Jump to content

What will you do with cargo bays first?


-RanZ-

Recommended Posts

Why does everyone think we're getting cargo bays? Is there some secret area where new features are announced and listed?

Dev notes, dev's tweets, they even post here from time to time. Cargo bays were confirmed for .25 some time ago, although my memory fails on by who or where. Maybe someone else has the quote.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have no idea what I'll do with them first, as I tend to fiddle around with a part in many random and stupid ways while I figure out it's abilities and limitations...

However, one thing that does come to mind (which wouldn't be a first thing, since it's fairly along in the tech tree and is kinda useless without RT2 and FAR) is making a less silly version of my ground repeater deployment plane.

Normally I build a plane with a repeater attached to the nose, fly out east to the next big landmass, land, and detach the repeater and return with somewhat diminished aerodynamics. Now, I'll be able to tuck the repeater into an inverted cargo bay, drop it, and return with a fully intact plane.

(The repeater is basically just a battery, some solar panels, and a Commutron16 for any RT2 fans. It extends the range at which the dipole can guide ships into orbit without requiring an obnoxiously low and/or large inner ring of relays)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the presumption that the drag/aero model will get an overhaul, streamlining your internals, like batteries and other bolt-ons, that would cripple a sane profile would be made possible with said 0.5 person car. So even if the capacity is small, cargo bays and fairings will make more sense long-term.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well lots of those little bits are physicsless anyway.

But even if they're not, a little battery sticking out on a big rocket or plane will be negligible. IIRC the Saturn V flew with the Apollo CSM's RCS ports exposed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unless the aerodynamic model changes significantly, I'll probably ignore them. And even then, I'm more likely to use fairings given what I normally launch.

Also: I wouldn't dare tell people how to play KSP or what they should do. And this might be an unpopular opinion but... Kerbals are generally pretty dumb and happy. The idea that they would wage war (and therefore need bombers) seems a little sad to me.

I understand wanting to play with the idea - that's what humans do - but this is a planet with no concept of countries, race or clans. It's a united aerospace utopia and that's one of the things I love about it. Layering on our aggressive BS just doesn't work for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I won't delete them, but IMO, those cargo bays are like having a 0.5 person car: what's the point?

Leaving aside the reasons already covered above (aero etc), one of the purposes is to give you inline attachment points INSIDE the center column of the craft for deployable assets. (Science and communication probe/satellites being the most common)

Without the cargo bays, your options are:

- The ends of the craft

- Radially through radial attachment (such as Tk-38 decouplers)

- Radially through inline attachment (such as the Rockomax Hub or cubic octags)

- A really convoluted radial/inline catastrophe that builds the ship in a 'U' shape with radial attachment to simulate a bay

Some of the decoupling options leave you with the massive suckage of having a non-zero-mass decoupler attached to the side of a satellite or probe...

Also, it looks cool.

(Obviously this only applies in pure stock. There's dozens of cargo bay mods or mods that contain cargo bays out there that can do the above, and more).

I'm hoping that we get cargo bays for the other sizes of craft too (1.25m and 2.5m interest me especially), even if it's sometime after 0.25..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The same I do with SP+ cargo bays. Which is to say, not much really. They can be used to hide stuff, but I don't like hidden stuff. I'd like to use them to deliver rovers - but since rovers are supposed to be wide, cargo bays don't usually work for them

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...