Glitch in the Large wheel

[michaelhester07]

I noticed this in 24.2 and havent tested for the glitch in 25. It appears that a vessel using the super large wheel RoveMax Model XL3 will constantly flip between "landed" and "suborbital" on the mun or minmus. If you hit timewarp at the right time that vessel may go on rails in the suborbital state and crash through the ground destroying it. I had noticed it before but didn't pay attention to it until I tried to use it for vehicles at a base. I would timewarp during an EPL build and suddenly hear an explosion and turn around to notice one of the vehicles was gone (it was a recycling truck, noone was in it).

I'd chalk this up as a Jeb Boson, the thing that summons the space kraken (in this case the base kraken). The wheels don't nearly have the traction that the TR2 rugged wheel has either and I think that may be related to this bug. A mobile base I had with the TR2 wheel has no problem driving right up a 30 degree slope on minmus while the XL3 i think it is has issues going up a 6 degree slope.

I'll test this bug when I get home today to see if it's still an issue but I wanted to post this to see if anyone else has the same problem.

Edited October 14, 2014 by michaelhester07
remembered the name of the part: RoveMax Model XL3

[Padishar]

I'm not sure about the XL3 wheels but I've recently seen someone report the same thing with an EVA kerbal on Minmus. I'll try and find the thread...

[eddiew]

Was about to post a new thread with this bug, but since one already exists... yeah, basically it's still a problem in 0.25 as of this date.

XL3 wheels never properly become "landed" meaning that any items that require you to be so can't be used, and if you go to the space centre or another craft, your rover will vanish due to being 'on a collision course'. I have had minor success by using SAS to tilt the rover onto just the forward or back wheels. Sometimes it will then be landed and you can use instruments or tools, but it's undrivable, and the moment you go back to 4 wheels down, it'll bobble between landed and flying low and not get any traction. I don't really know whether this is due to a mod, or in the stock game.

Screenshots below demonstrate the problem using debug 'hacked' gravity on the KSC runway, but the same problem exists on Minmus, and presumably any low gravity body. Testing at KSC under normal gravity has no problems at all.

(Tweakscale used to make the wheels roughly equivalent. For the interested, this little guy is a 'lightweight' 8 ton mobile Karbonite drilling platform with a converter and LFO tank so he can refuel ships bringing MKS colony modules. He works well - when you don't use XL3 wheels )

Happily Tweakscale was able to offer me a viable alternative for this case - but I had the initial XL3s down to 50%, so there probably isn't currently any viable option for a really big rover on Minmus

[Ian H]

I wish I'd read this before designing a massive mining base using these wheels, testing it on kerbin, and delivering all six modules plus specialised landing system to minmus orbit. They wont stay landed and every time you look away they blow up. There goes a week's work.

I'm using a completely unmodded game. 

build id = 010282015-11-10_18-03-24  Branch: master

64 bit steam version on linux. 

Edited April 15, 2016 by Ian H
finish - it saved before I was ready.