Since 0.25, it is now possible to destroy buildings at KSC. Unfortunately, this appears to also mean it's now possible to overload your launch pad. On several occasions, even with relatively small craft, I've found that the launch pad simply collapses under the weight of my rocket.
Right now the pad collapses under anything larger than a rocket that's simply made to orbit Kerbin. It doesn't seem right to me that something as relatively small as the one I've made for the first Mun landing of this save should break the pad.
What is it that causes this? Is there now a weight cap for the launch pad – if so, what is it? Later in the game, I know I'll be able to work around the issue with launch stabilizers (I've done so in other saves), but right now that's not an option. Are there other workarounds?
Best Answer
If this is happening for smaller rockets then I suspect this is a loading glitch.
When a rocket is "moved" to the pad, it literally spontaneously appears there (what else would it do?) while the screen is black, then physics is applied too it. This would be fine, however the simulation is also building up textures and loading up all sorts of data at the same time.
If the rocket gets physics applied to it before the collision mesh for the Launch pad, the rocket will spend a few critical milliseconds falling through the pad. This will either result in the destruction of the rocket or the destruction of the pad.
There are only two solutions to this: