Did we loose the ability to have kerbal assisted field repairs/configurations?

[keoki]

In .22 I was able to move parts around, perform rudimentary repairs, , prepare the rover for specific missions, etc. I would have several items that were attached in a flight-ready storage position, low on the lander to keep the center of gravity low. When on the surface, the Kerbal would walk to within a couple meters of the item, and I could right click it, causing the Kerbal to stow the item on his back. I could then deploy those parts as needed for rover missions. Have the action-keys changed for this, or had this feature been disabled? It is pretty nice to know that when you have a bad landing, and your ship is damaged but not destroyed, you have a chance to repair it using the Kerbal. Or that the Kerbal can do more than plant flags and take soil samples. being able to perform VAB tasks in the field is a REAL duty of manned flights, there is no substitute for being able to get out and turn a wrench. My Kerbal can still fix a flat tire, but I seem to have lost the ability to do anything else.

I'm hoping it is just because these functions have been moved to a set of keys, and I haven't found them yet... Now I did fully unlock my career mode under .22, and for .23 I did a clean stock install with no mods... I suppose it is possible that I was using a feature from a forgotten mod under .22... if so that would be handy to know.

I also noticed that my stock method of stiffening large diameter ships using struts and fins to form trusses also no longer works. I can no longer attach struts to winglets, so now if I want to create a truss, I can't use something pretty, I have to use an ugly girder. It isn't the end of the world, but it means some of my best designs cannot move from .22 to .23.

.23 is a wonderful improvement in terms of performance for high-part-count craft, though I have yet to build a 900+ part craft yet under .23, so I have yet to see the full impact of the speedup. None of my previous designs of heavy ships can exist in .23, so I have to design a whole new fleet. That is too bad, I kind of liked my ships...

If I can't strut the winglets, I can live with that I guess, I'll weld something together to replace them. But not being able to reconfigure and repair while away from the VAB, well that is a step in the wrong direction!!

Edited December 22, 2013 by keoki

[astropapi1]

You were using the Kerbal Attachment System, which also enables you to pick up and attach small parts when on EVA.

[sgt_flyer]

Looks like you used KAS in 0.22 (the bit where you could pick parts with your kerbals and put them on their back is KAS) - plus you maybe used some other mods with reinforced struts / reinforced joints

Try getting an up to date version of your mods

[keoki]

Actually I had weak joints, that is why I had to create trusses. If I had used a mod to stiffen the joints, I wouldn't have needed trusses. A truss is where you create a triangular section to reinforce a joint. The reinforcement comes from the strut array creating tension in opposition to any attempt to flex the joint. The more stiffening your joint needs, the more radial trusses you use. Start with three, go up to 8 if you need them. A rocket that would snap in half if you attempted a maneuver under light load could do cartwheels under heavy loads once fully trussed. But it adds to the parts count,

I would put a set of 3 to 8 fins between two weak joints, then struts from the leading wing tips and trailing wing tips to the sections just past the weak sections. In doing this I created stuff joints with stock struts. To further brace the weak sections I would strut from the other direction as well. I can do the same thing now with girders, but it is ugly, and doesn't add any control surfaces, AND girders weigh a LOT more than winglets.

The science behind the trusses I was using comes from the grain elevator pipe truss. his structure, a pipe that would bend while under the weight of the grain passing through it, is made stiff when a triangular skeletal tension structure is created outside of the pipe. The larger the triangular sections, the more stiffness is imparted to the otherwise weak structure of the pipe. In the case of a sectional pipe, such as a rocket ship, it adds a compressive force at the joints, and braces against any side to side forces you might encounter during extreme maneuvers.

I would rather use engineering concepts to overcome a problem than software cheats, especally if the engineering is fairly simple. I don't know who invented the truss, but it is really old, the Egyptians used them to erect their monolyths...

I remember getting KAS to build a skycrane, I didn't realize it enabled the kerbals to pick up parts... That is good to know, makes sense. That doesn't really seem like a cheat though, it seems like something that manned flights were meant to add to space exploration, repairs, assembly, reconfiguration, and construction. That should be part of why they are helpful to bring on a mission.

I do I remember discussing joint reinforcements in the forums, but I didn't get the mod that provides that. By that point I was building 900+ part ships and running out of memory, and I was removing mods rather than adding them.

Thanks for the great answer re KAS...

Edited December 22, 2013 by keoki