KSA's Part & Art Development Thread

Thought it would be a good idea to start a thread containing all the in-progress progression and WIP content I post to Discord. As the forums are a little more grounded and persistent compared to an endless scrolling list of short-form content; it might make for a better place to discuss ideas and the development of the game's parts, art style, scope etc as it happens. When things are resolved enough I'll post em as their own threads as usual

I'll kick things off with the first look of our initial docking port part - an androgynous system designed to be both passive and active inspired by the APAS75 port created collaboratively by the Soviet Union and the USA. This was to help facilitate docking between a Soyuz and an Apollo CSM, and represented one of the first instances of a universal design that the Cold-warring nations worked together on. It sits a bit ahead on the timeline of the OG Apollo docking parts (as they were probe and drogue systems) but is probably more appropriate for straightforward craft-to-craft attachment this early in dev. We might branch backwards to more complicated passive\active systems as time goes on.

 

[Aziz]

I was gonna ask if a catastronaut is going to fit under the launchpad through the vent hole (for science), but I see you made it kittenproof

 

[Jebediah Kerman]

Not at this stage, they kinda complicate launches and get in the way. Might be a dynamic part in the future, who knows

Think i'm happy with the pad, little turntable thing

The plume exhausts on the sides seem a little too small, have you considered making a proper flame trench, or is it too complicated to do sub-terrain structures?

 

[Daishi]

The plume exhausts on the sides seem a little too small, have you considered making a proper flame trench, or is it too complicated to do sub-terrain structures?

Bit too complicated at this stage

Radial shoots

 

[Kiwi Shark]

I am going to scale up that chute roll about 20x and use it is an "inflatable hab" on a space station.

 

[sleepy_eb]

Launchpads!So much is happening! Time to download the latest updates.

Great work @Daishi

 

[Daishi]

I am going to scale up that chute roll about 20x and use it is an "inflatable hab" on a space station.

Noooo the texel density won't be consistent

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Noooo the texel density won't be consistent

We take the screenshots from faaar away and hope for the best.

 

[Daishi]

First few concepts for our lander parts Thermal insulation isn't on there yet, still working that out.

First one is inspired by the octagonal stalwart of landering in KSP - the Mk1 lander can. Lots of attachment sides, plus a really nice downward facing "overhang" window for landing. Plus a lil vertical one for ascending and docking.

Second one was supposed to be a "two kitten" design, but it's still veeery compact so might sit in as a quazi-rover command body or an expensive "comically large FOV" lander. In real life, Grumman Aerospace minimized the window size as much as they could to save weight, but I feel that would make for a pretty miserable piloting experience

 

[Kiwi Shark]

Oh nice, integrated monoprop tanks. The big windows are going to make the (disappearance of) IVA-only instanced parts more noticeable compared to the current little Gemini windows. Is that something you may design around at this point or just have at it and let that rendering get handled down the road?

Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing how I can dock from IVA in this thing. Place your bets now on over/under an hour.