Fix Kerbals so they dont drift or fall off ladder when going EVA

[Rizendell]

Ever EVA and fall straight off the ladder? Ever EVA and drift off into space? Ever notice that if you EVA in space, your kerbal experiences a phantom drift along the ladder while you are not doing anything?

Ever grab a ladder in space and then get catapulted away from your vehicle at ridiculous speed?

I suggest that Kerbals get an arm strengthening workout program in order to fix these mishaps. I for one am tired of unexpected behavior, never knowing what will happen when you press EVA, or attempt to grab hold of a ladder/pod.

[Guest]

I agree with this suggestion.

[Tex]

This is taken from my recent reply to a thread about this exact problem.

I've had similar problems. The solution is simple: Make sure that you are moving as little as possible when you "Press 'F' to Grab". If possible, try to align the ladder in such a way that it is extremely easy to float the Kerbal to and latch on. If the ladder is (relative to your Kerbal) on the underside of the craft, rotate it so the ladder is parallel to the Kerbal when using the jetpack.

So yeah, it's a simple fix. Hope it helps!

[Eric S]

So yeah, it's a simple fix. Hope it helps!

Good tips, but not always simple, and not always effective. If you're already out of the craft and don't have a kerbal inside the craft to aim it, you're out of luck, and I've found not being thrown around to be far more about luck than whether I'm moving or not.

The problem is particularly bad if you've got anything interfering with movement (a lander with fuel tanks that come up above the bottom of the command pod, for example).

[vger]

Yeah, I tried adding extra ladders to the horizontal portion to prevent 'falling' off the lander. It doesn't seem to work as well as it probably should. There's a lot of things about ladders that seem hit-or-miss, and need a bit of extra love.

[UberFuber]

I agree, the current ladder system is a bit... bizzare to say the least.

On one hand, Kerbal seems to have trouble holding onto a ladder despite the spaceship it's attached to barely rotating when they go into EVA.

On the other hand, once they're on the ladder, a 4000+m/s reentry didn't even phase them.

[John FX]

I agree, the current ladder system is a bit... bizzare to say the least.

On one hand, Kerbal seems to have trouble holding onto a ladder despite the spaceship it's attached to barely rotating when they go into EVA.

On the other hand, once they're on the ladder, a 4000+m/s reentry didn't even phase them.

Lots of this. I find it silly that we can go through re-entry on a ladder but can`t grab one in free fall. Less insanity when grabbing and a similar check to solar panels when re-entering atmosphere to see when you fall off. (some people will want EVA parachutes so they can be the crazy Kerbal Milk Tray man)

[S4qFBxkFFg]

Ever EVA and drift off into space? Ever notice that if you EVA in space, your kerbal experiences a phantom drift along the ladder while you are not doing anything?

This is extremely irritating; does anyone actually know what causes it?

[Tex]

If you're already out of the craft and don't have a kerbal inside the craft to aim it, you're out of luck

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

NO, you are NOT out of luck! All you gotsa do is use the mouse and "drag" the Kerbal around with the mouse. If you do this with the jetpack out, you can change the Kerbal's orientation so it always isn't the standard straight-up-and-down, fixed-to-the-camera orientation. It is a difficult operation if you're not experienced at doing it, and may require much practice and frustration before it becomes easy.

So yep, there's a fix to the "broken" fix. Hope this helps more than the last one!

[BudgetHedgehog]

It is a difficult operation if you're not experienced at doing it, and may require much practice and frustration before it becomes easy.

Or they could, you know... fix it.

[Tex]

Of course. All I'm offering is a way to do it without bothering the Devs too much, about a minor issue. I too would like to see a fix, truth be told... This is just the workaround I've learned through my hours upon hours in virtual space