Make the Grappling Device require a high-speed collision instead of a low-speed one

[CaptRobau]

Currently the Advanced Grabbing Unit aka The Klaw requires the player to slow down to 1 m/s if one wants to attach it to asteroids or parts. I think it'd be more realistic and more interesting gameplay-wise if it needed to travel at let's say 5-10 m/s relative to the thing it's supposed to grab. That would come a lot closer to the harpoons fired by Philae into that asteroid last week. Additionally it'd make grappling feel more different from docking. The docking-like speeds it requires now makes it just a less precise version of docking. Higher speeds would require the player to think twice about how sturdy his grappling spacecraft is and if the player fails, hilarious flexing and potential explosions/collisions will be the result.

[Kaos]

The Philae lander touched down at precisely 1 m/s. One the other hand, I use the claw as low precision docking device and I want to be able to do so in the future

[vexx32]

While I'm not opposed to the idea of a higher-speed grapple, the AGU is in fact a claw, not a grapple. A new part would perhaps be a better idea, in my opinion.

[r4pt0r]

retractable harpoons would be pretty neat, but making the claw only work in 15mph collisions would not be so neat.

[CaptainKipard]

What would be the gameplay purpose of having two different types of parts like this?

Edited November 17, 2014 by Cpt. Kipard

[zekes]

i think we need smaller grapples - the Klaw is just too big to use on 90% of my ships. If they were smaller, they'd be so much more useful.

[Laie]

Currently the Advanced Grabbing Unit aka The Klaw requires the player to slow down to 1 m/s if one wants to attach it to asteroids or parts. I think it'd be more realistic and more interesting gameplay-wise if it needed to travel at let's say 5-10 m/s relative to the thing it's supposed to grab.

Why?

That would come a lot closer to the harpoons fired by Philae into that asteroid last week. Additionally it'd make grappling feel more different from docking. The docking-like speeds it requires now makes it just a less precise version of docking. Higher speeds would require the player to think twice about how sturdy his grappling spacecraft is and if the player fails, hilarious flexing and potential explosions/collisions will be the result.

I can devise a small grappler with AGU and docking port at opposite ends. Grappler detaches from main vessel, spears asteroid at high v, presents it's rear for docking the main vessel. Small, independent grapplers are not a new concept either: many people use them as RCS pods around the asteroid.

All this does is a) add one point to the checklist drive up the part count c) introduce another weak/wobbly link (as if there weren't enough already). I'm not convinced.

Firing a harpoon first, then winching in and making the actual connection with "ice screws" (or however you choose to call it) would be a nice touch, and would also allow for a very sturdy connection if it was possible to attach more than one ice screw per vessel. It would also be a big change to how stuff works, though so I don't dare hope for it.