Engine Roll?

[Venusgate]

Dunno if it's stock or Tweakable everything's, but the menu gives me the ability to on/off the different gimbal ranges for engines (in this case, the 909).

And I see "roll"?


What, does the nozzle really twist or something on a single engine craft? or is this something that only really comes into play with multiple engines?

Edited April 23, 2016 by Venusgate

[Jarin]

Pretty sure that only applies to multiple engines. Just like one centerline control surface could have that toggled, but it wouldn't really do anything.

[swjr-swis]

This has been added with KSP 1.1, just like similar controls for RCS nozzles.

[MK3424]

This function was added in 0.24 to enable the use of multiple engines to roll the craft.

Edited April 23, 2016 by MK3424

[moogoob]

If your engine has multiple nozzles (IE either the RAPIER and Mammoth) it will use the individual nozzles for said roll maneuver.

[Renegrade]

35 minutes ago, MK3424 said:

This function was added in 0.24 to enable the use of multiple engines to roll the craft.

The core code was, but the UI panel to control whether or not an engine is tied to it didn't appear until 1.1.  Prior to recently, there was no (stock; I'm sure there was a mod, cuz there's always a mod) way of disabling the roll binding for an engine without disabling the entire gimbal system for it.  Now we can just tick off 'roll' if we have too much roll authority, and leave the other bits enabled (or disabled) as we see fit.  Personally I'd have preferred sliders (0-100%) but this is still way better than in prior versions.

Also in prior verisons of KSP, locking the gimbal in flight could result in the engine being stuck off-axis if it happened to be off-axis at the time of locking.  Now it seems to revert to proper orientation when gimbal lock is applied.  Another nice new featurette.

[MK3424]

21 minutes ago, Renegrade said:

The core code was, but the UI panel to control whether or not an engine is tied to it didn't appear until 1.1.  Prior to recently, there was no (stock; I'm sure there was a mod, cuz there's always a mod) way of disabling the roll binding for an engine without disabling the entire gimbal system for it.  Now we can just tick off 'roll' if we have too much roll authority, and leave the other bits enabled (or disabled) as we see fit.  Personally I'd have preferred sliders (0-100%) but this is still way better than in prior versions.

Also in prior verisons of KSP, locking the gimbal in flight could result in the engine being stuck off-axis if it happened to be off-axis at the time of locking.  Now it seems to revert to proper orientation when gimbal lock is applied.  Another nice new featurette.

I pretty much saw that function before 1.1... but when... i can't remember...

[Renegrade]

Just now, MK3424 said:

I pretty much saw that function before 1.1... but when... i can't remember...

Maybe through some mod, but not in stock.  (there's a mod for everything)

My 1.0.5 pure stock save doesn't have any buttons like that for engines nor RCS (there is something like that for aero control surfaces though).

[Jarin]

4 minutes ago, MK3424 said:

I pretty much saw that function before 1.1... but when... i can't remember...

Pretty sure Tweakable Everything added something similar.

[samstarman5]

Those little tidbits can definitely be useful for those who have a habit of being oopsy during docking and landing.  I am speaking for a friend, of course, as I am the ACE of Docking and SUPER of Landing.  And if anyone is interested in a bridge I happen to have one in my VAB, because boy is it taking up a lot of space.