XR Vessels Open-Source Development

[dbeachy1]

Hi all! I am pleased to announce that the XR vessels, with the exception of the XR2's mesh and textures, are now open-source under the GNU General Public License 3.0. The XR vessel version numbers have all been bumped to 2.0-beta-1 to 1) differentiate them from the current public releases, 2) denote they were all compiled against the latest OpenOrbiter, and 3) denote that they are now available in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions. The repository is here: https://github.com/dbeachy1/XRVessels. The README.md contains detailed instructions on how to compile and test both the 64-bit and 32-bit XR vessel versions using Visual Studio 2019.

One important note about the XR2's mesh: I did reach out to the Steve Tyler (Coolhand), the author of the XR2's mesh and textures, two weeks ago asking permission to release the XR2's mesh and textures under the same GPL version 3, but to date I have not heard back. From checking his Web site and Twitter, it appears he has not been active online since March 23, 2015, and so it seems unlikely that I will hear back from him. In practical terms, this means that the XR2's mesh and textures cannot be released as open-source, and thus the XR2's mesh and textures are not part of the XRVessel repository.

Regarding the XR5's mesh, Russell Hicks (Russ_H), the author of the XR5's mesh, explicitly transferred the mesh copyright to me via PM in October 2012, and so the XR5's mesh is included in the XRVessel open-source repository. I did reach out to Russ_H again two weeks ago letting him know I wanted to release the mesh as open-source and asking if he was OK with that for sure, but I still have not heard back. In any case, I was able to locate the archived PM where Russ transferred the copyright to me, and so the XR5's mesh is included in the open-source repository.

The XRVessels repository also includes the unfinished XR3 Phoenix. Since the code is not finished, a fair bit of it is still just cloned from the XR5's code as a template / starting point, but the thrust, mass, wing size, etc. have been updated to match the XR3's desired flight characteristics, and the intention is for the XR3 to have all the features the XR5 currently has, including gear compression, a docking camera, and an elevator.

Regarding the XR3's mesh, I was recently able to contract Loru here on the forum thanks to some help from @Woo482 , and Loru graciously granted me permission to release his XR3 mesh under the same GPL v3 license. (Loru still retains his original mesh and texture copyright rights, of course.)

For now, I have built 2.0-beta-1 versions of the XR1 and XR5 and uploaded them as a release to GitHub. Both 64-bit and 32-bit packages are available (obviously, you will need to build or install a 64-bit copy of Orbiter in order to run the 64-bit XR vessel versions). EDIT: due to GPL licensing restrictions prohibiting creating GPLV3-derived binaries that require closed-source software to build or run, the GPLV3 license prohibits building the XR vessels against Orbiter 2016, as that is closed-source.

tl;dr: the XR Vessels open-source repository is here: https://github.com/dbeachy1/XRVessels. If you only want to run the XR vessels under Orbiter 2016, continue to use the public XR versions from my Web site.

Happy Orbiting!

 

[Fabri91]

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!

 

[jedidia]

It's fake
pls add a modules folder

Let's try to clear some things up here before this gets out of hand.
This thread is about the source code of the XR-vessels. If you don't know how to program, it won't be much use to you.
If you just want to install an XR vessel, go here and download one of the vessels (bottom left of the page).
I'm not sure what you downloaded, but if you followed the above link to github and downloaded something there, then you have the source code. It's not supposed to have a module folder, you'd have to compile the project first, which I don't recommend you try. Just download a distribution.

Whatever the case, unless you have specific questions about the source code and how to compile it, please do not post in this thread anymore.

 

[n72.75]

This is great news. It's nice to see such a staple of the orbiter addon selection going open source. I have starred it on Github.

 

[dgatsoulis]

Thank you Doug for this amazing gift!
Regarding Steve Tyler's contact info: There is a facebook page named Coolhand Customs.
Most recent post was last February, so perhaps you have a better chance of contacting him there.

 

[Matias Saibene]

Hi all! I am pleased to announce that the XR vessels, with the exception of the XR2's mesh and textures, are now open-source under the GNU General Public License 3.0. The XR vessel version numbers have all been bumped to 2.0-beta-1 to 1) differentiate them from the current public releases, 2) denote they were all compiled against the latest OpenOrbiter, and 3) denote that they are now available in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions. The repository is here: https://github.com/dbeachy1/XRVessels. The README.md contains detailed instructions on how to compile and test both the 64-bit and 32-bit XR vessel versions using Visual Studio 2019.

One important note about the XR2's mesh: I did reach out to the Steve Tyler (Coolhand), the author of the XR2's mesh and textures, two weeks ago asking permission to release the XR2's mesh and textures under the same GPL version 3, but to date I have not heard back. From checking his Web site and Twitter, it appears he has not been active online since March 23, 2015, and so it seems unlikely that I will hear back from him. In practical terms, this means that the XR2's mesh and textures cannot be released as open-source, and thus the XR2's mesh and textures are not part of the XRVessel repository. However, they continue to be available for download as part of the XR vessel binary packages, just as they have always been, and so I (we, now that the XR vessels are open-source) can continue to include the XR2's meshes and textures, unmodified, in future XR2 releases.

Regarding the XR5's mesh, Russell Hicks (Russ_H), the author of the XR5's mesh, explicitly transferred the mesh copyright to me via PM in October 2012, and so the XR5's mesh is included in the XRVessel open-source repository. I did reach out to Russ_H again two weeks ago letting him know I wanted to release the mesh as open-source and asking if he was OK with that for sure, but I still have not heard back. In any case, I was able to locate the archived PM where Russ transferred the copyright to me, and so the XR5's mesh is included in the open-source repository.

The XRVessels repository also includes the unfinished XR3 Phoenix. Since the code is not finished, a fair bit of it is still just cloned from the XR5's code as a template / starting point, but the thrust, mass, wing size, etc. have been updated to match the XR3's desired flight characteristics, and the intention is for the XR3 to have all the features the XR5 currently has, including gear compression, a docking camera, and an elevator.

Regarding the XR3's mesh, I was recently able to contract Loru here on the forum thanks to some help from @Woo482 , and Loru graciously granted me permission to release his XR3 mesh under the same GPL v3 license. (Loru still retains his original mesh and texture copyright rights, of course.)

For now, I have built 2.0-beta-1 versions of the XR1, XR2, and XR5 and uploaded them as a release to GitHub. Both 64-bit and 32-bit packages are available (obviously, you will need to build or install a 64-bit copy of Orbiter in order to run the 64-bit XR vessel versions). Also, although the vessels were compiled under the latest OpenOrbiter's main branch, the x86 versions run fine for me under Orbiter 2016. Running under the latest OpenOrbiter, the only bug I've noticed so far is that the Orbiter core does not render the XR2's or XR5's mesh anymore when using the 2D panel docking camera view. The same exact XR2 and XR5 32-bit binaries work fine in Orbiter 2016, so this looks like some Orbiter bug (or change) since Orbiter 2016. For some background on that, the XR2 and XR5 create an invisible "PayloadBay" vessel, 1 meter in size, attached to the inside of each ship to force ("trick?") the Orbiter core into rendering the ship's hull from the 2D docking panel view. But it appears that is not working in the latest Orbiter beta builds. However, everything else seems to be working fine in my testing so far.

tl;dr: the XR Vessels open-source repository is here: https://github.com/dbeachy1/XRVessels. If you only want to run the XR vessels under Orbiter 2016, continue to use the public XR versions from my Web site.

Happy Orbiting!

Good to hear good news related to the XR3 project! I have been waiting for it for a long time.

 

[Urwumpe]

Maybe also a chance to produce a vacuum-only XR-0G spacecraft based on the basic XR-vessel template.

 

[Owenmck]

I just bought the XR3 mesh on Turbosquid a few days ago with the purpose of building a vessel off it. My impeccable timing pays off once again!
In all seriousness, thanks for this, I’m sure it will inspire many great vessels to come

 

[Ripley]

Thank you Doug for this amazing gift!
Regarding Steve Tyler's contact info: There is a facebook page named Coolhand Customs.
Most recent post was last February, so perhaps you have a better chance of contacting him there.

Doug, any success in contacting Steve?

 

[dbeachy1]

Doug, any success in contacting Steve?

No.

 

[Sword7]

I am surprised to see that! XR vessels are finally now open-source. Orbiter is now open-source as well! Let's port everything to other platforms and OpenGL support.

 

[OvalDreamX]

Maybe some proper VC could be modelled for them (except for the xr2 ?)?

 

[Sword7]

Does anyone plan to create new XR2 mesh and bitmap files under GPLv3 license as replacement?

 

[Face]

Does anyone plan to create new XR2 mesh and bitmap files under GPLv3 license as replacement?

I don't think so. If you have plans into that direction, just go ahead!

 

[Ripley]

...For now, I have built 2.0-beta-1 versions of the XR1, XR2, and XR5 and uploaded them as a release to GitHub...

Hi Doug, there are only XR1 and XR5, no trace of XR2. Is it "supposed" to be this way?

 

[dbeachy1]

Yes, unfortunately. Despite repeated attempts, I could not reach Coolhand to obtain permission to release his XR2 mesh and textures as GPLV3, and so Coolhand's original license remains in effect for those assets. As it is explicitly against GPLV3 to build or distribute GPLV3-derived software that require any closed-source assets to run, the XR2 as-is will have to remain as a close-source add-on. I've updated the opening post in this thread to clarify this.

 

[Linguofreak]

EDIT: due to GPL licensing restrictions prohibiting creating GPLV3-derived binaries that require closed-source software to build or run, the GPLV3 license prohibits building the XR vessels against Orbiter 2016, as that is closed-source.

As long as the XR vessels don't include GPL code written by others, you, as the copyright holder, can add whatever additional permissions you want (see section 7, though if you own copyright to the entire work, your authority to do that comes not from section 7, but from your right as the copyright holder to license the work as you please).

So all that you need to do to authorize distribution of builds for non-open-source releases of Orbiter is to add a clause in the license file authorizing that. And users can always make their own private builds anyways (they just can't distribute them).

You yourself can make whatever builds you want, and distribute them how you want, because your rights don't come from the license, they come from authorship.

 

[Linguofreak]

Yes, unfortunately. Despite repeated attempts, I could not reach Coolhand to obtain permission to release his XR2 mesh and textures as GPLV3, and so Coolhand's original license remains in effect for those assets. As it is explicitly against GPLV3 to build or distribute GPLV3-derived software that require any closed-source assets to run, the XR2 as-is will have to remain as a close-source add-on. I've updated the opening post in this thread to clarify this.

Once again, you yourself are not bound by the GPL (as long as there's no external GPL code involved): as long as you abide by the terms that Coolhand gave to you for the use of his assets. That said, it's probably best not to muddy the waters by distributing something under the GPL that can't legally be redistributed under the GPL.

But you could create a very minimal mesh and textures from scratch for distribution with the GPL XR-2 code, such that the addon could run without the original assets, and then anyone with access to the original assets could drop them in.

 

[dbeachy1]

Yes, I understand that the original author's rights for any code they own and choose to license as GPLV3 are never diminished in any case -- for example, code that is GPLV3 for the public could also be licensed in other ways to other parties, which is entirely up to the author. However, I do not own the rights to the XR2's mesh and textures, and so that does not change anything in regards to that. As for Orbiter 2016, as you said, I really don't want to muddy the waters with that in any case, as I don't want that code to be used with any closed-source software, which is why I chose the GPLV3 license for it in the first place.

And yes, someone could absolutely create new, from-scratch XR2 meshes and textures and license those as GPLV3 (or any license more restrictive than GPLV3). Those assets could then be used with the XR2's GPLV3 code. However, that person won't be me, because I am not an artist.

 

[MaxBuzz]

And yes, someone could absolutely create new, from-scratch XR2 meshes and textures and license those as GPLV3. Those assets could then be used with the XR2's GPLV3 code. However, that person won't be me, because I am not an artist.

if you want i will create xr2 in blender I will draw space stations