Newbie question about rovers

[THobson]

I am getting on okay with the rockets so I though I would have a go at building a rover. I thought I would start simple, practice driving round the KSC before I attempted anything more adventurous. What a a pain. Starting simple I used a control pod and an XL girder with a couple of solar panels and four wheels. The wheels seem to want to attach themselves to the girder in every possible way other than the obvious way of one each side with the wheel pointing to the ground. Eventually i get them on and go to launch. The wheels the sink into the runway. They rotate but the thing does not move forward. I guess it must be me but I just can't see what I a doing wrong.

Edited January 23, 2014 by THobson

[Padishar]

You may just have to take the brakes off. Hit "b" to turn them off. Then hold down b to brake. If you want it to toggle back on you need to click the brake icon by your altimeter.

Pad.

[THobson]

Thanks. The brakes stop the wheel from turning, but when the wheels turn the thing does to move forward. The wheels look like they are digging into the surface of the runway - could this be a representation of flat tyres? It does drop a few feet onto the runway

[Padishar]

Without a screenshot it is hard to tell. Try getting out of/off the rover and walking close to the wheel (put the brakes back on first so it doesn't roll away) and then click the wheel. If it is broken you will get the option to repair it.

The wheels also give problems if you don't mount them the correct way up (e.g. the bit that attaches to the body must be correct side up).

[Epthelyn]

It sounds like you have placed the wheels on the rover with the wrong rotation; the wheel needs to be at the bottom, suspension near the top.

[THobson]

The wheels only seem to want to connect in one way. I don't get chance to repair the wheels so it is probably not that. Screen shot with the Mac version? I have tried F1 with all combinations of Fn & alt but can't seem to get one.

[JumpsterG]

I've seen this before (wheels sinking into the runway) and I also think it means the wheels are upside down (though maybe it's something else, no way to know without seeing it).

I'd go into the editor, pick up the wheels, set 2x symmetry, then, using the WASD+QE keys to rotate the wheels as you attach them, you should be able to get the wheels to face correctly. A little bit of the suspension will be sticking upwards when you've got it right. If for some reason they're attaching at an odd (non-90 degree) angle, you can hold shift while pressing the WASD+QE keys to rotate them in 5 degree increments until they look right. Also, Pressing spacebar while holding a part will reset its orientation.

I think even on mac, the F1 key is the screenshot key. Screenshots are automatically numbered and saved to your KSP installation folder under "Screenshots". Repeated pressing of the F1 key will take screenshots in rapid succession, no need to copy/paste anywhere. Posting the resulting pictures on the forum can be a trick, since the "Insert Image" will require a web address. I advise checking out Imgur, which lets you upload images and albums for free. You can then copy BBCode from Imgur and paste it directly into forum posts to share.

[Vanamonde]

When attaching wheels to girders, it's often helpful to turn off "snap to angles" (the hexagon/circle toggle on the lower left, next to the symmetry button). Then you should only need to rotate them once before placing them, as the orientation won't be flipping around, trying to match itself to the girder surface. And yes, if the wheels are not upright, they will seem to sink into the surface and get little or no traction.

[THobson]

Thank you all for your very helpful replies. I will have a look at how to upload screen shots. My experience is that when rotating the wheels the only time they snap on is either some ridiculous orientation or one that looks right but does not work. I think it is a great idea to develop a game while people are still playing it but my impression is that rovers have not been a high priority for the development team. I think I will give rovers a miss until the developers have had more time to make the interface more usable.

[Kasuha]

I'm not sure if it is the problem or not, but you should definitely construct your rovers in SPH (spaceplane hangar, that small building next to the runway), not in VAB. Then it will became much easier to attach things correctly.

[THobson]

Thanks but I am using the SPH. Are there some add-ons that might be useful?

[JumpsterG]

Thanks but I am using the SPH. Are there some add-ons that might be useful?

The only one I can think of that improves attaching parts in the VAB/SPH interface is Editor Extensions:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/38768-0-23-Editor-Extensions-v0-6-5-Aug-(EdTools-Editor-Tools-replacement)

It has features for using symmetry differently, snapping to different angles/directions, and some other stuff too, but I don't know if it will make what you're doing easier or if it will be option overload. I have yet to use it myself, so if someone else has used it with rovers, do tell if there's something about it that will help.

I wish I could post some screens to help. I visit the forums during downtime at work and have limited time at home to play, so can't back up what I say with examples most of the time.

[THobson]

Thank you all for your help. To save all your time I will set this thread to Answered, even though it isn't really yet. I will try all the things suggested but the frustration is dampening my enthusiasm for rovers, bit for rockets.

[Cairan]

Here's an answer ... Try to rotate the wheels around their axis. If they sink into the ground, rotate them 90 degrees. Try again. You'll end up with some wheels not sinking. That's the correct "way up" for the wheel. Try to see if that wheel has any small indication of an "up side" on the 3D model... It's a pain ... but that's the issue.

[Rich]

This question is over a year old; locking the thread.