Problem No cargo pods on the Clydesdale: EDIT Yes there is!

[TachyonDriver]

OK I know this addon goes way back, but 2010 P1 runs the freighter fine...on its own. The scenario with the Dragonfly causes a crash.
The cargo pods are not displayed, neither do they show up in scenario editor.

[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=852"]Clydesdale V1.1[/ame]

Is the Clydesdale just WAY TOO OLD,... or am I? :facepalm:

Thanks.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I think Orbiter has left that add-on behind.

 

[TachyonDriver]

Oh well, at least the freighter can still be piloted

---------- Post added 02-27-15 at 12:21 AM ---------- Previous post was 02-26-15 at 01:29 AM ----------

Hmm.. the old cargo pods are gpcm - (General Purpose Cargo Modules) they have a mesh and a module and a cfg file.

Having installed a couple more addons (generic vessel aka spacecraft 3, UCD UCGO) I don't know how relevant those addons are, the scenario editor lists the gpcm and I can create one, but there nothing to see. Would I be correct in thinking that some meshes would be too out of date to work with the current Orbiter, thus would need a re-design or some such?

Note: Docking other craft and space station modules to the Clydesdale appears to work fine using Scenario Editor; I created a Module 1 and attached it to the Clydesdale. I had a play with the cargo haul scenario to get rid of the Dragonfly in case that was causing the crash, but no. On the bright side, it seems I can dock more modern cargos to the Clydesdale and still use the old workhorse.

 

[orbitingpluto]

Oh well, at least the freighter can still be piloted

---------- Post added 02-27-15 at 12:21 AM ---------- Previous post was 02-26-15 at 01:29 AM ----------

Hmm.. the old cargo pods are gpcm - (General Purpose Cargo Modules) they have a mesh and a module and a cfg file.

Having installed a couple more addons (generic vessel aka spacecraft 3, UCD UCGO) I don't know how relevant those addons are, the scenario editor lists the gpcm and I can create one, but there nothing to see. Would I be correct in thinking that some meshes would be too out of date to work with the current Orbiter, thus would need a re-design or some such?

What could be more likely is that the .dll is the problem. You can try taking a simple .cfg based vessel like Module1, and using make sure the mesh is fine. Just open up Module1.cfg, save it as a new file with a name like "GPCMmeshTest" or whatever, and then change the line "MESHNAME = Module1" to read "MESHNAME = whateverTheGPCM'sMeshIsCalled". After saving your work, just spawn it in sim via the ScnEditor and hopefully you'll see the glorious polygons.

 

[TachyonDriver]

I'll give it a go over the weekend, thanks!

---------- Post added at 10:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 PM ----------

I tried a different approach (pun intended!) and just added the meshname line to the cfg file:

; === Configuration file for General Purpose Cargo Module (GPCM) ===
ClassName = gpcm
Meshname = gpcm
Module = gpcm

Voila! the pod is displayed and I can spawn it in to a scenario via the Scenario Editor.

The next issue is that it doesn't appear to have a docking port so I cannot get it to dock to the freighter. Yet the freighter has numerous docking ports which the scenario editor can access and use.

Would I have to define a docking port on the cargo pod by using the docklist command somehow?

Thanks.

 

[C3PO]

Would I have to define a docking port on the cargo pod by using the docklist command somehow?

Correct.
Check out ..\Orbiter\Doc\OrbiterConfig.pdf page 22.

 

[TachyonDriver]

Cheers - now I have to try and figure out the position of such a port on the cargo pod.. :thumbup:

 

[TachyonDriver]

I might have the solution - UNIVERSAL CARGO DECK :hail:

The old clydesdale cargo module now displays in-sim (my previous post) & thanks to the UCD addon it appears that I can strap the cargo module to anything.

Aye with a bit of duct tape she'll be reet. Don't worry about that bit of extra drag...

 

[C3PO]

Why do the cargo pod use a dll instead of a cfg? Was it to add the cargo mass to the Clydesdale? I can't find any mass parameter in the scn file, but I can't think of any other reason why the pods would need a dll.

 

[TachyonDriver]

I've no idea, unless it was to give the pods some fuel capacity - 1kg of RCS fuel I believe. I don't profess to know about dlls and the programming side, I just enjoy flying around what more intelligent people have provided

 

[TachyonDriver]

Had a play with the Universal Cargo Deck today using the Clydesdale as the core vessel:

The UCD attached all 8 GPCMs, so the freighter now looks original. I don't know if defining a docking port on the cargo module via the docklist command in its config would be cleaner/more efficient program-wise though.

(OK, I admit it. I don't know how to start figuring out applying the docklist coordinates to the GPCM...:embarrassed:

 

[Tycho]

(OK, I admit it. I don't know how to start figuring out applying the docklist coordinates to the GPCM...:embarrassed:

Usually, it's just trial and error for me. Take an example from another vessel and tweak until it looks right. There's probably a more efficient way of doing it, but I'm not sufficiently deep into the development side of things for it to be necessary to find it.

 

[C3PO]

I had a look at the mesh in Gmax, and the locations of the ports are:
Front: 0 0 4.3
Aft: 0 0 -4.2

You could try these values in the docklist:

 0 0 4.3   0 0 1   0 1 0

and:

0 0 -4.2   0 0 -1   0 1 0

I haven't tried it out so not 100% certain, but it's a staring point.

---------- Post added at 11:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:43 AM ----------

 TouchdownPoints = 0 -3.7 3.5   -1.55 -3.7 -3.5   1.55 -3.7 -3.5

If you want the original mass, fuel mass, thrust (accel.) etc. you can run the addon in an older Orbiter version. Ctrl+i should give you most of the data, and you can reverse engineer the rest.

 

[TachyonDriver]

Ah, there you go - I need some kind of mesh viewer/extractor/editor program :facepalm:

Many thanks for your investigation. I'll try modding the cfg file.

 

[TachyonDriver]

Sweet! I added the docklist lines to the gpcm config (just the aft coords) and fired up the Clydesdale cargo haul scenario... and all 8 cargo modules were attached. THANKS!

I don't know if their mass was represented (probably not, and the RCS isn't working...yet!) but visually and procedurally no problems! (I can undock the modules from the freighter)

 

[C3PO]

Entirely my pleasure!

I decided to try it out myself and here's what I've come up with so far:
gpcm.cfg

; === Configuration file for General Purpose Cargo Module (GPCM) ===
ClassName = gpcm
MeshName = gpcm
Size = 24

Mass = 50e3   ; empty mass [kg]
MaxFuel = 25e3  ; max fuel mass [kg]
Isp = 5e5       ; fuel specific impulse [m/s]
MaxAttitudeThrust = 1e3 [N]
TouchdownPoints = 0 -3.7 3.5   -1.55 -3.7 -3.5   1.55 -3.7 -3.5
EnableFocus = true
CrossSections = 74 74 55
Inertia = 9 9 7
EnableXPDR = true
XPDR = 470

BEGIN_DOCKLIST
0 0 4.3   0 0 1   0 1 0
0 0 -4.2   0 0 -1   0 1 0
END_DOCKLIST

In the original scenario [Clydesdale Cargo Haul] the pods are docked to hfc-01 using the aft port, so when you enter a pod you're looking outwards. Having only a rear facing port will make it difficult to dock using RCS.

If time allows I'll have a look at adding the thruster visuals.

---------- Post added at 11:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:30 PM ----------

It looks like the RCS configuration isn't compatible with the cfg file method. Genericvessel is probably the easiest way to make them show up. The pods handle quite well using the cfg posted above, so I'll go back to drooling over the new beta.

 

[Jumper_001]

Edit: Typed this post on the wrong thread. Sorry

 

[fort]

Hello,

Thank you TachyonDriver, C3PO...This vessel was still in my mind.

Here, some old topics about it with interesting comments.

 

[fort]

Hello,

I made a beginning of restoration of the Clydesdale in spacecraft3.

I wanted also try to add sounds and to compile the pods's ini with the sc3 to dll converter made by Artlav.

But if the sounds are there with ini's files, in the dll version i've not any succes to make them audible.

I ask about that in the sc3converter topic where you can take the zip joined (http://www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?p=509548#post509548 ).

The general caracteristics of the pods are out of my competences. Don't hesitate to modify ( if i think that things as touchdown and launch points here and for example seems to be useless ).

Good day and thank you.