Open the pod bay doors, HAL

[rcp27]

I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that for you

Damn it, why do pod bay doors have to open with infinite force? Just had an unplanned disassembly of my Mun lander because the pod bay doors opening sweep clashed with another part. Where's HAL when you need him!?

Time to mount a rescue mission.

[Xyphos]

I HATE how the stock bays swing open, I wish they slid open instead.

[annallia]

I HATE how the stock bays swing open, I wish they slid open instead.

Indeed. There is a experimental rover body in Kerbal Foundries mod that I use a lot. One of the things I love about it is the bay doors... they slide closed rather than swing open/close.

[Sharpy]

Yep, made that mistake once, quicksave each time I'd open the doors. Most of the times it would just jerk the rocket violently, sometimes it caused a rapid disassembly.

[NecroBones]

Yeah, swinging doors can be deadly.

In MRS, I changed my cargobay doors to fold, to minimize the sweep. For LET, I have sliding doors on one of the bays, and the others are using folding doors.

[Bishop149]

I HATE how the stock bays swing open, I wish they slid open instead.

Agreed. . . . trying to design things so the door doesn't hit anything can be ummm trying.

[RocketPilot573]

How to safely open the service bay: Click the "open door" button, then immediately activate on-rails time warp. Once the door is open, disengage timewarp.

[SpacedCowboy]

Yeah, I've gotten the "T-shirt" for that one also. Too bad the engineers report doesn't warn you about it instead of things like "Missing ladder" on an unmanned probe.

[wossname]

I have actually been using the swing open doors as a way to minimise the complexity of mun/minmus landers early in the career mode...

If you put them high up near your capsule, then it doesn't matter if your ship tips over during landing, because you can use the swing doors to prop up the nose of your ship allowing you to throttle up safely without hitting the landscape and then simply fly home. No landing legs required.

[ghoetker]

I actually find them quite useful when I've managed to tip a small lander over on its side. On a body with lowish gravity, opening the doors can often push the craft upright or provide just enough umph to allow RCS to finish the task. I realize I'm praising them for their ability to overcome my own incompetence, but, hey, that seems rather Kerbalish to me.

[Xyphos]

Meh, the swing doors suck. as for tipping things over or propping them up, I tend to favor AIRBRAKES for that purpose.

[Uncle Mort]

They definitely should slide open with a little 'whoosh' sound.

[Goddess Bhavani]

I have actually been using the swing open doors as a way to minimise the complexity of mun/minmus landers early in the career mode...

If you put them high up near your capsule, then it doesn't matter if your ship tips over during landing, because you can use the swing doors to prop up the nose of your ship allowing you to throttle up safely without hitting the landscape and then simply fly home. No landing legs required.

I outright use the service bay doors as both spoilers and landing gear for early micro shuttle designs in Career. There is a brief period of time where you can make Mk1 spaceplanes / maneuverable re-entry vehicles but have no landing gear for them. Service bay doors to the rescue!

[samstarman5]

Hate to say it but you may just have to take the time and plan out your craft with how the doors function in mind. It is a bit more work, but this is KSP after all. We aren't playing with Playskool parts here.

I outright use the service bay doors as both spoilers and landing gear for early micro shuttle designs in Career. There is a brief period of time where you can make Mk1 spaceplanes / maneuverable re-entry vehicles but have no landing gear for them. Service bay doors to the rescue!

The ultimate trick to aerobraking is to make your vehicle as dirty as possible. Deploy landing gear, open doors, air out the laundry....

That way is so very effective and so very kerbal.

[rcp27]

Hate to say it but you may just have to take the time and plan out your craft with how the doors function in mind. It is a bit more work, but this is KSP after all. We aren't playing with Playskool parts here.

I entirely accept that the design flaw of having pod bay doors in the wrong place is my own fault in making a sub-par design. The issue I have is with the consequences of that bad design decision. Presenting me with an error message stating the doors are blocked, so I can't get that mystery goo measurement is far more reasonable than having the doors force their way open so strongly that they rip my ship apart, though. I mean if I move a chair in my house so that it blocks a door opening, when I try to open the door, it just hits the chair. It doesn't then make the walls break away from the floor.

[ShadowZone]

I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that for you

Damn it, why do pod bay doors have to open with infinite force? Just had an unplanned disassembly of my Mun lander because the pod bay doors opening sweep clashed with another part. Where's HAL when you need him!?

Time to mount a rescue mission.

Was this with the service bay or a cargo bay? Because in my experience the cargo bays do not interfere with other parts when opened.

[Remkeau]

I want a little tool in the editor to determine to what extent bay doors open. Much like the slider we have for engine power. Half way open would stop them from clipping my engines on a spaceplane ssto while still allowing the content to come out.

[problemecium]

Does nobody in here actually design ships with clearance for the cargo bays? o_O

[Xyphos]

Does nobody in here actually design ships with clearance for the cargo bays? o_O

nope. my bays always, always, ALWAYS clip into my engines when opened.

I have 3 ideas for new cargo bays:

[KerbMav]

RoverDude to the rescue!?

[Goddess Bhavani]

Does nobody in here actually design ships with clearance for the cargo bays? o_O

I seldom design clearance for cargo bays as I usually don't cram multiple bays or hulls or fuselages into tiny spaces.

But when I do, I angle and position the bay doors for close to an hour, fiddling with them so they all open nicely with centimeters of clearance!