Assembling spacecraft

[Hirschi]

Hi there,

its my first post here an first of all, this game is awesome and I loooove it.

But, theres one particular P.I.T.A., which is really, really annoying and frustrating.

Please overhaul the way the VAB works. Its endlessly painful trying to connect boosters to your spaceship, especially large ones. I have a mission where I have to test the LFB KR-1x2 boosters in an orbit around Kerbal. It is not that hard because you can use another 4 of that LFB boosters to snapshot into orbit... IF you are able to connect 4 of them to your launch unit and 2 of them (obviously empty, they are only for the mission and 2 because of balance) on your orbiting unit. Really, I am not able to fulfill that mission because either me or the programmed routine of assembling parts to a spacecraft is stupid. I, certainly, connected the boosters via Hydraulic Detachment Manifold because I have to get rid of them when they're burnt out. Thats were the pain starts. Sitting 2 hours+ straight (and thats no exaggeration) trying to connect 4 boosters to your launching part is NOT FUN. "Wow... the 4 are fitting now... little bit of clipping but it will do." NOPE, jettison won't work and you are doomed to drag. Tried single atachment, tried 2s atachment, tried 4s atachment, tried console (clipping)... to no effort.

You are not able to atach even a single booster precisely to a Detachment Unit.

1. You have to handle with angle of view, hight, depth and all 3 of them are not able to influence at one time.

2. Clipping is the most PITA in the VAB because you think its working but if you launch your rocket... nope, not today my friend.

3. Theres no way to zoom out in VAB. Please, I know scientists are short sighted but let us take a better overview over the whole rocket.

4. This is influencing with point 2. Make a better "collision model" for rocket parts. Like in docking for example. Let the parts better fit to its connectors, detachment units, logical points... whatever.

It is really killing fun when you are not able to build a rocket or when some flaws in the game make it ridiciolously difficult. I hope you don't see my post as bashing or something, I tried to be constructive and I don't think I am the only one around here whos a tad upset when it goes to building a spacecraft and fighting more the UI than the TWR

Regards

Hirschi

[Commander Jebidiah]

To zoom out in the VAB use the mouse wheel and Shift at the same time and to change the angle at which you see the craft hold right mouse button and move the mouse

also if your having trouble with clipping ALT + F12 then check "Enable Clipping In Editor" and "No Crash Damage" and "Unbreakable Joints" these will make it so when your rocket de-couples it wont blow up and the objects you got rid of will just bounce off. This could be seen as cheeting.

To place rockets on radial de-couplers you have to line your camera up with on of the de-couplers then place the part.

This is basic knowledge by the way.

[Red Iron Crown]

The VAB/SPH can be immensely frustrating at times, especially when you're a bit new to it (though the frustration never completely disappears ). I would suggest becoming familiar with the editor keyboard commands if you haven't done so already, and practice, practice, practice. Especially with symmetry and angle snap, they make assembly much easier.

It also sounds like you're trying to attach big boosters to a smaller center stack if I understand correctly, it will work much better if the center stack is the same diameter as the boosters, then you can fit up to six boosters around it without clipping. It is also worth pointing out that when attaching boosters to the radial detachment units, you have to place your mouse cursor directly on the detachment unit.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Red Iron Crown
More detail.

[cantab]

The VAB can be annoying, but to be honest all 3d editors are to an extent.

If you (think you) put a booster on a radial decoupler and it fails to decouple, you probably missed the decoupler and attached it directly to the central part instead. When attached to the decoupler the booster will be slightly further out, it can be tricky to see though.

[Hirschi]

First of all, thanks a lot for the very fast response. I really appreciate

I found out, my problem is the VABs way trying to connect to existing detachment units. For example, I made 3 screenies if you may take a look at it.

First, my PoV to the detachment unit

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/537376113025828794/8B026F4C5F277D93602EFBEC397ED68FB2EAE01F/

Then, my try to connect the 4 boosters

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/537376113025830417/B9A5D12E0532B0E9C4EB56B619D881C7EB0ECAAA/

And the result ... not connected to the detachment units, clipping, ending in not detachable boosters which, of course, reduced my speed by a small margin

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/537376113025823426/7856B6CE978487200ED109CE10DDAF8566A2CAC3/

I will find a way, but its now 6 hours+ "Basic knowledge" or not. I am really frustrated. My only free day in this week, I wanted to explore the space only finding me sitting in VAB trying to fit pixels. I am really frustrated.

Regards

Hirschi

Red Iron Crown, you made my day (night)

"Pointing with the cursor at the detachment unit" was my problem. So the game tries to connect parts where my mousepointer is regardless of existing and fitting connection parts. Oh dear... I feel a bit stupid now

Problem is solved, thanks at all and especially Red Iron Crown

Regards

Hirschi

Edited September 28, 2014 by tetryds

[juanml82]

I suggest you to download the editor extensions mod. The ability to set the snap angle can be of help.

Also, it should be easier to attach girders to the decouplers and the tanks to the girders. Also, use separatrons so they don't collide with the center tank when detached

[SpacedCowboy]

I would assume from your "Join Date" that you're pretty much a Noobie to the game and the forum. So that being said, "welcome"! Not that I'm all that great at piloting the crafts I build but, I do know my way around the VAB and SPH. Let me make a suggestion. Start a new save in "Sandbox" and just screw around a couple hours with various builds, (whatever you can imagine), and I think you'll be surprised at what you can learn. Being in the "Sandbox Mode" there's nothing to lose and nothing to gain, with the exception of building and flying skills. In other words, "practice, practice, practice. There are also various tutorials on the subject found on wiki, utube, etc. This is only a suggestion and in no way would I ever tell anyone "How to play the game".

[SRV Ron]

From the pic above, those boosters didn't attach to the decouplers. They will stick out much further on that style of decoupler. And, you will need to brace them since the decoupler isn't strong enough to handle the power from that large booster.

The photo below shows how much standoff you will get with this five booster design example. (A special trick was used to activate five part symmetry.)

[Voculus]

Hirschi, when making rockets in the VAB, it's not enough to have the part you're attaching simply floating over the decoupler. The mouse cursor itself must be over it, and you will instantly see your tank attach to the decoupler when you're on the mark.

[Hirschi]

Hi there

I already postet that the problem is solved, but a moderator copied that particular post into another post of me so maybe it was overlooked.

Anyway... the solution was quite simple... the mousecursor was not placed as it should be.

Thanks a lot for all your help, frustration is gone and i take a deeper look now into tutorials and guides.

Regards

Hirschi