What is a Kraken drive?

[Merinsan]

I still doubt it. This isn't a bug you can induce without trying.

If that were the case, the kraken drive would never have been invented. The whole reason people came up with this idea was because people were experiencing this bug when not trying.

[SSSPutnik]

This is pretty much my logic. The physics glitch by which the Krakendrive runs does not ever spontaneously occur by landing leg deployment. It takes some pretty precise engineering to build a device that exploits this glitch. The krakendrive isn't something you can create by accident, so yes, I'd call it an undocumented feature.

Maybe not landing legs, but I had the same thing with a ladder and with girders. (I didn't get video of the ladder sorry).

It should be squashed and in fact with the joint improvement in the next version it might not be far away. Let's face it, you could use it for cheating on challenges etc.

Here is video I saved of the girder magic paddle wheel.

Edited February 14, 2014 by SSSPutnik

[Javster]

Well, there is a craft file I got hold of which uses it. I'm planning to use it once I finish the tech tree.

[Comrade Jenkens]

It should be squashed and in fact with the joint improvement in the next version it might not be far away. Let's face it, you could use it for cheating on challenges etc.

Its been tested with ferram joint reinforcement and seems to work so I'm not sure if 0.24 will fix it.

[Spartwo]

I .24 does fix it then it will go into the hall of greats along with twisty hardpoints and infini-gliding.

[ArmchairGravy]

I wonder if the upcoming improvements in joins will affect this.

Edit: I should have read the last page before posting. :/

Edited February 14, 2014 by ArmchairGravy

[Wahgineer]

I can't believe players are allowed to cheat like this, the issue should be fixed immediately.

Says the guy who helps with the work on Mechjeb. Since the game isn't multiplayer (yet), it isn't cheating.

[briansun1]

I .24 does fix it then it will go into the hall of greats along with twisty hardpoints and infini-gliding.

infini-gliding still works . I don't know what the other one is though... oh and bouncing intakes

[m4rt14n]

Squad, please dont kill Kraken Drive. Instead give us more solar systems to explore!

[rkman]

Is it possible that phantom forces, infini-glide and perpetual bouncing/rotating that some parts do after disassembly, are all related?

[Captain Sierra]

Is it possible that phantom forces, infini-glide and perpetual bouncing/rotating that some parts do after disassembly, are all related?

Infiniglide is currently a quirk in the relationship between control surfaces at high angles of attack and stock aerodynamics. It will likely be fixed when the aerodynamics are reworked, as it does not work in FAR.

The perpetual bouncing, depending on the situation, can be caused by the strange way water works in KSP. Things like Spartwo's migrating aerospikes . . . I don't even . . .

Phantom forces . . . it depends on which ones. There are so many of them in the game it's beyond funny. There's the slow orbit rotation glitch, there's the equal and opposite forces glitch (where one side is not always calculated correctly, resulting in net force and acceleration, i.e. KrakenDrive), there's sometimes phantom forces when docking or on buggy patches of terrain. There's so many to fix that one particular instance that takes some serious precision engineering to even onset, lead alone exploit, will probably be very low, if at all, on the list of things Squad wants to look at. Even still, in the face of the community enthrallment with the devices, would they really rob us of that or would they make it an undocumented feature of kerbal laws of physics.

[Captain Sierra]

I .24 does fix it then it will go into the hall of greats along with twisty hardpoints and infini-gliding.

don't actually think .24 will fix it. KJR breaks the KrakenDrive but it increases joint strength in a much different way than .24 will, so I'm not really certain that .24 will break anything.

[mythic_fci]

don't actually think .24 will fix it. KJR breaks the KrakenDrive but it increases joint strength in a much different way than .24 will, so I'm not really certain that .24 will break anything.

Some guy on the SSI thread took the SSI Quark's K-Drive unit apart, rebuilt it, and tested it with Joint Reinforcement. It worked. Maybe you need precision drives to work in hard conditions.

[m4v]

Says the guy who helps with the work on Mechjeb. Since the game isn't multiplayer (yet), it isn't cheating.

You know, at this point you should know that when regex talks about cheating he's being 101% sarcastic.

[Kryxal]

Slow orbit rotation glitch ... well, it's nice to know that it's not just my computer that's causing THAT! It's sort of annoying, line yourself up 10 minutes in advance, then fix it when it's time to burn...

[Dimetime35c]

Okay been hearing bout these on the forum. What the hell are they and how stable/crashproof are they? From my understanding they cause a glitch in the game to make the ship go faster then intended. If so how stable is it? Is there a chance by using the drive you'll crash your KSP and or corrupt the save file?

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

No, there is no chance of corrupting your save file or crashing KSP.

[CalculusWarrior]

The drives are somewhat of a misnomer; they don't work by exploiting the Deep Space Kraken (a bug squashed around 0.16 I believe), but rather work by clipping a set of landing gear through a structural panel, and utilizing a glitch where Newton's 3rd Law is not properly calculated to provide thrust.

The drives vary with design; I was never able to get any of mine to work, but I have seen one powering a plane, and apparently they work quite well in vacuum.

As with all craft which exploit a glitch in the game, there is the risk of crashing or unleashing the Hell Kraken, but again, this varys with design.

My suggestion is to try out the ships in a separate save game before bringing any stable ships over to your main save.

[Comrade Jenkens]

I've never seen them corrupt a save but they have caused a few crashes. Also they work very differently above and below 700m/s for some reason.

[HafCoJoe]

Can you guys give a few example pics of Kraken drives? I want to see what it is that you mean with the landing gear or various models.

[Rassa Farlander]

There are a few threads on this, just keep going a couple pages in and you will see them

[andrew123]

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[Felsmak]

They can be just as powerful as a Mainsail, so they do work extremely well.

In my experience they're prone to breaking, however - the landing legs specifically - and attempting to repair them with a Kerbal seems to cause a rapid loss of proximity.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Felsmak

[-RanZ-]

you should back up your save even if you are not using the kraken drive

[Comrade Jenkens]