Project Wideawake International (released)

[Woo482]

cool good to see you are still working on this

 

[Balladeer]

Good news wehaveaproblem:speakcool:

Ascension has always been one of my favorite bases.

 

[tgep]

Now that I've gone back and read all the prior stuff ..... you've got me thinking this would be a good place for an RTF Flight training school. I can put target dummies in the water for live fire training exorcises with the Viper MK-I and bombing runs with the Raptor.

A modified forum banner would make a pretty good Hangar logo .......

Many thanks for not letting this project lay in the dust !

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Now that I've gone back and read all the prior stuff ..... you've got me thinking this would be a good place for an RTF Flight training school. I can put target dummies in the water for live fire training exorcises with the Viper MK-I and bombing runs with the Raptor.

AIA is commited to the peaceful exploration of space, not the prolification of domestic desputes and destructive technology, therefore it could not condone such actions within it's waters. Not that I could actually stop you...

 

[tgep]

AIA is commited to the peaceful exploration of space, not the prolification of domestic desputes and destructive technology, therefore it could not condone such actions within it's waters. Not that I could actually stop you...

In that case, you DEFINATELY don't want to know what I've got planned for the old B-52 add on !

:rofl:

 

[Alex01]

Hello again all,

I've started work on Ascension Island version 3. I'd just thought I'd pop in and get my foot back into the community.

Not much to show as yet, click my sig to see what there is on the blog so far.
I'll post more stuff when I really have something to show, but I thought I'd get what ever discussion there might be about this going.

The basic premise is to upgrade Wideawake into a more capable space port of the future (Phase 2 of the Ascension Project). It's aimed primarily at XR and DG type craft, although will have vertical launch facilities too. Massive runways, loading/unloading, storage and maintenance hangars, space tourist terminus.... etc

Any thoughts appreciated.

also, grats to everyone for jumpstarting the community here. kudos.

Very good news, I am desperate already.

How will the "vertical launch facilities" be?

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Alex01,
sorry for the delay in replying, I've been away .

atm the vertical launch facilities will be the same as they are in v2.1, with the one massive tower and cosmetic VAB. I don't have any plans for making the VAB and such do anything, but the tower is animated and the MLP is switchable for different configs (as in v2.1). However, I may also consider a second smaller launch tower for less monstrous rockets. But Wideawake Intenational is mainly aimed at promoting the wheeled reusable class of vessels such as the Vanguard.

WHAP

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Done a bit of dev this week, things are getting there finally. As ever with my Ascension releases, I've tried to keep poly counts down on all surface buildings so it doesn't cause lag, yet have enough detail to make it enjoyable. So there are very few frills atm, I may dev a hi-def expansion pack to add bells and whistles.

Anyhoo, check my blog (in sig) for details. I'm going to be placing the XR5 hangars today and building the domestic airport, then on to all the misc buildings/structures.

a few teasers:

The hangars will come with an interchangable logo texture, so you can personalise your own (unloading hangars shown in background).

DG approaches freight docking bay, with XR5 loading in background.

I won't post more hear until I have made significant progress, but will likely add more info to my blog in smaller stages.

 

[TSPenguin]

Looking good. I sense movies beeing made with that base
One thing though, the XR5 loading hangars look like they are structuraly not so sound. Maybe add a little more curvature to the roof?!?

 

[wehaveaproblem]

cheers TS, and yeah, they ended up being a little bigger than my plan had envisaged, I agree they need a little something to 'keep them up'.

 

[TSPenguin]

Another thing for practicality... Loading giant and potentialy extremely heavy payloads must be ***** with wind going through the hangar like that

 

[wehaveaproblem]

I don't see wind as a real issue, it shouldn't be any more awkward than a windy day at a loading dockyard. Besides we only get glorious weather on Ascension Island! But also, it's a bit of a consession to playability and style. I didn't want to bother with huge animated doors or tight squeezes for the loading areas, plus wanted things to be nice and open, visualy. The hangars are only there to protect the internal bays of the vessels and the work crews, and provide a structure for the cranes (not rendered). The freight in these bays is labeled as 'dirty', in as much as there is no need for a clean room to keep them safe - there will be a seperate facility, entirely enclosed, for loading of highly sensitive materials like satelites or whathaveyou.

 

[TSPenguin]

That is what I suspected.
It would look awkward having huge doors at those hangars.
Regarding the clean building. It is a really cool thing to have, but I doubt it would be used very often. Most likely only for payloads that use every milimeter of space in the payload bay. Packing everything smaler in clean containers seems much more economical.
But looking at the size of the new base, I doubt the building will ever be empty

btw, what did you think about my request to have a radar station and/or control tower on the hill?

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Yeah I'm not quite sure how I'm going to implement the 'clean' facility. In truth I might not bother, but we shall see.

As to your request, it was something I wanted to do for V1 of the base, but never got around to it, same for V2. It's on the list of things for WI, but it is at the bottom. Although, like I mentioned earlier, I may release a version that only has the essential buildings and then release an expansion pack with fancy animated bits and more cosmetic stuff to add atmosphere to the base. But I want the core release to be as low poly count as possible. So I may give people the option to add detail rather than enforce it upon them.

edit: oh and i have tweaked the XR5 loading hangars, I think they look a little more sturdy now whilst essentially keeping the same design.

 

[wehaveaproblem]

getting there!

Development is going well and things are nearing completion.

Works completed:

• Main Landing runway
• Main launch runway
• Auxillary/Domestic Runway
• 4 Loading/unloading hangars for Heavy XR5 class vessels.
• 12 Loading/unloading hangars for Light DG class vessels.
• 7 Storage/maintenance hangars for Heavy XR5 class vessels.*
• 21 Storage/maintenance hangars for Light DG class vessels.**
• 2 Auxillary/Domestic storage/maintenance hangars.
• Domestic Airport Terminal
• Existing Vertical Launch VAB and PAD
• Miscellaneous Admin and infrastructure buildings

To be completed:

• Launch Fueling Facility
• Possible Clean Room loading facility
• Beacon Arrays

Once the building works are done, all that remains is a bunch of scenarios and assembling it all into a release.
*4 of these are available for rent, with customisable logos/signs.
**15 of these are available for rent, with customisable logos/signs.

A few screens:

Wideawake International Flyby

Re-modelled Heavy loading/unloading hangars

Domestic Airport Terminal

Release should be next tuesday.
Please post any comments, questions or suggestions.
WHAP


-----Posted Added-----


The Pre-flight Fueling facility has been completed.

Nearly there...

XR5 Vanguard and a DG-1 filling up prior to take off

 

[TSPenguin]

Very elegant. It will be an absolutely stunning site to approach.
How about marking certain buildings on the roof? Too lazy right now to come up with excuses for it

 

[pattersoncr]

Wait a minute, I just noticed something (despite having looked at this thread on and off for months as AI is one of my favorite bases). It looks like the runway closest to the coast is only usable in one direction (12R/30L I believe) due to the VAB parked in the over-run.

 

[TSPenguin]

AFAIK that is absolutely wanted. This is the launch only runway.
It also helps keep the heating costs of the VAB down

 

[Arrowstar]

AFAIK that is absolutely wanted. This is the launch only runway.
It also helps keep the heating costs of the VAB down

lol, it's like the ultimate regen cycle... but not.

Is that runway at least pointing east?

 

[wehaveaproblem]

TSP is correct, that runway is for launches only. It is pointing East, well 120 degrees.. actually, if I'm precise, I think it is 118 degrees.
Although it does have the classification 12RR/30LL, it is called the Launch Runway and is only to be used as such.
12L/30R is the domestic/auxillary runway.
12R/30L is the main landing runway for space vessels.
Both are approachable from either direction.

And lol to the VAB heating, I did think about that, one of the last few bits to go on the base is a blast deflector/sound suppressor type deal for that end of the runway.

And as to your roof marking type idea, I had played with the idea of it. I was going to put one letter on each hangar roof and spell Wideawake, but I couldn't be arsed tbh... although I'm still pondering with the idea of having a hollywood style sign on the mountain

cheers for the props.