On Rocket/Spacecraft Robustness in v0.23

[rodion_herrera]

One of the first things I did with v0.23, after I noticed the increase in FPS, was to load up some of my more complex rocket designs (i.e 500+ parts) and fly it up to LKO. Everything seemed great at first, and then I noticed something--parts that used to be robust and wouldn't fall apart on ascent, were now tearing itself out of their attach points, thereby destroying the stack. I also noticed this with some of my winged SSTO designs, esp. wing roots (the part where a wing meets the fuselage or fuel tanks). I never experienced that before with any of my aerospace planes. So anyone experience or notice this issue with robustness as well?

[Markarian421]

I ran into that problem in 0.22 -- I could not put enough struts on some of my rockets to keep them from falling apart on the pad or on ascent. Rockets seemed far more fragile than in previous versions. I ended up installing the Kerbal Joint Reinforcement mod.

[rodion_herrera]

Hmmm thanks for the input Markarian. Anyone else? I think I read from some other guy in the "Grand" thread, I wish he could see this post and tell us details about his particular experience, and the means he used to solve it (if he ever did).

[TheSaint]

I only got to play briefly last night, but my 328-part Jool explorer vehicle fell apart right after its first stage separation. I've had about a dozen successful launches with this vehicle design or its derivatives under .21 and .22. So, yes, things seem to be more fragile under .23.

[yaur]

I did notice that I had a LV-T30 that kept getting shaken off while the SRBs were burning... didn't think much of it and tweaking the staging so that it was burning with the SRBs fixed it. This is a ~20 part rocket so not kraken related.

[Franklin]

they changed the default "max physics delta time per frame" from 0.1 to 0.04, perhaps that has something to do with it?

[PDCWolf]

I felt the launch clamps to be even more wobbly than what they were before. Obviously their mesh doesn't even move, but they can't hold anything for ----. On top of that, none of the launch clamp bugs were solved.

[Spamal0t]

I've had a stack destroyed when an orange tank separated from a medium grey tank (you know, to prevent overheating of mainsails). Those tanks were actually reinforced in their connection by girders with strut connections. Worked like a charm before, now it just randomly breaks on ascent.

Tested this twice, happened both times. Mainsail keeps firing, can't separate the rest of the stack because the thrust is too high. Awesome framerate now though, so I can see it all going to bits smoothly.

[Blue]

I noticed "Stress Tolerance" in parts has changed from being a number, to a value of acceptable acceleration. (Parts that used to be "8" are now "8 m/s²". I would postulate this is just a renaming of a property, and not an alteration of the existing parts.

I second the motion that ye need more of ye olde strutes.

[richiespeed13]

Awesome framerate now though, so I can see it all going to bits smoothly.

This my friend, makes it all worthwhile! The best part about KSP is that failure looks so cool!

[rodion_herrera]

Yes, surprisingly enough, I for one would trade robustness for increased performance/smoothness! After all, all we need to do, is the obvious and oft celebrated activity in KSP--moar struts At least now I know I'm not alone in noticing this.

[LameLefty]

Ferram's Kerbal Joint Reinforcement = Best. Mod. EVAR.

[Tidus Klein]

Nope haven't noticed this yet. Been in career mode!

Just finished my Mun mission.

[GusTurbo]

I've been working on a space shuttle, and I've gotten some random explosions when physics load, usually where parts are clipped together and launch stabilizers are present. I really wish those were fixed -- they were perfect before .22.

[Moar Boosters]

Just tested one of my giant spaceplanes, and it holds up fine. I'm pretty sure this craft would turn into confetti if they'd weakened the connections somehow.

[lucusloc]

I have run into the launch clap problem. Usually thy hold my ships just fine, but sometimes they just drop them on the pad for no reason when it loads. Is there a good way to fix this?

[Giggleplex777]

I've been working on a space shuttle, and I've gotten some random explosions when physics load, usually where parts are clipped together and launch stabilizers are present. I really wish those were fixed -- they were perfect before .22.

Pics?

I've noticed that the launch clamps are just as weak as they were in 0.22. I the trick is to attach the clamps to a single part such as the big fuel tank , so if the clamps shift, it shouldn't rip the rocket apart.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Giggleplex777

[liweih]

Yes，I met the same thing. All my sstos docking on several stations all lost one side of their winds. And the now flipping the whole station with no reason and all the reaction wheel can not stop this spinning. I have to abandon them right away.

[Madrias]

I had wings fold on one of my high-speed jets. Pulled up to do a loop, wings folded, then came off. No, I'm not using FAR, either.

[MilkToast]

The best part about KSP is that failure looks so cool!

Why is this the most accurate thing about KSP I've seen all month?

(worthy of inclusion in the signature, I daresay)

[bsalis]

Any craft that pushes the limits of the bonding, such as large crafts, are often impacted by subtle differences in new versions. Typically a few tweaks to "refit" to the new version solve the problem.

[chuangatronic]

Yeah I also had problems when I made the switch over. One of my favorite workhorses completely tore apart during reentry when my drogue chutes deployed. I was really disappointed that I have to take that design back to the drawing board.