How to change the command pod in a .craft file manually?

[adjit]

So I recently put a VAB ship together, and I have 2 command modules on it and I would like to switch the 'main' command module from one to the other.

I tried changing around the order in which items appear in the file, I also tried changing the part numbers... Nothing really seems to work.

It may help if you guys knew what I was trying to do:

So I have the Bobcat RAT mod and I was putting it together, but the only way to do it was to start off using the RAT module, otherwise I wouldn't be able to assemble it properly. So I made a new craft and built it the way I wanted to, and I plan on using Payloader to attach it to another ship of mine using the RAT as the so-called launcher vehicle. So what I did was I attached a new command pod and decoupler to the top of the RAT 'launch ship' and tried using payloader but it wasn't successful, the reason being that the new command pod was not considered the 'main' command pod. And while I was looking at the .craft file I could so no real thing to discern between the main command pod and the other command pod.

[capi3101]

Oughta be able to do that in 0.20 manually. If the two pods are the same, you could try just detaching everything off of them a piece at a time, swapping their positions and reattaching everything. Alternatively, you could dump them out entirely, pick a new command pod that matched your second command pod (for the root part), then pick a new command pod that matched the first, and finally just put it all back together again.

[Sirrobert]

Oughta be able to do that in 0.20 manually. If the two pods are the same, you could try just detaching everything off of them a piece at a time, swapping their positions and reattaching everything. Alternatively, you could dump them out entirely, pick a new command pod that matched your second command pod (for the root part), then pick a new command pod that matched the first, and finally just put it all back together again.

The problem is that, if one of the parts is the root of the entire craft (the part you started with), you can't just take it out.

There is a way to do this though:

Detach the REST of the rocket from your main pod. Now delete the pod. You can now do nothing with the rest of the rocket (which is red, the same way a part you didn't attach would be) until you pick a new root part. Pick for this the other pod. Now reattach the rest of the rocket to this new pod

[capi3101]

That's what I was trying to say; perhaps I didn't say it very clearly...

[Sirrobert]

Now that you say so, you are right.

Gues I didn't read close enough. O well, better to much info than to little I gues

[adjit]

The problem is that, if one of the parts is the root of the entire craft (the part you started with), you can't just take it out.

There is a way to do this though:

Detach the REST of the rocket from your main pod. Now delete the pod. You can now do nothing with the rest of the rocket (which is red, the same way a part you didn't attach would be) until you pick a new root part. Pick for this the other pod. Now reattach the rest of the rocket to this new pod

The problem with that is there are things attached to the Command pod that aren't attached to the rest of the ship, so regardless I will still have an issue. I guess my real question is how does the game determine which part of the ship is the root?

[Sirrobert]

The first part you placed is the root. If you pick it up, you move the entire ship

[adjit]

The first part you placed is the root. If you pick it up, you move the entire ship

I know this. I am saying, when I am in the source code of each .craft file, what discerns the root from the rest of the ship? Where in the source code of the game would I be able to find that.

[capi3101]

Unless I'm mistaken, the root is always the first part listed in the .craft file. You could test this by copying the craft file to a different directory (you work with the copy in case this is totally wrong and fubars your ship), opening the copy up in Notepad or whatever the standard text editor is for your OS, take the first command pod and cut it out, paste it immediately after the second command pod in the craft file, then cut the second command pod out and paste it first in the file. Shouldn't affect any of the parts linked to either command pod but should switch which one the game will use as the root. Rename the craft, rename the file to match, copy it back into your KSP ships directory.

Now, like I said, you should work with the copy; that way if this doesn't work, you aren't out a working ship and won't come hunting me down to put a discount brick through my head or some-such.

[EoD]

Unless I'm mistaken, the root is always the first part listed in the .craft file. You could test this by copying the craft file to a different directory (you work with the copy in case this is totally wrong and fubars your ship), opening the copy up in Notepad or whatever the standard text editor is for your OS, take the first command pod and cut it out, paste it immediately after the second command pod in the craft file, then cut the second command pod out and paste it first in the file. Shouldn't affect any of the parts linked to either command pod but should switch which one the game will use as the root. Rename the craft, rename the file to match, copy it back into your KSP ships directory.

Now, like I said, you should work with the copy; that way if this doesn't work, you aren't out a working ship and won't come hunting me down to put a discount brick through my head or some-such.

I tried replacing the first PART entry of the .craft file, but it did not change the primary command module. Did anyone in the meanwhile figure out how to flip the primary of two command pods in a .craft file?

[diomedea]

The problem with that is there are things attached to the Command pod that aren't attached to the rest of the ship, so regardless I will still have an issue. I guess my real question is how does the game determine which part of the ship is the root?

If your issue is about changing the root part, please check this mod: SelectRoot (still works for me in 0.23.5, even if not updated). Can't say if that is all you need, or you should also change what is the "control" module in flight (but changing control in flight seems to me a quite easy thing to achieve).

[Sirrobert]

Yeay, necroes

[Claw]

I tried replacing the first PART entry of the .craft file, but it did not change the primary command module. Did anyone in the meanwhile figure out how to flip the primary of two command pods in a .craft file?

Welcome to the forums!

You may want to avoid posting into a thread that's 6 months old, because most people will skip over your question and go back to answering the original post, which doesn't do anyone any good.

You can't just swap parts around in the craft file. There are all kinds of links and pieces that reference each other based on where they are in the file itself. In any case, what is it that you are actually trying to accomplish? As in, why do you want/need to have the other command pod as "primary"? The SelectRoot mod will change the root part, but that might not help do what you want based on how your craft is built and what you're trying to do.

(You may want to post your whole question and a picture of your craft in a new thread. You can post images to a site like http://imgur.com

[Specialist290]

EDIT: Nevermind, carry on. Didn't notice someone else had asked their own question in the meantime (although with how old this thread is, it might have been better to start a new one...)