Action groups and ships assembled in orbit (is it possible?)

[vger]

So, I've reached that point where I want to construct (or try anyway) a 'super ship' in orbit that more or less can travel anywhere in the solar system. Refueling and landing entirely handled through docking. This will probably prove to be impossible, but before I drive myself crazy calculating DeltaV's, the big snag I'm running into now is how to operate the darned thing. Given the size of it, each of the engines will be getting sent up from Kerbin on its own and then attached to the main craft. To further complicate things, I want to use nuclear engines for breaking/entering planetary orbits, and use ion engines when the sun is the dominant factor. This would require me to enable/disable a LOT of engine parts when I'm switching between the two drive systems. But at least in the stock game, I've seen no way to alter action groups (even though you can alter stage configurations) after the ship has been built.

So, after I assemble this thing in orbit, is there anyway I can reconfigure the controls so I can operate the engines at the touch of a button? Or am I stuck going through a ridiculous amount of right-clicking?

Note, I am not opposed to installing a mod that will allow me to do this.

[Specialist290]

I don't believe you can reconfigure Action Groups in flight, at least not in the stock game (although I do recall seeing something by the name of "Actions on the Fly" or something like that among the add-ons that might be what you're looking for). However, Action Groups are preserved across craft when you dock them together, so with a little pre-planning, you can set them up before launching each component. Just don't forget which button is supposed to activate what parts

[purpletarget]

Not so much...the action groups are set in the VAB/SPH, and so far are not configurable afterwards (unless you like to try your hand with save file editing).

What can be done, is if you carefully plan out your final ship ahead of time, then each of the components you build can have the action groups set as you built them. So if you want your engines to go on a certain button, set them all when your building each engine cluster before launch. Once assembled, the action groups of each individual component craft remain intact.

[Starstrider42]

What they said. It helps if you decide which action group fits which situation (e.g. orbital insertion, engine changeover, pre-reentry), then write it down somewhere. Then meticulously stick to the script.

My current career game is pretty much entirely based on multi-part ships, so I can assure you this works.

[John Crichton]

Just create a list of action groups and specific actions. For example, I use this as a baseline:

1) Primary engine

2) Toggle mode of primary engine (if applicable...otherwise leave empty)

3) Secondary engine

4) Tertiary engine

5) Ladders

6) Solar panels & radiators

7) Reactors/generators

8) Kethane stuff

9) Lights

10) Other

Doesn't matter how big the ship is, I always try to stick with this setup for all ships. Obviously I sometimes still have to disable engines manually after docking.

[diomedea]

I use to preplan as well as others advised, but if need be to change AGs in flight, you may try Action Group Manager.

Or, give a try to Action Groups Extended, it should allow to assign so many new AGs that you may not need to change anything in flight.

[Kasuha]

Easiest approach is to use a mod that allows you to configure action groups in flight.

If you don't want to use that mod, the best approach is to design them in VAB, and use a lifter which does not use any action groups.

If you need some action groups for your lifter, use as few as possible for it and make sure none of action groups you use on your ship collides with those of your lifter. That's what I used - I had four action groups on my interplanetary modular ship, and three on the lifter.