Houston we are venting something into space

[ash73]

Hi, haven't played for a while, downloaded v1.11.0 and did a quick trip to the Mun, when my lander returned to the command module in orbit it had four bright lights and looked like it was venting something into space. Got me home ok, but from that point on I couldn't quick-save, and when I restarted the game later on I was back to just before it happened. Also noticed some glitches on the landscape texture around KSC... seems a bit buggy?

 

[Snark]

Moving to Gameplay Questions.

2 hours ago, Bedazzled said:

when my lander returned to the command module in orbit it had four bright lights and looked like it was venting something into space

Those look like the integrated RCS thrusters that the Mk1-3 command pod has built-in.

By any chance did you, 1. leave monopropellant aboard that pod, and 2. accidentally turn on RCS?

Weird that the RCS thrusters that are visibly attached to that big fuel tank don't appear to be activating, though.

2 hours ago, Bedazzled said:

from that point on I couldn't quick-save

That sounds... buggy.  Did you look to see if anything odd was going on with your KSP log file?

Also, is this a stock install, or are you playing with mods?

[HansAcker]

1 hour ago, Snark said:

Those look like the integrated RCS thrusters that the Mk1-3 command pod has built-in.

That (RCS animation on the Mk1-3 pod) appears to be a bug in 1.11 that has been reported on this forum and elsewhere a couple of times. It often seems to be connected with  the inability to save games and exceptions being thrown.

It still hasn't occured in my games, though.

Edited January 25, 2021 by HansAcker

[chd]

I've found the landscape textures in 1.11 to be quite a bit more glitchy than in previous versions, and in most places, not just around KSC.

[MKI]

10 minutes ago, chd said:

I've found the landscape textures in 1.11 to be quite a bit more glitchy than in previous versions, and in most places, not just around KSC.

I have also seen this, its hard to explain, where if the ground looks like its actually just "shifting to the terrain", but its the same textures relative to my craft. 

I'm on a different computer and put it to that though.

[ash73]

11 hours ago, Snark said:

By any chance did you, 1. leave monopropellant aboard that pod, and 2. accidentally turn on RCS?

Also, is this a stock install, or are you playing with mods?

Yes, brand new stock install.

I checked RCS was off, the mono tanks were still full.

Sounds like others have had the same problem.

Is there an official way to report a bug, or do they just get hoovered up somehow?

[Streetwind]

https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com is the official way.

Unfortunately, too many people post random requests for tech support or feature suggestions in new threads there, which really clogs up the place. Please do your part to keep the bugtracker clean, and search for existing issues on that topic first, which you can upvote and reply to in order to add extra info if you have any. If no existing issue exists, please post a qualified bug report, which includes things like screenshots, logs and save files attached, a detailed description of what happened in which order, reliable reproduction steps, information about your KSP install (version, source, mods present, integrity verified yes/no), and so on and so forth. Anything that helps the developers reconstruct your particular moment of gameplay.

Edited January 26, 2021 by Streetwind

[The Aziz]

15 hours ago, Snark said:

integrated RCS thrusters that the Mk1-3 command pod has built-in.

For the hundredth time on this forum I shall say

what

I've been using this pod for years and I never noticed any RCS thruster effect, I was sure that these vents were purely for aesthetic purposes. 

[ash73]

2 hours ago, Streetwind said:

https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com is the official way.

Thanks, it's already been reported here:

https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/26961

I won't bump it they've already got enough detail.

33 minutes ago, The Aziz said:

I've been using this pod for years and I never noticed any RCS thruster effect, I was sure that these vents were purely for aesthetic purposes. 

Unfortunately you can't thrust forward and backward with them, so they're pretty useless for docking.

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, Bedazzled said:

Unfortunately you can't thrust forward and backward with them, so they're pretty useless for docking.

That just requires a different technique for docking, it works perfectly well. Slow down to about 1 m/s when, say, 30 meters out, then point yourself at the target docking port, and use ijkl to stay on it. Forward/back RCS ports are a luxury, not a necessity.

[Snark]

50 minutes ago, Bedazzled said:

Unfortunately you can't thrust forward and backward with them, so they're pretty useless for docking

How are they useless?  The lateral thrusters are the most important for docking, and are pretty much all you need.  If you need to thrust , just put a brief blip on the main engine.  It's true that this would lack thrust, but that's not really needed-- if you're docking, you want to go towards the target, anyway.

In any case, its usually a moot point for me anyway.  If I'm docking something with a Mk1-3 pod on it, most often it's something that's fairly long and skinny.  In which case my usual distribution of RCS thrusters is "ring around the front, ring around the back."  So the thrusters on the Mk1-3 do just fine for the fore-end thrusters.  Just put a ring of four of the four-way RCS thrusters on the aft end of the craft, and it's all set, with full maneuverability.

In short:  I find them highly useful. 

50 minutes ago, Bedazzled said:

I won't bump it they've already got enough detail.

You can always upvote it, though.  Helps them to know how many people are affected.

Though from reading the bug report, it sounds as though they've already picked it up and are actively investigating, so yay!

[ash73]

I'm liking the new visors, very cool!

[Bej Kerman]

2 hours ago, The Aziz said:

17 hours ago, Snark said:

integrated RCS thrusters that the Mk1-3 command pod has built-in.

For the hundredth time on this forum I shall say

what

I've been using this pod for years and I never noticed any RCS thruster effect, I was sure that these vents were purely for aesthetic purposes. 

In 1.4, the capsule was revamped as you probably know, and RCS thrusters were integrated. I've used the integrated thrusters a few times to help get my Kerbals back home after using up a tight fuel budget.

[The Aziz]

1 hour ago, Snark said:

How are they useless?  The lateral thrusters are the most important for docking, and are pretty much all you need.  If you need to thrust , just put a brief blip on the main engine.  It's true that this would lack thrust, but that's not really needed-- if you're docking, you want to go towards the target, anyway.

I could just use a pair - for stability - of these new 2-sided thrusters for forward/backward maneuvering, and save few kilograms of mass and part count! By two parts, but still!

[Marachdrifter]

On 1/25/2021 at 1:28 PM, Bedazzled said:

Hi, haven't played for a while, downloaded v1.11.0 and did a quick trip to the Mun, when my lander returned to the command module in orbit it had four bright lights and looked like it was venting something into space. Got me home ok, but from that point on I couldn't quick-save, and when I restarted the game later on I was back to just before it happened. Also noticed some glitches on the landscape texture around KSC... seems a bit buggy?

yeah, i've seen the same exact thing. the RCS seems to be ignited (even i had no fuel at all on the module), couldnt save. same command module as well.

[Spricigo]

9 hours ago, Brikoleur said:

Forward/back RCS ports are a luxury, not a necessity.

 

9 hours ago, Snark said:

The lateral thrusters ... .... are pretty much all you need.

Personally, I'd rather have only backwards/forwards thrusters.