It's the small things that make a difference

[rcp27]

So when the game gets updated, we all get excited about the big additions that we see will change gameplay in a huge way. Recently it's the aerodynamics and re-entry heating that have been massive changes that alter how we fly our missions. For me, though, what has been the biggest improvement in terms of how I build and fly my rockets in 1.0, though, is the service bays.

There are so many situations where I want to have small size or surface-attach components in the middle of a 2.5 m size rocket. Perhaps it's science kit, perhaps it's a probe core for an unmanned launch vehicle to add a new module to a space station or construct-in-orbit long range mission, or maybe a bit of extra RCS fuel. It's so good to have a structurally rigid container that I can fill with all that sort of junk ... er I mean essential equipment. My rockets now don't look like they have had a warehouse full of junk stapled to the sides of them, and I can do heavy duty unmanned launch vehicles with mid tech tree kit that don't end up like limp spaghetti.

[Frostiken]

The biggest issue I have with the service bays is that they make struts and fuel lines a ...... They tend to be a little... uh... 'lippy' and trying to run a fuel line up from beneath almost ALWAYS gets snagged on the service bay.

I do kind of wish fuel lines had a way to make them 'poke out' from the side of the rocket a bit to get around 'lippy' parts. Struggling to get them to properly wrap around a decoupler can be frustrating.

[Snark]

+1 to this. Service bays nicely solve a problem that's been annoying me in KSP since forever: the lack of a 1.25m probe core until you're waaay up the tech tree.

Pretty much every vessel I have needs to have a probe core, whether it's crewed or not, since I don't want to be at the mercy of pilot availability. However, being limited to 0.625m probe cores means that I have to play games with adapters/struts/etc. to build these ugly in-line contraptions (e.g. adapter from 1.25m down to .625, then probe core, then adapter back up to 1.25, then add struts to make it sturdy). With a service bay, I can just drop a probe core into the bay. Done.

The service bays are also nicely sturdy (14 m/s impact tolerance), which make them handy for interplanetary lander probes early in career, where mass is at a premium and not having to have engines on the lander comes in really handy.

[problemecium]

^ This. It continues to boggle me why SQUAD insists on putting the 1.25m core way out at the end so we have to compromise using small cores and struts or service bays. Putting the CPU in a bigger case really isn't a technological miracle. Maybe the 2.5m core can be at the end, but the 1.25 should be much earlier, possibly right after the Stayputnik in place of the OKTO.

And if people need the builtin SAS later, perhaps SQUAD can add a feature where it is "disabled" but the part itself remains available a la Procedural Fairings.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

Speaking of small parts... I want this mod in the stock game!

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/102502-1-0-Sounding-Rockets!-Start-small-Dream-big!-0-2-0-2015-04-27

[Alshain]

^ This. It continues to boggle me why SQUAD insists on putting the 1.25m core way out at the end so we have to compromise using small cores and struts or service bays. Putting the CPU in a bigger case really isn't a technological miracle. Maybe the 2.5m core can be at the end, but the 1.25 should be much earlier, possibly right after the Stayputnik in place of the OKTO.

And if people need the builtin SAS later, perhaps SQUAD can add a feature where it is "disabled" but the part itself remains available a la Procedural Fairings.

I kind of agree. Technology grows smaller in time, not bigger... but if they did that they would then want to remove all the SAS stuff from it and I don't want them to nerf my favorite cores.