Project "Dwarven Skyboats" (fun fantasy spacecraft) - suggestions still welcome

[PolliMatrix]

Hello,

I have recently started my first Orbiter add-on: The "dwarven skyboat".
As the name and thread title implies, this is going to be a fictional spacecraft that is based on the theme of fantasy dwarves, mainly inspired by the game "Dwarf Fortress", the surrounding community and some other original ideas. As such, the focus is less on realism and more on humor and most importantly being fun to fly.
My current idea of the vessel is something that can launch and land horizontally like a Delta Glider, but can also be set up to take off vertically like a Space Shuttle.

Robsoie on the Bay 12 Games forum already posted a blender model in the Orbiter thread there. I can export it to an Orbiter mesh and use it, but there are still some modifications necessary. Most importantly replacing two thruster pods with landing gear, getting it ready for some animations and finally texturing. Since the original maker of the Blender model doesn't have any more time and I have never used any 3D modeling software before, I could use some help with this.
Programming-wise I'm writing my own DLL, gradually adding more and more features. Right now I have added a main thruster and touchdown points to Robsoie's model, but with the reworked design these will probably change. Once I have an updated mesh and added the basic thrusters to it, I may post a screen shot of it in action.

Edit June 23 2011: My original idea on the Bay12 forums was to make it a pure "tailsitter" and after considering Hlynkacg's post I'll make the first version that way instead of the hybrid described in this post. (See my post below for details)

 

[Hlynkacg]

Vlad developed an Orbiter plugin for Blender available here...

http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=18661

It's a truely excellent utility that should make your job a lot easier.

In regards to the spacecraft keep it as a tail-sitter, it somehow feels more "Dwarfy" and there's a shortage of good Vertical take-off vessles.

 

[PolliMatrix]

Converting the Blender file to an Orbiter mesh file isn't my problem as I've already used a plug-in, which I think is the one you posted. My main problem is making some changes to the model, because I've never worked with 3D modeling software before.
I have made a picture which shows the things I want changed:

If by the weekend I find no volunteers who will do at least some of these, I will try to figure out how to do this myself.

Regarding the takeoff direction, I agree that vertical feels more "dwarfy" so I'll make it so that this will be the "correct" way to set it up, especially when I later add things like a second stage and solid fuel boosters.
The pilot's view will be oriented towards the nose, so you will be looking straight up when you launch vertically. To do that you have to set the touchdown points like you would for a spacecraft made for horizontal takeoff as far as I know.
So the best compromise seems to be to set it up like a Space Shuttle: vertical takeoff and horizontal landing. (I may also add a command/reentry module separation later, so you can also land like you would with something like a Apollo or other "old style" capsule if you feel like that is the truly dwarfy thing to do).
The option of horizontal takeoff would also make the ship easily usable in the scenario editor without having to change the view direction.

 

[Hlynkacg]

These, along with "Newb to Pro" were a great deal of help when I was learning.

http://cg.tutsplus.com/articles/web-roundups/tutorial-roundup-53-amazing-blender-tutorials/

I still think you should stick to a pure tail-sitter design but It's your choice to make. May I reccomend Greg Burch's Lunar Ferry as a good starting reference.

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=952"]Lunar Passenger Ferry[/ame]

PS: the following sites are a good source for materials/textures...
http://www.cgtextures.com/
http://textures.forrest.cz/

Everyone knows that a proper Dwarven vessel should be made out of walnut and cold steel.

 

[PolliMatrix]

Thanks for your tips, Hlynkacg.

I've taken a look at the Lunar Ferry (or rather what I managed to run of it in Orbiter 2006). So it is possible to have the touchdown points for a "tailsitter" while having the view and instruments oriented towards the nose. Is there an easy way to do this (like an API function I may have overlooked) or do I have to use some kind of trick to do this?
Anyway, this encouraged me to keep the original design I made on the Bay12 forum, which is vertical only takeoff and landing. If I go this way, maybe I'll make a separate "Space Shuttle" type craft when I'm done with this.
I also had some concerns about landing with the (default) view and instruments pointing oriented towards the nose, but as I plan to make a custom (2D) cockpit for this, I could make some instruments that show the angle of the longitudinal (main thrusters to nose) axis relative to the direction to the nearest center of gravity.

Regarding the steel and walnut wood: I'll make the visible parts of the main hull out of steel (maybe with an alternate texture to make it look more like a wooden barrel) and the cockpit will definitely be made out of various woods and metals.

 

[Wishbone]

The worst part of dwarven technology is that stone is never written off as a construction material...

 

[Ghostrider]

Well, stone is durable and plentiful.

 

[PolliMatrix]

So, the 3D-modeling, physical properties and thruster placement are done, so you can finally fly the "Skyboat". Also I've added a new surface base at Silverdale, Washington, which is where the creator of Dwarf Fortress lives, as far as I could tell...

I've uploaded some more screen shots to my forum gallery here:
http://www.orbiter-forum.com/album.php?albumid=578

If somebody wants to be a "test pilot" at this point, I may upload the rocket at Orbit Hangar.

Next will be designing the cockpit panels and maybe testing out some textures. If anyone has ideas for cockpit controls and gauges that are "dwarfy" or would be useful, please post them here.

 

[Wishbone]

Controls? Gauges? A large sledgehammer is the control of choice...

 

[PolliMatrix]

Okay, I've managed to make the first parts of the cockpit with the help of Martin's tutorial on his blog: To make it look dwarfy I made it out of wood, metal and a bit of stone. It's still missing most of the instruments some other things: I plan to have some engravings (as suggested on the DF forum) and other decorations and it should look more "hand-made" and less flat in the final version.
Here's a screenshot:

There's also a picture of the panel which labels all the (missing) instruments in my gallery.

Wishbone: Using a sledgehammer as universal control may be a bit impractical and difficult to implement in Orbiter, so I'll make the thruster control levers look like sledgehammers instead.

PS: If there's any more ideas, you're still welcome to post, everybody... Also, I might accept some small engravings for the free cockpit panel areas. The best way to do this would be some sort of grayscale heightmap or simple black and white lineart.

 

[Wishbone]

Can foresee use of exquisite jewels and gold. The hands for the analog instruments may look like actual dwarven hands, while all the labels should be written in pseudo-runic script

 

[Hlynkacg]

Looking good, Keep up the awsome work. :thumbup:

Take this with a grain of salt but I'm thinking you should check out some old school locomotives for the interior. That cockpit is just begging for some steam-gauges and brass valves.

 

[PolliMatrix]

Can foresee use of exquisite jewels and gold. The hands for the analog instruments may look like actual dwarven hands, while all the labels should be written in pseudo-runic script

Well, I could make some of the decorations engraved and jewel-encrusted gold plates or golden reliefs. The hands looking like actual hands may be a bit too silly to do everywhere, even for this, but I'll keep this in mind for a side panel. Regarding the runic script, I'll make the "easily human-readable" version first, at least for the instuments, but this will be something I might make an alternate texture set of later. (Decorations will have dwarven runes in both versions).

Looking good, Keep up the awsome work. :thumbup:

Take this with a grain of salt but I'm thinking you should check out some old school locomotives for the interior. That cockpit is just begging for some steam-gauges and brass valves.

Thanks, Hlynkacg! Good to know that someone likes this so far.

I was thinking of something like this myself, but sadly the classic round needle gauges don't work that well with the things you need in the cockpit, because you need to show many different scales: If you're near the ground (e.g. when you're landing), you have rather low heights, speeds and accelerations, while in other situations (e.g. in orbit or during reentry) values can be rather high. For the speed and altitude meters, they'll have an extra hand each (two hands for the speedometer, three for the altimeter) and a high and low mode that will change the ranges of the instruments.
I'll make the main instruments so that they will show the information precisely, but still try to make them look as mechanical as possible, rather than electronic. The only visibly "electronic" things will be the MFD, the autopilot buttons and some status lamps.
Also, some small brass or copper pipes may be added as decorations. Maybe the engine panel(s) will be more like what you wrote: There'll definitely be more valves and more of the classic round "steam" gauges. Steam locomotive interiors mixed with a few electrics from the first half of the 20th century would be a good way to describe the "engine room" of the rocket, which I'll do when I've done the main cockpit and fully figured out how to make 2D instrument panels.

 

[Manichean]

Lose the wood completely. What are you, an elf-hippie? :lol: The cockpit at least should be all stone, metal and precious gems.

(I may actually have to dig up Dwarf Fortress again just to build that ship on a launchpad...)

Edit: Oh, and if I remember Dwar Fortress correctly, this needs tons of levers everywhere. Of course, they should all do things- however, it should be completely unclear as to what lever does what.

 

[PolliMatrix]

I didn't get around to working on the addon much lately, especially programming, but I haven't given it up.
Firstly I've slightly redesigned the cockpit:

• It now has a red marble texture (because dwarves like things made of stone)
• The attitude indicators are now round needle gauges to look more old-fashioned
• The green things are placeholders for gems with small gold labels acting as navmode buttons/lights. (Most lamps will be some kind of gem)
• Under the speed and altitude meters are gauges for dynamic pressure and and hull temperature. (I plan to have the ship get destroyed if either gets too high)
• At the bottom left are gauges and controls for the CAT hyperdrive.

Next is the untextured background for the life support panel. This will be mostly decoration for the basic version, but may become more interesting in a version with UMMU support...

For now, I'll first finish the design of the four main panels, which I'll probably implement in the following order:

1. Cockpit
2. Engines, fuel and reactor (for electrical and hyperdrive power)
3. Electrics system (Reactor generator, batteries and power distribution)
4. Life support, airlock and cargo (?)

There's still some design things I'm still not quite sure about:

• How should the hyperdrive work? I was thinking of modeling it as a second set of main thrusters that can be set to be used either instead of or together with the normal (combustion) thrust. Thrust and Isp would depend on setting and reactor output.
• What should be the ranges of thrust and Isp of the hyperdrive (relative to the combustion engines)?
• Should I eventually add a cargo bay (4 to 8 UCGO containers?) to the current rocket? If so, where?
  I was thinking of the inside space between the cone and the first hoop. This would mean a smaller fuel tank, but since hyperbooze and especially the CAT hyperdrive already have a ridiculously high Isp this shouldn't be too much of a problem.