Docking Port Rules (0.625m Vs 1.25m) 1.1.3

[Clipperride]

(still waiting for 1.2 so this refers to 1.1.3 - -PC Unmodded)

 

According to the description, the small Junior Docking Port allows the transfer of propellant but is too small for a snack filled Kerbal to squeeze through.  If you want to transfer crew between vechiles, without going outside, you need to use the senior version of the Clamp-o-tron.

Or so I thought!  But it seems vechiles that have both types of port will allow the transfer of Kerbals using the junior port. (From a vechile that only has a single junior docking port)  

Does anyone know how the game decides which port can be used for personnel transfer?  Some stations will allow junior port transfer and others don't and I can't work out what is making the difference.

 

Cheers

Clipper

Edited October 11, 2016 by Clipperride

[Vaporized Steel]

The way KSP works is that if you dock 2 vessels it becomes 1 vessel. And because KSP cannot identify joints in between 2 crew containing parts it won't work.
Maybe they can make it as such, I don't know. It's so silly that you can attach a crew capsule to the other side of the rocket with only fuel tanks in between and you can still transfer them from here to there.

I don't agree that Kerbals shouldn't be able to squeeze through a junior docking port. Many real life docking nodes are very small, especially during the early space age. People had just enough room to squeeze through a joint.
What you are forgetting is that the Kerbals look alot bigger then they are. Just take a look inside the helmet and see how much of a volume the helmet alone uses.
So a naked Kerbal *cough* probably has enough room to squeeze through.

[Streetwind]

Note that there are three sizes of docking ports, not two. Junior is 0.625m; Senior is 2.5m; and the one without a qualifier is in the middle at 1.25m. There also exists the shielded variant of the 1.25m one, which is equivalent for docking and transfer purposes.

Now I'm kind of not sure if you are talking about the correct sizes with the correct names, because you say that a Senior (2.5m) port is required to transfer crew. This is not the case. The 1.25m ports can transfer crew just fine, too.

So which two do you actually have on your ship? One 0.625m and one 2.5m? Or one 0.625m and one 1.25m? Or one 1.25m and one 2.5m? Maybe a screenshot could help.

[Chabadarl]

To add to the complete answer of @Vaporized Steel, there is a mod for that :

[Clipperride]

@Streetwind. My apologies, I forgot about the largest docking port and therefore by "senior" I actually meant "medium sized". 

The space station already in orbit has a mix of 0.625m and 1.25m ports.  The vechile that docks with this has a single 0.625m port and yet I can move the pilot who has just docked into any spare space on the space station.  

Hope that clears up the mistake in terminology in my OP

Cheera 

Clipper

[Reactordrone]

14 hours ago, Clipperride said:

The space station already in orbit has a mix of 0.625m and 1.25m ports.  The vechile that docks with this has a single 0.625m port and yet I can move the pilot who has just docked into any spare space on the space station.  

Hope that clears up the mistake in terminology in my OP

Cheera 

Clipper

This is because you can transfer crew through any docking system, including the claw. The part descriptions don't reflect the current usability of the parts.

[AeroGav]

The main advantage of larger ports is structural rigidity.  If you're assembling large craft in orbit you want the senior port whenever possible, or it's going to flop around.    

The other advantage is that when mounted inline in a stack,  you want your docking port to be same diameter as the section it attaches to.  Putting a 1.25m docking port on the end attach node of a 2.5m Hab module looks bad and also creates additional drag in the atmosphere.   Unless you use a 2.5m to 1.25m fuselage adapter in between, which more than counters any weight saving and makes the vessel longer (and bendier)  

[Clipperride]

Thanks for clearing that up for me.  The reason for mixing up my docking ports is that the smallest one fits nicely on top of the smallest capsule, which I use as the basis of my Mun & Minmus landers.  A second port on the side of the lab makes it easy to see where you're heading when bringing back the science data.  Especially as my orbital labs end up looking like Mir, with different parts bolted on as I unlock the tech tree and add new parts.