Attaching KAS parts while in the VAB

[Wobbly Av8r]

Looking for Kerbonauts who have experience with the KAS (Kerbal Attachment System) mod... or anyone who might know any KAS-part attachment tricks...

I'm attempting to use the TJ-1 Fixed Telescopic Joint and connect it to a JS-1 Joint Socket... while still in the VAB during initial construction. I have had no problem doing an EVA and accomplishing the task as they were designed to do, but I would like to use the same parts in the construction of a vessel in the VAB but can't find a way to attach the TJ-1 to the JS-1 during VAB construction.

In the image below, on the left is the VAB construction which apparently won't allow me to connect the two designed-to-be-connected parts that, on the right, are relatively straight-forward to attach/connect during an EVA in orbit.

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions!

Edited October 6, 2020 by Wobbly Av8r

[Fierce Wolf]

Never tried, seems like the same issue with stock shielded couplers, can't be attached in VAB

[Spricigo]

14 hours ago, Wobbly Av8r said:

I have had no problem doing  as they were designed to...

Unfortunately, you answered your own question. The parts are not designed to do connect in the VAB they way you want to

[Wobbly Av8r]

58 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

Unfortunately, you answered your own question. The parts are not designed to do connect in the VAB they way you want to

Isn't the spirit of KSP and its community about getting around arbitrary limitations through innovation and determination? It's not like the fidelity of the simulation is violated by doing on Kerbin what is done in space!

While hoping that there is/was some "backdoor" method of getting around this, what is obviously achievable in orbit must certainly be achievable in construction, right? Maybe someone with some familiarity about the .SFS save file and/or the .CRAFT files can suggest a procedure to cut & paste sections/values to mimic what is assembled in space?

[ Edit: Perhaps someone can guide me toward where I can find out more about the coordinates / values in the .craft file and how they translate into the values one see's in the .sfs file? What are the pos, rot, dir, and col values? (I assume they mean position, rotation, direction and column but have no reference for the context of the values) Also variables attPos, attPos0, attRot and attRot0 ]

Edited October 7, 2020 by Wobbly Av8r

[Spricigo]

1 hour ago, Wobbly Av8r said:

Isn't the spirit of KSP and its community about getting around arbitrary limitations through innovation and determination?

What can I say? Seems like not being able to use the part the way you wanted is one such arbitrary limitation. 

 

1 hour ago, Wobbly Av8r said:

what is obviously achievable in orbit must certainly be achievable in construction, right?

Well, I have a pair of craft and an EVAed Kerbal in my current save that became Kraken's plaything after KIS/KAS interactions. Everything was fine when I switched to pay attention to a maneuver elsewhere and when I came back...instant explosions on not loading. Trying to reload with [unbreakable joints] and [no crash damage] takes ludicrous long and than the craft don't stop spinning while it's parts get shuffled like a bunch of playing cards, and the Kerbal instantly die anyways. So, no. I don't expect things to 'just work' with KIS/KAS. 

But hey! What cautionary tales are for anyways?! Maybe you can just take whatever you already attached in orbit with Ship Save Splicer, load it in the VAB and hope for the best. Maybe save a bookmark for this post so, if you find any issue I don't need to tell "I warned you".

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by Spricigo

[Wobbly Av8r]

38 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

Maybe you can just take whatever you already attached in orbit with Ship Save Splicer, load it in the VAB and hope for the best.

Thanks for that suggestion and link - I'll take a look.