Editing a maneuver node while focused somewhere else?

[dncky]

I wish I were the maths type, but alas I am not.

 

Whenever I get an encounter for something far away I can't tell if I'm coming in leading edge, trailing edge, inclination, etc. I'd like to ideally be looking at my destination real close while playing with the node seeing how that will affect my arrival. 

 

Anyone have any suggestions?

[Starhawk]

By clicking on a celestial body, you can set the focus to that body.  You can then zoom in and see your resulting trajectory.  If you rotate the camera to bring your maneuver node into view, you can then adjust it and watch how the trajectory at the target body changes.

Happy landings!

[dncky]

1 minute ago, Starhawk said:

By clicking on a celestial body, you can set the focus to that body.  You can then zoom in and see your resulting trajectory.  If you rotate the camera to bring your maneuver node into view, you can then adjust it and watch how the trajectory at the target body changes.

Happy landings!

Thanks! Though that leaves me with one lagging question because I tried something similar once. I was able to adjust the vectors, but then I couldn't move the node along the orbit because since the node was so far away the resolution of adjustment was just impossible. Any work around? Or is the node going to have to stay put when you're focused on the target body

[Starhawk]

5 minutes ago, dncky said:

I was able to adjust the vectors, but then I couldn't move the node along the orbit because since the node was so far away the resolution of adjustment was just impossible. Any work around? Or is the node going to have to stay put when you're focused on the target body

It's a bit clunky, but you can change focus back and forth between the active vessel and the target body, allowing you to adjust the node position when focused on the vessel and allowing you to see the result when focused on the target body.  The backspace key returns focus to the active vessel, but the only ways to focus on a celestial body are to click on it and choose 'Set Focus' or to use the Tab key and go through the bodies in the system until you get to the one you want.

If you're not averse to using mods, you can use Precise Node or MechJeb's built-in equivalent to adjust the time of the node (and thus its position) using the keyboard.

Happy landings!

[ForScience6686]

I set the node until an encounter is made.  Focus on the target and adjust the node from there.  You'll have to much trouble setting the node placement from the targets view,  plus even the slightest adjustment of the node placement well make dramatic end results.  So I find it better to adjust the node to finalize the desired trajectory after setting the node for an encounter.

[dncky]

4 minutes ago, ForScience6686 said:

I set the node until an encounter is made.  Focus on the target and adjust the node from there.  You'll have to much trouble setting the node placement from the targets view,  plus even the slightest adjustment of the node placement well make dramatic end results.  So I find it better to adjust the node to finalize the desired trajectory after setting the node for an encounter.

So set the node location till encounter then change focus and fiddle with just the vectors?

[ForScience6686]

20 minutes ago, dncky said:

So set the node location till encounter then change focus and fiddle with just the vectors?

Correct.  Also keep in mind that pushing the vectors in, instead of pulling away from node, allows finer control of adjustment.  Generally I don't make the maneuver node perfect, just close.  Then make the burn and fine adjust after.

[OhioBob]

You can also adjust the maneuver node vectors using the scroll wheel on your mouse.  Rather than dragging the vectors in or away from the node, just hover your mouse pointer over a vector to highlight it, then use the scroll wheel to add or delete velocity.  I find that this provides much better control than is attainable by dragging the vector.

There are also mods that allow you to adjust the maneuver node with far greater precision than is possible in the stock game.  One of the advantages of these mods is that you can zoom in on the celestial body and adjust the encounter without ever having to return your focus to the maneuver node.  If you want to give one of them a try, the mods are Precise Node and Precise Maneuver.  I use Precise Node, though Precise Maneuver looks like almost the same thing.  I find it to be one of my most indispensable mods.

[Plusck]

Also pressing tab will cycle focus from each of the celestial bodies to the next. A bit of a pain if you're trying to focus on Eeloo, but still...

 

So to summarise:

- backspace to return focus to your vessel

- tab to cycle focus through the different bodies

- hover and scrollwheel on the vectors to fine-tune (beware however that it accelerates: very slow scrolling will add minor amounts, normal to fast scrolling adds tons)

 

The worst situation is when you are in one planet's SOI, trying to adjust an encounter in a distant planet's SOI: it is very difficult to click on the node. This could be an area where KSP could be improved (such as, by having the active node in a window in the corner of the display) but that's another matter.