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Lighten the venerable EAS-4 strut


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I have often found the challenge of making craft structurally stable to be fun.
Strut_connector.pngAnd, I understand why Squad wanted to let KSP simulate failures of rockets and other craft,
and why joints of limited strength between ideal rigid bodies is the practical way to simulate that on computers.

Players do not like it when their rockets wobble, but a couple well-placed EAS-4 struts fixes that quickly.  The new auto-struts can sometimes fix the problem, but they are invisible and sometimes surprise cause players trouble.

Since version 1.2, the EAS-4 strut adds zero drag.

It is heavy, though, at 50kg.  That is not so much compared to the benefit it can give, but it seems more mass than it should have.  I think there is a psychological effect discouraging players from using the EAS-4 strut because it adds more mass than it seems it should, especially when there is a mass-less (but less fun) alternative in auto-strutting.

If the mass were reduced to 10kg, it would be a bit lighter than it looks like the strut should be, and I think that will reverse the psychological effect, and encourage players to go back to the EAS-4.

@PART[strutConnector] { %mass = 0.01 }

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After a thousand hours in KSP I didn't even bother knowing struts had mass. I hate using them because they look super dumb on a rocket, I'm still in the camp that wants to be able to add a spot weld between parts - one that can't be seen outside the VAB. Such a part would slay a thousand Krakens and I wouldn't even complain if they lazily use the same code as for the near useless struts as long as they cut the range to 10cm and up the strength to 5X a strut. Then again I've complained about this for some time with no real hope in my heart that it will ever see the light of day, I'm betting KSP2 gets a spot weld (or "glue blob" or "nut and bolt" or "double adhesive tape" or whatever else it would be called) before KSP1 does. :P

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