Anyone know of a ship with this concept? (Rotating-Thruster ship)

[VibeGuy]

Kinda like VTOL, but instead of only forward and up, it can point thrusters in all 6 directions. Obviously there'd be the issue of if you go left/right, one of the thrusters may burn or even collide with the side of the ship, but i'm sure some engineering could solve that.

[Dan2D3D]

HI, there are a fiew Blueprints on the Workshop and they use that Script :

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=757123653)

+

You may try this one :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=738271770

[herrschaftg35]

There are VTOL scripts on the workshop. But there is really no way to point a thruster the full 360 degrees without damaging whatever it is mounted to.

[Dan2D3D]

This one looks cool, too :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1677809396

[Dan2D3D]

Oh! there is also one in the Keenswh Workshop :

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1768000823


Edit

There are alot on the Workshop !

Here is another one :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2063061353

[VibeGuy]

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

HI, there are a fiew Blueprints on the Workshop and they use that Script :

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=757123653)

+

You may try this one :
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=738271770

Thanks for the Whiplash Thruster script! I think I'll definitely need to use it to build this.

[condottiere]

You have two main choices for VTOL control.

Many of the ships above use Whiplash's subgrid thruster script. This is simple, stable, works great. I prefer to use it for 2-direction VTOL ships: Set rotor limits to one position (up thrust) and a second position (forward thrust), then have use either cockpit toolbar buttons or timer blocks to trigger: unlock rotors, reverse rotor rotation, lock rotors. This is per Whiplash's recommendation to lock the rotors before using them, to avoid torque.

With Whip's script, you will need an external, second script for more fancy rotor direction control.

Rotor Position
by DFPercush

Rotor Servo Control
by Remaarn

are two such scripts. One of the above blueprints uses Remaam's script. I have used DFPercush's Rotor Position. Note that Whip's script and these rotor control scripts will requiire you to manually move the thrusters where you want.

If you prefer to just press directional movement keys, and the script controls the rotor orientation for you magically, then use this instead:

Vector THrust OS by Vantablack Pyro

This is the continuation of the old and well-known Vector Thrust 2 script by Vermilion. Vector Thrust OS is MUCH more fully featured on its own (lots of functions and options, which may be clutter or useful, depending on your needs).

This script will automatically rotate thrusters on rotors to orient them in any direction of travel. Rotors on your right/left ship sides can thrust up, down, forward, backward. Rotors on top/bottom can point thrust right/left/forward/backward, and rotors on front/back can point thrust up/down/right/left. Just be sure to leave clearance in all directions for the rotation and thruster flame damage.

Downside: Rotor spin can look janky sometimes when they constantly wiggle or spin. If so, set rotor max rotation speed in settings (custom data). Don't forget to set/use the thrust gear ratio, or else your ship will be stuck in first gear (15% of thrust by default).

---

Warning: Most VTOL builds have a lot of cool factor in creative mode, but are finicky and not always worth the effort if playing with survival/combat focus.

1) PCU expensive due to rotors, b/c 1 rotor is 100 PCU, compared to 6 thrusters costing 90 PCU. You do save on the mass of the extra thrusters.

2) Wobbly. No avoiding this, b/c subgrid thrust is not evenly applied to the main grid's center of mass in a simple way, like fixed same-grid thrusters. You'll have to cope with either uneven or slow thruster response, depending on subgrid thruster placement or script used.

3) Fragile. Just like any other subgrid construction, you are putting single points of failure on your ship. In a world with block destruction enabled, if you bump the ship wrong, crash, or get shot, there's a good chance a VTOL sub-grid thruster module will violently leave your ship. And since we usually depend heavily (or entirely) on each sub-grid for thrust in multiple directions, this can cripple the ship. Just like VTOL craft in real life. :D

But they are pretty cool. :P Even though I have learned to never use these for fighting ships or when I need simple reliability, I still enjoy joyriding in them.

There's a recent pretty cool VTOL design on the workshop, the AiRix Mosquito. I replaced or revised its script with the Vector Thrust OS, and it works awesome.

Sorry for not posting Steam links. Last time I did, a week ago, a Steam moderator suspended my account for suspicious content. YOu can find the items above even with the awful Steam workshop search function, though.

[Ronin Planetary Industries]

Originally posted by herrschaftg35:

There are VTOL scripts on the workshop. But there is really no way to point a thruster the full 360 degrees without damaging whatever it is mounted to.

It can be done. Advanced Rotor > Hinge > Thruster. The Rotor would allow the thruster to rotate 360 degrees to thrust in four directon. The hinge would allow the thruster pivot to the other two.

The caveat is to build an arm long enough under the rotor so that the thruster exhaust is far enough away from the main body as to not damage it when pivoting with the hinge.

It wouldn't be the most practical vehicle. But it can be done.

[condottiere]

Patrick (Freight Contracts, CrewEnabled, etc creator) posted a video a while back showing a spherical frame with a double-rotor gimbal for thrusters. I can't remember what the specifics were (creative, thruster dmg on/off, etc).

BUt I seem to remember it was a larger circular frame, with a pair of rotors inside, connecting to a second circular frame. Inside the second frame was a second pair of rotors mounted to rotate perpendicular to the first set of rotors. Thruster(s) were mounted inside the frame of the second pair of rotors. Make the frame big enough to account for thruster flame lengths. easiest with small grid small thrusters, probably.

First pair allows 360 in one plane. Second pair allows 360 in second plane, completing full 360 all around freedom of rotation. Unfortunately, I don't think he ever shared the script for controlling thrusters on two sets of rotors.

Not very practical though, since the entire spherical volume takes up so much space.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I played with this double-gimble/single thruster script awhile back, but I can't remember if I got it to work.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1381401681

[VibeGuy]

Originally posted by Ronin Planetary Industries (RPI):

Originally posted by herrschaftg35:

There are VTOL scripts on the workshop. But there is really no way to point a thruster the full 360 degrees without damaging whatever it is mounted to.

It can be done. Advanced Rotor > Hinge > Thruster. The Rotor would allow the thruster to rotate 360 degrees to thrust in four directon. The hinge would allow the thruster pivot to the other two.

The caveat is to build an arm long enough under the rotor so that the thruster exhaust is far enough away from the main body as to not damage it when pivoting with the hinge.

It wouldn't be the most practical vehicle. But it can be done.

Tbh almost forgot hinges had connectors. Thanks for the encouragement lol.