My kerbals are too smart for their own good.

[Sharpy]

I've built a parachute tower. A tower for training parachute jumping.

First jumps were a mixed success. Some parachutes didn't open, some didn't provide enough drag. But the Radial-mounted one was fine. I've remodelled the seats into something more lightweight and invited all my kerbals to take a jump.

And none of them wants to. The moment they let go of the hatch, they lie on their backs and refuse to move. They may activate the jetpack and move around some, they are definitely not in the ragdoll mode, but to get to the seats? nope.

While the in-character explanation is pretty entertaining, I'd like to know what happens.

[Snark]

Just to be clear: this is happening while the platform is just standing there on the launchpad, yes? i.e. it's not like the tower itself is free-falling or flying or something while you're trying to do this?

One thing I've noticed is that the game doesn't really use pure physics to model kerbals walking; it has a special-case "switch."

That is, suppose you have a ship that's orbiting out in space, and it has an engine on it that can give 1g acceleration, and it has a little platform outside the command pod, oriented so that "up" is towards the front of the craft. In principle, when the ship is under thrust, a kerbal ought to be able to get out of the pod and walk around-- 1g is 1g, it shouldn't matter whether it's "I'm standing on the ground with 1g of real gravity" versus "I'm standing on a ship that's using its engines to accelerate." But in the former case, the game lets you walk around, and in the latter, it causes behavior like you're observing.

Similarly, if I have a ship that's dropping slowly out of the sky on parachutes, it's moving at constant speed and relatively low velocity, so I ought to be able to get out and walk around on the craft as it drops; but I can't, the kerbals act the way you're observing.

So what it boils down to is that the game seems to have a "switch" where it considers "is the spacecraft 'landed' or not?" (i.e. is it planted on the ground). If it is, then kerbals can walk around on it the same way they can walk on the ground. However, if it's not landed, then kerbals can't walk, even if the motion/acceleration of the ship is such that it seems like they ought to be able to.

I've never run into the problem you describe, but it sounds to me like the game somehow thinks that your ship is not "landed" and therefore it's giving you this behavior. Maybe there's a bug, wherein if your ship is held up off the ground by launch clamps, Kerbal-walking-physics treats it like it's not actually landed?

[Mahnarch]

I tend to agree.

If there are only two clamps and the tower is way up in the air, it could be that it's swaying a little bit so it's not "landed", maybe.

[rofltehcat]

Where is the gap between those panels? My guess is that the Kerbal lands directly on the gap and thus counts as "falling" without getting knocked unconscious nor being able to pass between the panels. Maybe try using a open mk2 cargo bay or similar as jumping platform. Or maybe try movin those panels around a little.

[Sharpy]

Nope, there was a sloping platform clipped right into the hull before I added the ladder, and it didn't help. Moreover, before the parachuting "vessels" overhaul that didn't happen - and these are located quite a distance from where the kerbal lands. (and I didn't change anything with the center while doing the overhaul.)