Chase view; how do you align right side up?

[Rmack]

I'm having a real bear of a time rendezvousing a docking.  I got real close, and went to chase view mode, but since it didn't have my axis lined up, it was very difficult to use the RCS.  I thought it would put me in up right position so the RCS aligned with my view.

Also, is there a way to pause the game without hitting escape, allowing mouse-overs and such?

[Superfluous J]

Don't use Chase View, hit V one more time and use Locked View. It does what Chase View used to do.

There is no pause in the game other than the full pause that escape (and mods like KAC) provides. There is a time control mod that can slow down time below 1:1 which may help you. Someone posted an update to it near the back of the thread.

Edited May 16, 2016 by 5thHorseman

[Plusck]

27 minutes ago, Rmack said:

I'm having a real bear of a time rendezvousing a docking.  I got real close, and went to chase view mode, but since it didn't have my axis lined up, it was very difficult to use the RCS.  I thought it would put me in up right position so the RCS aligned with my view.

Also, is there a way to pause the game without hitting escape, allowing mouse-overs and such?

The absolute best way, IMHO, is not to rely on the external view at all.

Once you get to about 300m way, reduce relative velocity to under 1m/s. You now have 5 minutes before you touch.

Then switch between ships and make sure that each one's docking port is facing the other one. Warp for a microsecond to get everything steady.

Then you go to your most manouverable ship, and use IJKL H/N for RCS maneuvres. Use H to head towards your target, and use ONLY IJKL to align the prograde vector with target. Don't ever rotate using WASD - it will just ruin things for you. If the target ever moves off the dead centre of the navball, use IJKL to shift the prograde vector to the other side of the target icon to push it back.

Switching to "locked" view can help (since this probably means right and left work as you see it on the screen, and up and down are reversed), but you should just use this to confirm what you see on the navball. If you force yourself to watch the navball first, and outside view second, then you'll be better prepared to understand what is happening in more difficult situations (like for example if you are out of monoprop, but need to dock anyway, or you simply cannot move one of the vessels and need to navigate around it to get to a docking port).

 

Incidentally, this is a significant issue when flying real planes. There are basically two sets of rules and qualifications for flying, VFR (visual flight rules) and IFR (instruments). If you ever fly through clouds, you need to be IFR qualified because if you rely on the outside view you can easily get disorientated and crash. Very easily. However if you are flying VFR you need to watch what's happening outside more than the instruments, otherwise your find your attention being "grabbed" by the instruments and you can easily end up not paying attention to what is obviously going wrong outside as you try to get your instruments lined up.

Therefore the best way of resolving the issue in KSP (IMHO), until you can fly perfectly with instruments alone, is first you believe the instruments, then you check that this corresponds to reality outside, and if something seems wrong between the two then you resolve the difference in your head quickly before it becomes a disaster.

Edited May 16, 2016 by Plusck

[Plusck]

(double post)

Edited May 16, 2016 by Plusck