Center of mass indicator that actually shows the center of mass

[s_gamer101]

The CoM indicator currently shows the CoM that you would have with full fuel tanks - but the CoM can move a lot when fuel is being burned, so this is really bad. When you remove fuel from the tanks in the VAB, the CoM indicator will just display you wrong informations. I really don't know how I'm supposed to make more complex spaceplanes like this. And this is such a basic feature, I really don't understand why this isn't implemented yet. And this isn't beginner friendly either. Please fix that as soon as possible.

[GalileOh-No]

I have noticed that I'm able to force the indicators to update (I believe accurately) by turning them off/on after making any adjustments to fuel levels.

[s_gamer101]

Didn't know that, thanks. But they should update automatically. Like it did in KSP 1

[GalileOh-No]

Agreed!

[Syvwlch]

They also update automatically if you are in Move mode. Not sure why, but when I'm working on an SSTO tweaking CoM position, I always do it in Move mode.

EDIT: Specifically, if you change fuel load of a tank while in Move mode, the CoM moves in real time.

Edited April 26, 2023 by Syvwlch
Clarified that this works for fuel load changes.

[s_gamer101]

Okay, this is pure speculation now, but maybe it's because in move mode, the CoM is constantly being updated because the game expects you to move the ship which also moves the CoM while in build mode, it just calculates it once and then stops updating it because someone forgot that CoM can change in build mode too. Which would mean it is rather a bug than the absence of a feature.

Edited April 25, 2023 by s_gamer101

[Lyneira]

It'd be much nicer if you could view both the full and empty CoM at the same time. That really helps with tweaking your CoM and balancing thruster and RCS placement.

See also this post about features from RCS Build Aid I'd like to see implemented:

Screenshot:

Spoiler

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by Lyneira

[dr.phees]

It should also be possible to switch between / toggle CoM calculation for empty craft, fully fueled and actual (like what you have in the hangar).

[VlonaldKerman]

I don't get it, why would you expect this to be in a rocket game???

[EvelynThe Dragon]

But it does show you the CoM for your current condition. Yeah, it sucks that it doesn't update in real time. And it would be very nice if we could get a full fuel and empty fuel state  displayed simultaneously. And it would be nice if this was applied to all stages... but there are workarounds for these things.

What really annoys me is there is no control of fuel flow priority, there are many times that is super useful with launching top heavy vehicles.

[herbal space program]

On 4/23/2023 at 2:41 PM, GalileOh-No said:

I have noticed that I'm able to force the indicators to update (I believe accurately) by turning them off/on after making any adjustments to fuel levels.

Thanks! I was really annoyed about that and was coming here to post the same suggestion as OP on this thread. It seems like they made it really obscure how to do various practical things like this, so that at first the game seems to be in an even  rougher state than it actually is.

On 5/16/2023 at 11:05 AM, EvelynThe Dragon said:

...And it would be very nice if we could get a full fuel and empty fuel state  displayed simultaneously. And it would be nice if this was applied to all stages... but there are workarounds for these things....

Absolutely! What would be ideal in my mind  would be if you could toggle between "all tanks full", "current fuel distribution" and "dry"  readouts in the VAB.  Being able to automate fuel transfers to shift ballast around in planes would be fantastic as well.

 

[herbal space program]

On 5/15/2023 at 8:55 AM, VlonaldKerman said:

I don't get it, why would you expect this to be in a rocket game???

You've never built a plane in KSP? Good for you! You have many hours of new and fun gameplay ahead of you.