Asparagus staging in 1.3

[Ethen Sun]

Hello, I have just upgraded from 1.0.5 directly to 1.3 and many things confuse me. Particularly, fuel readings in the staging column. On an asparagus-staged rocket that worked fine in 1.0.5, the fuel gauges on the staging column for all the boosters show the same amount of fuel, even if some of them are empty, leading to me not knowing to stage until i was carrying four empty boosters. Right-clicking the tank shows the correct fuel level. I tried launching a stock craft (the Kerbal X) to see what would happen, and the fuel gauge worked fine. 

Apparently, the engine under the empty booster is continuing to run, meaning it must be drawing fuel from the other tanks. Aren't fuel lines one-way? Fuel flow seems to have become very complex, and I can't make heads or tails of it.

My question is, what should I do to "fix" the staging column? I can deal with the current state, but it's more tedious having to check the tanks individually, considering how much my computer lags.

I have EVE installed, otherwise all stock.

 

[bewing]

All vessels now have bi-directional "skin crossfeed" -- which is probably what's confusing the issue. You can look at the KerbalX stock craft as an example of how to make asparagus work properly.

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by bewing

[Human Person]

What you describe happens if crossflow is enabled on the decoupler of the booster. Disable crossflow and the engines will cut out when the booster is empty.

[bewing]

BTW, it's been noticed that you don't seem to have any decouplers on your boosters. That's kinda the whole point of asparagus staging you know -- you have to be able to get rid of the boosters when they run out of fuel.

 

[Ethen Sun]

21 minutes ago, bewing said:

BTW, it's been noticed that you don't seem to have any decouplers on your boosters. That's kinda the whole point of asparagus staging you know -- you have to be able to get rid of the boosters when they run out of fuel.

 

Umm.. I do. I have the Hydraulic Detachment Manifold on each one... And before you accuse me of not connecting it correctly, it does decouple.

[HebaruSan]

31 minutes ago, bewing said:

BTW, it's been noticed that you don't seem to have any decouplers on your boosters. That's kinda the whole point of asparagus staging you know -- you have to be able to get rid of the boosters when they run out of fuel.

9 minutes ago, Ethen Sun said:

Umm.. I do. I have the Hydraulic Detachment Manifold on each one... And before you accuse me of not connecting it correctly, it does decouple.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what these are (the first stage, anyway):  

But back to the main topic, one of the versions after 1.0.5 did re-do fuel flow and created an overlay to show it, available in the right click menu of engines and tanks, which might help you get up to speed with the changes (yes, the solution probably is to right click your decouplers and turn off crossfeed):

[bewing]

Two decouplers on 10 booster engines isn't gonna do it.

 

[Ethen Sun]

Just now, bewing said:

Two decouplers on 10 booster engines isn't gonna do it.

 

Seriously? Can you not see that I have 7 stages?

[bewing]

2 minutes ago, Ethen Sun said:

Seriously? Can you not see that I have 7 stages?

OK, if the stages off the top of your picture that I can't see have decouplers in them, then that should be good.

 

[Ethen Sun]

1 minute ago, bewing said:

OK, if the stages off the top of your picture that I can't see have decouplers in them, then that should be good.

 

Yes, of course. I'm decoupling orange boosters two at a time as they empty, and the Kickbacks as they empty. The TR-38D in the middle of the picture decouples the mammoth at the bottom.

[HebaruSan]

27 minutes ago, bewing said:

OK, if the stages off the top of your picture that I can't see have decouplers in them, then that should be good.

A way to show more of the staging info on-screen at once would be a fantastic enhancement.

[bewing]

heh -- I'll put it on the feedback list. No promises.