This is why I keep getting turned off of KSP.

[moeburn]

Every freaking time.

I'll see a youtube video or photo of some awesome spaceship or space station or plane, and I'll go "maybe I'll reinstall KSP, maybe they've fixed it in the latest patch!" - And then I reinstall it, get a few of my favourite mods, and manage to place about 5 or 6 parts before this starts happening.

How the hell are people able to build these insanely cool ships if I can't even attach a part to an identical part?!

I tried everything. I tried rotating and zooming the camera. I tried rotating the part with the WASDQE keys. I tried disabling clipping in the debug options.

It's like every other fan of KSP has the knowledge of some secret hidden cheat code that magically makes the ship builder work, and until I get that cheatcode, the game just makes me want to smash things.

[mrmcp1]

In the video the parts are trying to attach to the surface of the other parts, try pressing the alt key as it will turn surface attachment off and will only attach the parts to the green node. Also you need to have the parts lined up in the same direction to make it easier.

[theend3r]

Rotate it with WSAD and hold alt for inline attachment only. Problem solved

Edit: Ninja'd

[Damien_The_Unbeliever]

Have you tried holding down the Mod key (Alt on windows, not sure on Mac) which disables surface attachment and only allow direct attachment via nodes?

[Fizwalker]

Been playing on and off for a year... and I wish I`d known about the alt turning off surface attachments... as well ad cloning things..... >.>

[mrmcp1]

Been playing on and off for a year... and I wish I`d known about the alt turning off surface attachments... as well ad cloning things..... >.>

I believe alt turning off surface attachment was only added in the 0.24 update a few months ago

[Zargg]

just had to make an account to say....THANK YOU!

this issue has also held me back from making planes, and I've even hit it in the VAB when I do some crazy rockets (eve single launch land and return!)

[arkie87]

http://youtu.be/mzIDomVDcOE

Every freaking time.

I'll see a youtube video or photo of some awesome spaceship or space station or plane, and I'll go "maybe I'll reinstall KSP, maybe they've fixed it in the latest patch!" - And then I reinstall it, get a few of my favourite mods, and manage to place about 5 or 6 parts before this starts happening.

How the hell are people able to build these insanely cool ships if I can't even attach a part to an identical part?!

I tried everything. I tried rotating and zooming the camera. I tried rotating the part with the WASDQE keys. I tried disabling clipping in the debug options.

It's like every other fan of KSP has the knowledge of some secret hidden cheat code that magically makes the ship builder work, and until I get that cheatcode, the game just makes me want to smash things.

Who struggles for a minute to try to attach something

In update 0.90, editor has been overhauled so it should make this problem go away for good

[zxczxczbfg]

I find that, in addition to the ALT key, it's easier to node-attach one piece to the back of the other by rotating the camera 90 degrees and just lining up the ends of the parts. (Basically, go at it from the side instead of the end.)

[Andersenman]

What are you even trying to do? Do you want to extend the body to the rear? Or do you want to attach the thing on the side?

If it's the former, just use WASDQE to make the part be in line with the body, then turn the cam to face the side, then aim with the part's node, NOT the mouse pointer. As soon as the node balls meet, the part will snap in place.

[Talavar]

Moeburn, Just align the part using "A,W,S,D,Q,E" then place the two attachment (greenballs) points together. They will snap in place automatically. Then just leftclick to place and leave it there as usual.

[MarvinKitFox]

.. some secret hidden cheat code that magically makes the ship builder work, .

Brains. Or possibly Attitude.

Hint...

to connect parts, you need to line up the green blobs.

It also helps if the objects are suitably aligned *by you* before trying to do so.

might benefit from thinking a little bit and might get more help by explaining a little bit

Yep, that's about what I'm saying.

Edited December 15, 2014 by MarvinKitFox

[Norpo]

Hold down Alt while you're trying to connect the parts linerally instead of radially. It'll make it so it can ONLY connect to the green node.

If that fails, try to connect the green blobs, not just the parts. Don't look straight on at a part while trying to connect it, it'll just connect it to the part instead of the node.

Also, another person suggested this:

"I find that, in addition to the ALT key, it's easier to node-attach one piece to the back of the other by rotating the camera 90 degrees and just lining up the ends of the parts. (Basically, go at it from the side instead of the end.)"

I do this and it works fine; you're looking straight ahead instead of at the side, like most people do. Looking straight at the part just causes that problem. The reason you have to do this is because the mouse can only move in 2D, so it has to take a few shortcuts.

EDIT: I made an imgur album showcasing what I mean by "attach the green nodes". Remember, look at the green nodes, NOT the actual jet tanks. Of course, this is for normal connections, radial connections go ontop of other tanks, as opposed to attached using the green nodes.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited December 15, 2014 by Norpo
edited since context for a reply removed by off-topic posts (By me, not a moderator)

[Claw]

Kerbonauts,

I deleted a few off topic posts. I'm going to chock it up to a misunderstanding. Please remember that sometimes it's difficult to pull someone's intended meaning from pure words, and to give others the benefit of the doubt.

As to helping with the question in this thread... Several good suggestions have been offered. I also usually view from the side of whatever I'm working on. When you get used to that, you won't actually need the ALT key that much. It also helps to have the view set before you grab a part. Sometimes rotating the view with a part in hand causes it to slide off to the sides or into the background, which makes it harder to align. Also, you need to have the part roughly oriented in the desired direction. Otherwise the editor thinks you DON'T want the part attached to the stack node.

Summary:

- View from the side

- Have the view set before selecting parts from the list

- Orient the part in roughly the correct orientation

There are other tricks too, like zooming in or out a little. Exactly what works for you depends a bit on your play style. Hlpefully those suggestions will help you get over your obstacles.

Cheers,

-Claw

[pincushionman]

I'll admit to running into this before myself, and the "view from the side" tended to fix it. I've never had it happen in the VAB, only the SPH, and I think I see why - in the VAB, there's almost no reason to look down the vehicle axis to place an in-line part, whereas in the SPH it's trivially easy to do and often is the "obvious" choice to do so…except it doesn't work.

Edited December 15, 2014 by pincushionman

[bdito]

That was very frustrating for all of us. Thankfully it was fixed in version 0.25 and 0.90 will make construction even easier.

[Kesa]

also space bar to set rotation to its default position, which is in your case, what you search.<br><br>And the next time you run ksp, it may actually have been "fixed" (better VAB in 0.90.0)

[Claw]

I've seen it hinted at a few times in this thread, but 0.90 isn't significantly different in regard to the issue posed in this thread. You'll still need to view from the side and ensure the part is oriented in roughly the correct direction.

Cheers,

~Claw

[THX1138]

I've spent so much time swearing at the game because of this!