Newcomer / Intro Docking for newbies is a nightmare (dev's U need to do something)

Sapient6 · Mar 22, 2015

Red_13 said:
But, I still think it would not hurt for the developers to put "tractor beams" in the initial few stations, acknowledging (in the story) that those stations are visited by the "newbies" the most and had caused a lot of damage to the stations so they fitted tractor beams.

I think this would hurt. One of ED's best features is that it is a game that does not hold your hand. It's not like there's a shortage of games willing to spoon feed you, but I didn't slide up to this table because I wanted a jar of baby food.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Zeeman said:
Once you "get it", you can even do it with a keyboard and mouse - as painful as it is...

I found docking with the mouse much easier. The only thing a joystick has over a kb/m setup during docking is syncing with the rotation of the letterbox.

purf · Mar 22, 2015

Red_13 said:
so that you remain stationary relative to the station, rather than constantly drifting into the side!

If I'm understanding you right... your ship has something called Rotational Correction. Why don't you switch it on?

Ancipital · Mar 22, 2015

This is still rumbling on? Sheesh.

Hurling a T7 through the letterbox and onto the pad like it's a sidey now, and it still ain't no thang. That was even with adapting to using a set of rudder pedals rather than the yaw twist on my stick... It made things a bit hesitant at first, but now it's just fine.

Docking is really, really easy in ED compared to original Elite, or (heaven forefend) compared to landing in a fight sim. If you don't like your vector, you can just throttle down to stop, correct yourself and move off again- which makes it trivially easy. Learn to use your controls- the travel and docking tutorials are a great place to practise this safely without losing any money if you make a mistake.

Seriously, if the basic control of your ship required for docking is too much for you, you're going to be royally stuffed if you ever get into combat.

Zylark said:
Ironically, docking the larger ships is much easier than the small ones...

Ah, so it's not just me, then? I keep an A-Fit Viper in the hangar for fun/suicidal stuff, and find that I make much messier landings with it. It's still not difficult per se, it's just that I fly in a bit heavy-handed, and bounce/scrape the pad a bit, due to coming in so fast. Maybe part of it is that it's so twitchy on the thrusters. Still, I suppose it's a bit of a boy racer ship, so it's fitting to fly like a in it. If it really mattered, I could try something radical like paying attention, but really, I tend to dock without paying much attention these days, and it's still fine

Argus Wishbone · Mar 22, 2015

This game is easy to fly as it is. THe amount of freedom you can have (because its in vacuum) is amazing. Use all your thrusters,not just fly it like a jet plane and you will get it.
Seriously,docking is a piece of cake. Use your lateral thrusters more...They are invaluable

Joe Akeem · Mar 22, 2015

I'm going to cry if they 'ease up' the docking procedure due to complaints. I've been docking with keyb./mouse since dec 16th and crashed once. It's not hard and most certainly not in need of extra hand-holding.

Vergoth · Mar 22, 2015

I don't know why everyone is giving this obvious troll post the gratification.

Luckily FD won't make docking any easier than it already is.

Personally I think docking is too easy. Far too easy. You should take more damage from rough landings etc

Ancipital · Mar 22, 2015

Vergoth said:
I don't know why everyone is giving this obvious troll post the gratification.

I dunno, there's a close relative to Poe's Law that makes things tricky. Those posters might actually be srs, and not trolling

Danube · Mar 22, 2015

Vergoth said:
I don't know why everyone is giving this obvious troll post the gratification.

I wouldn't call it trolling. Sometimes it's just hard to pick up the knack of something, but eventually it usually clicks. Sometimes it takes a while, is all.

Vergoth · Mar 22, 2015

Danube said:
Vergoth said:

I don't know why everyone is giving this obvious troll post the gratification. /QUOTE]

I wouldn't call it trolling. Sometimes it's just hard to pick up the knack of something, but eventually it usually clicks. Sometimes it takes a while, is all.

Click to expand...

It's the only possible explanation for someone requesting that docking be made easier.

Undecided · Mar 22, 2015

Guys, both the OP and necro-er admitted to technical issues that made docking much harder for them than it needed to be:

claretonmyshirt said:
Ok it seems we have found the issue, or rather my son did. It seemed that my yaw left and right were not working (i've been using a joystick) he clicked escape twice (maybe once did it) and that got them going and he landed it in seconds, i can now do the same. Not sure what the hell was going on, maybe io changed something wiothout realizing, maybe a bug i dunno but it's fixed. A day of massive frustration seems over, appreciate the ideas etc.

Red_13 said:
Thanks, yes that was the problem... As in I had Override set ON, but the controls not actually properly set. Once set, that made a huge difference.

Also, not sure how but seems my Flight assist was off and that would make you "drift" relative to the station. With it on, it seems a lot more "locked in".

So after 3 successful landings within a minute or 2, I think I am set. Thanks for the reply.

But, I still think it would not hurt for the developers to put "tractor beams" in the initial few stations, acknowledging (in the story) that those stations are visited by the "newbies" the most and had caused a lot of damage to the stations so they fitted tractor beams.

It's fine to discuss if docking is difficult or not but can we please stop arguing about who is trolling who?

Gelb · Mar 22, 2015

Its an old saying but very true Practice makes Perfect, keep doing the training docking till you have Cracked it simples

Red_13 · Mar 22, 2015

Rotational correction is disabled during the training missions.

Ancipital · Mar 22, 2015

Undecided said:
It's fine to discuss if docking is difficult or not but can we please stop arguing about who is trolling who?

STOP TROLLING, you're ruining my immersion.

Red_13 · Mar 22, 2015

Thank you, Ancipital!

Vergoth, you're an idiot. Not everyone that disagrees with you is a troll! And if you bothered to read follow on posts by myself, you can see that I found the cause of the problem which was my setup. I'm landing fine, now.

But for a veteran of Elite to be SO frustrated means that the developers could get some bad reviews if the solution is not found quick enough. And would it *hurt* to have a few early "newbie" stations fitted with some auto-docking help? Would it *really* "kill the game" for you? Talk about a drama queen!

Werppa · Mar 22, 2015

Joe Akeem said:
I'm going to cry if they 'ease up' the docking procedure due to complaints. I've been docking with keyb./mouse since dec 16th and crashed once. It's not hard and most certainly not in need of extra hand-holding.

How could they even make it easier

? It's hands down the easiest thing in the game currently.

msyblade · Mar 22, 2015

If there is no schematic popping up, and you get hit for loitering, something fundamental is going wrong. Possibly not requesting docking clearance?, or hitting the wrong pad? Your pad isn't the only one that lights up, many npc's may be landing at the same time.

Ancipital · Mar 23, 2015

Red_13 said:
But for a veteran of Elite to be SO frustrated means that the developers could get some bad reviews if the solution is not found quick enough. And would it *hurt* to have a few early "newbie" stations fitted with some auto-docking help? Would it *really* "kill the game" for you? Talk about a drama queen!

If a "veteran" of Elite can't dock in ED, they should check that they're facing the monitor, and that their chosen control method is actually plugged in. Seriously, there's a nice tutorial for people to practise in, and even if you're in the vanishingly small percentage who somehow managed to fail to dock a Sidewinder through a letterbox the size of Crimea the first time, you should have it down with ten minutes of practise and a little concentration.

It really is an easy, easy task. If you can't manage it, than ED really may not be for you- actually playing the game requires more co-ordination than merely docking, after all. Quit while you're ahead, or try this:

http://tinyurl.com/nmyev6l

Concenaros · Mar 23, 2015

Docking takes practice. As does the rest of the game.

Since this is a space flight sim. It's going to take a little while to get used to flying into ports and docking your ship.

If you do the training as suggested or watch videos, the process gets easier. I got the hang of docking pretty quickly and now it's like second nature.

Just make sure you always have your landing gear down and follow the Arrows on the landing pad diagram, making sure your ship is facing forwards.

Red_13 · Mar 23, 2015

Ancipital said:
If a "veteran" of Elite can't dock in ED, they should check that they're facing the monitor, and that their chosen control method is actually plugged in. Seriously, there's a nice tutorial for people to practise in, and even if you're in the vanishingly small percentage who somehow managed to fail to dock a Sidewinder through a letterbox the size of Crimea the first time, you should have it down with ten minutes of practise and a little concentration.
l

*sigh* I'm managing it quite fine, thank you, now that I have my setup correct and FA on. Thanks for your very mature answer that totally wrecked your previous more grown-up reply to the accusation of trolling.

But I'll ask again... Would it *really* "kill your game" if the first few starting stations have further landing assistance? Really??? If so, you really need to grow up.

The whole point of this for ANY developer is to make money. They don't do it for love. And if they get even ONE review which hacks on the game for being mind-numbing, frustrating, overly complex, or a barrier to beginners, then that could very well dissuade further sales of the game.

Fact is, adding in docking assistance in the first couple of starter stations would NOT "kill your game" and provide a less steep learning curve which would encourage further playing and exploration. Which in the long run, means more players, no matter how you look at it. No, *I* don't need it... I am perfectly fine with docking now... But obviously it is a cause for some frustration that needs to be addressed, and could be solved easily without any actual real negative to YOU.

You guys that want to be Elitist (pun intended) and try to scare off N00bs because "it's my game, man... It's not for you chumps" have no concept of financial success and are most likely pre-teen wannabes that have no concept of the real fiscal world.

If you can not actually provide a REAL reason as to why it's a bad idea to have extra assistance in beginner stations, then you really have no leg to stand on.

Concenaros · Mar 23, 2015

Red_13 said:
*sigh* I'm managing it quite fine, thank you, now that I have my setup correct and FA on. Thanks for your very mature answer that totally wrecked your previous more grown-up reply to the accusation of trolling.

But I'll ask again... Would it *really* "kill your game" if the first few starting stations have further landing assistance? Really??? If so, you really need to grow up.

The whole point of this for ANY developer is to make money. They don't do it for love. And if they get even ONE review which hacks on the game for being mind-numbing, frustrating, overly complex, or a barrier to beginners, then that could very well dissuade further sales of the game.

Fact is, adding in docking assistance in the first couple of starter stations would NOT "kill your game" and provide a less steep learning curve which would encourage further playing and exploration. Which in the long run, means more players, no matter how you look at it. No, *I* don't need it... I am perfectly fine with docking now... But obviously it is a cause for some frustration that needs to be addressed, and could be solved easily without any actual real negative to YOU.

You guys that want to be Elitist (pun intended) and try to scare off N00bs because "it's my game, man... It's not for you chumps" have no concept of financial success and are most likely pre-teen wannabes that have no concept of the real fiscal world.

If you can not actually provide a REAL reason as to why it's a bad idea to have extra assistance in beginner stations, then you really have no leg to stand on.

Honestly, from a game design standpoint, adding in an assist early on WOULD be beneficial short-term in helping people. What are they supposed to do once they're out in space and need to dock to refuel or hand in a contract? They'd enter a station without docking assist and suddenly be just as confused as they would have been with the current setup. What they should do is just rework the tutorial missions to be a bit more clear.

Yes, I know that people hate doing tutorials and like to just jump into a game and go go go. I'm one of those people. In all seriousness though I saw that this game was pretty involved when I started looking into it and decided I should try to go through all the tutorials and actually complete them before starting the game. Now, I have no issue docking.

There are modules that you can get early on that have auto-docking for your sidewinder. If you really need that extra help docking.

I'm not bashing your suggestion I'm just trying to actually think about how they would incorporate it so as to not hurt players when push comes to shove and their 'training wheels' have to suddenly come off.