Cargo bays with Inline Multicouplers?

[Rohaq]

So I was looking to fit a stacked Size 0 science part, and ended up needing to use an Size 1 cargo bay just to stack a single module nicely with the other Size 1 parts on my ship, wasting a ton of space in the cargo bay.

What I thought would be interesting to see would be a cargo bay with Size 1 attachments either end for stacking, a "fat" centre to allow for space, and four stacked attachment points inside, allowing multiple Size 0 parts to be attached neatly in the final design.

Here's a mockup using  tweakscale to slightly increase the size of the cargo bay, using some procedural structural parts for smooth size changes, and a plate adapter for attachments. I'm pretty certain it's doable, but I'm no modeller/modder. Can anyone else weigh in? Or can possibly suggest an existing part mod that does something similar?

 

[Jesusthebird]

Im also wondering why this isnt a thing. I think itd be great. Only issue i see perhaps would be the side nodes (nodes not inline) could clip objects through if you used the 'move part' function. Like when you click the arrow. The part moves a bit in/ or away from the parent part being attached too

[JokesCompany]

I am also struggling in it

[wasml]

If I understand you correctly - at least the extra nodes should be doable with a ModuleManager patch.

Just tested this and it adds four bottom nodes to the stock 2.5 service bay:

@PART[ServiceBay_250]
{
	//                    Position       Direction
	//                 X    Y     Z     X    Y    Z     NodeSize
	node_stack_n1 =  0.6, -0.5, -0.6,   0.0, 1.0, 0.0,   1
	node_stack_n2 =  0.6, -0.5,  0.6,   0.0, 1.0, 0.0,   1
	node_stack_n3 = -0.6, -0.5,  0.6,   0.0, 1.0, 0.0,   1
	node_stack_n4 = -0.6, -0.5, -0.6,   0.0, 1.0, 0.0,   1
}

This could use a bit of tweaking and a set of top nodes but they would be a duplicate of these nodes with a +Y position and a -Y direction. If you want to fiddle with this - the first three numbers for each node are the X,Y,Z position and the second three the node attach direction. If you do change something you'll need to either exit KSP and reload or, in the space center scene press Alt F11 and reload the database. A more complex solution would be to use the truss system to add the nodes but this would require a model for the truss and considerably more config changes.

[Rohaq]

8 hours ago, wasml said:

If I understand you correctly - at least the extra nodes should be doable with a ModuleManager patch.

Just tested this and it adds four bottom nodes to the stock 2.5 service bay:

@PART[ServiceBay_250]
{
	//                    Position       Direction
	//                 X    Y     Z     X    Y    Z     NodeSize
	node_stack_n1 =  0.6, -0.5, -0.6,   0.0, 1.0, 0.0,   1
	node_stack_n2 =  0.6, -0.5,  0.6,   0.0, 1.0, 0.0,   1
	node_stack_n3 = -0.6, -0.5,  0.6,   0.0, 1.0, 0.0,   1
	node_stack_n4 = -0.6, -0.5, -0.6,   0.0, 1.0, 0.0,   1
}

This could use a bit of tweaking and a set of top nodes but they would be a duplicate of these nodes with a +Y position and a -Y direction. If you want to fiddle with this - the first three numbers for each node are the X,Y,Z position and the second three the node attach direction. If you do change something you'll need to either exit KSP and reload or, in the space center scene press Alt F11 and reload the database. A more complex solution would be to use the truss system to add the nodes but this would require a model for the truss and considerably more config changes.

Ah nice, maybe I'll have a play with this; though I'd be a little pained to patch a stock part with additional attachment nodes; what happens if someone uses it, builds a craft attaching parts to the nodes, then removes the patch and loads their save?

[wasml]

Just tested to be sure - the nodes appear to be for building the craft and are "fixed" at launch - in other words the parts stay where they were placed. You can verify this easily enough - just start a test game, launch a craft using this patch, exit the game, remove the patch and relaunch the game. On the other hand if this were a custom part you would lose the entire craft if the custom part was removed. So this is even better than a custom part! Take a look at the Module Manager Wiki - it might be a bit intimidating at first but once you mod a few parts you'll get the hang of it (and probably soon be spending more time modding parts than actually playing the game)