Part Connection mods

[V3ndicity]

First off, I AM NOT looking to reduce part count! I am build ships that are intended to fight each other but it just doesn't feel realistic when I hit a part and a entire string comes off... I was wondering if there was a mod that allowed for parts to be connected to more then one part so one specific part doesn't kill the entire ship if it blows up. Thanks

[Gargamel]

Not that I am aware of.  I believe it is not possible in KSP, as the ships are built via a tree.  A root part makes up the core of the ship, and all parts connected to that one are it's branches, and those branches can have branches of their own.  But each branch can have one and only one parent part. 

So when you are designing your craft, try to add as many parts as you can to the root parts, or at least as close to the root part as you can.  Standard best practice for building wings is to add one wing section, and then add more wing sections to that one, so you can easily slide the whole wing up and down the craft as needed.  You'll have to do the opposite, attach all your wing parts and what not to the body of the craft. 

[Barar]

You could try this mod, it quotes.

"But wait! There's more! When decoupling (or explosions) happens, it detects if one of the virtual connections would continue holding the vessel together and magically makes that the real connection point as if no funny business had been happening!"

I use this mod but have not tried blowing up my ships to see if it works. I also don't think it works for surface attached parts though, since it needs a node to work.

[V3ndicity]

12 hours ago, Barar said:

You could try this mod, it quotes.

"But wait! There's more! When decoupling (or explosions) happens, it detects if one of the virtual connections would continue holding the vessel together and magically makes that the real connection point as if no funny business had been happening!"

I use this mod but have not tried blowing up my ships to see if it works. I also don't think it works for surface attached parts though, since it needs a node to work.

Thanks! I think that I could also work around the no surface attached parts by adding a structural part with a node on it. 

[Booots]

Oh man! Finally gaining some traction on working around the whole "ships are built via a tree" problem!  And yeah, it doesn't do surface attached parts because it needs a proper attach node, but you're absolutely right about adding structural parts with nodes. Once 1.4 comes out, their new structural panels have lots of attach nodes so that should make things easier for you. Cheers!