Colored lights....

[AlamoVampire]

Stupid question. I thought with one of the prior updates <.22 or .23> we had the ability to control the RGB values in flight of our lights, all i get is an on/off switch... did i blow a memory fuse in my mind on this? btw im talking the pure stock lights, as I am aware that theres a mod that at some point let this be a thing as well...

[Epthelyn]

Right click on the lights in the VAB or SPH.

Feature introduced in 0.23.5. You cannot change the lights once a craft has been launched.

[AlamoVampire]

lol i knew it was recent, just not THAT recent lol. during build only... okies, i can live with that thanks epthelyn

[Red Iron Crown]

It doesn't change the lens color either, just the light cast by the light. Which makes them poor for using as running lights but great for dance parties and mood lighting.

[cantab]

They can still be used as navigation lights though, for example:

[AlamoVampire]

It doesn't change the lens color either, just the light cast by the light. Which makes them poor for using as running lights but great for dance parties and mood lighting.

id wager as the post above this kinda shows, if you aim them closer to the vessels hull the effect is more than enough to compensate for the lenses lack of color

[Green Baron]

They can still be used as navigation lights though, for example:

btw.: Where's starbord and port side on a spacecraft :-) ?

[kidolvski]

Starbord would be on the right side of the cockpit, port side on the left.

[Pecan]

btw.: Where's starbord and port side on a spacecraft :-) ?

Either side of the top ;-)

Port and Starboard would be the directions that the ship turns in when you press the yaw left and right keys (A/D). It is neither a meaningless nor unhelpful concept, even in space.

aviation lights

[Red Iron Crown]

I've used them shining obliquely along the ship as in cantab's picture as a workaround for them not changing lens color, but it has some undesirable side effects. The different colored lights mix together in a manner that's unappealing to me, and there's a lot of spill. It would be neater if the lenses just matched the light emitted.

Not a big deal or anything, just a detail that annoys me a bit.

[Random Tank]

Just a tip:

There is no Port Left in the glass. Also Port (the drink) is Red, which is consequently the same colour as a port side nav light!

[Pecan]

And just for some annoying trivia because I'm a yachtsman:

Early boats were controlled using a 'steer board' before rudders were invented. Because most sailors were/are right-handed this was usually fixed to the right of the ship; hence that side became known as 'starboard' as the pronunciation became corrupted. Docking and loading, lading was done on the left because the steer-board was in the way on the right and, by similar corruption, that became 'larboard'. The two words 'starboard' and 'larboard' being too similar the latter was supplanted by docking to 'port'.

[cantab]

btw.: Where's starbord and port side on a spacecraft :-) ?

For a radially-symmetric unmanned rocket it is somewhat arbitrary, but in KSP at least the probe cores still have a well-defined orientation to take up, down, port, and starboard from.

And for my light colours I copied Cygnus. Red for port, green for starboard, white for the top and yellow for the bottom. (On the Cygnus they flash, like on aeroplanes, but I'd need mod lights for that.)

Edited June 22, 2014 by cantab