Project XR2 Ravenstar - Mk II

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White Wolf

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also forgot to ask. how do you climb up into the command seats? do you just monkey climb up there? is that how they weed out unfit pilots. :lol:

"congratulations, you've made it through advanced flight and aeronautics school. now there's just one more test. you have to successfully climb into the pilot's seat in under 30 seconds"
 

Keatah

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Well, you could have a retractable rope ladder that un-spools from a small motor winch in the side of the seat. This could be a small unit no bigger than a thermos or lunchbox. To egress the seats, you could have a retractable pole that "somehow" extends down from the ceiling, like a periscope, into the cabin and you slide down it!!!! This pole could serve other purposes too.
 

jinglesassy

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Look behind you.
Still looks amazing. Question though, will there be any crew members? And if so are they going to be more detailed then the 2 in the MK1? Sorry but i just cant stand to look at them, Just looks bit bad to me.
 

Keatah

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Still looks amazing. Question though, will there be any crew members? And if so are they going to be more detailed then the 2 in the MK1? Sorry but i just cant stand to look at them, Just looks bit bad to me.

Any crew member in orbiter is butt-ugly. Probably not much can be done here except to put a bag over 'em.. Er make that a racey-spacey sonic suit helmet or something.. if they misbehave then upgrade to valsalva headgear.
 
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White Wolf

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Well, you could have a retractable rope ladder that un-spools from a small motor winch in the side of the seat. This could be a small unit no bigger than a thermos or lunchbox. To egress the seats, you could have a retractable pole that "somehow" extends down from the ceiling, like a periscope, into the cabin and you slide down it!!!! This pole could serve other purposes too.

it isn't something i'm really worried about. i just thought it was kinda funny. could be fixed as easily as putting a foothold halfway up the wall
 

Axel

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@Coolhand
The 3 and 4 engine version is looking very amazing for me :thumbup:, because it would have the needed power to lift itself with an external tank conected.
I dont sure if the 2 engine version can do that. The starclipper has 3 engines in the small version for 12mT payload and 5 (!) engines for the bigger version up to 22mT payload.

Ofcourse i understand that is all a very hard job for you, that you want to see it "underlined". And yes i know that we have better vessels for pure cargo missions, like the XR5. Let the MK2 in its actual config, as a luxus passenger spacecraft, with the possibility for longer journeys.
You did big enough work.

But i will do tests with the SC68-ET and write you all if it was succesfully.
The relativ "low thrust" of the XR2 for this task will be no problem, because i will give the ET own invisible engines. Only its exhausts you can see, it will go through the nozzles from XR2, so that everbody is thinking its the XR2 who is burning.
I try to control the ET's engine by remote vessel control via hotkey.
Jettison of ET at 6km/s, with full internal XR2 tanks. What was a scram jet? Sorry Im a little forgetfully :). But I hope the big acceleration will not tear up the XR2.
 
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Ark

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As it is, we don't need any more changes. No more 4 engine variants or stretching this or moving scrams.

CH: If you're going to make any more changes, just stick to the tiny details such as wiring in the docking port, or things in the interior like fabric stitching or seating arrangements or window trimmings. Landing gear bay hydraulic lines or radiator details. Texturing stuff. You know things like that, but not necessarily those.

WE'RE DONE!

I agree with this. At some time you gotta cut off the project creep and declare victory. :lol:
 

theflyingfish

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I agree with this. At some time you gotta cut off the project creep and declare victory. :lol:

I agree as well. Wasn't the original XR2-MK2 just supposed to be a simple MK1 update with a VC, not a complete interior/exterior mesh and texture redesign?

Orbiter simmers are never satisfied. The more you add to an addon (teehee!), the more we want! At some point you have to cut it off, before we start asking for the source code. :chainsaw:
 

Coolhand

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Axel, very interesting & inventive ideas - really reshaping the concept significantly. Even if the model and features do not suit the concept totally, you have found a way it seems to get the same results.

Why not bundle it up as a scenario and config file and upload it to orbit hangar?

Oh fine! Ill just settle for the entire thing being animated from the ladder...

Infact of course both sets of ladders are animated / automatic. Basically a problem I decided to solve with the mk2 is to show you how you get into the thing, you can get your own coffee though.

Same thing with the crew seats; they are always to slide back and the pilot climbs up a short distance to the seat. However the I don't think I illustrated the footholds in the wall in the mk1.

As for the crews, eh I think thats a little unkind... They we're far from state of the art even in 2007 and deliberately so due to technical limitations back then.

But even In 2011 and more high-spec rendering engines, I think they are fine for what they are and probably as good as anything you'll get in Orbiter. If you find them honestly that awful, well I haven't checked but I guess you can switch them off.

Yes I had planned on re-skinning the suits but that's it, anything further would really to be worthwhile, require entirely new high-res models for normal map generation, more highly tessellated low res models & higher resolution textures... And they still won't be animated, so they would still be just nicely painted mannequins which have taken weeks to produce, with the obvious hit on framerates that all this would bring.

Here's a pic of some more work on the cockpit... it has taken a long time to fix the upper framework's UV's, which are all unwrapped as a continuous part - meaning great care has to be taken to ensure that lines painted on the texture are neat and tidy - they have a tendency to wobble and change thickness - and that details aren't too distorted.
 

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PennyBlack

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I love the reflective windows. They seem to be reflecting the gold seal and the head up display. The frameing around them is well set and the darker panel inlays sets them off a treat Coolhand. It also has a nice and not over done grubby cabin effect. And with a very familiar instrument and display layout, it won't be long before the user climbs to LEO. I enjoyed the picture.
 

Coolhand

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I'm really the wrong person to ask about any coding, but I would say its unlikely that Doug has done anything specifically for this model, since I haven't sent it to him yet.;)

As for the windows and glass, they're a proper glass material curently I fully intend this time to bake reflections of the cockpit interior into the glass as well as scratches and frost or dirt buildup around the edges. Nothing too opaque or distracting though.

Here's another view of the 'pit, which according to the plan will be fully functional... still one or two layout issues, as you can probably see, to be resolved there before Doug starts making it functional.
 

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Tommy

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Just for my two cents, I hope you don't get to intricate in the crew meshes - or at least have them able to be switched out. While the technology has improved since the Mk I, not all of us have new enough computers to handle it. The XR series works fine on my antique computer (64 Mb video card)- and I hope the Mk 2 will as well.
 

Keatah

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Some type of online chain story game with XR-2 and Altea Aerospace as part of the storyline or something.

page one if you want to start reading from the beginning. Says Altea is going out of business..!
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=147470

moving along we find
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=147470&start=150
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=147470&start=200

other orbiter graphics
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=147470&start=250
http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=147470&sd=d&start=1375

 
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