I only meant to spend a couple of hours reprogramming the carousel, but somehow the hangar AND the maintenance bay are nearly finished.
I can’t say the day hasn’t been productive, but it was just as frustrating. Easy Automation gives me trouble sometimes, but trying to make a MArmOS crane (rather a twin linked pair of them) was an absolute nightmare for most of it. They still don’t quite work like I imagined, but they’re functional and don’t take up too much space in the maintenance bay, so that’s a win.
A few things to note are that the carousel has had all of its functions reversed and slightly refined. The centrifuge now rotates clockwise (according to the ship’s facing), and the docking plates rotate counter-clockwise. Docks 2 and 4 have had their positions swapped accordingly.
I also added magnetic plates and manual release buttons to the face of each docking plate. This helps me get around the problem of the Cosmo Messer E having its magnetic plate in a different spot. Trying to accommodate both E and F+ models would require two different docking guides overlapping each other. I figured it was just better to add some locks on the plates themselves and see if I can’t automate them later. Either way, the manual releases are there if needed, and both versions of the Messer can dock using their own magnetic plates. There’s just no precision guide for the ventral camera right now.
I can already tell I’m going to be coming up on the PCU limit I set for this ship right around the time I start trying to iron out the crew quarters, but I’ll figure something out. For now I’m just glad that the ship’s most important areas are coming together so well.
I still have every intention of making that hypothetical WoWs x ARP collaboration page. I’ve got a set of tabs grouped with everything relating to that article that’s not on my computer. The skeleton of said page is more or less finished, with the same look and feel as World of Warships’ news pages. What I’m missing is the content to really sell it. I need more material for both stills and a promo video to pull all of this together, as well as a couple of custom assets I might just have to make myself.
Thankfully I hit a breakthrough not too long ago. That ARP mobile game that fell through had a lot of assets I was able to find online. I can definitely work some of these into the project. I’m not sure what the rights on those are, but I’m just going to chalk it up to personal use until further notice.
Either way, I think this project is still worth the effort as part of my portfolio, so one way or another I’m going to make it happen. Besides, maybe Wargaming or Ark Performance will bump into it one day and smile.
The main goal of the move from the Cosmo Messer E to the F series is to add more thrusters (where possible), more weapons, and fix some of the stationing issues the E series has. ‘Software’ and registry improvements are also in the works.
Thrusters
A few more internal hydrogen thrusters were added, these ones facing downward. The Cosmo Messer E could get airborne in Pertam’s 1.2Gs of gravity, but needed assistance from some of the lateral thrusters. Once it was airborne, it could maintain its altitude, but that’s dangerous to try and manage. The additional thrusters allow the F model to not only hover but fly in Pertam’s gravity.
There could be more thrusters added if they don’t poke out of the frame too much, but for now the main improvement I was aiming for in this area is finished.
Weapons
The final list of integrated weapons for the base F model are 4 chainguns, 2 rocket launchers, and 1 autocannon. A more upgunned version might swap the autocannon for a larger weapon, as well as some of the chainguns for autocannons, but that’s the extent of what the F model will be carrying internally.
Stationing
The Cosmo Messers need connectors to dock with other ships and magnetic plates for landing. In the Messer’s case, they need the plates more for staying on the Hipper’s carousel than anything. The F series is also getting landing gears for terrestrial operations. Since the thrusters have been upgraded, planetary operations are officially a part of the F series’ mission set.
The first of all the upgrades received was moving the connector closer to the center of the fuselage. This makes it possible to dock with a wider variety of ships. That said, the Cosmo Messer F is still a large fighter. It’s not tall, but it’s tall enough to pose a problem for hangars that are less than four blocks high. It also needs seven blocks of clearance for the wings. That’s part of the reason why the Hippers and other Kaiser ships usually have open air flight decks, even when they have large internal hangars for stowage.
Since the connector was moved forward, so was everything around it: the magnetic plate and the ventral camera. That means I’m going to have to make some adjustments to Hipper’s carousel, but it should be able to comfortably carry both types of Messers, the Es and the Fs. I don’t think the G and K models will differ too much on the connector placement, either.
Software and Registry Updates
Of course, by ‘software’ I just mean the scripts on the ship. The most important one is Coren’s Easy Automation, especially now that it controls the extension of the rocket launchers, landing gear, connector and magnetic plate switches. That’s about all that requires automation to make the F series an across the board improvement over the E in terms of usability, but it would be possible to do more, so I’m keeping the option open.
As for registry updates, I’m carefully following a naming convention to keep block and block groups as organized as possible.
Potential Upgrades
One thing I’m considering for the F series, especially since it’s the last series that won’t have any mod requirements, are hardpoints for weapons and modules. It would take some more conveyor and plating work to get it set up, but it might be worth it.
Closing
The Cosmo Messer F will definitely be ready late this month if nothing else comes up. After it’s finished and on the workshop I’ll be taking a break from the Cosmo Messers and working on other fighters when I have the time.
I’m not sure if I’ll post this to youtube or not. It’s fairly old footage, back even before Special Circumstances’ merger with the Wolfpack. It definitely needs to go on P.R. though, so here it is. I’m also swapping out the old version in the video section, though that one’s staying on youtube for posterity.
I woke up really late, so today’s just been hanging out with Enio Habev and my clan mates. Normally I’d be annoyed by the lack of productivity but it’s nice to take a break once in a while, even if it’s completely out of the blue.
Also, later tonight I’m going to upload an updated version of that one Kongo video I made.
