Space Station Stability

[TheMusicMafia]

So I've been dicking around making some stations and running into the same problem over and over, and I bet that you can guess what that is. Just when making these things, using the tricoupler method drops my fps and makes docking hell. In all honesty, this thread's been posted before, but all the ones that I've found are dated well before .22 here, so I turn to you now. What ways have you improved station stability and made things less...wobbly.

Mod ideas are welcome as well

Thanks all!

[xoknight]

Use the large docking ports

[BlazeKerba]

If you haven't already, set your Max Physics Delta-Time all the way to the right. It will slow down the FPS by a lot but it will at least make it easier to dock. Also, there are some texture compression plugins around here somewheres, can't remember where tho, look for those and they'll help too. Otherwise, your best chance is to go to Graphics under Settings at the Main Menu, not in game, and mess with those. Sad part is, KSP just demands so much and some people keep answering 'Get a better PC!' which is completely uncalled for. Best PC I can think of costs roughly $700 for me, I could afford it, but it will take me months and I have more important things to worry about than buying me a brand new PC rather than play this game on my laptop (its a really good laptop too, quad core and such, sorry not going to dig up the specs, its just really good for a laptop, cost me $500 cuz I needed for college and the current Desktop I had, was garbage.)

But a gaming PC can range way over a thousand dollars. No one has that kind of money unless you got some high end CAREER job. I'm trying to get such job myself, going in for animations and what not, so yeah, lot of potential there. But I just started college this fall (i been to college before, but dropped out :/ cuz I wasn't positive on my previous major, this time I am.) So I'm sure I can afford a more decent Desktop in the future, but seriously.... 'Get a better PC' is NOT THE ONLY ANSWER!

So...yeah. Texture Compression Plugins can help, otherwise you have to mess with the Max Physics Delta-Time and graphic settings. That's all I know man, sorry.

[XavierMendel]

You could try UbioZor's part welding plugin. It lets you merge groups of parts together in order to raise your FPS (and negate a lot of wobble).

[KvickFlygarn87]

Large docking ports, smaller station, not moving it around, get KAS and strut dat sheet up.

[SSSPutnik]

A bigger PC won't make much difference. Tried it already It helps but if you have a big station, it still lags/wobbles.

[Traches]

Simpler stations and parts welding. With KSP, the total number of parts in a scene is one of the biggest factors in your computer's performance. Doesn't matter if they're antennas, struts, or orange tanks.

Quantum struts may not be up to date, but it's a good mod for fixing wobbly stations too. Kerbal joint reinforcement does exactly what it says; also worth looking into!

[SSSPutnik]

On a related note... My station has a lot of orange tanks. I can see all the strut ends showing from where lifter was attached. Is this normal? I thought they were supposed to disappear when connector dropped.

[Eadrom]

On a related note... My station has a lot of orange tanks. I can see all the strut ends showing from where lifter was attached. Is this normal? I thought they were supposed to disappear when connector dropped.

As I understand it, if you strut from the drop tanks to the part you are keeping, the strut attachment points will go away after changing scenes (like going to the space center and then going back to the ship/station). If you strut from the center of your ship to the drop tanks, then the strut attachment points will stay visible on your ship/station even after changing scenes. That's why you should always strut from parts you are going to discard to parts you are going to keep. The only time you should start a strut connection on a part you are going to keep is when you want to keep the strut in place after launch for structural integrity reasons.

[el_coyoto]

- Large docking ports to connect big parts

- Struts! (KAS mod lets you connect struts while on EVA)

- Torque : for big stations, I try to minimize the amount of torque generated by deactivating as many reaction wheels as possible, especially those not on the core of the station. It will rotate more slowly, but won't be tear apart by torque (hopefully)

- Rotate (and thrust) slowly : the bigger the station, the more inertia...

EDIT :

- Reducing wobbliness by using less and bigger parts when possible (prefer a 64 fuel tank rather than 2x32 for example)

- Perhaps this mod might help (not tested yet) : Kerbal Joint Reinforcement

Edited November 22, 2013 by el_coyoto

[Zephram Kerman]

I've read elsewhere that large numbers of the OX-STAT fixed solar panel tends to cause lag. If you have a bunch of those on your station, that would do it.

[SSSPutnik]

As I understand it, if you strut from the drop tanks to the part you are keeping, the strut attachment points will go away after changing scenes (like going to the space center and then going back to the ship/station).

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

[Tex_NL]

...

- Perhaps this mod might help (not tested yet) : Kerbal Joint Reinforcement

I have Kerbal Joint Reinforcement installed and it works wonders.

It drastically reduces wobble on both rockets and stations. I haven't tested it on planes yet but based on reading that topic and what I have seen myself I am confident.

Before Kerbal Joint Reinforcement my Spacedock was flapping around like a fish out of water when I opened or closed the arms. Now it still wobbles but not nearly as much as before.

[el_coyoto]

I have Kerbal Joint Reinforcement installed and it works wonders.

It drastically reduces wobble on both rockets and stations. I haven't tested it on planes yet but based on reading that topic and what I have seen myself I am confident.

Before Kerbal Joint Reinforcement my Spacedock was flapping around like a fish out of water when I opened or closed the arms. Now it still wobbles but not nearly as much as before.

Ah, good to know, thanks for the feedback!

I kinda deduced that the reduction of wobbliness would apply to space stations as well, but it's even better if a user of the mod confirms it.

Definitely adding it to my list of mods to install...

[arq]

I agree with Tex, KJR works wonders.

[DMagic]

I've read elsewhere that large numbers of the OX-STAT fixed solar panel tends to cause lag. If you have a bunch of those on your station, that would do it.

Yes, this is definitely true. Lots of people tend to plaster their stations with these things without realizing how much of a performance impact they have.

[TheMusicMafia]

Hey thanks for all the feedback everybody! I know a lot of you said just simplify, simplify, but I like building elaborate creations so I think I'm going to go with the multiple Sr. docking clamp and mod approch for this one