Linking parts (girders, etc.)

[adalast]

I am trying to figure out how to stitch parts together, such as girders, beams, and structural plates. It would be ideal if the system would just do a proximity weld, but it doesn't seem to. I have been trying to figure this out for a while, but to no avail.

EX.

Oâ•Ââ•Ââ•Ââ•Ââ•ÂO
â•‘     â•‘
â•‘     â•‘
â•‘     â•‘
Oâ•Ââ•Ââ•Ââ•Ââ•ÂO

If is try to make this in KSP, at one point in the ring, the girders would not be able to connect. I wish there were an alt-right click option to weld, similar to resource transfer, but there doesn't seem to be any such action that I have found, so... how do i do it?

Similarly, if I am trying to make a deck or plating on a vessel, for whatever reason... I can't get adjascent pieces to fit together, let alone actually lock. I can do one edge, but cannot line them up with surrounding plates. I am currently working on a self sustaining base on the Mun using Kethane and the Extraplanetary Launchpads, but it is made quite tedius by this problem. Any suggestions?

Edited January 24, 2014 by adalast

[DeMatt]

Parts of a rocket, in KSP, are assembled in a "tree" fashion... you have a trunk, which sprouts branches, which sprout branches, etc. etc.

What this means is that no newly-added part will ever connect to two existing parts. The only exceptions are the strut connector and the fuel line.

You'll have to settle for "looks like it's in place", or add a double layer of docking ports - only one such pair of docking ports will be assembled in the VAB, but the others will (usually) immediately dock with each other when the vessel is put on the launchpad.

[Taki117]

Try this mod. I've never used it, but it might be able to help with what you want.

[Jean Deaux]

For a stock assembly, I would use struts to make the final connection secure to the first piece as the opposite end never anchors.

[zxczxczbfg]

Discovering that parts don't connect on more than one node was one of my major ARRGHWTF@#$% moments in the demo, and I agree wholeheartedly that it needs to be added to the game.

[Taki117]

Discovering that parts don't connect on more than one node was one of my major ARRGHWTF@#$% moments in the demo, and I agree wholeheartedly that it needs to be added to the game.

Sadly I believe it's a limitation of the Unity engine, not the coding of the game.

[Kasuha]

An example how to build a cycle. Of course with girders you can't make the strut perfectly invisible but it more or less works with anything. Another option is to use facing docking ports, they will snap together when the thing is deployed on launchpad. Usually.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited January 24, 2014 by Kasuha

[the_bT]

Sadly I believe it's a limitation of the Unity engine, not the coding of the game.

I believe that to be a myth... True, Unity uses a tree like structure with its "Gameobjects", but what counts are the joints that tell the physics engine what is attached to what. And those do not follow a tree structure. (You can add joints between objects pretty freely in Unity, at least from what little I know about it) The reason why KSP is locked in its tree structure with ship parts is that a lot of other things depend on it too. Fuel flow or the way the VAB and SPH interfaces work for example. At this point it would be extremely hard to change that. We have Struts, they allow us to connect everything with everything if we so desire, its a reasonable compromise I think.

Edited January 24, 2014 by the_bT

[Kasuha]

Even if it was limitation of the game and not Unity that doesn't mean it would be simple to change. A lot of game implementation and logic may depend on it. For instance, certain aspects of fuel flow depend on whether the part is parent or child in the ship's structure. But in general graph the parent-child relation is not clearly defined.

Also the ship editor uses the hierarchy heavily. For instance Alt+click copying of complex parts in editor might get pretty complex with cycles in the structure, most of the time you'd probably be able to copy just one part.