Adding "Petals" to docking ports

[Martian Emigrant]

Hi.

This as been bothering me for a while.

Can we get Petals on the docking ports?

Would make them look more like the Russian equipment as well as the International Docking Adaptor" IDA.

As a bonus it might help for those pesky alignment issues when building in space.

 

I guess it might be an issue with the magnets when docking at an angle or misalign exactly offset.

Probably there are more issues than I can imagine.

 

Maybe make the petals retractable or an option when building? Akin to the shrouds of engines.

Or maybe a new type altogether. Bonus that gives us a new way to mismatch docking ports on ships and fail a mission.

 

Anyway thank for reading this and the good work.

 

 

ME

 

Edit: I am reading about current RL in use docking ports and am now totally confused about their looks and compatibilities.

Starting to think that I got my idea of petals on Soviet equipment due to the Apollo-Soyuz adaptor...Which beget others which beget the IDA....Or something along those lines.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Martian Emigrant

[Tyko]

Petals and other mechanisms like probes help RL docking ports align. In KSP we already have the magnetism effect that assists alignment.

How are you envisioning petal would work or improve the game?

[FleshJeb]

I'm of the opinion that KSP is engineering problem simulator that happens to have space as one of its settings, not a spaceflight simulator. As such, I would prefer not to have parts that do too much for me. A simple keyway can be constructed with three cubic octagonal struts--Say two on the receiver, and one on the docker that fits between the other two. This is the kind of problem-solving that I find really intellectually stimulating.

I'd hate to see stock KSP go the way of LEGO, that has so many custom parts which can only be used for very few things. What appeals to me is slapping 3 or 4 blocks together and saying, "This is (a metaphor for) an airplane." Then you can fly your heart out.

[klgraham1013]

17 hours ago, Tyko said:

In KSP we already have the magnetism effect that assists alignment.

I think he was referring to angle alignment.  You can actually edit the configs to snap to a specified degree.  Why it's not like that in stock?  Who knows.

Edited March 12, 2019 by klgraham1013

[Tyko]

2 hours ago, klgraham1013 said:

I think he was referring to angle alignment.  You can actually edit the configs to snap to a specified degree.  Why it's not like that in stock?  Who knows.

ah okay...makes more sense....   Snapdock 

https://spacedock.info/mod/870/SnapDock