Outpost Docking Pads "Bass-ackwards" !! :-(

Witcherman · Apr 25, 2015

Seriously, why in the world are all the docking pads on outposts aligned "bass-ackwards" to the approach vector?? I just doesn't make ANY logical sense and, to be honest, it's so unbelievable that anyone in their right mind would ever in the real world create a landing pad in such a way that it always ruins my immersion in the game. Which sucks because this game is all about immersion.

Am I the only person that goes nuts about this? Is it too hard to just rotate the dang landing pad orientation 180 degrees so that it looks realistic?

alisterwallbank · Apr 25, 2015

Well at least they are facing the right way for when you take off and boost away at a great rate of knots? I don't think it really takes too much effort to speed slide in and rotate at the same time in order to land? The other alternative is to come in on the outbound approach line, throttle back to max turn rate and do a quick 180 degree turn as you get over the pad and then do a 180 degree flip and thrust down. With a bit of practice you can do both these maneuvers pretty quick and slick. Admittedly not as quick as blasting in and crashing down onto the pad in a station but a lot more challenging?

VR Morgan Grimes · Apr 25, 2015

If you have issues in your ability to pilot your ship into position I'd suggest more practice

No, it doesn't bother me in the slightest, in fact I think it's a great thing that even in the future people mess up and design things badly

Midian Cabal · Apr 25, 2015

I asked my docking computer for her opinion and she says she doesn't give a damn.

Yabba Addict · Apr 25, 2015

I love em, especially in the viper

TriumphANT · Apr 25, 2015

Actually I thought the logic was that you land from the "hard" side and then take off out into space.

But... you rotate 180 degrees when you dock. So you land on the hard side AND take off "into" the station.

It's wrong. So wrong. But I don't really care.

Ydiss · Apr 25, 2015

If you approach the pad from the right direction it's trivial to land on that outpost. It's not as though we're piloting aircraft that need to approach a runway.

6 degrees.

Witcherman · Apr 25, 2015

alisterwallbank said:
Well at least they are facing the right way for when you take off and boost away at a great rate of knots? I don't think it really takes too much effort to speed slide in and rotate at the same time in order to land? The other alternative is to come in on the outbound approach line, throttle back to max turn rate and do a quick 180 degree turn as you get over the pad and then do a 180 degree flip and thrust down. With a bit of practice you can do both these maneuvers pretty quick and slick. Admittedly not as quick as blasting in and crashing down onto the pad in a station but a lot more challenging?

No, actually you're not pointed in the right direction, you're pointed inwardly towards the space station. Again, this makes no logical sense.

You should approach from the outside and land "facing towards" the station so that when you take off, you'll come out of the docking bay "facing away" from the station. The current setup has that whole situation backwards which, makes no sense at all.

Derath · Apr 25, 2015

The pads turn you around in half the stations, its just poor design

CactuarLOL · Apr 25, 2015

I think they must be bugged, Look at the sample picture he posted for example.

Firstly, When landing you must approach from the OPPOSITE direction to the arrow, which itself is counter intuitive. You could try and argue that the arrow is for when you are taking off, but in fact when you launch the arrow actually folds back and isnt visable.

Secondly, You are launching faced directly at a frigging wall, and landing from the direction of the wall, it makes no sense at all, you should be launching and landing in the direction of open space.

This isnt a "docking is hard" debate, its a "this is a mistake in the game code that makes no sense" talk.

Witcherman · Apr 25, 2015

Morgan Grimes said:
If you have issues in your ability to pilot your ship into position I'd suggest more practice

No, it doesn't bother me in the slightest, in fact I think it's a great thing that even in the future people mess up and design things badly

I don't have any problems landing, it's just stupid and...wait for it...doesn't make any sense, which spoils my immersion in the game....because no one would ever build such a silly thing.

To me, it seems like someone accidentally had the docks rotated the wrong way in the programming and never bothered to fix it, it's just so wrong that it seems like a bug that was never high enough priority to fix. Maybe someday...

OillyRag · Apr 25, 2015

Witcherman said:
Seriously, why in the world are all the docking pads on outposts aligned "bass-ackwards" to the approach vector?? I just doesn't make ANY logical sense and, to be honest, it's so unbelievable that anyone in their right mind would ever in the real world create a landing pad in such a way that it always ruins my immersion in the game. Which sucks because this game is all about immersion.

It's because they want you to concentrate a little when you land, it's the same reason you'll find obstacles in your way sometimes when you land and take off from a station.

It actually adds to your immersion in the end ..... otherwise you'll simply sleep walk through the game.

dannysquid · Apr 25, 2015

It gives you a bit more to think about when you're landing. Personally, if I was developing the game, I'd try to find MORE ways to get the player flying around in close proximity to things. It's just a lot more fun, regardless of the logic.

Twelvefield · Apr 25, 2015

I remember the Hong Kong Checkerboard. Jetliners would have to make an S-turn to approach final, this below the roof level of the surrounding skyscrapers. That also broke immersion, to look out the window and see office workers. This was before 9/11, though.

EDIT: OP, you can always submit a ticket. The worst happens, they ignore it.

Witcherman · Apr 25, 2015

woodstok said:
It's because they want you to concentrate a little when you land, it's the same reason you'll find obstacles in your way sometimes when you land and take off from a station.

It actually adds to your immersion in the end ..... otherwise you'll simply sleep walk through the game.

Unfortunately, it does not add to my immersion, wait a minute...unless...they are intentionally trying to increase the realism by making things in the game so horribly and pointlessly wrong that it reflects the true nature of how most modern bureaucracies make things these days. That's it!!! Blame the government, mission accomplished!

(sigh)

Crank Larson · Apr 25, 2015

Outpost landing is badly implemented, in that there is no logical reason why you have to approach the pad from a certain direction, or indeed launch in a particular direction. Having to turn 180 is pointless - I fly a spaceship, I can go straight up...

Hopefully FD will revisit this, though I don't think it is (or should be) high priority.

Ydiss · Apr 25, 2015

Sorry, I still don't understand why orientation matters when you can (and should) fly up or down, in relation to the station.

When I launch from an outpost, I trust up, pitch, throttle and boost, as much as fly forwards. And approaching this pad like an airplane just requires right strafe.

Not only is this such a trivial thing to get irate over, in my opinion it adds to the experience of docking and the feeling that not every single station or outpost is a copy paste.

I just don't see the problem. I can just imagine pilots getting angry as they "fly" in to "land". Or upset they can't "take off" by flying "forwards".

You're docking. Just feel thankful technology has advanced enough to allow docking bays. The normal way to dock is to fly straight at a port and connect a clamp.

There is no "landing vector" in space. Not when you can fly in 6 directions. It's obvious they designed them in spite of "earth - bound" flight concerns. Approach the pad, align, spin, rotate, pitch or yaw to get yourself into position, commander. And stop yer yabbering about approach vectors.

OillyRag · Apr 25, 2015

Witcherman said:
it reflects the true nature of how most modern bureaucracies make things these days. That's it!!! Blame the government, mission accomplished! (sigh)

Wait a minute, is there an election coming

Theutus · Apr 25, 2015

You're in a spaceship not an aircraft. I approach from "above" like I'm going to do a face first impact and swing my nose up at the last minute.

Ydiss · Apr 25, 2015

To add to what I've said above, in fairness to the op, we should have rear, up and down cameras to aid landing. And it was mentioned by a developer in the dda or beta forums.

Currently, we're predominantly reliant on flying forward to a late stage (that is until we get the docking hologram). Having cameras to help us approach without needing to nose up would be nice.

Still doesn't mean outposts should have been designed for earth - like landing, though.