hatch on the MK1 crew cabin.

[magnemoe]

This annoys me, it should be an roof hatch on it like on the MK2 and MK3, The MK3 could even have hatches like the airplane escape doors on the side. 
Make more sense than folding down the front seat then folding up the seat in the MK1 pod after pilot has gone eva so kerbal can exit. 
More fun then I put an service bay between the two

[Crocket]

I agree. The reason I considered making a radial airlock mod was because of this.

[Stoney3K]

Well the reason for "omitting" a hatch on the Mk1 cabins is to make it more difficult for players to use it as a space-borne crew compartment, but it only turned out to serve as an inconvenience.

Adding a hatch to any ship is as easy as just adding any part that has a hatch and can hold at least 1 Kerbal. Since that includes *all* of the command pods, the only scenario that is defeated is a rescue taxi which is controlled by a probe core instead of a manned ship. Usually players will unlock the crew cabin way before probe cores anyway, so the gameplay advantage of such a tactic is minimal. Also, it does not prevent players from sending a probe core with an empty pod up (and attaching crew cabins as required) so Kerbals can get in or out.

The "design decision" for the Mk1 cabin becomes even more stoopid when you consider that it does have hatches -- on each end, where it attaches to other stuff. So if you can build a ship which has a Mk1 cabin with an open end, it actually has a hatch.

There is a lot of room for improvement in the EVA/crew transfer logic. In theory, if there is an unobstructed hatch anywhere on the ship, Kerbals can get in or out of the entire ship and transfer to/from an available seat automatically. No need to pick hatches and seats for every individual Kerbal one by one.

[Kerbart]

I think it's reasonable to add a hatch... and 250kg of mass at that point, to reflect the extra hardware that is needed. But that's a small price well worth paying.

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

I always thought that the reason it doesn't have a hatch on the side or roof was because it was primarily intended for planes, and it would just kind of look weird to have a whole bunch of hatches on the top of/on the side a small plane that uses a few of these. (I know there are multiple doors on airliners, but 1 door for every 2 passengers seems a bit much).

It is kind of limiting though... would be cool to have a toggle to add a hatch for a small weight penalty or something like that

[Technical Ben]

Older aircraft had swing out windows, or slide back:

That would cost nothing in weight (relatively). Though use in space would be debatable.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Technical Ben

[RocketSquid]

33 minutes ago, Technical Ben said:

Older aircraft had swing out windows, or slide back:

That would cost nothing in weight (relatively). Though use in space would be debatable.

We're talking about the cabin, not the cockpit.

[Stoney3K]

2 hours ago, EpicSpaceTroll139 said:

I always thought that the reason it doesn't have a hatch on the side or roof was because it was primarily intended for planes, and it would just kind of look weird to have a whole bunch of hatches on the top of/on the side a small plane that uses a few of these. (I know there are multiple doors on airliners, but 1 door for every 2 passengers seems a bit much).

It is kind of limiting though... would be cool to have a toggle to add a hatch for a small weight penalty or something like that

Well, if you look at the part description for the Mk1 crew cabin, it says that it was "taken from a business jet". Those business jets usually have a clamshell swing-out door which looks similar to the Mk1 inline docking port:

I feel that not having a hatch on the Mk1 crew cabin itself would be fair if there was a separate part that could provide an airlock or a door with stairs.

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

8 minutes ago, Stoney3K said:

Well, if you look at the part description for the Mk1 crew cabin, it says that it was "taken from a business jet". Those business jets usually have a clamshell swing-out door... ...if there was a separate part that could provide an airlock or a door with stairs.

I know business jets usually have a door like that, I just figured it would look odd to have several evenly spaced doors on a tiny biz jet. 1 would look more normal, possibly 2, but 3 would be a lot for just 3 fuselage links... idk that's all imho. I think it would be awesome to have a part with an airlock or  door like that though. (maybe the part itself could be an airlock, with its outer door like the clamshell so it could be multi-purpose, working for both biz jets and spacecraft

Edited September 30, 2016 by EpicSpaceTroll139

[Stoney3K]

Would it even be possible to modify the Mk1 docking port to work as a hatch? I really don't know if it is possible to have a hatch collider that can move, so the hatch would be obstructed if the door is closed, and it would be available when the clam shell doors are open.

The other side could then feature a single window and a seat which would hold 1 Kerbal for crew transfer, which you could imagine as the seat for the cabin attendant.

It would also fix Kerbals always exiting at the top of the aircraft or dangling a few meters above the ground because there is no way to reach ground level when the plane is standing on its main gears.

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

I think there at least once was a mod that gave mk1 docking ports airlock functionality. I don't know if it still exists or what it was/is called... I'll take a quick look around

Edit: Or rather, I would, if the search function didn't keep giving me errors ^{*goes on rant about how the old forum site didn't throw these fits and that if it ain't broke don't fix it*}

Edited September 30, 2016 by EpicSpaceTroll139

[passinglurker]

In my experience pouring over, taking apart, and putting back together the mk1 space plane assets for mod making purposes I'd say you'd be hard pressed to find a place to put the hatch.

First in the physical sense the iva is rather cramped in the mk2 and 3 cabins the hatch is over a clear center aisle but in the mk1 it's directly over a table and a pair of kerbals not exactly a place to have an emergency escape ladder come down. 

Second in the texture sense if you look at the part's texture sheet you will see that things are rather crowded there is no place to add a roof hatch texture so even ignoring the iva problem actually adding that hatch isn't as simple as it sounds.

Also one could make the case that the lack of hatches is the price you pay for a better seat to mass ratio, maybe...

Anyway shoe horning in a roof hatch I think is a bad fix what would be better is the ability to eva any kerbal from any Hatch without seat juggling and then auto transfer and seat them again when they try to board a hatch of an occupied part. The problem is solved and artistic integrity is preserved every one wins.

Edited October 1, 2016 by passinglurker

[Stoney3K]

5 hours ago, passinglurker said:

Also one could make the case that the lack of hatches is the price you pay for a better seat to mass ratio, maybe...

Well, I can see the "no hatches means better seat to mass ratio" argument, but that would mean removing the hatches on either end as well. And as you said, there is no way a hatch would physically fit on the Mk1 crew cabin, let alone have any physical room for a Kerbal to get out.

Quote

Anyway shoe horning in a roof hatch I think is a bad fix what would be better is the ability to eva any kerbal from any Hatch without seat juggling and then auto transfer and seat them again when they try to board a hatch of an occupied part. The problem is solved and artistic integrity is preserved every one wins.

Wel, er, yeah, kind of like, this. No reason to play musical chairs with Kerbals if you want one of them to get out.

[panzer1b]

14 hours ago, passinglurker said:

Anyway shoe horning in a roof hatch I think is a bad fix what would be better is the ability to eva any kerbal from any Hatch without seat juggling and then auto transfer and seat them again when they try to board a hatch of an occupied part. The problem is solved and artistic integrity is preserved every one wins.

This NEEDS to be added to stock KSP because it'd cut down alot of time.  If a ship has 3 hatches, and 2 are blocked, then why should i have to keep moving the kerbals from the pods with a blocked hatch to the one with an open hatch and not just let me EVA from said hatch directly.  Unless this is a coding issue that is more complex then we can see right now (im not a programmer so i wouldnt know), then i see no reason not to do this...

Maybee someday we will get such a feature (or someone makes a mod for it)...

[Technical Ben]

22 hours ago, RocketSquid said:

We're talking about the cabin, not the cockpit.

Thanks. I fail.

But point still stands. It could be a sliding door if a pop out is too annoying/out of place. (Or no animation)

[Scientia1423]

This is a must! I can't get my kerbals out without transferring them to the cockpit and that wastes time! They should have another hatch on the top and toggle it whether to have it or not (hatch must be enabled by default) for the aesthetics of the craft.

[322997am]

I think that we need to have any passenger cabin (including mk2/3) to merge into a single part with a hatch at the front at both sides and with the same internal view. I'd find it annoying to have to walk through 10 doors to get to the end of the plane.

[BT Industries]

On 10/1/2016 at 8:40 AM, Stoney3K said:

Well, if you look at the part description for the Mk1 crew cabin, it says that it was "taken from a business jet". Those business jets usually have a clamshell swing-out door which looks similar to the Mk1 inline docking port:

I feel that not having a hatch on the Mk1 crew cabin itself would be fair if there was a separate part that could provide an airlock or a door with stairs.

Yes!!!

I remember a mod like this...

(You have officially made me unproductive for the rest of the day while I search for this mod I remember...)

[magnemoe]

On 2.10.2016 at 1:11 AM, 322997am said:

I think that we need to have any passenger cabin (including mk2/3) to merge into a single part with a hatch at the front at both sides and with the same internal view. I'd find it annoying to have to walk through 10 doors to get to the end of the plane.

Yes having an MK1 airlock / hatch module would be nice, it might hold an kerbal but that would make it an very popular single kerbal module and probably op unless heavy. 

[RoboRay]

I tend to use the single-kerbal passenger can from Ven's Stock Revamp (aft of the docking port, here) as an airlock for Mk 1 planes...

I would love to see a stock part like that, or one that has the hatch rotated 90 degrees like the aircraft boarding ladder door shown here, though...

Edited October 18, 2016 by RoboRay