solar panels only half-working in action groups

[SpacedCowboy]

Yeah, I'm a creature of habit. I've always assigned solar panels in action groups to "toggle", in my case, the number seven, (which is neither here or there). But now, they'll extend but not retract?! Am I missing something here? Any suggestions or solutions?

Edited May 22, 2015 by SpacedCowboy

[Pax Kerbana]

The unshielded ones no longer retract. For that you must use the white ones. They look better in most cases anyway.

[SpacedCowboy]

The unshielded ones no longer retract. For that you must use the white ones. They look better in most cases anyway.

Wow, did that change up with the 1.02 update? I thought I was all caught up with the recent changes. Thank you for the info. Have one.

[Snark]

I like that they gave the shrouded panels a reason for existing. (Never ever used them before. Ever.) However, they kinda missed a spot with the editor-- the unshrouded, can't-retract ones still have "Toggle" and "Retract" as options when working with action groups, which leads to the sort of confusion you experienced.

Of course, if they did that, it would have just pushed your confusion a bit closer to the source ("Hey! Why isn't there anything but 'extend' available for action groups?") ...but that's better than thinking everything's hunky-dory, launching to space, and then getting an unpleasant surprise.

[Armchair Rocket Scientist]

I still disagree with the decision to make the shrouded panels retractable: it's completely plausible for a user to place the unshrouded panels inside a service bay, and retract the panels and close the doors for reentry.

[Murph]

Yeah, I think it was a mistake to make them non-retractable. It just doesn't make any sense to me, and feels very like an arbitrary "we need to do something, let's invent something without any real basis". It would have been quite sufficient to just make the shielded ones more resilient to heat when closed, maybe a little less draggy, and more protected from impact damage. Those things would make some sense, lack of ability to retract does not.