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Klaw, Ejection Force, and Spinning Toys


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So my mission, as Kerbal missions tend to go, has gone awry.  I'm merrily building a Minmus Base, my power couplings show up from Kerbin, and my Skycrane goes over, snags the batteries, and lands them without issue.  Next I re-rendezvous with the craft bringing my power supplies, grab the solar panel system from the wrong side, eject off the tank that brought it along so I can grab it from the RIGHT side, and begin landing it.

As soon as my klaw lets go, it goes into an unrecoverable wild spin because the component has no SAS, probe core, or anything else.  It's meant to be transported, not wander around on its own.  I've never noticed before that the klaw imparts random force to something it lets go of.  Is this normal now?  I was able to catch it once, thought "Okay, it's stable now, and I'll just let go and.... and... well, crap."  Off it goes spinning again.

Having blown my SAS playing "Catch the spinning component" it's a moot point at this point, the component's going to crash on Minmus, but what techniques do you use to go about re-capturing something like that? 

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If abusing the game mechanics isn't an issue, time advance halts rotation. Not the physics kind that maxes out at 4X. The kind that puts your craft "on rails".

Seeing as your account is dated 2014, you probably know this stuff. Just putting it out there. :wink:  

Also (and this is probably less helpful) you can just plain avoid using the Klaw in anything other than situations that explicitly require it. Like asteroids or derelict recovery contracts. 

If the "spinning component" is small enough, you can always go old-school. I distinctly remember recovering Jeb from orbit with spaceships that resembled giant butterfly nets :P , pre-Klaw

 

EDIT: 

 

Edited by DrunkenKerbalnaut
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Yes a second of time warp stop rotation. The problem with capturing using landing legs or cargo bay is that you can not use time warp. 

If you have the KAS mod en engineer with an power tool can attach parts directly to the ship. 
Needed to do that once with an wheel I had to recover and the claw would not grab it. 
 

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7 hours ago, WanderingKid said:

I've never noticed before that the klaw imparts random force to something it lets go of.  Is this normal now?  I was able to catch it once, thought "Okay, it's stable now, and I'll just let go and.... and... well, crap."  Off it goes spinning again.

The part's config doesn't suggest this but if that's the case it probably works like a decoupler/separator when it detaches, and those do impart something like 0.1 torque for one frame. The intended effect is presumably for stages to drop off in a more pretty looking fashion.

You might have better luck with the magnets from either KAS or Konstruction. They work like docking port magnets but they're far stronger and will attract any part of another craft.

Edited by Guest
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Grabbing light stuff is a problem for klaws. You need two spacetugs. One grabs the lightweight part + tank from the wrong side and hangs on. Then you decouple the tank. Then you bring up the other spacetug and grab it from the correct side. Then you let go with the first tug. It's just too easy to bounce off with your first couple klawing attempts, and you have to make sure that a missed grab isn't fatal.

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5 hours ago, Snark said:

Moving this question about how to play the game to Gameplay Questions.

Felt this was more discussion than question, but your call.  Usually I get 'em right. :wink:

2 hours ago, bewing said:

Grabbing light stuff is a problem for klaws. You need two spacetugs.

Hrm.  You know, a mini-tug on the over-built Skycrane isn't a horrible idea, actually.  Something like the Doodlebug...

7 hours ago, String Witch said:

The part's config doesn't suggest this but if that's the case it probably works like a decoupler/separator when it detaches, and those do impart something like 0.1 torque for one frame. The intended effect is presumably for stages to drop off in a more pretty looking fashion.

Yeah, you're probably right.  Thanks for looking into the config files though.  I've played with KAS before, just trying to keep this particular playthough as 'mod-lite', as I'm recording it for YT.

13 hours ago, DrunkenKerbalnaut said:

If abusing the game mechanics isn't an issue, time advance halts rotation. Not the physics kind that maxes out at 4X. The kind that puts your craft "on rails".

 

11 hours ago, magnemoe said:

Yes a second of time warp stop rotation. The problem with capturing using landing legs or cargo bay is that you can not use time warp. 

You're going to laugh at me... I'd forgotten.  I almost never use that exploit so I'd completely forgotten it was an option, and I would have used it because as far as I'm concerned the Klaw shouldn't have fired it off on a random spin in the first place!

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1 hour ago, WanderingKid said:

You're going to laugh at me... I'd forgotten.  I almost never use that exploit so I'd completely forgotten it was an option, and I would have used it because as far as I'm concerned the Klaw shouldn't have fired it off on a random spin in the first place!

I tend to forget during play myself for ship but remember it then recover. 

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