the fact that I learned to hate them, there was a lot of overlap between them and the SR-21 'Phoenix' spaceplanes, so I depreciated them long ago.
________________________________

EDIT: While I'm signed-in to the forums, I want to take this opportunity to talk about the way forward.  First and foremost, I'm not done playing KSP, but I may be less active in the coming months.  After pushing Ranger Corps out the door, I was ready for a break to recharge my creative batteries.  And I've been wanting to restart a career for quite some time now to take advantage of all the new stuff in KSP.  On top of all this, and I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but my real-life occupation continues to demand more of my time and focus.  Some nights when I get home, even when I do have time to play KSP, I don't have the energy.

Having said all that, aside from my career gameplay, the areas I've been wanting to re-visit are as follows:
1) Revise my LV-2D/E Duna landers to update the 24-77 engines with the new models, hopefully reduce part count slightly, tweak the ER-2 rover behavior, add side docking ports to be able to plug them into the BM-series subassemblies if desired, and add Breaking Ground surface experiment options for LV-2D specifically.  Because adding cargo containers and experiments is so straightforward, I am considering not including the equipment itself, but rather allocating space in the cargo compartments that will allow players to add them in if they own the Breaking Ground DLC.  In this case, I would examine which experiments and support equipment would be necessary for Duna surface science, and specify a loading configuration for the player to follow to ensure the payload is equally distributed to maintain balance and control during descent.
2) Update my LV-1 Apollo-style landers to include Breaking Ground surface science experiments.
3) Resume my revision of my SVR-20 shuttle analogue for better balance and control during launch, hopefully include better landing characteristics and predictability, an increase in monopropellant supply, and an optionally-removable mount for a Canadarm-style RMS.  The RMS itself, assuming it works, would be a separate subassembly download to allow better flexibility between DLC and non-DLC owners.
4) A few other small ideas, like a new high-performance science-collection aircraft for the KSA for example.

Aside from that, we'll just have to see where things go.  There are of course plenty of other applications for the Breaking Ground parts, plus the new turboshaft, rotor, propeller parts that were just teased.  The future of KSP is still bright, and there is still lots to do.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Raptor9

[Space-Anon]

13 minutes ago, Raptor9 said:

Unfortunately not.  Besides the fact that I learned to hate them, there was a lot of overlap between them and the SR-21 'Phoenix' spaceplanes, so I depreciated them long ago.

How this, I will re-engineer the SVR-23 raven, send you the craft file, and if you like it, you can keep it!

[Jestersage]

57 minutes ago, Raptor9 said:

Unfortunately not.  Besides the fact that I learned to hate them, there was a lot of overlap between them and the SR-21 'Phoenix' spaceplanes, so I depreciated them long ago.

You actually have a way to "kinda" bring it back by using RangerCorp -- by making a LKS or Kliper Clone (You will have to figure out how to resolve the miniport problem), and thus have a mid-size cargo plane at the top of the rocket stack instead.

I myself actually experiment with them during my early gameplay eras (in fact my first Mun landing is done with a Lunex clone), and the benefit is that it's much easier to fly than your side-mounted SVR-23, while have the same wing mounted flight. It differ from your SVR-10 mainly due to the cargo trunk or the extra capacity cabin crew.

Now of course I am going to go ahead, but seems like many people want to use your stuff. While you may not be as famous as Matt Lowe or Scott Manley, within this forum you do have some hardcore fans.

---

Anyway, take it easy. I will go back to refine my stuff. I have to do it while you are away ;-)

Edited July 5, 2019 by Jestersage

[Neil Kerman]

Have you thought about developing a version of the Prospector designed to scan Kerbin rather than the Mün? With the KALV using ISRU tech something like this would be helpful for selecting sites conducive to ore extraction

Edited July 5, 2019 by Neil Kerman

[Raptor9]

1 hour ago, Jestersage said:

You actually have a way to "kinda" bring it back by using RangerCorp

Well the thing is I'm not really big on spaceplanes in general.  While Ranger Corps does open up other options for craft file design, in the particular case of the SVR-23, I don't see myself returning it to the catalog.

1 hour ago, Neil Kerman said:

Have you thought about developing a version of the Prospector designed to scan Kerbin rather than the Mün? With the KALV using ISRU tech something like this would be helpful for selecting sites conducive to ore extraction

The Prospector, despite being displayed on the graphic in orbit around the Mun, is actually meant to be used elsewhere if needed.  Any planet or moon within the Kerbin, Duna, or Eve SOI's should be within reach of the Prospector's rocket lifter (I've sent it to polar orbit around Duna), and the second generation of this satellite received a boost in electric storage for the sole reason of being able to relay an orbital survey of any planet within those SOI's, including Kerbin.

For finding areas on Kerbin suitable to set up forward refueling sites, I prefer to use aerial surveys from the C7 152R.  Ore concentration is only half the story, since a reconnaissance overflight is still necessary to find suitable landing sites.  However, other aircraft are capable of performing this function, like the C7 305R, or any aircraft equipped with the MERSA pods.  As long as you fly below 1000 meters AGL, the Surface Scanning Module still functions to identify ore concentrations.  Even though I use my Mir analogue around the Mun, you could use it to perform orbital surveys in lieu of the Prospector, since the OM-L3 has the required hardware.  You have plenty of options already. 

[Neil Kerman]

8 minutes ago, Raptor9 said:

the second generation of this satellite received a boost in electric storage

I’m sorry, I didn’t know it had received a boost to its batteries because I’ve been unable to play for a few weeks, thanks for putting up with my stupid question

[Raptor9]

4 minutes ago, Neil Kerman said:

I’m sorry, I didn’t know it had received a boost to its batteries because I’ve been unable to play for a few weeks, thanks for putting up with my stupid question

It's no problem.   Actually, the Prospector has been capable of this for quite some time.  It received the upgrade during my Sat/Probe revamp project last summer.

[Jestersage]

Hold off on the prop stuff for now (Engines are LF though)

 

Edited July 5, 2019 by Jestersage

[Raptor9]

3 hours ago, Jestersage said:

Hold off on the prop stuff for now (Engines are LF though)

I'm well aware , I was in Rocketology's Twitch stream and someone eagle-eyed viewer spotted the previews minutes after Squad posted the images to their twitter feed. I shelved rotorcraft experiments shortly after starting experimentation when I discovered how weak the electric motors were at maintaining RPM when applying blade pitch.  So I'm hoping these fuel-powered engines have a lot more torque when increasing blade incidence.

[Neil Kerman]

Whenever I try and open up the FRCV KSP opens up the loading screen then shunts me back to the KSC, anyone else have this issue? Logs here.

[Raptor9]

@Neil Kerman, have you tested it in a stock KSP install with no mods?  I doubt the craft file is the issue, however it does include Making History DLC parts.  If you don't have that installed, it won't work.

[Neil Kerman]

10 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

@Neil Kerman, have you tested it in a stock KSP install with no mods?  I doubt the craft file is the issue, however it does include Making History DLC parts.  If you don't have that installed, it won't work.

Worked with a stock install, now I need to figure out which mod is messing up the craft, wish me luck

Edited July 20, 2019 by Neil Kerman

[Raptor9]

17 minutes ago, Neil Kerman said:

now I need to figure out which mod is messing up the craft

I'm no modder, so I suck at reading output logs, but I would start with removing Wild Blue Industries. 

[Jestersage]

Hey Raptor, I noticed you removed the 6x Sr Port node. Instead of asking you to repost, would you confirm if that node would have allowed Kerbals to be placed within?

Edited July 31, 2019 by Jestersage

[Raptor9]

13 hours ago, Jestersage said:

I noticed you removed the 6x Sr Port node. Instead of asking you to repost, would you confirm if that node would have allowed Kerbals to be placed within?

Nope, it was simply a RockoMax HubMax Multi-port Connector, with 6x Rockomax Brand Adaptor 02's attached to it, and 6x Sr Docking Ports attached to those.  Really simple, but turned out to be not useful; at least not with anything I wanted to build.

[Laird]

Like your designs very much. Thx for sharing an keep up the great work.

[Jestersage]

Thanks.

Also, how do you decide to which two craft to pack at the same time, eg LV-1U + LV-1H combo?