Sub assemblies?

[alkopop79]

I've tried the sub assembly thing with no success. I have absolutely no idea how to use it. Tried selecting certain parts and drag them but that just moved the ship around. I love KSP and if I had to I'd be willing to pay for more for it. But the lack of documentation is infuriating. There's no description of how to use things in KSP and I have to ask these things on the forum. Considering that I paid for this software, I don't think I'm asking for too much.

[lukasni]

Let's stay calm, all right?

To create a subassembly, first switch to the subassembly tab in the parts screen. There's a small rectangle called "Subassembly Drop Zone" at the bottom of the tab. Pick up your subassembly from the build view and drop it in the drop zone. You can now name the subassembly and add a description.

[futrtrubl]

You paid for access to an in-developement alpha game. It will have missing features (lack of documentation) and a crap load of serious bugs, so yes asking for too much.

[TheWanderer]

its pretty obvious and intuitive. try harder

[briansun1]

You paid for access to an in-developement alpha game. It will have missing features (lack of documentation) and a crap load of serious bugs, so yes asking for too much.

that plus it says in the end user agreement for thing that the game is provided as is and may or may not be improved or supported after the current update or something to that nature so yes asking too much.

[KSK]

Let's stay calm, all right?

To create a subassembly, first switch to the subassembly tab in the parts screen. There's a small rectangle called "Subassembly Drop Zone" at the bottom of the tab. Pick up your subassembly from the build view and drop it in the drop zone. You can now name the subassembly and add a description.

This. Once you've named it and added the description it'll appear in a list above the drop zone. To re-use it on a new spacecraft, select the sub-assembly tab and then click on whichever you want from the list to select it in much the same way that you select any other part.

Finding the sub-assembly tab took a little bit of looking but figuring out how to use it didn't seem too hard. The big 'Drop your sub-assemblies here' panel was a decent clue.

[Spacewalking on Sunshine]

What I've yet to understand is why it will accept some things as sub assemblies and others it will dismiss with a "THIS PART IS NOT ATTACHABLE" message.

It seems to be allergic to docking ports, but I'm not sure.

[Dunbaratu]

What I've yet to understand is why it will accept some things as sub assemblies and others it will dismiss with a "THIS PART IS NOT ATTACHABLE" message.

It seems to be allergic to docking ports, but I'm not sure.

The problem is that the error message is an utter lie. It's not your fault that it doesn't makes sense because it doesn't tell you what the real complaint is. All parts are attachable. Telling you the part isn't attachable isn't true.

What it's ACTUALLY trying (and failing) to communicate is that a sub-assembly must be "rooted" on a part for which the following two things are both true:

1 - It must have an OPEN, UNUSED attachment point on it. If the part you drag has all its attachment points (the green balls) already consumed by being attached to other parts, it will incorrectly claim the part has no attachment points on it. What it's REALLY complaining about is that even though the part has attachment points, they're all already consumed. It needs an attachment point that's open-ended.

2 - It must be a subset of what's in the editor. You can't put the entire build into the subassembly tab. You must leave some piece behind. Therefore if you want to put the entire thing in the subassembly, then start it with a pointless dummy command core that you plan to leave behind in the editor.

Also remember that having open attachment points at the "leaf" nodes of the assembly isn't good enough. It must have an open attachment point at the ROOT of the part tree in the subassembly. And the root is always the piece you picked up to drag.

The error message is utterly useless to tell people what they need to do to get it to work. It's very misleading.

[Sirrobert]

What I've yet to understand is why it will accept some things as sub assemblies and others it will dismiss with a "THIS PART IS NOT ATTACHABLE" message.

It seems to be allergic to docking ports, but I'm not sure.

Subassambly can only accept entire structures. That means you have to drag it by the parent. AKA, the part you started with. When you load the part later, that parent will be the ONLY attentchment node of the entire subassambly (once connected, all other attentchment points become available again. This is just the way the build system works in KSP)

So if your parent is, say a commandpod with below a rocket, and above a parachute, there are no nodes left. Thus it can't be used by the sub assembly, and it won't accept it