Conecting a part to multiple other parts... the circle problem

[Rushligh]

Is there a way, without using struts or docking ports, to connect a part to more than 1 root part?
example; making a circle out of MK2 components, using bent angle parts.

is there a way to join those parts at the end; complete the circle? or do i have to make two halves of a circle and dock them to make a structurally complete and symmetrical one?
is there a mod that would allow this in construction? set a connection between parts that may or may not be physical?
 

[steuben]

Within the stock game no, I can't answer about mods. But they are still contrained by the basic game engine.

If you feel like serious black magic you can try hacking the craft file... but results will range from invalid craft file to kraken bait in the SPH/VAB

Edited March 4, 2016 by steuben

[Retrograde115]

I don't know of any way to do this in the editor, because of the way root parts and child parts work. Every time you attach, say, a decoupler to a fuel tank, the fuel tank is the parent, and the decoupler is the child. To complete a circle, the last part in the circle would need to have two parent parts. Theoretically, you could have a loop of child > parent > child > parent parts, but the editor doesn't allow this, as the first parent can't be attached to its children because moving the parent also moves the children. But his is purely an in-editor constraint, so you can achieve this by docking the two parts together outside. If you don't want to do that, you can strut them together in the editor, or use KIS/KAS or Quantum struts. There aren't any mods I know of that will allow you to do this in-editor, unfortunately, and I have no experience with hacking .craft files as stated by the person before me.

My suggestion: Create the full circle, but at the point where it doesn't connect, strut it together. With a little finesse, you could make it look almost flawless, and it would still be structurally sound.

Hope this helps!

[Snark]

I would say that definitely not, no, not possible, not moddable.

The entire API is based on the concept that a rocket is a tree and that closed loops are impossible.  It's not just "one little thing" to tweak that; changing that limitation would break astounding numbers of things.  And "fixing" them would be herculean.  Not just that the entire game (and every mod that needs to examine ship contents) would have to be rewritten, but you'd be introducing difficult computational problems that would require significantly more sophisticated logic to allow iterating over ship contents.

So the answer is no, really resoundingly no, and no mod is going to be able to change that, and I seriously doubt that any new KSP version any time soon would be able to change that.  It's a fundamental limitation of the game's architecture and API design.

And yeah, I feel your pain.  As a player, I really wish I could build loops of parts.  As a modder (i.e. programmer), I have the exact opposite reaction ("oh, thank god there can't be loops of parts, please please let that never be possible.") 

Edited March 4, 2016 by Snark

[Honimoura]

Now you can https://spacedock.info/mod/1250/ReCoupler !!