Multi-port Docking

[Suedocode]

I would really like to make a hex station, but I'm having issues connecting my joints. I lined this up as best I can, but I can't seem to lock onto both ports simultaneously. As you can see, the green circle docked just fine but the red circle is all janky:

Is there a way to get both ports to dock?

Edited October 8, 2016 by Suedocode
Spelling, removed mod reference

[Mjarf]

It appears you haven't been 100% accurate when placing the docking ports in the VAB. It's obviously essential that the docking ports have the same distance to a common reference point.

[Suedocode]

5 minutes ago, Mjarf said:

It appears you haven't been 100% accurate when placing the docking ports in the VAB. It's obviously essential that the docking ports have the same distance to a common reference point.

It's an equilateral triangle:

My issue is that during the docking procedure itself, no matter how carefully I insert, the magnetic pulls are too strong and wobble my accuracy a bit before slamming into each other. It'd be nice if they could pivot after docking at least.

[Allocthonous]

I can think of two things that might help with that; make the pieces heavier so that they wobble less, or put more distance between the triangle of docking ports. Long pieces flex a bit, which would give you some wiggle room.

I guess you could also try adding three spacer pieces with docking ports on both ends in between your three hub sections; docking ports move around quite a bit, and you could maybe get things to warp into place that way.

[Mjarf]

I may have misunderstood your first screenshot, it looks like one docking port is slightly further forward than the others. 

[StormKat]

Alignment is absolutely critical when doing hexagons.  Navyfish's docking port alignment mod helped me.

Putting some space also helps as Allocthonous suggested. 

My Hex Array Frame might be a good pattern for you too.

[Vanamonde]

This question about how to play the game has been moved to Gameplay Questions. 

[Sharpy]

You realize you're making your life difficult on purpose? That structure could be built in VAB and launched in one piece quite easily. Multi-port docking is notoriously unreliable, especially if the ports aren't flush in one surface.

If you align it visually in VAB, it will dock just fine after it spawns in the world. If you try to assemble it in orbit... you're in for a world of frustration.

[Blaarkies]

26 minutes ago, Sharpy said:

You realize you're making your life difficult on purpose? That structure could be built in VAB and launched in one piece quite easily. Multi-port docking is notoriously unreliable, especially if the ports aren't flush in one surface.

If you align it visually in VAB, it will dock just fine after it spawns in the world. If you try to assemble it in orbit... you're in for a world of frustration.

We choose to do all the things, not because they are easy but because they are hard!

[Vaporized Steel]

@Sharpy

While I agree that a easier option will solve this by launching the thing in one go, I personally have the gaming sentiment to make rockets look like they should in real life. Both in RSS and Vanilla.
That means that 2.50 meter parts fit into 2.50m fairing and 3.75m into 3.75meter fairings without the top bulging out like a mushroom top or the first stage base as wide as the first stage of project Orion.

That means no wide structures, and desired wide structures will then have to be docked in space. Because of that I'm a very big fan of using multiple docking ports myself and docking in general obviously.

A construction tip:
Take any part for example and hold left alt + Q or E (or left shift as it is on my Ubuntu machine) (might be right alt on windows, I dunno) You know what I mean.

A full 360 rotation of a part is incremented into 72 rotation increments. Thats because if you keep pressing alt/shift + Q+E you have to tap 72 times before any part comes back around.

So a hexagon ring station for example like I build is 72 / 12 = 6
So when you Alt/shift + Q,E,A,S,W,D (depending on how you want to rotate it) 12 times and you copy paste that as a Subassembly you'll have it right. It doesnt even matter if the docking ports are centered on the module (although you'll need symmetry enabled) because they're all copies of themselves.

As for the docking ports on the side of your tank (the one that doesn't fit) a similar aproach can be used.
But you don't want to use 12increment rotation in that case.

Put your angle snap to the hexagon marker.

Put your docking port on your fuel tank and try to drag the docking port all around the tank. Because the haxagon angle snap is chosen any part (docking port in this case) displaces itself in increments.

That shows us that there are 24 snapping points on the circumference of a fuel tank.
You want it to be a hexagon? Then you'll need to start with 6 way symmetry always since 24/6 = 6

Try to use 6 way symmetry on one subassembly and then you can just copy paste that module and everything will be symmetrical. Whatever you dock thereafter doesn't matter. But if you require the same docking connections later on with the same vessel in orbit you reuse that subassembly as a joint instead of trying to rebuild it.

If copy pasting doesn't work, your doing something wrong, and I can't tell what it is.

 

Edited October 11, 2016 by Vaporized Steel