Water mechanics?

[annikk.exe]

Hello,

I've been designing boats. Turns out it's pretty hard -at least as hard as building a successful SSTO.

I've made some successful boats but I've still not come very far with my understanding of the game's mechanics around water.

Can anyone share some information or experiences regarding things like buoyancy, and whether a part will tear off at high speed in water or not?

For example, what factors decide how high a design will ride in the water? What makes it topple over, or not topple over?

[erkha343]

you can even make submarines, not really good though, since the camera gets stuck above you, and you cant pan, wish the devs would fix this...

[annikk.exe]

Do submarines work well with cockpit view? (IVA)

[erkha343]

yeah, I think so. there was a ballast mod, worked on 0.18.4

other way to do this is make a part very heavy, and "land" on water, then see it sink, be carefull, sink too fast and youll smash to the bottom of the ocean!

[Darren9]

I haven't done that much with boats but it seems like it's only when a part enters or leaves the surface that it's torn off. If it's touching the water and stays touching it or it's above and stays above you're fine. Hydrofoils seem to be the safest at speed (submerged floats with a long strut that keep the upper parts out of the water). Just don't have any individual parts that leave or enter the surface when you're moving fast.

[Jason Patterson]

Every stock part is buoyant by default. The way that water works currently is that parts are tested for collisions with the surface of the water only when they pass through it. Any part completely above or below the water's surface will survive even at high speed, and parts that are partially submerged can also survive, as long as they stay partially submerged (never sink entirely or emerge entirely.)

The easiest parts to use for floats are wings, turned so that the long edge is parallel to the water.

As far as flipping, it works exactly as you would expect. A broad, long base for your boat will result in a more stable design.

[annikk.exe]

Thanks for this! Omg, so many new crafts to design...