'Crew Hatch' Part

[KerbService]

I often clip a command pod into my ships and the pod's crew hatch is blocked not allowing EVA exit. A separate 'crew hatch' part would come in nice to solve this problem. I have used the Mk1 Can for this but the weight of the Can seems excessive when only using it as a hatch.

[The Aziz]

I'm personally more interested in why you do this. I mean, any crew part has a hatch, it's one of their main features, so..?

[Flying dutchman]

I get this and i would very much like to see this implemented

[SlinkyMcman]

Maybe like, a FT-100 reskinned as an "airlock"? 0 capacity, just a door.

[overkill13]

23 hours ago, The Aziz said:

I'm personally more interested in why you do this. I mean, any crew part has a hatch, it's one of their main features, so..?

Aesthetics probably.  I don't like the Mk3 Cockpit all that much so I tend to clip Mk2/Mk1 cockpits into fuel tanks to make better looking ships with a lander can as an exit.  Most of these designs aren't too concerned about the 0.66 ton mass of a lander can, mind you.  Somewhat curious about OP's designs.

[Kerbart]

6 minutes ago, SlinkyMcman said:

Maybe like, a FT-100 reskinned as an "airlock"? 0 capacity, just a door.

If you click on a hatch, it'll show the kerbals inside the part that you can pick from to EVA. Having a part with 0 capacity won't do any good, in that sense.

[SlinkyMcman]

9 minutes ago, Kerbart said:

If you click on a hatch, it'll show the kerbals inside the part that you can pick from to EVA. Having a part with 0 capacity won't do any good, in that sense.

Hadn't though about that, I'd imagine a work around would be to do a door blocked check and eva automatically when transferring to the part, and the inverse when entering "select the compartment to transfer to"? Yeah I see how that might not be good. Although this would save multiple clicks to eva on ships where most doors are blocked, like on mk1 cabin part.

Edited November 10, 2018 by SlinkyMcman

[KerbService]

@The Aziz --- I thank you for your question. All of the command pods in KSP are designed to sit at the front of the ship. My vision of a cool design often has the windows somewhere else. So I take and clip a pod in the middle of the ship with only the windows exposed and my Kerbils are trapped there for life. Unless I have a door. Give me a door I can put anywhere. No use being able to build an ark I can never leave.

Did I say ark? Maybe just taxi.

[StrandedonEarth]

MH has an extendable airlock part with a hatch, that holds one Kerbal when extended

Edited November 11, 2018 by StrandedonEarth

[StrandedonEarth]

On 11/7/2018 at 8:45 PM, KerbService said:

I often clip a command pod into my ships and the pod's crew hatch is blocked not allowing EVA exit. A separate 'crew hatch' part would come in nice to solve this problem. I have used the Mk1 Can for this but the weight of the Can seems excessive when only using it as a hatch.

I haven’t used the airlock part in MH, but as I understand it it should be simple to use. Just attach it anywhere, then extend it when needed. Transfer a Kerbal into it then click the hatch to exit

[KerbService]

17 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

MH has an extendable airlock part with a hatch, that holds one Kerbal when extended

Holy feces, that quote thing worked!  I want to try to forever use only stock parts. OK.. maybe silly. Stock..Stock..Stock.. Just me

[StrandedonEarth]

6 minutes ago, KerbService said:

Holy feces, that quote thing worked!  I want to try to forever use only stock parts. OK.. maybe silly. Stock..Stock..Stock.. Just me

Well, Making History is technically stock, but it’s an expansion pack you have to buy for $15 USD. There’s other good stuff in it too

I prefer stock parts only too, but I consider MH to be stock 

Welcome to the forums!

Edited November 11, 2018 by StrandedonEarth

[KerbService]

Just now, StrandedonEarth said:

Well, Making History is technically stock, but it’s an expansion pack you have to buy for $15 USD. There’s other good stuff in it too

I prefer stock parts only too, but I consider MH to be stock 

Got that History thing - Bigger tanks, Bigger engines. I have been building heavy lifters for a while. 1000-2000 ton payload weight boosters without (nasty tasting vegetable) staging. Wish I could post vids and pics on this site so others could see. Don't see how.

[StrandedonEarth]

Use an image hosting site like imgur.com and paste the link here. It’ll auto-embed

[KerbService]

11 hours ago, StrandedonEarth said:

MH has an extendable airlock part with a hatch, that holds one Kerbal when extended

SOE.... Thanks much. Tried that Airlock and it worked OK. Set my Kerbals free!!!

[pandaman]

Surface mounted hatch part, makes sense to me, nice idea.

[Klapaucius]

On 11/10/2018 at 8:58 AM, The Aziz said:

I'm personally more interested in why you do this. I mean, any crew part has a hatch, it's one of their main features, so..?

Part of the problem is you do not even need to clip the part to have the hatch blocked. I have made several craft where the hatch is unobstructed, but because a wing or an engine is close to it, the game thinks it is blocked anyway-- due to the way the colliders? or something like that work. 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2018 by Klapaucius

[Pthigrivi]

On 11/10/2018 at 9:54 PM, KerbService said:

Holy feces, that quote thing worked!  I want to try to forever use only stock parts. OK.. maybe silly. Stock..Stock..Stock.. Just me

But just look at these though... https://imgur.com/a/wBCin

[Wallygator]

On 11/8/2018 at 5:45 AM, KerbService said:

A separate 'crew hatch' part

Properly implemented?  Do this NOW!!!

[Xurkitree]

This would be real useful - say on tall eve landers,or any high gravity body for that matter, instead of having to put a seperate lander can or something as a hatch to EVA kerbals from top mounted command pods, without using way too many ladders, once can use a small, extremely light crew hatch for ingress/egress, which can be placed very close to the ground.

[Bottle Rocketeer 500]

1 hour ago, Xurkitree said:

-snip-

Can't you just use the offset tool to place a mk.1 lander can at ground level which is decoupled at liftoff?

[Guest]

I like this idea.

I use the Mk 1 crew cabin a lot -- it's light, compact, and fantastic for aerodynamically efficient designs -- but the hatches are at the ends and are almost always obstructed. There are times the only reason I add a command pod is for the hatch, as otherwise I'd go with a probe core: an automated rescue capsule, for example. Having a surface-mountable crew hatch would make designs like this easier and less kludgy.

[Stoney3K]

On 11/10/2018 at 9:00 PM, Kerbart said:

If you click on a hatch, it'll show the kerbals inside the part that you can pick from to EVA. Having a part with 0 capacity won't do any good, in that sense.

Yeah, while we're at it, why not allow *any* Kerbal to EVA through a door if you click on the crew hatch, instead of just being able to exit through their own module? It's not like they're glued to their seats and incapable of crawling through corridors on their own.

The same on the reverse, when trying to board a module that is full you're now given an error message and you have to try the next door, or guess if one of the modules has empty space. I'd say that if you approach any crew hatch, you're automatically transferred into the first available seat on the craft, no matter where it is.

That would also allow airlocks and other modules with a hatch collider but without any crew capacity (like a universal docking port which also has a hatch, just like on real spacecraft)

Edited January 3, 2019 by Stoney3K

[Sidetrakgamer]

On 11/10/2018 at 12:52 PM, SlinkyMcman said:

Maybe like, a FT-100 reskinned as an "airlock"? 0 capacity, just a door.

That actually is a great idea, i would love to see someone make a mod like it

[Caerfinon]

45 minutes ago, Sidetrakgamer said:

make a mod like it

This mod let's you make use of any hatch to EVA a kerbal from any part of the ship as well as enter any crewable part from any hatch.

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by Caerfinon