Project The S-2 Dolphin

[Winters24]

And HERE it is....dun dun dunnnnn *takes DEEP breath*


So about it, its supposed to be an extremely versatile craft, able to do everything from servicing, building Space Stations to landing on the moon and eventually put a land base on mars. Now, granted, this started out as something to replace the shuttle because I didnt like where NASA was going with the Ares and of course thats been scrapped and they privatized everything so I decided to take it bit further and admittedly got a "little" carried away. Now, let me be clear, this is supposed to LOOK realistic, not BE realistic. Ive completely taken off the shuttles heat tiles for an inflatable heat shield saving quite literally a ton of weight (puns, I love you:lol added solar panels where the radiators were and put radiators in the elevators (that is to possible ). It has 6 main thrusters and 2 air breathers for unassisted ascent to LEO, and 3 hover thrusters, there is also a vertical ascent vehicle, the VAV. (36 thrusters, ALL working tee hee:facepalm

Its about twice the size of the (almost) retired shuttle, heres something for size comparison.

As You can see it has three docking bays and will have an RMS arm, if I can get it working...Its SUPPOSED to have 4 joints (all ball and socket), meaning of course every joint being able to roll, pitch, and yaw but that has proven troublesome...It also has custom exhaust textures and particle streams and RCS particle streams(thanks to good ol' Martin ), and finally, gave NASA a sense of style :lol:, oh and just to tease you more just because Im an evil torturous....something I cant say here.... theres one other thing that Im working on for this....

As far as development time, Its almost finished, just need to do the secret thing and HOPEFULLY get the arm working. depending I may make it a dll vessel rather than SC3, not sure yet, but Id have to learn to code which Im only a beginner at so we'll see

And after this I want to make something like the building blocks but in my own little style, I hope it doesnt seem like Im trying to make the BSP4 and BB obsolete, there both awesome addons! And inspired me to do this

Credits and what not...(do you have to ask to give credits?)
ar81 for his/her great tutorials and MeshWizard...
artlav for the SC3 converter, saved me a TON of time
Greg Burch for my inspiration and a good starting point
SPASE_1976 for the obj2msh converter
Vinka for Spacecraft3.
Of course Martin Schweiger for making all this possible
And everyone thats made me feel so welcome here!
AND River Crab for like...everything! :lol:
I think thats it :hmm:...Sorry if I forgot ya

5/22 Small update...I ve been a bit busy lately so havent really been able to work on her...Should have more time to now though! :thumbup:
6\20 Big update, see 12th post of page

 

[River Crab]

Nice! She looks a bit like an XR5 from above, like a Big Spaceplane from the side, and with a dolphin flair. Resembling something good is not bad at all. Love the textures and the dolphin motif, indeed very stylish ;o

I'm wondering, how did you give it airbreathers? You mentioned SC3, which doesn't support airbreathing engines...are they actually just rockets?

Also, if you're really anxious, you could put a URMS on it and call it done, though that admittedly feels like a hack. I still rest my case that the arm belongs on the station, not the shuttle.

Nice job crediting everyone, and don't worry, we like to be teased. Well, maybe just me.

You've made quite a nice entry as a member of the forum, huh! Now stop being nervous :thumbup:

 

[Winters24]

Aww, thanks!!

As far as the ABs, Im trying to use the SC3 converter and actually code in 2 configurations, but I just dont know how to code that far yet, but Im learning! But as of now there just rockets with a separate particle stream, textures, thrust and all that, but theyre linked to the orbital engines. If worse comes to worse then Ill just leave it as is but it just wouldnt be up to my standards which admittedly are rather high :lol:

And the thing with URMS is its really just not my vision of it ya know? To me it just wouldnt fit. But, honestly, the arm has gotten me to this point :compbash: multiple times... As far as what Im doing, its actually a dll vessel but converted FROM SC3, so Im coding it in SC3 and then converting it, and adding a few extra things =)

About the arm on the station, I honestly havent thought about that (I grew up with the later shuttles mostly) interesting idea, still, I need to get it working first :lol:

And trust me, your not alone in liking to be teased, I just like to do the teasing every once in a while :lol:

And thank you, everyones made me feel quite welcome, glad Ive done the same

 

[N_Molson]

Nice work, especially for a first addon :thumbup:

 

[diogom]

Looks really good. :thumbup: Are you sure it's your first addon?

 

[Eli13]

So I'm not the first person to think about naming a spacecraft "dolphin" after all!
Looks great though! :thumbup:
Whens this goin to my local hangar?

 

[indonesianorbinaut]

wow, what a nice addon !!!!!!! :speakcool:

 

[Spacethingy]

Looks a bit like Donamy's Resolve...

I love the 3 docking ports at the front. Could prove useful! :thumbup:

 

[Eli13]

Woah, I didn't even notice that until you mentioned it. I'm bringing my XR-2's and lets not forget the fuzzy dice! And of course a DG-IV. I fricking love those things. More than the XR-2 methinks.

 

[Winters24]

Hey guys, thanks for all the nice comments!

As far as a release date, when its finished, but it shouldnt be TOO long:lol:

 

[Eli13]

Looks like this will be something that re-painters may love. Then again, I don't know much about the more technical things, so it may not. But if it is a good platform , I think we'll see some 'extras' for it.

 

[Winters24]

Hey again guys! :hello:
Sorry I havnt really been on, personal life can be quite unpredictable, ya know?? :lol:
Anyway, I should have more time to work on her now!:thumbup:

 

[Winters24]

Okay! So, I havent been on...BUT, I have been very busy on Dolphi! Im just finishing a MAJOR model overhaul
Ive remodelled /every/ animated part AND more....

Honestly, this project has turned out to be a LOT bigger than I ever thought (I honestly never meant it for release). So yes, Im pushing release back...BUT, itll be all the more awesome :thumbup:

I want to give it its own extensive dll and not just a SC3 port, but I do need to learn to code...Give her the time and quality she deserves! But, let me be clear, the point of her is to be /totally/ and utterly different than anything else out there! So yes, its a bit unconventional and unrealistic BUT, thats the point! To be different!

One last thing, Im adding a thanks to River Crab for all the /amazing/ advice, even though Ive said this to River personally, I think it deserves public admission, so THANKS! :hail: :lol: