Rover doesn't work on Mun same as on Kerbin??

[Drybreeze]

Ok so I've created a couple of different rovers now, one was a neato lil crane, the other was one I assembled with a Kerbil by attaching the parts to the hull using KAS, on the surface of the Mun by sending the parts...

In both cases I tested the identical model by launching the lander module a bit, landing it near the space centre, rolling the rover off the lander, and making sure all the wheels and steering was the right way... all working... you beaut! TO DA MUUUN!!!!

Transferred, descended, landed, deploy rover. Wheels don't work. If I use the crane arm to lift the first rover up off the ground the wheels all seem to do the right thing, but as soon as it's lowered back to the ground it doesn't move... like the wheels are moving in opposite directions to each other or something.

Rover 2 (the Kerbil assembled one) it doesn't turn wheels or react at all if I take control of it remotely, but if I use MechJeb to give it a waypoint, it at least turns the wheels the right way (but won't move). Without MechJeb it won't even turn the wheels.

I just don't get it. It's like they have too much mass for the wheels or something... but they're on the Mun, when they work fine on Kerbil.

What am I missing...? Can wheel settings change between saves or while in flight or something...? Is it a bug? Am I just a dopey n00b? WHAT? WHATTTT?!@ >:(

(Please help. I'm tired of headdesking).

[AoD_lexandro]

The first thing to check is that your wheels are attached in mirror mode. If not, then strange things can occur, including wheels all going in different directions. Use the rovermate as a base to work on, as its the easiest to start with.

As for the KSP rover iirc, it needs a bigger antenna and/or a relay sat in orbit to bounce the signal back to KSC.

[Chibbity]

Did the wheels break? Or is the brake on?

Also a screenshot of the issue might help.

[Yuki]

Sounds as if your control points are off. This might happen especially given that the mun version surely had more parts (the launch and transfer vehicles) attached to it which messes up the weighting of different control points.

Mechjeb wont mind a rover control pointing upwards, it can still simply power up the wheels and e viola- the rover moves. However for a standard WASD movement the control point needs to point forward. Let me guess: if you hit rotate your wheels actually act as if you just steered properly into a direction? If so, yea, there you go.

A screenshot would be a must, seriously, how in the world are we supposed to know what kind of "rover" you build?
But if you used a hexacore and a rovercore, chances are a simple "control from here" will do the job. If not adding a cheap control core somewhere pointing into the right direction might be necessary.

[Drybreeze]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1883888677

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1883888692

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1883888702

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1883888712

Does that work...?
The first three are the crane. If I lift it up off the ground all the wheels seeeeeem to be moving in the right direction, but as soon as I lower it to the ground it's very, very VERY sluggish. And yet on Kerbin it moves around just fine... too fast in fact.

The last one is how I strapped some wheels to a K&K storage container, whacked some batteries on the back, a K&K "HAL" on the front for control, and a long-range antenna (the horizontal/radial kind I forget it's name but it reaches my north and south kerbin polar relays no problem.

Q and E do not rotate the wheels "correctly" it appears to have no effect... and as I said both rovers worked perfectly when testing around campus back on Kerbin, it's only once the damn thing lands that it decided to be a paper weight.

[Yuki]

Uhm kinda. Much bettter.

So for your big one:
All of your normal command parts are pointing upwards. That might...uhm will cause problems.
The cupola and the 2m probe core beneath.

Your comment about Q and E made me....perk a brow.
Q and E in basic key config should be rotation, not steering, that should be A and D. With W and S for forward/back.

If your wheels turn on hitting Q or E, your control points ARE off.
Essentially your rover thinks its sitting on its bum looking into the black sky.

Because:
If you now hit W it will spin up the wheels. But it also actually will try to tilt forward instead of driving- Which on Kerbin it cant really, so it just drives instead. However on Mun with its lower gravity the gyro systems of the cupola and the 2m node are enough to let it do so to some degree.
Thats probably your "sluggish" behavior. With how the claw is right now you may want to try and just rightclick it, choose control from here (dont move it though). That should fix the sluggish behavior. Make sure to let it point forward again when you move the crane. And for the next time, maybe put a cheap probe core or docking port somewhere facing to what should be the front of your vehicle ;)
(The cupola is btw designed as cockpit with that control reference in mind. Right now your Kerbal inside lays on his back and stares into the sky).

As for SAS and Rovers: Rightclick everything that has a SAS. Choose SAS only. That will keep it from tilting forward if you want to accelerate by pressing W, but the SAS will still stabilize your rover so it doesnt tilt over too fast. Even while properly aligned it will otherwise still try to tilt forward as well, though to a lesser degree.
In case of your crane: The cupola and the 2m Control core both have SAS. Usually its either its own module or also directly implemented in everything that has a "command" feature, so cockpits, (advanced) probe cores etc. Also in different strengths. A powerful SAS is actually a must have for Mun racing rovers, however with a very intricate setup ;)

Mechjebs Rover Pilot does automatically use SAS in a different way, only for stabilization and steers every wheel individually independent from that. Hence it wont have such problems at all.

Your last rover seems to be aligned properly (as seen by the navball, pointing to the horizon, blue up (...)) for rover usage. So- what is the problem with this one?

Make sure to deactivate mechjebs rover autopilot if you assume manual control. It also has a parking feature. While active your rover will only twitch until mechjeb gives a "correcting" steering input to keep it in place.
Also you may want to show a screenshot of it in the VAB. With all the shadows i cant really see anything but the navball here. That one looks fine though ;)
Or maybe a screenshot with added global lighting (graphic options, available while steering too not only in the main menu).

As for PBS modules as rovers: They tent to get stuck at even the tiniest bump. Or slope especially thanks to how wheels behave on them with the suspension lowering the whole thing towards the downward slope, hence the flat big surface at your bottom, or better a single edge of it may stick into the ground. There aint next to no bumps in your KSC and if you are driving down the ramp your left and right wheels are lowered in unison. But there are a lot of slopes on Mun that you wont take as "straight", hence your front left wheel might give in and bring the edge too close to the ground. Its stuck before it visually hits the ground btw.
PBS modules hence require quite some additional ground clearance and proper wheel setup.

Their "sticky" ground behavior is usually their strength, they as the name suggests make for extremely nice base modules. It does however make getting them into place a bit more tricky too.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=523520172

[Drybreeze]

Thank you for your extensive and helpful reply. My Q and E statement was in reply to Yuki asking about if I rotate it affects the wheels. I didn't know that about the cupola, thank you. Makes perfect sense.

I have since launched, landed and used the below lander. Very happy with the results, however I'll be editing it a little and launching a new (probably larger) one for future mission (Duna for example) which will include some grounding struts like my original crane did... they're very handy for stabilising the vehicle when swinging weighty things around on the end of a long robotic arm... also I'll include some slightly different swivel points to enable some much greater manipulation of objects with the arm.


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1884631067

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1884631434

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1884631508

Damn I was happy to finally see the hub connected to my first module. There's another 8 to attach, and then some giant fuel tanks, then I'll mark out a solar farm and a launch pad for a fuel shuttle and finally I'll have my first fuel MunBase.

[Yuki]

Well that now is a loooooooot of ground clearance :D

While you are already at modding you may want to give KAS a try. It lets you attach and detach simple parts at place during an EVA.
And Konstruction (part of USI but should be available stand alone), which comes not only with crane parts from the start, but especially wieldable docking ports. Thats docking ports that then wield together, essentially disappearing and connecting the parts at the spot they where attached to. Again less parts for huge bases.

Personally i dont build cranes anymore. Instead modules are usually shipped with some basic wheels. They are cheap enough and save a lot of hazzle.
Originally on radial decouplers so i could get rid of the additional parts (and thus partcount), today an engineer with a sonic screwdriver will recycle them.
They drive into position, dock and-boom, off go the wheels.
At most im using a small service vehicle with solar and batteries that attaches to them as a means of control and power, and with a single command seat also doubles as a quick 1 engineer transport in case i landed too far off again.

Those are usually also way more easy (and cheap) to launch than such a giant wheel rover ;)

[Drybreeze]

I've used a bit of KAS so far, but not the features you're talking about... I will experiment.

I tried to assemble a wheel set up like you describe by shipping parts to my engineer and KAS them into place but it didn't work. You launch the entire module with them pre-attached, I haven't tried that yet. I will, thank you.