Idea XR-5 Tourist Payload?

[FarOutInFernley]

I was dreaming that a great addon would be a something along the lines of a big transparent container, that would have seats, and maybe a "play area" for space tourism needs...transparent so once you get to orbit, open the payload bay doors, grapple it out with the URMS and there ya go, tourists...have fun..It would be a halfway believable way for a private space company to make money, and from the sim tourist side of things, youd be able to do a LOT more than just sit there ala Virgin Galactic

anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[pip12345]

Sounds like a wonderfull idea.
I hope there will be a addon like this will be made.
Hmm... Release it with deorbit thrusters and make it burn all tourists in atmosphere from Jupiter.
Sounds like fun.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

That does sound like a pretty good add-on. I'm not all that great at meshes yet, but I may see if I can come up with something. Or at least sketch it out or something...

 

[FarOutInFernley]

I am suprised something like this hasnt been made yet for orbiter...you would think the VSA people would have thought this one up a while ago, i would just want it for my own "private" VSA i have floating around in my head

 

[fireballs619]

Eh, the VSA people have no need for this. A VSA should simulate missions, not space tourism (a la spacelines).

This would be quite an interesting add-on none the less. I, unfortunately, do not have the skills to make it.

 

[River Crab]

Wehaveaproblem is making that, or at least started. Check out his site.

 

[FarOutInFernley]

whats the url of his site?

 

[River Crab]

Did some digging:
http://wehaveaproblem.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/vanguard-modules/
Turns out it's older than I thought it was...sorry. It's also not exactly the same as what you requested, either.

It does sound like a good idea though. Another, similar idea of mine, that I do not have the skills for, was a passenger/docking/rescue module for the XR2. Something maybe better than the inert CHM that it comes with. After all, there is already a door in the back of the cabin...

 

[jinglesassy]

How hard should this be to make? A simple ship without any thrusters with an attachment point and a cfg file for the cargo in the xr5? And maybe ummu support? Seems a bit simple to me but i cant work on it because i am leaving for a vacation in the morning so good luck!

 

[JackJL]

I started thinking about this a few weeks ago, though I thought just leave it in the bay and don't bother docking it to the ship. I was going for a cruise liner approach, so cabins rather than airline seats (except for takeoff).

Code-wise without making a specific dll I was thinking of a UCGO car - then as well as UMMU support it can have animations but no docking port.

I've modelled the cabins but not the central play area or take-off seating as well as the rotating airlock (at the bottom left)


I'm also going on holiday soon so I probably won't get it done for some time. On a side note what is the addon announcing/priority etiquette? By posting a half finished model will it discourage other (probably more skilled) addon devs from making a better addon for the same thing? For general things like a spaceplane there would be enough variety to support many different projects, but for something specific like an XR5 space tourism payload is it in the best interests of the community for someone to talk about their own development so far, possibly stopping others from making the same addon or to keep quiet about it until they are nearly ready to release it, risking many people duplicating the work? (wow that was a long unintelligible sentence, sorry) I guess the main problem is people like me with a terrible work ethic who start a project but don't finish it, at least in a timely fashion.

 

[FarOutInFernley]

i like the cabin idea, maybe two models could be built, one with cabins, and one with just seats and the "zero g playground" the one with cabins would be for longer stays in space and the one with seats just for your "couple times around the planet" then back to base. Personally the one with seats would give me an excuse for more practice with re entries, lol

 

[N_Molson]

Those cabins are pretty, but you have to fix the covers to the bed if you don't want to bump into the walls and ceiling all the night :blackeye:

Why not vertical beds, which would take less room ?

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Or, why a bed at all in zero g? I was thinking along the line of an acceleration couch, or perhaps a recliner thingy. The idea of seperate cabins is a nice one, this looks more like a first class passenger cabin, where I was thinking more like business class/coach.

As far as add-on etiquette, I would think the more people working on a project, the better. This allows someone who's good at modelling to pair up with someone who's good at textures. They can then handoff to a jedi-master coder to work the .dll. Collaboration is a good thing... Unless you have a government project, then there are so many meetings to attend that nothing gets accomplished.

 

[FarOutInFernley]

the idea of vertical beds should be implemented...space saver, and dont shuttle crews do the same thing?

btw mr molson....your DG launchers are fantastic

 

[dbeachy1]

Well, vertical beds sort of suck when you're landed anywhere and the crew needs to sleep...

 

[FarOutInFernley]

thats true, didnt think about that, regular beds might be in order then

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Wehaveaproblem is making that, or at least started. Check out his site.

Yeah the HOOP project was going to be the start of a string of XR5 habs and payloads. I have the planes for almost exactly what the OP wants, but it's never got further than the drawing board. Anyway, what with one thing an another the project(s) got shelved. I'm hopefully gonna have more dev time over the next year though, so after I finish the new Wideawake there is every chance I will revive the HOOP project.

 

[FarOutInFernley]

fair enough...ill just imagine it being in there until then or use the hab module from SSB until the proper one gets built

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I thought the OP dealt with paying passengers? The crew would have their own facilities inside the XR-5 proper, while the tourists would/should be in their cabins, or at least not be free to wander around the decks of the XR-5.
I had pictured a "stand-alone" module that would ride in the cargo bay, and the passengers are "restricted" to the luxury spaces. The crew is the crew, and can go any damb place they please (for safety inspections and ensuring the module is safe for launch/re-entry). Of course there would need to be some assumption of privacy for those who'd want to join the 50 mile high club...

 

[JackJL]

Well, vertical beds sort of suck when you're landed anywhere and the crew needs to sleep...

Yeah I was thinking this could also be a static hotel/resort

Those cabins are pretty, but you have to fix the covers to the bed if you don't want to bump into the walls and ceiling all the night :blackeye:?

Yeah I was going to put some strap detail on there, but on the texture not the mesh as it would have to be repeated 20 times

i like the cabin idea, maybe two models could be built, one with cabins, and one with just seats and the "zero g playground" the one with cabins would be for longer stays in space and the one with seats just for your "couple times around the planet" then back to base. Personally the one with seats would give me an excuse for more practice with re entries, lol

Yeah, my baseline was a lunar trip with a view, so I didn't want airline style seating (can you imagine 3 days on a plane trip wned So that meant a small number of cabins on this one.

Thinking about it wouldn't a modular system be great :idea:- the XR5's native [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teu"]TEU [/ame]container size could be useful. 1 container could be a cabin or block of airline seats or a galley or gym. You could have a bigger payload like 2x2x2 slots as the open air observation deck/jumping around room. You could put connecting tunnels into each model which would look like they were attached.

You couldn't transfer UMMUs between them of course, but you could have it so that some were UCGO cars (for animation) and some were UCGO stations for docking (if you wanted to move them around with URMS)

It would be like building you own custom station, but mobile and easier!