Problems with Abort sequence

[Kasuha]

I have three problems with using Abort sequence on my ship.

Things I have put into it are: deactivate all main engines, undock the last stage, and activate engines on that last stage. My problems with it are:

- when I execute the Abort sequence, the disconnected stages don't disappear and to disconnect from my escape engine and deploy the parachute I need to go through all stages in order. I can even hear how these stages are executed on the distant already disconnected ship. This takes priceless seconds as sometimes I need to deploy the chute really fast.

- it does not deactivate main engines although they are still connected to the ship. Apparently it goes to undock the last stage first and then it cannot deactivate those engines because they're not connected anymore. I tried to change order of actions in the Abort action group but the game seems to insist on setting up the order on its own.

- my abort sequence includes activating four engines (added through 4-fold symmetry). When I disconnect the bottom part of the ship in VAB and connect it back again, the abort sequence gets screwed up and only one of the four engines activates, making the situation even worse. The matter is, this is a cargo ship with crew module at the top, lifting stage at the bottom and the cargo in the middle so I need to disconnect the lifter every time I change the cargo.

Is there a way how to get rid of disconnected stages?

Is there a way how to set up correct order of executing of abort sequence actions?

Is there a way how to avoid getting the action group screwed up?

Edited September 12, 2013 by Kasuha

[thescientist]

I have three problems with using Abort sequence on my ship.

Things I have put into it are: deactivate all main engines, undock the last stage, and activate engines on that last stage. My problems with it are:

- when I execute the Abort sequence, the disconnected stages don't disappear and to disconnect from my escape engine and deploy the parachute I need to go through all stages in order. I can even hear how these stages are executed on the distant already disconnected ship. This takes priceless seconds as sometimes I need to deploy the chute really fast.

- it does not deactivate main engines although they are still connected to the ship. Apparently it goes to undock the last stage first and then it cannot deactivate those engines because they're not connected anymore. I tried to change order of actions in the Abort action group but the game seems to insist on setting up the order on its own.

- my abort sequence includes activating four engines (added through 4-fold symmetry). When I disconnect the bottom part of the ship in VAB and connect it back again, the abort sequence gets screwed up and only one of the four engines activates, making the situation even worse. The matter is, this is a cargo ship with crew module at the top, lifting stage at the bottom and the cargo in the middle so I need to disconnect the lifter every time I change the cargo.

Is there a way how to get rid of disconnected stages?

Is there a way how to set up correct order of executing of abort sequence actions?

Is there a way how to avoid getting the action group screwed up?

this look strange. Did you used the right action group and the right button (backspace)?

[Kasuha]

Yes, I use the Abort action group and I press Backspace to activate it. I also use the latest game release and I don't use any mods.

[Diazo]

- my abort sequence includes activating four engines (added through 4-fold symmetry). When I disconnect the bottom part of the ship in VAB and connect it back again, the abort sequence gets screwed up and only one of the four engines activates, making the situation even worse. The matter is, this is a cargo ship with crew module at the top, lifting stage at the bottom and the cargo in the middle so I need to disconnect the lifter every time I change the cargo.

This is a known bug where removing and replacing a part added with symmetry removes the symmetrical parts from any Action Groups they are a part of, but the piece you clicked on stays in any Action Groups it has been assigned to.

I can't help on the other two questions as I still stick to unmanned rockets exclusively and so have not tried building an abort stage yet.

D.

[Johnno]

I haven't used the abort sequence a lot myself, I usually stick to regular action groups. I decided to test it a bit now to try and answer your questions. I couldn't however get the same results as you, my main engine(s) were shut down correctly and my pod decoupled when I hit abort, no matter what order I added them to my abort action group.

Next up, I don't know of a way to remove 'disconnected stages', you have to manually trigger them. However, to get around the issue of having to go through them to deploy your parachutes you can simply make a separate action group for your parachutes. Personally I use 9 for abort and 0 for parachutes, you could use backspace to abort then hit 0 (or any other preferrable action group number).

For further help I think we'd need your craft file to try and troubleshoot your engine issue, I simply added 'shutdown engine' for my main engines into my abort group and it worked flawlessly so I'm not sure why yours wouldn't.

[Dkmdlb]

@thescientist. There is no reason to quote the whole OP if you are the first response.

To the original question - for a workaround you might hit X to cut engines before you abort. Or maybe in the action groups, set up "cut all engines" first, then add "decouple capsule" or whatever after. I don't know if that will change anything, but it might be worth a shot if you haven't already.

[Kasuha]

Thanks for your answers.

Actually I remembered the action is a little bit more complex - it shuts down all "forward" engines and activates all "backward" engines to pull the rest from the escaping module. I don't know if it plays role.

Hitting X is not an option because I need my escape engines to pull me out of the mess. I even wish there was an action to put throttle to the max because now I need to be at full throttle for the abort sequence to work correctly. Looking for two keys to press in sequence in tight situations is not very comfortable either but I guess it's the best I can get. And using custom action groups to manually perform the last two stages is probably good idea.

I will try to collect and post my craft file when I get back home because I really wonder what I am doing wrong. If it works for you it should work for me, too.

[Kasuha]

Okay after returning to my saved ship I tested it once again and it actually does shut down engines behind the decoupler. The thing it doesn't do is to activate the reverse (i.e. up-facing) engines behind the decoupler.

The craft file is here:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/zlnrix