Any base building tips (anti base jumping)?

[ErevanGaming]

Hi again guys =)

Is there a way to keep bases on the Mun and Minmus not jump up and down? I thought I finally got a stable general design until I drove a rover within 500 meters from them and heard explosions. =(

 

Regards

[DaElite101]

Could you provide pictures of the base? That would help a lot so we can see what's wrong with your base and help you.

[Spricigo]

Yes,  screenshots please. 

 

But given the current state of landing gears a good start it's considering to use something else as legs.  Modular wings and modular girder are popular choice but there are other high crash tolerance parts available. 

[ErevanGaming]

Hi guys,

Will do once I get home from work =D

Thanks in advance for your help =)

 

Regards,

[SchwinnTropius]

I, and I'm sure a few others, have had the idea of using Service Bays. High tolerances to heat and impact, and the open doors set a standard base height.

[Signo]

Service bays are Kraken baits. 

[ErevanGaming]

Hi guys,

Here are the pictures, they all jump at one point or another and these are the remaining ones.

 

 

The imgur album

Forgot to mention that I had an initial base of sorts which I abandoned because it jumps most of the time =( They were connected using KIS/KAS pipes.

The rover I used to move around my engineers is now on an escape trajectory from the Mun, with them in it =D

Edited August 25, 2016 by ErevanGaming
Accidentally forgot to insert the pictures =">

[Stoney3K]

Welcome to KSP 1.1.3, where legs and wheels turn into under-damped springs that can launch any contraption into the Sun.

Try locking the suspension on your landing gear, increase damper strength, or even better: Don't put your base on legs but on a flat surface like an empty fuel tank, heat shield or structural panel.

[Sharpy]

This. Until Squad fixes them, avoid landing legs like a plague. Unless you're developing a Kraken Drive (a subassembly that gives you infinite propulsion for free, exploiting glitches in physics). I guess one can build these again with the new landing legs.

[Hydrothermalventclam]

I built a base on minimus that did not jump at all, but I just left the modules on the ground.  The modules were from kerbal planetary base systems, so they have nice flat bottoms, so that is easy.  You probably could use girders or something similar if your modules are not flat-bottomed.

[ErevanGaming]

@Stoney3K thanks for the welcome! =)

@Sharpy @NathanMcGuire30 would you guys recommending EPL to build bases that have launch clamps on them? Am thinking they'll be like oil platforms in the sea =)

[Sharpy]

@ErevanGaming Never tried it, so I wouldn't know. Personally, I'd land MK3 modules directly on the ground, possibly with structural plates to prevent rolling. For anything smaller, I'd use airbrakes Lightweight stuff can stand on antennas. Other than that, airplane wheels are good - even the simple, spindly long ones. Just not rover wheels, they are glitchy too.

Also, drills make decent legs if you don't switch them on and don't care about the mass.

[Stoney3K]

Has anyone tried nailing down their bases with KAS ground pylons or anchors? I've used the ground pylons for solar farms before but I don't know if they can anchor bigger structures properly.

[Sharpy]

I tried that on a slope. ISRU running, the craft sliding, one end lifted on vibrating drills.

First, I attached the pylon to the ground, port to the pylon, connected the winch... and it ripped the winch clear off the craft.

Then picked the winch up, attached it to the craft. I drew it to the port, attached in 'release' mode. I attached an EVA strut to the pylon, drew a strut to the craft, attached it. The pylon was ripped off the ground.

Then I strutted the winch to the craft. Reattached the pylon to the ground. Drew the cable to the pylon, locked it.

The winch, the strut AND the pylon were ripped off and started rolling down the hill. I chased them for some 300 meters, then said 'screw it' and returned to the craft, letting it continue sliding.

[ErevanGaming]

@Sharpy @Stoney3K

Tried using the ground pylons of KAS and my base still moved and eventually was half submerged since I built it at the shores near KSC. =">

 

 

[Sharpy]

@ErevanGaming Pylons AND landing legs?

Let's make it clear. You're not getting *anywhere* long-term with the legs, no matter what else you do.

Place the pylons. Strut the base to them (after plugging them in to make them "same vessel" first. Then fold the damned legs and let the base sit on struts alone. And then send the engineer to remove all these legs, so that they don't tempt you ever again.

Edited August 26, 2016 by Sharpy

[Stoney3K]

3 hours ago, Sharpy said:

I tried that on a slope. ISRU running, the craft sliding, one end lifted on vibrating drills.

First, I attached the pylon to the ground, port to the pylon, connected the winch... and it ripped the winch clear off the craft.

Then picked the winch up, attached it to the craft. I drew it to the port, attached in 'release' mode. I attached an EVA strut to the pylon, drew a strut to the craft, attached it. The pylon was ripped off the ground.

Then I strutted the winch to the craft. Reattached the pylon to the ground. Drew the cable to the pylon, locked it.

The winch, the strut AND the pylon were ripped off and started rolling down the hill. I chased them for some 300 meters, then said 'screw it' and returned to the craft, letting it continue sliding.

Don't use the 'retract' feature of the winch to anchor anything to the ground. It'll just rip the winch off your craft or even crush your craft into the ground.

[Sharpy]

The pylon was way, way to the side. And I only retracted the slack, then the craft slippage did the rest.

[Hydrothermalventclam]

14 hours ago, ErevanGaming said:

would you guys recommending EPL to build bases that have launch clamps on them? Am thinking they'll be like oil platforms in the sea =)

If done right, EPL handles launch clamps fine.  I used the survey stakes, because the launch pad was giving me problems, and the survey stakes worked fine.

The thing on the left with launch clamps was built on site, using EPL.  I had no problems with it.

You probably could also use them for base components

Edited August 26, 2016 by NathanMcGuire30
spelling

[ErevanGaming]

@NathanMcGuire30 good to hear that they work! Thanks! =)

[Jaeleth]

Avoid permanent bases.

yes, they can look incredibly kool, particularly if you build them in anything but career mode, in which case you'll have to keep an eye for contract parameters and silly demands, thus overlooking the coolness factor, but, way past that achievement moment where you feel that you are such an awesome pilot that you able to connect all sorts of parts in a large ground base with a sky crane... And dock a ship countless times, landing it with pinpoint accuracy in your base landing port...

(200 hrs game play)

 

The truth hits you....

wait.... why am I doing this? Why am I wanting to ascent and descent tens of times to refuel my large orbiting vessel? It was pretty cool the first couple of times, now it's just routine... Then you go and install mechjeb...

pause a little bit, eat a snack, take a nap or play other game while mechjeb handles the boring landing / ascending sequence for you.

(500 hrs game play)

 

and THEN the second part of the truth hits...

wait... Why am I doing this? Wasting countless hours for mechjeb to do this consecutive landings / ascendings / dockings? It's boooooring... I've seen that landscape now, what? 2 hundred times?

(1000+ hrs game play)

 

 

and then you have this eureka moment! Wait... WHY do I need ground bases AT ALL?

I'll build a gargantuan lander with drills, fuel tanks, ore container and power. Find a nice drilling spot, plant a flag there or crash some probe to mark it. Land the whole "base" drill for a couple of months, get all the 100k of fuel to orbit in one go and refuel all my ships in orbit, and wait... I can eben use the entire base as the propulsion stage of a huge colony ship to explore the whole system... Oh... And why bother with solar panels. They don't work at night or beyond Duna so, I spend 3 million (almost pocket money at that stage) and put the whole thing to run on nuclear power! Huuuah!

that's where you get after 1000+ hrs play...

 

at around 2000hrs game play you'll feel that bitter sweet pain of having done (almost) everything in the game, and spend countless time doing nothing, staring at your old, abandoned, ground bases... Maybe docking manually one ship or two, remembering the good old days when it took so much effort in building them and longing for those days to return...

 

Edited September 9, 2016 by Jaeleth