What's the point of rovers?

[Sorrowful Cat]

Sorry for the long rant but here we go

I like the concept of rovers and I have landed quite a few since I started playing in 2014. I like designing them and sending them on survey missions but they are far more trouble than they're worth.

Landing them is relatively easy but getting them to go any sort of meaningful distance is a huge ball ache.

They are so finicky to use because you can't save while moving over terrain and they randomly bounce around and lose stability while moving at a decent speed even with SAS only reaction wheels. There is no in-game autopilot and the Mechjeb one also sometimes messes up.

I'm not a noob, the rovers I make are quite wide and stable but when moving faster than around 8 m/s and messing up a slight turn makes them flip and lose solar panels with the last save being several minutes ago and having to travel the whole distance again.

And because of the above, I can't even go afk and let them go anywhere because they might flip while I'm not looking as well as accidentally miss the waypoint.

Is there something I'm missing? Do people just not use rovers? I'm probably doing something dumb but I wish there was a time warp or autopilot that assumes you made a decent rover and doesnt require constant attention.

[Operation40]

they're just for fun, imo.. a small lander capable of a couple sub-orbital hops can get more science faster..

the kind of science rovers do IRL on mars would be too tedious to be fun.. circling around the same crater for 30 days taking samples ..

[Jupiter3927]

Rover controls are finicky so I bound the wheel throttle and steering to the number pad and SAS was left alone with the standard controls.
Being able to control SAS and the wheels separately makes them a bit easier to handle.
Reducing wheel friction makes the wheels slide instead of sticking and flipping the whole rover over while turning.
Reduced wheel friction lets you drift your rovers too.
Add some eurobeat and it gets to be fun.

I use rovers for fun and those survey contacts.
Drifting on Eeloo or sledding on Vall or setting up a track with flags on Duna and trying to get a good time are all pretty fun and a nice break from the seriousness of space travel.
Survey contracts sometimes want you to do science near a specific area on the surface and a small rover is perfect for those.

Rover wheels are pretty tough so you can use them for lithobraking if you need to.
Just have an engineer ready to fix them.
Those giant wheels go pretty fast if you try to turn them so I use them to launch planes sometimes.
I got them up to 180 m/s ish by the end of the runway without engines helping.


The remote tech mod adds a rover autopilot and toy can write your own autopilot program with the kOS mod.

[Manwith Noname]

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/172447-ksp-14x-bon-voyage-make-your-wheels-rolling-0133-2018-03-14/&

[invision2212]

build a roll cage on the rover and it will be able to take flips and falls without damage

[Chibbity]

Originally posted by invision2212:

build a roll cage on the rover and it will be able to take flips and falls without damage

This^

Make your rover sturdy and you can drive it like a mad man.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1234927655

[Sorrowful Cat]

Originally posted by invision2212:

build a roll cage on the rover and it will be able to take flips and falls without damage

I made a chasis with the girders to cover the KIS(Kerbal Inventory System) Mod storage containers and it worked on Kerbin but I lacked the funds to properly send a mission.

I really just want a tiny Oppurtinity type rover to drive around on Duna or the Mun but it's too delicate and small so a roll cage would make it top-heavy and the smaller girders have a much lower min crash speed so it instantly gets destroyed when rolling faster than 8 m/s.

[Sorrowful Cat]

Originally posted by Jupiter3927:

Rover controls are finicky so I bound the wheel throttle and steering to the number pad and SAS was left alone with the standard controls.
Being able to control SAS and the wheels separately makes them a bit easier to handle.
Reducing wheel friction makes the wheels slide instead of sticking and flipping the whole rover over while turning.
Reduced wheel friction lets you drift your rovers too.
Add some eurobeat and it gets to be fun.

I use rovers for fun and those survey contacts.
Drifting on Eeloo or sledding on Vall or setting up a track with flags on Duna and trying to get a good time are all pretty fun and a nice break from the seriousness of space travel.
Survey contracts sometimes want you to do science near a specific area on the surface and a small rover is perfect for those.

Rover wheels are pretty tough so you can use them for lithobraking if you need to.
Just have an engineer ready to fix them.
Those giant wheels go pretty fast if you try to turn them so I use them to launch planes sometimes.
I got them up to 180 m/s ish by the end of the runway without engines helping.


The remote tech mod adds a rover autopilot and toy can write your own autopilot program with the kOS mod.

I ddin't know about the wheel friction thing and the number pad idea sounds amazing . I never considered rebinding the rover controls, I've just been manually turning the reaction wheels on and off like an idiot. Thanks for the tips!

[Sorrowful Cat]

Originally posted by Manwith Noname:

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/172447-ksp-14x-bon-voyage-make-your-wheels-rolling-0133-2018-03-14/&

This looks like exactly what I was looking for. I play this game to fly planes and launch rockets, not stare at a rover like an unpaid NASA intern.

[Mightylink]

They work best for those missions that tell you to log 4 points of temperature in the same area. Also after your done you will sometimes get a new mission near your old rover that you can use to complete the new mission for free.

A lot of the missions in career mode have multiple parts to them like keep making your space station bigger and survey a new area near your old rover. It's good to leave stuff out there on other planets.

[fluxtorrent]

http://s131.photobucket.com/user/sirnahme/media/operationroverrain.jpg.html

Pffft you just aren't rovering hard enough

[Red]

The point in using a rover is because you can.. I just find it fun, 0g stunt driving.

[XLjedi]

I have used them to refuel craft, transfer passengers/tourists, mining, craft recovery, exploring underwater, supply air drops, runway tractor/pushbacks, all sorts of stuff...

[ray.mcdonough]

I used to get contracts that entailed taking readings at certain points on the surface. Harder to do that than the one doing it above a certain altitude on Kerbin. I used to like the ones that had you taking readings below a set altitude. You could do them with an aircraft. But, those contacts seemed to have dried up.

[andylaugel]

I find keeping SAS helps, at least as long as the reaction wheels aren't too strong (will not respond to gravity) or too weak/nonexistant. If you hit a bump, the SAS will keep your vessel from spinning or yawing out of control.

Speeds of 15 to 30 m/s are achievable, but where that "too fast and out of control" speed is depends on your rover. You will have to keep an eye on it though. It helps to zoom out and scan the terrain ahead of you. Craters can sneak up on you quickly and cause dangerous situations. Slow down if you're about to go into one, and avoid "air time." If you do get caught in a ballistic situation though, use your reaction wheels and try to land on all of your wheels and pointed forward.

I often use fixed solar panels on my small rovers, to avoid breakage.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1361189967

But on some rovers I will use the extendable kind. It helps to keep them up high, so they aren't likely to touch the ground.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1365237796

Rovers make ground-based docking operations possible. A mining operation on wheels with a Klaw can refuel ships on the ground. A base built out of rovers can easily reconfigure itself or expand.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=613861851

For my Tylo shuttle, I enjoyed having wheels as it let me find somewhere level to start mining. Heavy ships on a high-g planet will slide down moderate slopes.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=865234604