I love docking

[thunderstar]

ok this may seem weird but i have been a ksp player since 2012, but played it one time even before, i landed and orbited almost everywhere in the solar system (mostly probes i like my crew to come back home)so after like a billion failed intents of of rendezvous and docking i finally made it 2 days ago and now i cant stop! i just love the feeling of that moment just 1 second before docking

some pics:

album:http://imgur.com/a/M6ZxL

[mythbusters844]

Is that picture with clouds photoshopped or does a mod add that? Oh and nice

[thunderstar]

This mod to be precise: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/44135-0-21-x-Universe-Replacer

of course it comes without the clouds it modifies the starfield but look in the last pages there it is the cloud thingie

[cesarcurado]

Ikr, once I did it for the first time, it was easy to do the second, the third and so on.

Also very fun to do it.

It is a never-ending feeling of accomplishment.

[Space Ace]

Ah yes docking... at first I thought it was harder than landing on the Mun itself.

First getting to rendevouz with the target, approaching, alligning and then inching forward at waslking pace.

Chase camera really helps.

Then I saw this docking camera on one of Scott Manleys videos and this thing helps ALOT! especially when you try to dock bigger parts.

It's part of the Romfarer Lazor System but is also available as a standalone.

And yeah I don't really trust Mechjeb with doing this... that tin can has a reputation for sabotaging my projects so I only use Smart A.S.S, Orbital and Vessel Info

Translatron won't do anything in this situation ... I tried to get some use out of it to approach the spaceship but it was no help at all (obviously ^^)

[ouion]

what is that blue service module mod?

[Themohawkninja]

The first time I tried docking, I was not at all adept with my orbital mechanics, and I didn't know about the docking force, so I eventually gave up mashing together the craft, and just parked them right next to each other.

So much for 90 minutes of pure focus.

[HeadHunter67]

what is that blue service module mod?

It looks like the one from the Kerturn rocket by HBI.

I enjoy docking - I learned the hard way, by MechJeb showing me what it should be doing (and then screwing it up and wasting fuel until I took over in annoyance).

I still don't have the hang of rendezvous, but the more of them I observe the clearer it's becoming. Soon enough I'll try that manually.

[Echostatic]

Docking is my favorite thing to do in KSP. I've become very good at it, the navball is the key Well, that and properly placed RCS nozzles...

[katateochi]

I love docking too!! So satisfying!

Nice clouds, might have to check that mod out (if I can actually squeeze anymore mods in). What is the mod you are using for the craft?

Docking is my favorite thing to do in KSP. I've become very good at it, the navball is the key Well, that and properly placed RCS nozzles...

"The navball is the key" Amen!!

I've just tried a new way of docking and its added a whole new joy to the process. Doing it in IVA mode (from inside the B9 M27 overview cockpit, the one with high visibility) and using a joystick, I've never tried that before. I've been using a small RCS tug craft to assemble a modular comms section for my station and its been too much fun, the views have been fantastic and it really felt very real.

Doing it from IVA put my view close to the docking port on the tug craft so I guess that is a bit like using the docking cam (i've not used that) and made getting perfectly lined up very easy. Using a joystick was awesome, I'd tried using a Joystick to fly space planes before but the result was always the same; bits of plane everywhere, but this was something else.

I highly recommend! B9cockpit + IVA + Joystick = Fabtasticly fun docking!!

Here's a couple pics;

[HeadHunter67]

That's a fantastic view... but how in the heck do you use that cockpit on a rocket? I'm trying to imagine how to assemble it in such a way that you can put a docking port in front of it. I'd be curious to see an outside shot please.

[loknar]

I like docking too.

I pushed myself to build my space station with dual docking ports, for stability. Last night, I have spent a good 30-40 minutes sending the final part which had to dock 2 ports to the side and 2 ports in the front of the tugging vessel - completing the 2nd square of the station.

In the end, only 1/2 port on each side actually connected but I don't want to risk another 10 minutes of docking maneuvers. the station is rock solid now and fully expendable.

The first square was easier, by luck. I'll post pictures if anyone is interested.

[Stankleberry]

I've just tried a new way of docking and its added a whole new joy to the process. Doing it in IVA mode (from inside the B9 M27 overview cockpit, the one with high visibility) and using a joystick, I've never tried that before.

Do many people use a joystick with KSP? Is there a poll about that?

I tried it once and it was scary, but I didn't take much time configuring it. I'm sure it could be less scary. That's how they do it in the real spaceships, they don't use asdl. Maybe in the future.

[Tripzter]

I love docking as well as long as the ports arent bugged. I'll love it more though if they were to fix the junk game engine so i'm not getting half a frame per second around my station :/ And no my computer isnt lagging... 30-40cpu and less than 30% video card usage at most.

[loknar]

I wanna know too if others use analog joystick to help docking. I have a logitech rumblepad2 but feel comfortable with my keyboard - terrified that the wireless joystick suddently stops working during a maneuver and I smash into a station's solar panels!

[loknar]

I love docking as well as long as the ports arent bugged. I'll love it more though if they were to fix the junk game engine so i'm not getting half a frame per second around my station :/ And no my computer isnt lagging... 30-40cpu and less than 30% video card usage at most.

30% CPU means you probably have a quad-core or something. KSP only uses 1 thread for physics. Check out this thread for performance issues around stations: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/43153-Low-FPS-at-Space-Stations

[Tripzter]

Correct, i have a quad core and ALL Of them are at 30-40%, not a single core goes over 40ish %. Thanks for the link, looking at it now.

Also docking is very simple with a keyboard. i'd suggest changing your translation keys to the numberpad keys. 1 left, 2 down, 3 right, 5 up, 4 forward, 6 reverse.

[Flowz0r]

Who doesn't love a good docking?

[loknar]

How many docking ports do you dock simultaneously?

I did 12 docking's with dual ports

2 dockings with dual ports in 2 positions around the craft

all instances were on craft with very bad RCS directional exactness:'(

Edited August 8, 2013 by loknar

[DeepSpaceDutch]

Who doesn't love a good docking?

Indeed I experienced some great docking this morning, although it ended with a big explosion......

[Bigcheecho]

I haven't docked successfully, but then again, I have only attempted docking once.

[loknar]

Indeed I experienced some great docking this morning, although it ended with a big explosion......

Use a parachute if you don't want any accidents

[Luxmaster-CZ]

I love docking too:)

Core in the middle, two solar arrays at sides and safety return pod in the bottom. When you move kerbals there and stage once, the RCS tank rips off at the same time capsule does from station, it all flies apart and you have few minutes (until electricity runs off) to orient capsule retrograde and fire second stage (8 sepatrons) to deorbit. All in matters of seconds

[DeepSpaceDutch]

One of my first docking attempts resulted in this station;

And now 5 months of KSP later you see the evolution in design (and you cannot see the evolution in docking, but believe me, it's going a hell of lot easier once I learned to use the navball properly!)

EDIT: The resemblence to a man with extraordinarily long arms is completely by accident!

Edited August 8, 2013 by DeepSpaceDutch
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[katateochi]

That's a fantastic view... but how in the heck do you use that cockpit on a rocket? I'm trying to imagine how to assemble it in such a way that you can put a docking port in front of it. I'd be curious to see an outside shot please.

Just in the same way you'd use the standard MK1-2 pod, it's well balanced despite its visual asymmetry. Here's a couple pics of it in the VAB;

It has a standard docking port in front on a B9 structural fuselage to extend it so its in view from IVA. Also has a senior docking port on its back to move larger modules.

It has two reaction wheel modules to give it lot's of torque so it can move heavy and unbalanced parts around and uses the B9 RCS thrusters so I could get away with only needing 4 thrusters. That other thing next to it in the first pic (basically just a large remote guidance unit and some RCS thrusters sandwiched between two senior docking ports) is a helper unit. When moving really heavy and long sections the tug docks to one end and the helper to the other, to provide better RCS ballance.

Here's a pic of it working on the comms array;

Do many people use a joystick with KSP? Is there a poll about that?

I tried it once and it was scary, but I didn't take much time configuring it. I'm sure it could be less scary. That's how they do it in the real spaceships, they don't use asdl. Maybe in the future.

I think there was a poll about that awhile back. I'd tried using a joystick before and also found it was all too scary. I'd actually bought one specially to see if I could fly planes better with it but that didn't go well! I'd not really tried using it to control a craft in space before thou, now I don't think I'm going back to keyboarding! I think partly the new SAS makes a huge improvement when using a joystick and its so nice to have analog control and not use the keyboard (which as you say is not really standard issue in RL spacecraft). I had pitch, roll, yaw and translation up/down/left/right all on my left hand (I'm right handed but this worked out ok) and my right could mouse to look around and I've got translate forward/back on two side mouse buttons. Definitely how I'm playing KSP from now on! I'm just at a loss as to what the trigger on the joystick should be bound to!