Designing ships is frustrating

[stratozyck]

Hi,

I'm a newb to this game, and so far I've managed to orbit the moon on others designs. But, man designing ships is frustrating! As far as I know, if I design a ship and want to change command modules, I have to start from scratch? I can't delete parts very easily either. Like I realized I had an extra SAS module and that was impossible to delete as it was in the middle, while things like fins are easy to remove.

Its a game with a lot of potential...

[Stealth2668]

I have the same problem with command modules too. Very annoying.

[drakesdoom]

If a part is in the middle take off everything after it and set aside unconnected, then remove unwanted part, and finally reattach the remaining stack.

[Capt'n Skunky]

The command pod is root of the ship which is why it can't be deleted. One part has to be designated as the root and that is the first part you place hence why it cannot be deleted.

However, with a little editing, you can swap the pod out for a different one by editing the craft file.

Cheers!

Capt'n Skunky

KSP Community Manager

[ZingidyZongxxx]

There's also that weird bug where you have to place some items under the ship before putting them where you want them.

[Eldrean]

I find it generally good, but sometimes fuel tanks just don't want to attach to radial decouplers! I have to rotate around, zoom in/out, shuffle the radial up/down for about a minute before it finally lets me place it. Then I can pick up the decoupler and easily place it in the original position I wanted.

[ThatBum]

Try Subassembly Loader. It allows you to save different parts of ships like lifters and such. This way, when you design different payloads, you don't have to build the same proven launch vehicle again and again. This is similar to in real life, they don't build a unique launch vehicle for each payload (Saturn IB, Saturn V, Atlas V, etc).

[GusTurbo]

The radial attachment bug will probably get fixed soon. It is one of the more frustrating bugs.

[katateochi]

As Capt'n Skunky says you can edit the .craft to change the pod. Just to take a contrived example, here's a ship I want to change to pod on;

1) MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR CRAFT FILE.

2) load the craft into the VAB and put a girder between the command pod and the main ship - this is just to make sure there is no interaction between the command pod and any other part.

3) remove any radially attached parts which are connected directly to the command pod (these you'll have to put back on the new pod manually later)

4) save

5) start a new ship and select the new command pod that you want to change to and save that as a new .craft

6) open up both .craft files in your fav txt editor

7) go to the .craft you want to edit and select and copy name of the pod (and the number after it) from the part= line

PART
{  
  part = mark3Cockpit_4294654642  <--this bit here
  ..other stuff..
}

You want the name and the numerical reference that follows it.

8) open up a find and replace dialog (ctrl+h if ur using notepad) and paste this into the find textbox

9) Now go to the .craft with the new pod you want to change to and copy the name (and numerical ref) from that.

PART
{  
  part = mark1-2Pod_4294672568  <--name and ref of the new pod
  ..other stuff..
}

10) go back to the craft being edited and paste the new pod name into the find/replace dialog's replace textbox.

(if you are using Vim this can be done with the command; :%s/<old_podname_and_ref>/<new_podname_and_ref> )

So now you should have replaced the old pod name and ref with the new pod name and ref in 2 places. In the first PART that is the actual command pod and the reference to it on the girder (prob the last part in the file)

11) save changes

12) go back to the VAB and load the now edited craft file and you should get something like this;

the new pod is levitating above the girder 'cos its a different size to the original pod (that's why I suggest using a girder to move any weirdness away from the main ship, but it might not be necessary)

Then just take the girder out and bish-bash-bosh your pod is changed;

Hope that helps cos designing ships should not be frustrating, it should be fun fun fun!!

[OrbitusII]

Editing the .craft files works, but I've found that the Subassembly Loader takes 90% of the pain away from switching or duplicating stages or even entire rockets. Try out both and see what you think!

[Wait- Was That Important?]

There's another way to do all of this without config files or mods- just put a bicoupler and a few seperatrons on the pod you want removed, ejecting it before you start flying. As long as you have some way of getting them there, you can just put new Kerbals back in the actual command pod on the ship.

[michaelphoenix22]

Also hit alt f12 and enable part clipping. This alone will save you hours of frustration.

[Malaugrym]

I find it generally good, but sometimes fuel tanks just don't want to attach to radial decouplers! I have to rotate around, zoom in/out, shuffle the radial up/down for about a minute before it finally lets me place it. Then I can pick up the decoupler and easily place it in the original position I wanted.

I like to place one radial decoupler, attach any necessary things, then multiply the entire setup. Seems to work slightly better that way.