Decoupled options

[ManTheMister]

While editing, the decoupled can be set to either detach from parent or to detach children.

[Lurkily]

I usually consider an idea by first questioning the need for it, poking holes in it.  Hence why I tend to try and curb some ideas by diverting to things I think are more necessary, but would also cover the same circumstances.

I can't really poke a hole in this one.  This is simple, uncomplicated, seems straightforward to implement, and provides an additional capability that can't easily be reproduced any other way.  You can sort of hack this in by using a factory instead of a decoupler, but it's a clumsy option.

Definitely in favor.

[Ookami-sama]

My mind stays completely blank when I try to gauge how useful such a feature might be. Do you have any example of a craft that would benefit from it?

[Lurkily]

For instance, say you have a deployable drone that you only ever need one of.  But building it throws you off balance, and you can't manuever it to the spot you need to leave it without weaving around drunkenly.  As I've done with factories, you can add thrusters to the decoupler to balance the thrust when you build.  But those thrusters will throw the deployable's balance off, so you'd like them to be decoupled as well, and just discarded, rather than leaving them attached to the deployable.

Maybe you want to drop several deployables from one decoupler.  Its uses aren't comprehensive, but it seems like it might be trivial to implement, and it does provide a capability you can't easily replicate another way.

[Ookami-sama]

If I understand correctly... should it look this way?

Use the thrusters to keep balance, and when you are where you need to be, decouple 1, then 2. Hop there. As for deploying several modules, just use several decouplers, I guess.

I still fail to see any use for a setting that would allow to detach the decoupler with or without the children components. It only has a weight of 1 unit, not like it can irremediably compromise the working of any sort of craft.

[Entity]

Honestly they should be explosive decouplers (ie. they destroy themselves.  not leave a stump).

 

As they currently are, even their graphic is misleading. They look like they would detach leaving half of the decoupler on each of the separated parts.

[Lurkily]

I think the intent is for explosive decouplers to be a separate part; but you have a point, if explosive decouplers are intended, you can just parent parts to a child of the decoupler.  There's no reason to keep this behavior at all, save to litter the map with decoupler parts.

1 hour ago, Ookami-sama said:

I still fail to see any use for a setting that would allow to detach the decoupler with or without the children components. It only has a weight of 1 unit, not like it can irremediably compromise the working of any sort of craft.

2

Everything you're saying is reasonable, and pretty much in line with what I've been saying.  It wouldn't be a comprehensive change; but if it is a trivial change on the dev's part, then that is how I would prefer them to work.

If it's not a trivial change to make, then there are other things I'd much prefer they spend time on first.