The arcane art of flag-planting

[vexx32]

Parts clipping amongst themselves is a different beast to having a part clip into the terrain. Parts clipping into the terrain typically invite violent explosion and/or extremely odd "physics" interactions that more or less make the entire affair completely unpredictable.

[Vaporo]

Well, maybe this would work. If the slope you are planting your flag on is greater than, say, 60 degrees, the game uses the current flag-planting logic (or disallows planting a flag entirely). If the slope is less, it is planted directly in front of the Kerbal.

[regex]

I'm surprised it's so involved

It's basically a sample of the 360 degrees around the Kerbal to determine the flattest spot to plant the flag. The idea being that, even on an extreme slope, the Kerbal will avoid planting it "in the air" or "in the ground". There are probably better ways to do this, for instance by compromising the animation to allow the user to place the flag where ever they damn want.

[LethalDose]

I think it always points to where the kraken is lurking.

Well, it's usually where the nearest Kraken is lurking, except on Duna and Moho. On Duna, it points the the third closest Kraken. On Moho, it's points to the nearest Kraken to the west of your current position.

Everything is above is overridden by the "Tuesday Rule" though. On Tuesdays, the direction is just random.