In-flight conversion of seats to inventory slots

[darthgently]

IRL, cargo can be strapped in securely about anywhere in stations or capsules, even empty seats.  But the volume and mass limits should be in ballpark of kerbal-sized, as one would be strapping cargo into a seat.   Once the cargo is removed it could be changed back to a seat as required.

So it would also follow that in flight inventory could not be converted to a seat as there is no seat to secure in. It might make sense to be able to do so in the editor for inventory in crewed parts though for the cost of a seat I suppose.  Or maybe in flight also if an engineer and command seat are handy

Edited August 21, 2022 by darthgently

[pandaman]

That is a neat idea.

[t_v]

A clever way this could be implemented is if Kerbals took up cargo space equivalent to one seat. The cargo space of the pod would be expanded by the amount of space in the seats, and when it is full with kerbals it would have the 'normal' cargo space amount. 

[darthgently]

5 hours ago, t_v said:

A clever way this could be implemented is if Kerbals took up cargo space equivalent to one seat. The cargo space of the pod would be expanded by the amount of space in the seats, and when it is full with kerbals it would have the 'normal' cargo space amount. 

There is still the issue of seats.  I could see getting kerbal sized inventory if the seat is left intact, but maybe an engineer could ditch the seat to make a slightly larger cargo space, and an engineer could take a command seat and convert inventory into crew seating (as long as it is a crewed part so we can assume life support is there etc; no converting inventory only parts into crewed parts to keep things simple).  Of course none of this matters if your style is to stick a command seat in a service bay and send Jeb to Eeloo.   Because you can already do that.

There is another thing: why don't service bays have inventory slots?   The more filled the inventory, the smaller the remaining space in the bay or some thing.  Maybe have a cylinder in the center of the bay which has a volume proportional to the amount in inventory slots with the rest of the space available for normal editor/Eva attachment of science equip etc.

Finally, when you realize you don't have enough DV to lift off from Vall or wherever, you should have the option to strip the ship down like Watney in the Martian; even more than KIS and EVA construction currently allows. 

Like maybe the ability to strip out part modules from parts so the gain in DV costs functionality like it would IRL. 

You could rip out the alternator module from your engine for example to reduce weight, but no charging from the engine after that.

Help, I can't shut up.

Stop me.

Problem is I gotta fever, and the only cure is more kerbal.  WEN KSP2? Lol

 

 

[t_v]

I definitely want full-on disassembly and reassembly of parts with a lot of granularity (Apollo 13 duct-tape engineering would be my dream) but for me it falls into one of those things that would be ridiculously complex both on the development and player side and probably will never fit into stock KSP 2. The problem is that if you are allowing seats to be installed and removed, then that blurs the line in the sand of “parts can be reconfigured but are otherwise single objects” and the question of what else can be tinkered with becomes too tricky to really answer.

[pandaman]

The logic behind 'that seat is empty, let's put our snacks on it' makes perfect sense.  

So an empty seat can either hold 1 kerbal or maybe upto 2 cargo.  No 'conversion' needed, it could be a standard 'feature'

If however 'conversion' were allowed and seat were to be removed before launch then the cargo space should be more, maybe 6 to 8 cargo due to extra space and the fact that it's not restricted by having to be strapped to a seat.  I would suggest that a seat shouldn't be able to be retro-fitted later though.