Where are we with wheels?

[p1t1o]

I have been following the devnotes, but I dont recall wheels being mentioned for a while. Did I miss a fix (Im not in a KSP playing cycle at the moment) or are there still issues with strength and friction? Do landers still slide around on their legs? Can we look forward to new/updated wheel mods after 1.2 release?

Cheers

[Guest]

Wheels and legs are much improved. I've played with them a bit and have had no issues worth mentioning.

IMHO they overcorrected a bit actually, landing gear is now absurdly strong at least.

[Dedjal]

Are wheels finally wheels or still just a flat square?

[Yakuzi]

7 minutes ago, Dedjal said:

Are wheels finally wheels or still just a flat square?

The wheels are still needles poking in the ground unfortunately (still can't rotate them for example). They also remain a bit too slippery for my liking, but are much improved over 1.1.x.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Yakuzi

[eddiew]

13 minutes ago, Brikoleur said:

IMHO they overcorrected a bit actually, landing gear is now absurdly strong at least.

I'm not unhappy to hear this  

[p1t1o]

1 minute ago, Yakuzi said:

The wheels are still needles poking in the ground unfortunately (still can't rotate them for example). They also remain a bit too slippery for my liking, but are much improved over 1.1.x.

Do they at least have less friction in a preferred direction? ie: in line with the wheel itself, as if the wheel were a ski?

What do you mean by "cant rotate them"? Do you mean they only operate as a wheel if the very bottom of the wheel (in relation to whatever mounting plate is attached) is contacting the ground? Or do you mean the tyres dont rotate/roll?

Thanks!

[Yakuzi]

13 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

Do they at least have less friction in a preferred direction? ie: in line with the wheel itself, as if the wheel were a ski?

Not exactly sure about actual friction numbers depending on the direction of the wheel. Quill18 experienced some not quite expected lateral sliding behavior with wheel brakes on though, check out the video below (from 7:24 to 8:30, thanks @KerbMav for pointing this out):

 

 

13 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

What do you mean by "cant rotate them"? Do you mean they only operate as a wheel if the very bottom of the wheel (in relation to whatever mounting plate is attached) is contacting the ground? Or do you mean the tyres dont rotate/roll?

The first, they only operated when the very bottom of the wheel is in contact with the ground. The tires DO roll

Edited September 28, 2016 by Yakuzi
inserted link

[p1t1o]

@Yakuzi  Thanks!

 

One last question: Do landers (with legs) still slide sl-o-o-o-wly down very slight inclines?

[Yakuzi]

27 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

@Yakuzi  Thanks!

 

One last question: Do landers (with legs) still slide sl-o-o-o-wly down very slight inclines?

No worries

Not sure about the sliding, I quickly tested the LT-1 and LT-2 landing gears on steepish inclines on the Mun and no sliding up or down as far as I could tell (with and without warp).

Edited September 28, 2016 by Yakuzi

[p1t1o]

19 minutes ago, Yakuzi said:

No worries

Not sure about the sliding, I quickly tested the LT-1 and LT-2 landing gears on steepish inclines on the Mun and no sliding up or down as far as I could tell (with and without warp).

Awesome, things are shaping up! Thanks again.

[SelectHalfling0]

I think the wheels are perfect now. Playing around with the control sliders enough usually yields the right results.

[eddiew]

Tbh, I haven't had a much problems with wheels in 1.1.3 as I expected... I thought I would be rockets only, and here I am with rovers and spaceplanes galore and very few unexpected events.

Although I do seem to need a lot of wheels to avoid punctures. Seems like the larger landing gears are much less prone to runway donuts than the smaller flavours. If rovers are giving me grief by sliding around, I make them front-wheel-drive and they tend to stabilise  

[theend3r]

3 hours ago, eddiew said:

Tbh, I haven't had a much problems with wheels in 1.1.3 as I expected... I thought I would be rockets only, and here I am with rovers and spaceplanes galore and very few unexpected events.

Although I do seem to need a lot of wheels to avoid punctures. Seems like the larger landing gears are much less prone to runway donuts than the smaller flavours. If rovers are giving me grief by sliding around, I make them front-wheel-drive and they tend to stabilise  

The problem with 1.1.X wheels wasn't really their usability but the way they were scripted (they got destroyed when retracted and renewed when extended iirc), causing problems, especially to modders.

[eddiew]

2 hours ago, theend3r said:

The problem with 1.1.X wheels wasn't really their usability but the way they were scripted (they got destroyed when retracted and renewed when extended iirc), causing problems, especially to modders.

Ahh, fair enough   I do have issues with small landing gear veering sideways, and rovers do have a habit of pinging skywards if they hit too much of a bump - assumed that was the problem due to be fixed ^^;

[Waz]

I'm playing probes-only (because I want to experience CommNet as much as possible) and I've never realized before how far down the manned parts of the tech tree are even the basic wheels (and then you get two at once!!). But yes, they seem to work, once you finally get them.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Waz

[problemecium]

Where are we on wheels? Bouncing up and down and flipping over is where. I keep building lightweight aircraft and the springs on the wheels are pushing back too hard and flipping the blasted things' noses up in the air >.<

[p1t1o]

6 hours ago, parameciumkid said:

Where are we on wheels? Bouncing up and down and flipping over is where. I keep building lightweight aircraft and the springs on the wheels are pushing back too hard and flipping the blasted things' noses up in the air >.<

The spring behaviour can be adjusted, no? I have heard more than once that the wheels behave almost normally if you tweak them right?

[Terwin]

10 hours ago, parameciumkid said:

Where are we on wheels? Bouncing up and down and flipping over is where. I keep building lightweight aircraft and the springs on the wheels are pushing back too hard and flipping the blasted things' noses up in the air >.<

I have had occasions where a wheel gets 'bouncy' as in it acts like a coiled spring that is released as soon as it touches the ground, giving larger and larger bounces until the rover flips over.

I saw it twice on earlier builds but have not seen it lately(I also have not been using wheels much of late)

[problemecium]

7 hours ago, p1t1o said:

...the wheels behave almost normally if you tweak them right?

Nope. Sometimes I get lucky and tweaking helps, but usually when I have this problem I find no combination of spring strength and damper strength will stop it.

And yes, Terwin, you and I seem to be talking about the exact same bug, and alas, it hasn't gone anywhere.

[ExtremeSquared]

19 minutes ago, parameciumkid said:

Nope. Sometimes I get lucky and tweaking helps, but usually when I have this problem I find no combination of spring strength and damper strength will stop it.

And yes, Terwin, you and I seem to be talking about the exact same bug, and alas, it hasn't gone anywhere.

It's confirmed on the tracker. It's repeatable with low damping, but still happens randomly with default values.

http://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/11742

[Yakuzi]

Scott Manley released his 1.2 video (see below), and observed some interesting wheel behavior as well as a lander sliding down a steep slope.

Check out the full video here:

 

Edited October 11, 2016 by Yakuzi

[magnemoe]

Has not had any issue with landing legs in 1.2, including steep slopes on Minmus and Mun. 
Behavior is a lot like on pre 1.1 versions, legs don't slide except a bit during touchdown. 

Has not tested rovers in space. 

[ExtremeSquared]

Landing gear still need work for sure.