Jump to content

Changing Auto Strut Locking on Wheels


Recommended Posts

I am new to the forums so please let me know if I am doing anything wrong here.

I have been playing KSP for a while now and have thoroughly enjoyed the game and the updates the devs have made to it. I love designing and building ships and vehicles, and this game provides one of the most fun ways to do it! One of the updates I really like is the auto strut feature; it keeps the ships stable while also keeping them clean looking.

These days I usually play with mods, and I have recently been having a lot of fun with Infernal Robotics (IR). The other day, I was trying to build rovers with IR parts and suspensions (The stock wheel suspensions cannot provide the up and down wheel travel that I would prefer). I noticed that the wheel bases being locked on auto strut to heaviest part seemed to make any IR parts connected to them in some way either unable to move or cause any IR part movement to twist the rover parts violently. This was frustrating and creatively inhibiting for me. I found that other people were having issues with this, including the wheels' auto struts moving to (or failing to move from) different heaviest parts when docking/undocking craft, especially when using Kerbal Attachment System.

This basically illustrates the problem that others and I are having: https://gfycat.com/CarelessColorlessBeardeddragon

 

My primary question for Squad is, can auto strut locks on wheels and other parts be removed, letting us choose whether or not to auto strut the wheel bases? I like auto struts and don't think they should be removed. Perhaps the default could be to auto strut the wheels to heaviest part, but if advanced tweakables is selected the user can change it. I get that auto strutting the wheel bases to heaviest part keeps rovers from wiggling and exploding on undock when being carried in cargo bays, but is there a more elegant solution than locking the auto strut on the wheels?

My secondary question is whether or not anyone has found a temporary workaround for this? I dabble in C and Visual Studio but I am new at writing mods for the game.

 

I do not have Kerbal Joint Reinforcement installed and I am using KSP 1.2.2. I am using the latest IR build 2.0.10 from https://github.com/MagicSmokeIndustries/InfernalRobotics/releases, and I have confirmed that the mod works properly when not using wheels. Here is what I have tried to do to temporarily get around this issue:

1. I edited the 'autostrutMode' values for all the wheels in the craft file, turning it from 'ForceHeaviest' to 'Off'. This had no effect.

2. I made the cubic octagonal struts weigh dozens of tons and attached them to the wheel bases with the hope they would auto strut to that part and not the rest of the craft. This did not work because of course the wheels could be auto strutting to only one of the several cubic octagonal struts on the craft.

3. I tried to add a new technology to the game and then change the 'autoStrutTechRequired' value in the physics configuration file. I thought that this might work for sandbox mode if a science career was started and then all but that tech was unlocked in the debug menu. I failed at this because I am not good at modding this game and could not even get the new tech added. I also don't know if auto strut is always on for the wheels even if it hasn't been unlocked by general construction.

4. I tried the fix proposed by J.Random in this thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/138647-turning-off-the-new-wheel-autostrutting/ Putting his code into a cfg file in the GameData folder did not work for me.

5. I tried a basic patch using code suggested by Shadowmage in this thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/155572-are-forced-wheel-autostruts-temporary/. This did not work, but I am also not good at modding this game.

Here are a few other posts I have been looking at:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/146806-how-to-disable-wheel-autostrut/

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/152615-autostrut-locks-ships-attached-via-kasiretc/

Thanks for reading my post and considering my suggestion! Please let me know your opinions and if you have found a workaround for this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It doesn't solve the problem with stock wheels (yet), but you could give the wheels from KerbalFoundries a try.  None of those auto-strut shenanigans as it uses a completely custom wheel system.

There is also a patch file floating around somewhere that converts the stock wheels to use the KSPWheel system, which -does- get rid of the autostruts, but the patch has not been updated in some time and may or may not work properly/fully.

As far as I know they have been used to great success alongside InfernalRobotics parts to create custom suspension setups.  One guy even used repulsors (a type of non-wheel, wheel thingie) as a secondary suspension spring system in his rig.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In case anyone says "Squad shouldn't have to fix their stuff to accommodate a mod," this causes problems when using the claw too. Try linking to something with a claw that has wheels on it. It won't rotate anymore.

Edited by EpicSpaceTroll139
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...