Open Source Part Dare 3

[WolfgangAxel]

Dead?

That was my understanding of this- I've kept this thread open in a tab on my phone since I entered. I opened this tab while I was booting up Kerbals and I was surprised to see there were more posts.

Wolfgang, your brain in a jar... I want it... I love it! You know... something that you could maybe do after this is done, and you win because you seem o be the only one who's got something presentable (no offense to the others who have something, but he's got ingame pictures), Maybe you could add another part that's a little eyeball sort of thing that can work with RPM's external camera, but it it can also do an EVA report because, its an eye! Or maybe instead of adding the eyepart, you can have an upgraded brain in a jar that has eyes that float around, allowing you to do EVA reports

Oh goodness I definitely don't have the know-how to do that. I think it'd be a cool idea for sure though! If I did do that, I'd probably just end up copying all the files for the camera and replacing the mesh. As for future plans, I did have a goal a while ago to make a series of probes with a different number of brains in each to allow for different sizes. The two brain model would fit 1.25m parts and the 3 brain model would fit 2.5m. I started working on the model for the 1.25m, but this competition lost steam and I never got feedback, so it never got done. It is spring break now for me though, so maybe I can start working on it again? Just depends on homework/life outside of my computer.

As for wanting it.....(slight intermission while I go derp around)...... BAM download link. This is what I've been using in my game so far. Haven't found any major bugs or shortcomings on my machine yet.

[Drakoflame]

That was my understanding of this- I've kept this thread open in a tab on my phone since I entered. I opened this tab while I was booting up Kerbals and I was surprised to see there were more posts.

Oh goodness I definitely don't have the know-how to do that. I think it'd be a cool idea for sure though! If I did do that, I'd probably just end up copying all the files for the camera and replacing the mesh. As for future plans, I did have a goal a while ago to make a series of probes with a different number of brains in each to allow for different sizes. The two brain model would fit 1.25m parts and the 3 brain model would fit 2.5m. I started working on the model for the 1.25m, but this competition lost steam and I never got feedback, so it never got done. It is spring break now for me though, so maybe I can start working on it again? Just depends on homework/life outside of my computer.

As for wanting it.....(slight intermission while I go derp around)...... BAM download link. This is what I've been using in my game so far. Haven't found any major bugs or shortcomings on my machine yet.

omg! thank you so much! I totally will use this! My computer is crappy, my processor is clocked at 1.3gHz, so I have a hard time running KSP, but It is playable. The only down side is that I can't really use Kerbals to do anything, because my game has to render the kerbal, and the IVA... so I've migrated over to Probe based mods... and this mod lets me do a crew report! I do have 2 other mods that let it happen, 1 lets me do surface samples, and has a part that lets me do a one time crew report, and the other allows me to do an EVA report. I've also got a MM patch that comes with one of the mods that makes it so EVA reports are like crew reports: Landed at location, Flying over Kerbin, Low Atmosphere, High atmospehre, Low space, High space. Basicly, I don't need to be hanging a kerbal out the side of a ship while flying 1km/s over the ground for every biome. Now I just need to do it once :3. But, the thing I like, is that I can do a crew report in low space for all the biomes, removing the need to send a kerbal out and possibly have him go flying off because of the Stock bug that does that xpx

[WolfgangAxel]

omg! thank you so much! I totally will use this! My computer is crappy, my processor is clocked at 1.3gHz, so I have a hard time running KSP, but It is playable. The only down side is that I can't really use Kerbals to do anything, because my game has to render the kerbal, and the IVA... so I've migrated over to Probe based mods... and this mod lets me do a crew report! I do have 2 other mods that let it happen, 1 lets me do surface samples, and has a part that lets me do a one time crew report, and the other allows me to do an EVA report. I've also got a MM patch that comes with one of the mods that makes it so EVA reports are like crew reports: Landed at location, Flying over Kerbin, Low Atmosphere, High atmospehre, Low space, High space. Basicly, I don't need to be hanging a kerbal out the side of a ship while flying 1km/s over the ground for every biome. Now I just need to do it once :3. But, the thing I like, is that I can do a crew report in low space for all the biomes, removing the need to send a kerbal out and possibly have him go flying off because of the Stock bug that does that xpx

Hey, I'm glad I could help! That sounds really rough. I've never had problems that bad before; my only problem is never getting more than about 25 FPS unless I'm in deep space with a low-part-count craft, even on every lowest setting and memory reduction mods. Have you looked into DDSLoader? It sped up my boot time by about 7 minutes at least & it looks better than the compressed textures from ATM.

I think I will take a stab at finishing up at least the series of probe cores this week (if not the eye). I have an approximate ass-ton of lab reports to write for my chemistry classes though, so I don't feel comfortable promising anything. Really, it won't be a whole lot of work except making new textures and orienting the brains at nice angles in Blender. Most of the basework is done, but I'd like there to be an obvious improvement with each tier of probe both visually and performance-wise.

We'll see how it turns out and if I haven't said anything else by Friday night, assume 1) it was too much to do and 2) I'll try to have a better estimate of when it'll be done either Saturday or Sunday.

[Drakoflame]

Hey, I'm glad I could help! That sounds really rough. I've never had problems that bad before; my only problem is never getting more than about 25 FPS unless I'm in deep space with a low-part-count craft, even on every lowest setting and memory reduction mods. Have you looked into DDSLoader? It sped up my boot time by about 7 minutes at least & it looks better than the compressed textures from ATM.

I think I will take a stab at finishing up at least the series of probe cores this week (if not the eye). I have an approximate ass-ton of lab reports to write for my chemistry classes though, so I don't feel comfortable promising anything. Really, it won't be a whole lot of work except making new textures and orienting the brains at nice angles in Blender. Most of the basework is done, but I'd like there to be an obvious improvement with each tier of probe both visually and performance-wise.

We'll see how it turns out and if I haven't said anything else by Friday night, assume 1) it was too much to do and 2) I'll try to have a better estimate of when it'll be done either Saturday or Sunday.

Alright, I'll be keeping my eye out. And how does the DDS loader work? I mean, I've downloaded it, and I've even downloaded the DDS converter. I have DDS loader because I use KopernicusTech, and DDS loader is a requirement for it now, as some of the planets use DDS textures to help save on memory

[WolfgangAxel]

Alright, I'll be keeping my eye out. And how does the DDS loader work? I mean, I've downloaded it, and I've even downloaded the DDS converter. I have DDS loader because I use KopernicusTech, and DDS loader is a requirement for it now, as some of the planets use DDS textures to help save on memory

My understanding of it is it's a file type that can be read directly by the graphics card and is extremely low file size. So when the game starts, it doesn't have to convert any textures and it just loads them directly into your RAM. If I'm right about that, it's really ingenious and I'm surprised it took so long for someone to make the mod.

[WolfgangAxel]

As promised, here I am. As you can see, I didn't get enough done (if only I spent as much time working on my KSP parts as I did playing KSP...)

I went into Blender and started working on the 1.25 variant. I got some textures I liked and exported to .fbx, but when I went to export it to .mu in Unity, the whole model was using a single material and I couldn't designate a new material for each part. I'm not sure if Blender updated since I last worked, or if my Unity updated but something isn't functional anymore. After that happened I kinda lost steam and never found it again.

Until I figure out where the discrepancy is between programs, I'm really locked down and I don't know when I'll be able to move forward.

Furthermore, I think the Thinkin' Kap may be broken?? I launched a probe this week using one. I had a part barely clipped through it, and some weird things happened when I used time warp. The craft would be fine in space, then time warp and the craft picked up massive rotation while warping, and broke apart. It happened twice. I also tried it on the launchpad; phys warp doesn't cause it, just time warp. When I time warped on the pad, nothing happened, then when I came back out I activated engines. the entire rocket ran into the probe core and stopped. It had a TWR of like 1.75 or so and it didn't budge because the Thinkin' Kap was stuck in mid-air. I have no idea how or why it's happening. I didn't check the log file or anything at the time, so I might try to recreate it but I'm not expecting to see anything. I mean, time warp HALTS your rotation, and this only rotated during it.

So, TL;DR I'm having issues with Blender/Unity that I lost motivation to troubleshoot and there may be a weird clipping issue with at least one of my probe cores.

[Drakoflame]

As promised, here I am. As you can see, I didn't get enough done (if only I spent as much time working on my KSP parts as I did playing KSP...)

I went into Blender and started working on the 1.25 variant. I got some textures I liked and exported to .fbx, but when I went to export it to .mu in Unity, the whole model was using a single material and I couldn't designate a new material for each part. I'm not sure if Blender updated since I last worked, or if my Unity updated but something isn't functional anymore. After that happened I kinda lost steam and never found it again.

Until I figure out where the discrepancy is between programs, I'm really locked down and I don't know when I'll be able to move forward.

Furthermore, I think the Thinkin' Kap may be broken?? I launched a probe this week using one. I had a part barely clipped through it, and some weird things happened when I used time warp. The craft would be fine in space, then time warp and the craft picked up massive rotation while warping, and broke apart. It happened twice. I also tried it on the launchpad; phys warp doesn't cause it, just time warp. When I time warped on the pad, nothing happened, then when I came back out I activated engines. the entire rocket ran into the probe core and stopped. It had a TWR of like 1.75 or so and it didn't budge because the Thinkin' Kap was stuck in mid-air. I have no idea how or why it's happening. I didn't check the log file or anything at the time, so I might try to recreate it but I'm not expecting to see anything. I mean, time warp HALTS your rotation, and this only rotated during it.

So, TL;DR I'm having issues with Blender/Unity that I lost motivation to troubleshoot and there may be a weird clipping issue with at least one of my probe cores.

Oh no! Don't give up! The best thing to do is, and I hate to say it after what you've said you've done..., but the best thing to do is start over, and rather than from scratch, you can start from somewhere where you left off. I have the version that you released before working on it again, so if you want to use that I can send it your way, just let me know. I myself haven't noticed anything, other than funny looking probes that land on another celestial body and return XD

[E.Nygma]

Hi,

just a quick question: as there is no deadline, may I still get an entry into this?

Thanks and cheers

[Drakoflame]

Hi,

just a quick question: as there is no deadline, may I still get an entry into this?

Thanks and cheers

by all means YES! Please enter, bring this thread back to life! GIVE IT A SECOND CHANCE!! I'm sure there are alot of people out there who want to start a mod, but arn't sure where they should, or how, and this is a GREAT way for them to get a bit of experince and feedback on their mods!

[E.Nygma]

Thanks for the encouragement, much appreciated!

To get on topic: this is a tentative first draft for a core, nothing fancy but highly adaptable (I like to think) submitted to your scrutiny...

Cheers

[Drakoflame]

Thanks for the encouragement, much appreciated!

To get on topic: this is a tentative first draft for a core, nothing fancy but highly adaptable (I like to think) submitted to your scrutiny...

http://i.imgur.com/RoDqJ8P.png?1

Cheers

Scrutinizing complete, Info:

It looks great! As you said, its a first draft. Now, about this probe, what SAS level will it have?

IMO: if you can maybe put a few dents into the side (via textures to avoid hi poly count), you could totally get away with this being a SAS lv1 or even an SAS lv0!

Maybe another one with similar design (and textures) only with "Space Tape" in the place where the dents were, giving it a "better" look and thus a higher SAS level (next level up of coarse )

And to test my hand at my rusty math skills, does that probe (In the picture) have a 72 poly count? Somewhere near there~ish

The description for the first one could be something like:

"We found it on the side of a rode, taped to the side of a cardboard box with 'tIme MacHine' written on the side. Unfortunately when we turned it into the lost and found, no-one claimed it so we took the rusty metal thing off the side of the box and decided to attach it to a rocket with hot glue! So far we've only had two reports of explosions"

And, if you (or anyone reading this) don't get the refference, its to Calven and Hobs, their Time Machine being a box with something like "tIme MacHine" written on the side.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Drakoflame

[E.Nygma]

Hi drakoflame,

Hadn't though of the SAS-level yet but your suggestion seems appropriate...

About the texturing: I'm currently redoing everything to get something like a circuit board an lettering on the sides

Tris/Polys: In the above picture only part of the model was selected, the complete poly count is at 668...

Thanks for the suggestion about the part description, will think it over..

Cheers

EDIT:

So, I did most of the modelling and texturing but have run into an issue:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

As you can see, the meshes load fine into Unity and KSP, but in the latter the textures are blurry, why does this happen? TR, ATM etc. not installed, KSP 0.90 dev install...

Thanks for any insights and Cheers

EDIT 2:

Finally figured out the blurry texture issue...did indeed need to redo all textures, but it looks soo good , did also the finishing touches on the cfg...maybe I can present everything on late friday afternoon...

Cheers

Edited March 25, 2015 by E.Nygma

[Drakoflame]

Hi drakoflame,

Hadn't though of the SAS-level yet but your suggestion seems appropriate...

About the texturing: I'm currently redoing everything to get something like a circuit board an lettering on the sides

Tris/Polys: In the above picture only part of the model was selected, the complete poly count is at 668...

Thanks for the suggestion about the part description, will think it over..

Cheers

EDIT:

So, I did most of the modelling and texturing but have run into an issue:

http://imgur.com/a/AxaBP

As you can see, the meshes load fine into Unity and KSP, but in the latter the textures are blurry, why does this happen? TR, ATM etc. not installed, KSP 0.90 dev install...

Thanks for any insights and Cheers

What are your quality settings at? If you have them set to low, it might be the reason for that, but other than that, I don't know why it would give them such a low res image

[WolfgangAxel]

Oh no! Don't give up! The best thing to do is, and I hate to say it after what you've said you've done..., but the best thing to do is start over, and rather than from scratch, you can start from somewhere where you left off. I have the version that you released before working on it again, so if you want to use that I can send it your way, just let me know. I myself haven't noticed anything, other than funny looking probes that land on another celestial body and return XD

Sorry, I guess I wan't being clear. The old models are fine and untouched, however it's the new models that are doing the weird only-one-texture thing. So nothing old is broken, only the new things aren't functional. I took a break from this project and modeled a new part for fun that maybe I'll use one day for something but for now has no purpose at all other than to do something new. I'll make it a point to start in on the probe cores again soon.

[E.Nygma]

Hi all,

returned late from my daytime occupation and still have to solve an issue with the normal maps, no release today but 'soon'-ish...

Cheers

EDIT:

Okay, I think I resolved the normal mapping issue, currently running tests on the balancing and tech tree integration for career mode and on some additional parts...

Cheers

Edited March 28, 2015 by E.Nygma

[NecroBones]

Furthermore, I think the Thinkin' Kap may be broken?? I launched a probe this week using one. I had a part barely clipped through it, and some weird things happened when I used time warp. The craft would be fine in space, then time warp and the craft picked up massive rotation while warping, and broke apart. It happened twice. I also tried it on the launchpad; phys warp doesn't cause it, just time warp. When I time warped on the pad, nothing happened, then when I came back out I activated engines. the entire rocket ran into the probe core and stopped. It had a TWR of like 1.75 or so and it didn't budge because the Thinkin' Kap was stuck in mid-air. I have no idea how or why it's happening. I didn't check the log file or anything at the time, so I might try to recreate it but I'm not expecting to see anything. I mean, time warp HALTS your rotation, and this only rotated during it.

That's probably not the fault of your part. When you get the "stuck in place" effect, or phantom acceleration effects on control-parts after timewarp, the only thing that fixes it in my experience, is to close KSP and restart. This bug can be triggered on the stock parts too. I have no idea what causes it, but apparently something gets corrupted in memory and control-parts exhibit strange behavior.

[E.Nygma]

Hi all,

It seems my parts might be ready for the weekend

I went into Blender and started working on the 1.25 variant. I got some textures I liked and exported to .fbx' date=' but when I went to export it to .mu in Unity, the whole model was using a single material and I couldn't designate a new material for each part. I'm not sure if Blender updated since I last worked, or if my Unity updated but something isn't functional anymore. After that happened I kinda lost steam and never found it again.

Until I figure out where the discrepancy is between programs, I'm really locked down and I don't know when I'll be able to move forward.[/quote']

Regarding this, I experienced something similar and found that exporting from Blender as .obj and then removing all materials and recreating them in Unity solves this for me, using Unity 4.3.4 and Blender 2.71. Maybe you can try it?

Cheers

[E.Nygma]

Well, sorry for the double post but since i got sidetracked with [thread=114810]MoarEggs![/thread] this was on the backburner...

Thanks to the very valuable input of NecroBones, I'm currently redoing part of the normal maps for the probe core to get more depth in the gridlike structures on the sides...I hope to get them to look much more 3D-like...

Long story short, release is yet again delayed...

Sorry

[passinglurker]

Woah woah wait... You mean this didn't die a silent depressing death when I lost the drive to promote it!? Sweet!

Sorry I've been out of the loop for a bit.

[E.Nygma]

Hello and welcombe back, passinglurker and glad that you picked up Bloeting again

and also thank you for starting this thread...and it's die hard

Cheers