@tejaswa

This will be my last devlog before leaving my home

I wont be home for a month or more now so unfortunately progress on this project will be paused. :(

Today i configured my transmitter such that if the aircraft goes beyond range of rx, it automatically comes back home.

This was a huge challenge as i didnt have those fancy transmitters with a screen to configure stuff, i have a flysky i4x that comes with JUST the sticks no configuration.

Fortunately, buying a flysky transmitter saved me As flysky ibus or sbus protocol transmits the RSSI of radio signal as a pwm signal on its channel 14, To be honest i discovered that while calibrating my radio in mission planner, i was surprised and overjoyed to find that this is actually possible with my transmitter.

After finding out and a bit of tinkering later i was able to map RTL on channel 14 and reverse the channel aswell (so it turns on if transmitter disconnects). Honestly this was top 10 flysky respect moments for me.

I will be working tirelessly on my game now so be sure to follow that project aswell.

I also wanna take a moment to thank EVERYONE who has shown me so much love and support since the beginning of this project, And also to hackclub who were able to provide be with the electronics i could only dream to afford.

I have assembled the airframe , everything is quiet sturdy and under the estimate weight limit, i setup the flight firmware for this specific aircraft, and tuned the rates.

Unfortunately due to heavy rainfall near my area and the wing almost entirely being covered with paper, i cant go risk flying it.

Also it gets worse as i will not be home for a month or less . I will be disassembling the aircraft which is quiet easy to do due to my smart design choices.

I have ordered the XPS sheets that were included in my grant, theyll reach when im not at home so making the fuselage has to wait, but that gives me PLENTY of time to design the fuselage in CAD and make it as clean and robust as possible.

On a positive note i took my 450g flying wing out to fly today, it flew quiet well, unfortunately i did manage to crash it as it didnt have a flight computer and these things are quiet hard to fly.

Thanks to stardance tho i do have autonomous flight electronics (which costs $180 btw), i can make an autonomous flying wing that will be able to do long range endurance with help of 4 extra cells i have lying around. So thatll prolly be my next project after i come back home .

With that i will thanks stardance once again for getting me all these electronics

This battery is not human bro.

This took me way too long to make, the most problematic part was to figure out how to get all the cells together without exploding the pack with extreme heat.

I didnt have a spot welder, all i had was nickel strips some cells and a dream, so i used my regular soldering iron and started experimenting on how to solder these packs

In the end i found that “spot soldering” worked best for me, i hope im the first one who invented this, but u basically take not that hot of a soldering iron, and then u sand the surface place the strip and dab the soldering iron on the connection to join them together, do this like 4 times for a single joint and u have quiet solid joints

While making the connections i did mess up and bit and there was some sparking not enough to burn my house thankfully

About the pack, its a 4s4p pack, my first time using 4s configuration, and i am NOT comfortable with the amount of power it delivers, its way too scary gng
Im gonna lock the throttle at 70% cuz i know damm well shit can go wrong real fast with these packs.

I did some test runs with this on my flying wing and this rc plane, using the pixhawk power module at 50% throttle i saw 11A consumption with PLENTY of power, and on my 3s lipo pack it consumed 21A at 100% so we can safely say its not bottlenecking.

Its currently 12000mah, i do have 4 more cells i bought so i can push it to 15000, but ill prolyy do it later cuz this scares me way too much

Im not kidding the sound the motor makes while using this pack is way too wild, i HOPE autopilot can handle everything n nothing goes wrong, that being said i will NOT do the maiden with this, instead ill use my 1500mah 3s lipo for that.

OKAKAKAYAYAY some more cool additions for exploration aspect for the gam

I added an arrow that points towards a set direction, which also changes its with respect to how far the rocket is from that point

Also I FINALLY FIXED THE WATER WALKING SOUND ISSUE!!!1!!! Turns out it was quiet easy, i was just too stupid and over complicating it, a simple rewrite fixed everything.

For next update i will be adding findable clues, maps, coordinates left out to rot by a “past explorer” that you find across the universe, this is gonna require a bit of time and skill but i can deliver that easy with some time

Again progress is a bit slow cuz im actively working on my biggest endurance aircraft but i will keep tis game updated nonetheless, and in future u might even find it on steam who knows

today i disassembled the aircraft cuz im not gonna be able to fly it anyways rn due to rain

Made everything under the wing a LOT cleaner, hid the mess under a sheet of paper, it doesnt look That good, but it looks plenty good rn

I am setup and tinkered in the firmware a bit more, idk why i have this fear of maiden launches that stops me from actually flying my models, i really need to get over that

Currently I have started working on my game too due to this rain, but ill soon go out for a fuselage less maiden.
Pray for me that it goes well.

Ok so i have assembled the avionics, and routed everything in aircraft,
as i expected everything does look insanely ugly now

Thats okay since i will be making a fuselage later which will hopefully
look nice

Currently i have ailerons elevator and rudder working fine with
differential thrust in action, I do need a proper place to mount the
battery aswell, along with a proper place for pixhawk, its just hanging
there with double sided tape rn.

I really wish i had a better looking fuselage this looks insanely ugly rn, hopefully after i confirm it flies then ill work on the fuselage.

My batteries are dead and it JUST rained so i cant go out today, maybe tomorrow i can go for a maiden

AYEEEYEYYE UPDATE ON THE PEAKEST GAME

Made a really smart decision and got rid of the ugly hotbar like menu to place items, now da gam has a nice build menu in which most of the time was spent in making my code more cleaner.
But it works now, it looks way more clean and immersive.

Instead of relying on hardcoded information for items, i finally made a global that can handle all of that, idk why i didnt do that earlier.

About the sound engine, i genuinely hate it a lot, i will be redoing it from scratch and figure out wtf is wrong with it

Sorry for slow progress, i dont have much time till im at home so im tryna maximise the time i spend on my rc plen, ples follow it aswell

Okay so my back doesnt hurt today

I worked on the wing and installed the ESCs, tested the motors using pixhawk and they both respond properly

I do have a little concern as the ESCs are getting slightly warm, i did remove the rubber like i did on my older ESC, that doesnt seem to make it any better, the ready to sky esc i used earlier didnt have this heating problem, idk whats going on, i hope it js doesnt end bad

The good news is that i installed servos and their linkages to the alerons, i will have a flaperon configuration for nice low effort flaps.

Today the aircrafts weight is 560gs without the battery, so im assuming this will be around 750-800 grams with the 1500 3s lipo

Istg i hate soldering these thick wires, its js so tedious

Istg my back is GONE atp

so i covered the entire wing in paper
turns out yesterday the weight was so high due to wet glue all over the wing, once it dried.

So i js covered the entire wing in paper, and its quiet sturdy, Also i fixed the servos inside the wing aswell, it looks very flush, but im sure all that is going to go down the drain once i start installing the esc.

This is an insanely tedious job, im just dreading the fuselage part idk how im gonna mke that

The support ive been receiving is INSANE it really motivates me to work on it more so thnx yall

LOOK AT MY BACK THO GOD DAMM IM FKIN CROOKED

Okay dang my back hurts
But REAR STABS ARE READY, They are made as perfect, modular and easy to transport as possible.

I centered the servos and installed them after lining the entire wing using my custom build process

The carbon fiber tube is slid on on site and then clamped to the rear assembly using zipties, this is a little wasteful, but you can also use screws and bolts if youre rich enough.

Im quiet proud of the lining job, this rear assembly is one of my best pieces of work ive ever manufactured,
I cant wait to see this baby fly

Unfortunately no updates on into the cosmos today cuz i was way too excited to work on this project.

Oh and shoutout and a huge thanks to hackclub this would NOT have been able to be possible if not for them.

May lord have mercy on my back damm
But the wing is 80% dont, along with the elevator, i have designed everything in most modular and easy t transport as possible.

I didnt use my construction method all the way on the wing as it was adding a ton on unnecessary weight on the wing, and the center part does not even need to be that structurally strong so i just let it be exposed, and honestly it looks way better.

ALSO MORE ELECTRONICS ARRIVED , today my battery, ESC, and the receiver arrived, i was finally able to see the pixhawk control the servos, for some reason ESCs do get warm when i try to use them but i hope itll be fine.

tomorrow the thing im most dreading about, the fuselage and wiring the servos through the wing i will be doing, its most tedious job ever but we gotta do what we gotta do.

Im quiet proud how sturdy the frame is tho, the way i made it its absolutely perfect, and it looks like a kit istg. i love working on this project.

OH and again HUGE shout out to stardance for getting me all this electronics i will never forget this favor from y’all ever, this is genuinely a core memory of mine now

Oh i did manage to fix the water walking loop a lil more, its not perfect, but i dont understand whats going on. so ill just work on that later

Anyways thats that, big changes i made are that now to place observatories or rovers you need to have a specific amount of scrap on you, i will be turning this into a full fledged build menu so its more appealing, and i will have this menu as a quick hotbar to place blueprints of items. I find this gameloop satisfying as it takes away the management hassle and this game is supposed to be relaxing.

And bro how long IS the queue my bambu is STILL not shipped

Sorry for slow updates on this project, currently working my ass off irl on the UAV project of mine as i have a deadline to finish it.

If i did manage to get a good rep towards this proj, ill be taking the reviewers advice and hosting this game on steam. That developer grant might come in handy ngl

Okay dang my back hurts
But REAR STABS ARE READY, They are made as perfect, modular and easy to transport as possible.

I centered the servos and installed them after lining the entire wing using my custom build process

The carbon fiber tube is slid on on site and then clamped to the rear assembly using zipties, this is a little wasteful, but you can also use screws and bolts if youre rich enough.

Im quiet proud of the lining job, this rear assembly is one of my best pieces of work ive ever manufactured,
I cant wait to see this baby fly

Unfortunately no updates on into the cosmos today cuz i was way too excited to work on this project.

Oh and shoutout and a huge thanks to hackclub this would NOT have been able to be possible if not for them.

MORE ELECTRONICS ARRIVED TODAY

I have made the rear assembly with a beautiful and modular connector that uses zipties to hold onto the carbon spar (i will also add ductape for more rigidity)

And i designed the mount of how the BLDC motors are going to hold on the wingspar.

ALSO THE SERVOS ARRIVED YAYAYAYAYA, I can finally finish the rear assembly with electronics and all.

Unfortunately my gluegun exploded (literally)
So i have been set back by a bit but i think im good

Heres a graphic for more accurate depiction of how it looked when the gluegun exploded

AYEEEEEE DEVLOG TIME

So today i redid the observatory 3d model, gave it some clean nasa
textures, its not upto my standards but its getting there, also fixed
that stupid atmosphere bug now everything looks insanely better.

Added a planet to the launch screen to flex aswell, i think it looks awesome there.

Oh and also i tried to add water walking sound but am failing miserably
but worry not as i will be reworking the soundengine too
later

Taking a moment to give a shout out to my followers who motivated me to
work on tis more also HM all the reviewers who gave incredibly nice
feedback

Ok so i just designed and cut out the rear elevator

It looks queit decent, i used 6mm old circular dowels tgat were laying around the house to make it more sturdier, the elevator came out perfect im quiet satisfied by it. Also shout out to this foam, its holds its shape quiet well and its not soft like my old one.

Im js waiting for my electronics to arrive, its gonna be christmas soon when all the electroncis do arrive

Oh and i will be using the rounded wingtips for everything in aricraft to increase endurance as much as i can. At speeds this aircraft will be running on, i dont expect the vortex to touch the trailing edge of the wing so yeah thats good

OKAY SO MY DAD GOT ME EPS BLOCKS FINALLY

I cut out the airfoil profile twice (i had one 50cm section laying around already) now i finally have the wing structure ready, now after this ima be designing the modular part for the wing that lets it detach and attach to the 10mm carbon fiber tube that i ordered.

Cant estimate the RTF weight of the aircraft yet, but without battries im trying to hit around 550g, things are looking pretty decent now

EXCEPT THE FACT THAT I ALMOST BURNT MY CLOTHES. Bro i gotta make a better hot wire cutter instead of doing it by hand, i accidentally left the wire touching my pants and i made a lil hole in them. its cool tho

FOLLOW ME FOR MORE COOL DEVLOGS

Ok so i measured and the 2m wing wont fit in my car, really sorry for that, But I will be making the wing 1.5m long, this will reduce the endurance a bit but i wont be sending it to intercity missions just yet so 1.5m will be fine.

Also im switching to Clark Y airfoil as its more famous and has a lot of reading material online, the build process has started, i have bought the electronics i need im js waiting for them to arrive now.

I cant wait to get my hands on the pixhawk and then take it to fly

HOLEE SHIT, ADDED INSANE STUFF TO MY GAME

IT LOOKS SO BEAUTIFUL NOW, I CANT BELIVE IT

So, for starters, since yesterday I have been learning shaders. I fixed that shitty atmosphere shader that I translated from someone else’s shader to Godot. I had to make a lot of changes to it to get it working properly for my game.

ALSO I MADE A SICK ASS WATER SHADER FOR PLANETS TO HAVE.

Then I REWROTE THE PLANET GENERATION SCRIPT.

Now each planet has unique properties like:

1. Ambient temperature
2. Water availability
3. Air density, which determines water availability too

I also tried adding comets and comet trails to the game, but failed tremendously.

Oh, and also, dont go near the black hole.

OH AND I GOT MY PAYOUT, AND I GOT THE BAMBULAB A1 MINI. THIS DAY JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER

Devlog #idk

Didn’t get a ton of new content added today, but I spent most of the time cleaning up annoying bugs and polishing the game.

The biggest fix was the rocket explosion system.

There was a bug where the rocket would slam into the ground at over 300 m/s… and just refuse to explode. I rewrote the logic, and it’s finally behaving properly.

I also started modeling the mothership.

It honestly looks like absolute dookey right now, but it’ll do as a placeholder. 3D modeling definitely isn’t my strongest skill, so I’m calling this version “good enough” for now.

On the graphics side, I added a proper atmosphere around the planets, which makes them look much better.

I also experimented with chromatic aberration, but it didn’t really fit the style of the game, so I ended up removing it.

Huge thanks to @aloyak for the inspiration and some really helpful rendering tips.

He showed me a much better way to increase the render distance without killing performance, so I’ll be implementing those improvements tomorrow.

Also…

I earned 1085 Stardust on my second ship.

Not bad.