Lander struture doubt

[Eunito]

Hi!

How can I build something like this?

I tried lots of times without success...

Thanks.

[Laie]

Not sure which question you're asking.

a) if your question is, can you connect pieces in not-right-angles, the answer is yes: you can rotate pieces in 5° steps if you hold down shift while rotating with QWASD. Panels can be mounted flat on a surface, or standing on one edge, and anything in between. Most of the time, they don't have to be placed dead center (though that is a property of the part you're attaching TO; in your picture, that would be the bottom).

however, every part is always connected to exactly one other part. If you try to make a ring of panels, the last panel will can not connect to the first; furthermore, only one panel in that ring will connect to whatever comes below. Struts can stand in for connections-that-should-be, but, well. I suggest you attach each panel to the bottom (8x symmetry should work) and use struts to connect them near the top.

[Taki117]

Not to mention, if this is for a two stage lander (Which I am guessing it is) don't forget the decoupler in the middle.

[Guest]

KSP craft is basically a tree: there is root and branches. So you cannot implement truly circular structure.

One exception is struts - you can build a semi-circular structure and reinforce it with struts.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/EAS-4_Strut_Connector

I wonder, if it possible to dock several ships into circular station - never tried it. And if yes, how save file structure would look like.

[mhoram]

@WildLynx

Another Exception are Fuel Ducts.

Docking also does not lead to a circular station. There is always a single Docking Port that has the connection in the part-tree.

[capi3101]

I wonder, if it possible to dock several ships into circular station - never tried it. And if yes, how save file structure would look like.

Guidelines for building circular stations: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/62130-Tutorial-Circular-station-building?highlight=circular+station

I've got one in progress at the moment and I've been thinking about throwing up the persistence file to the community anyway because I've been having issues getting both ports to connect simultaneously to join the bits of the ring together. Here it was before the weekend:

I'm pretty sure mhoram is right; the branch-and-tree structure would be respected no matter what in the persistence file. Still...

EDIT: In the picture above, the "spokes" are docked to the "hub", and two "ring modules" are docked to the two spokes in front. They've been joined together by a "lock" (roughly center) that is simultaneously docked. I have no idea what this structure looks like in the persistence file...

Edited September 22, 2014 by capi3101

[Claw]

Hi!

How can I build something like this?

You can built things that look exactly like that. What's not entirely clear by your question, though, it exactly what kind of structure you want that thing to have. Most everyone jumped into creating a loop, but if you're trying to build a shroud, you should connect the panels to the object below instead of trying to connect them to each other. You will need struts depending on how long you make it. If it's just 1 panel high, you probably don't need them at all.

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And, as a bouns!

I wonder, if it possible to dock several ships into circular station - never tried it. And if yes, how save file structure would look like.

Capi showed off the circular station, but remember, it's never truly a closed loop. Struts and fuel pipes to not "close" the structure. In other words, they do not somehow cheat the tree structure of the craft. They do provide a means for it to act as if it's closed, but the second end that gets connected isn't actually attached in the same manner as all of the other components.

Which leads me to docking ports. You can use docking ports to "close" off loops (or connect branches), but they are also not connected in the same manner. Docking ports that have been multi docked store their information in a different manner than docking ports that are attached (via surface or node attachment). The only exception to this is when you pre-attach a docking port (when you connect something to the docking side of a port in the VAB/SPH). In this case, the part that is pre-attached to the port becomes part of the tree structure. This still can't be used to circumvent the tree structure.