Can't test the command seat on a rover, on the launch pad

[Tailwind]

I've got 3 contracts to do some surface surveys on Minmus.  I've developed a somewhat clunky lander with a rover, been to Minmus once with it.  I crashed the rover so I brought my Kerbals home without achieving any of the goals, but it was a good test run.  The lander wasn't bad but needed to sit a little higher to drop off the rover, and the rover needs some mods to be more stable.  The other change I thought I'd try is to use a docking port to drop off and pick up the rover, and hop to the different survey locations.  The lander has a rather ludicrous amount of Delta-V so I should be able to get them all in one mission, rather than my earlier plan to do a trip for each one.

I wanted to do some testing on the launch pad.  After a couple of tries I think I have the leg height sorted.  The lander drops off cleanly, and after pushing it out and back, the magnetic docking clamps will center the rover, but not pick it up.  I bet it will on Minmus.  The problem I've got, I can't figure out how to get someone into the Command Seat to take it for a spin.  It worked when on Minmus, but not on the launch pad.  I can crawl all over it, but can't find a position to get the 'board' prompt.

Am I doing something wrong or is this expected behaviour?

Gerry

[Snark]

7 minutes ago, Tailwind said:

The problem I've got, I can't figure out how to get someone into the Command Seat to take it for a spin.  It worked when on Minmus, but not on the launch pad.  I can crawl all over it, but can't find a position to get the 'board' prompt.

Am I doing something wrong or is this expected behaviour?

Wait... you're saying that in that second screenshot, with the kerbal standing right behind (touching) the command seat, then if you're controlling the kerbal, and right-click on the command seat, you're not getting a "Board" button?

That seems really wrong.  In my experience, the command chair has a fairly forgiving radius, something like 2-3 meters, so as long as you're within a kerbal-length or two, it ought to be boardable.

So no, I don't think you're doing anything wrong, and no, I don't think it's expected behavior.  Have never seen anything like that, not sure what the problem is.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Snark

[Geschosskopf]

1 hour ago, Tailwind said:

I wanted to do some testing on the launch pad.  After a couple of tries I think I have the leg height sorted.  The lander drops off cleanly, and after pushing it out and back, the magnetic docking clamps will center the rover, but not pick it up.  I bet it will on Minmus.  The problem I've got, I can't figure out how to get someone into the Command Seat to take it for a spin.  It worked when on Minmus, but not on the launch pad.  I can crawl all over it, but can't find a position to get the 'board' prompt.

The command seat has to be clear enough of surrounding stuff for the Kerbal to fit on it.  Otherwise you can't board it, rather the same as "hatch obstructed".  It has to do with the size and shape of a Kerbal in the necessary position.

It looks like your rover is built around the Rovermate, which is a probe core.  That means the vehicle is autonomous.  Switch to it with the [ or ] key and drive it a little bit out from under the lander, then set the parking brake so it wiill hold still.  If you try boarding the seat then, it will probably work.

[Tailwind]

Snark, yes that's right, no "Board" button.

Geschosskopf, you're right, it's the Rovermate for a chassis.  In my earlier (sort-of) successful sortie with it at Minmus, the seat was sitting directly on the core body.  I had attached the wheel assemblies directly to the Rovermate sides which left it pretty short-coupled and unstable.  The other real issue was that I had the seat installed wrong.  It was attached to the front face of the Rovermate, with Bob facing the sky.  Pretty silly looking but I could drive with it.  In this iteration I added the octagonal struts front and back, attaching the wheel assemblies and the command seat to the top of the strut.  Thinking perhaps the seat needed to be attached directly to the core, I tried this:

I hadn't previously thought to switch focus to the probe core, thanks for that idea, indeed it drives out from under the lander quite nicely.  But still I can't board the seat.  The rover is now fitted out with my science gear for the mission, a mix of stock and DMagic gear.

I'll get out to Minmus, see how the thing works, and let you guys know.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Gerry

[Plusck]

14 minutes ago, Tailwind said:

Snark, yes that's right, no "Board" button.

Sorry to do this, but are you really, really sure you're talking about the "Board" button when you right-click the seat?

There is no prompt (i.e. [ B ] Board / [ F ] Grab) for the command seat.

Could you upload a quicksave?

Edited January 3, 2016 by Plusck

[Tailwind]

Plusck, yes indeed, as shown in the image above.  I can stand near the rover, I can stand ON the rover, I can stand right on the seat itself.  The only prompt I can get is "[F] Climb".

Please forgive my ignorance:  How would I upload a quicksave?  (I've only just figured out how to attach an image.)

Gerry

[Val]

22 minutes ago, Tailwind said:

Plusck, yes indeed, as shown in the image above.  I can stand near the rover, I can stand ON the rover, I can stand right on the seat itself.  The only prompt I can get is "[F] Climb".

Please forgive my ignorance:  How would I upload a quicksave?  (I've only just figured out how to attach an image.)

Gerry

You have to right click the Command Chair when you are standing near it.

It does not work the same as pods with a hatch, where you get a [ B ] Board prompt.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Val
Auto-format

[Rocket In My Pocket]

I'll make this easy:

[Tailwind]

Well, crap.  That makes me feel rather stupid.

I'm on the way to Minmus right now, just paused on my launch climbout, needed another coffee.  I'll report how the mission went.

Gerry

[Plusck]

1 hour ago, Tailwind said:

Plusck, yes indeed, as shown in the image above.  I can stand near the rover, I can stand ON the rover, I can stand right on the seat itself.  The only prompt I can get is "[F] Climb".

Please forgive my ignorance:  How would I upload a quicksave?  (I've only just figured out how to attach an image.)

Gerry

As Val has said and as I was trying to insist on (but I didn't use bold type, which was perhaps a mistake) there is no prompt for command chairs. Ever. So you must right-click the chair when the Kerbal is close to it. Not all that close, in fact, it is quite forgiving and might even let you magically board the chair from standing on the ground by the rover.

As for uploading, I think most people use DropBox. It's free but you have to register.

[Rocket In My Pocket]

54 minutes ago, Tailwind said:

Well, crap.  That makes me feel rather stupid.

I'm on the way to Minmus right now, just paused on my launch climbout, needed another coffee.  I'll report how the mission went.

Gerry

Nah, it's rather counter intuitive considering every other command part works entirely differently.

I ran all around that silly little chair pressing "F" and "B" the first time I used it too, lol.

Let us know how the mission goes, best of luck!

[Snark]

1 hour ago, Tailwind said:

Well, crap.  That makes me feel rather stupid.

Moral of the story:  read what folks actually post in answer to your question...

14 hours ago, Snark said:

Wait... you're saying that in that second screenshot, with the kerbal standing right behind (touching) the command seat, then if you're controlling the kerbal, and right-click on the command seat, you're not getting a "Board" button?

Also, when people say "button" they mean "button".    (Tailwind:  "Snark, that's right, no Board button." Plusck: "Sorry to do this, but are you really, really sure you're talking about the "Board" button when you right-click the seat? There is no prompt (i.e. [ B ] Board / [ F ] Grab) for the command seat.")

But seriously, don't feel bad.  The behavior of the command chair is really counterintuitive.  I remember the first time I ever tried to use it; I spent I don't know how long walking around on it, bumping it, jumping up and down on it, trying to figure out ye gods and little fishes, how the frickin' frack do I get IN this thing?! before I finally figured it out.

Why on earth Squad didn't give it a "B"  prompt, the same as any other command module, I have no idea.  I'd chalk this one up as Squad's fault, not yours.

Edited January 3, 2016 by Snark

[Tailwind]

Thanks for the notes everyone, it's been a useful exercise.  Snark, the worst part is I had already used the seat on a previous (aborted) Minmus mission, so I should have known how to use the blasted thing.  Mea culpa.  

Anyway to report: the mission went off well.  Yes I still F5 and F9 when I screw up, not much of a purest yet, but it was a fun mission to sort out.  Here's some screenshots

Down cleanly near the first survey site.

Everyone plants a flag for the experience points and the rover comes off the mount nicely.

Just wanted to check out if the rover would re-couple, it flopped around a little bit, then snapped into position.  Worked like a charm.

OK, Bob's off to do some science.

Coming back to base, none to soon as Kerbol is setting.

Off to the next site.

Some of the locations are pretty nasty!

Used the last 20 m/s to get off the ground.

And dumped the decent stage.  Getting home was otherwise uneventful.

OK, so the tally was 6 contracts satisfied, and a 1985 point science haul.  YEAH BABY!!!

Cheers all

Gerry