How do you remap rover controls?

[LunchIn10Seconds]

Dear all,

I know I am being thick here, but I cannot work out how to remap rover controls so that something makes it go forwards, backwards, and turns.

At the moment w and s just spin the rover. Lots of forums say remap the rover controls but I cannot find any mention of wheels in the options other than steering axis and throttle axis. If I click on the < button I get a window with three lights in it marked staging docking (translation) docking (rotation) and have no idea what this is or how it relates to making the darn thing move.

Can someone please post an idiots guide to how to remap the rover keys, where it is in the options and how to get a rover to move rather than just spin on its axis.

I have a Probodobodyne OKTO as the control pod and this is sitting upright in the center of mass. Is this the problem? or is it that I just dont understand how to control a rover?

Help!

[Curveball Anders]

5 minutes ago, LunchIn10Seconds said:

Dear all,

I know I am being thick here, but I cannot work out how to remap rover controls so that something makes it go forwards, backwards, and turns.

At the moment w and s just spin the rover. Lots of forums say remap the rover controls but I cannot find any mention of wheels in the options other than steering axis and throttle axis. If I click on the < button I get a window with three lights in it marked staging docking (translation) docking (rotation) and have no idea what this is or how it relates to making the darn thing move.

Can someone please post an idiots guide to how to remap the rover keys, where it is in the options and how to get a rover to move rather than just spin on its axis.

I have a Probodobodyne OKTO as the control pod and this is sitting upright in the center of mass. Is this the problem? or is it that I just dont understand how to control a rover?

Help!

Coordinates are based on your point of control. Which means that your Rovers view of the world is that it's a rocket.

I normally add a jr docking port and then control my rovers from it.

 

[LunchIn10Seconds]

Thanks for the reply, unfortunately I dont have a jr docking port yet, and don't have enough science to get one. is there any other way to control a rover or am I stuck?

[Freshmeat]

Turn the probe core so it faces top forward. I would try in Sandbox a bit before wasting career funds on it.

[suicidejunkie]

As above, you want to fix your point of control to make the navball show 'forwards' as being on the horizon when you're rovering around.

Also, in the key configuration (steering axis & throttle axis as you found), change the rover controls to different keys.  I like + and - for forward/reverse and / * for steering.  The gyros are completely independent that way, and I can still use WASD for extra torque to keep the wheels pointed down as required.

[katateochi]

As others have said you need the control point facing the correct way (In the SPH this will be the default orientation for probe cores/command pods).

Like @suicidejunkie I also make a change to settings but I do it slightly differently but for similar reasons. 
In Settings -> Input and then under the "Vessel" tab there's a section at the bottom for wheels 

But default each of the WASD keys will have the 1st and 3rd option ticked.  I also tick the 2nd - Docking (Translation) option for each key.

Then to drive rovers I always use docking (translation) mode (hit DEL to switch to that mode).  The reason being that in this mode the reaction wheels don't exert any pitch or yaw force with the WASD keys (which can be a problem especially when driving in low grav environments), but you still have apply roll control with Q and E. You can also (in moments when you leave the ground in an uncontrolled tumble) hit space to switch to docking (rotation mode) and now WASD will give you pitch and yaw control so you can re-align your self and then hit space again to return to docking driving mode.  
The other advantage is that if you have rear facing RCS thrusters for a boost then holding down shift will fire those (and ctrl for any forward facing thrusters).  

[Aragosnat]

When making your rover. I find it best to use the Space plane Hangar. That way my probe core will be facing the right way all the time as I usually make sure it is the first part I use and never rotate it around. Just build around it to make it look nice or silly as need be while staying functional. Best place to test how it will likely work is on the runway. Which makes building it in the SPH the best option. No need to drive it over there. And if it tips and you are playing career. 100% fund recover unless something went BOOM....

[RoboRay]

Once you have a control point aimed "forward" at the horizon instead of straight up at the sky, the movement (forward/backward) and steering (left/right) commands should make sense.  I prefer mapping steering to the twist axis of my joystick, though, for finer control.

[LunchIn10Seconds]

Many thanks for all the replies I now have a functioning Rover on Minmus Yay!

Incidentally how do I give rep to you folks? there should be a star or something at the end of your posts, but I can't find it.

Edited November 4, 2016 by LunchIn10Seconds

[eddiew]

25 minutes ago, LunchIn10Seconds said:

Incidentally how do I give rep to you folks? there should be a star or something at the end of your posts, but I can't find it.

Just 'like' the posts - turns out that rep = likes now