Increase Yaw on Landing Pads

[Avago Earo]

Firstly, I understand and agree with the lowish Yaw in normal flight to avoid 'Turrets In Space' type combat and I personally like the flight mechanic. I also understand this is probably low priority.

What I was thinking though, is a mechanic that, when a docking pad has been assigned and from a certain distance of that pad (perhaps when the Landing guidance graphic appears), the yaw rate increases. This could be especially helpful on outposts where sometimes the direction of approach can be unclear (well to me anyway), particularly on dark ones, and you have to slowly Yaw to align. It could be explained as Landing Pad Yaw Assist or something along those lines, perhaps with a graphic to support this. Landing Gear would have to be in operation and Weapon Deployment would be disabled when this mechanic is employed.

Thoughts?

 

[Robert Maynard]

When I approach from the wrong "end" of the pad - if I notice way too late (to pitch up, invert and execute a lazy loop onto the pad), I pitch up on the pad, roll 180° and then pitch down.

Increased yaw with gear down and only in proximity to landing pads would seem too "gamey", in my opinion.

 

[Avago Earo]

Increased yaw with gear down and only in proximity to landing pads would seem too "gamey", in my opinion.

Hmm... maybe. But what about some sort of graphic where it was obvious the pad was assisting you for immersion reasons? Perhaps it's a bad idea but it gets a bit frustrating when already over the pad and yawing so slowly.

 

[popuptoaster]

I do the same pitch over upside down and roll to correct the direction.

[video=youtube;TI8Byys7oEw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI8Byys7oEw[/video]

 

[Flimley]

I have always wished all ships just had a little more yaw....just a bit.

Flimley

 

[Avago Earo]

I do the same pitch over upside down and roll to correct the direction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI8Byys7oEw

So do I. I just thought my idea would make landing more efficient when close/over the pad and facing the wrong way (when that happens). But as Robert Maynard pointed out, some people may find that a bit 'gamey'. I'm not sure of that, but the idea only came in my head just now so I haven't given it a huge amount of analysis.

 

[Avago Earo]

Poll now added.

 

[Wood67]

Or at least place some clearer direction marker, rather than trying to spot the thruster baffles. For a while it seemed that for all Outposts you land facing away from the station, and for planet side normally facing towards the centre. Then I went to Elvira's and discovered that not only does it have weird gravity (and some sort of atmosphere?) but also the landing site is rotated 180 deg. First time there cost me a fine for idiotic flying.

But back to topic, I'd see no problem with a low-speed buff to the yaw. Cars and trucks do this already with rear wheel steering, and the power steering in your car is similarly scaled. So it seems natural that in the future this wouldn't be gamey.

 

[VAN LORD]

-1 Exclusively as a decorative element. Because a practical use will not be much. Speaking of "Practice":
Practice solves everything.

Perhaps in the training it is necessary to add a "complicated parking" for a limited time:
- landing on the opposite side of the platform, beginning in the vicinity of the platform.
- landing on the station wich turned to the pilot by a side, it is required to use the acceleration and using a "drift" to stop exactly infront the entrance.
- landing on a planet with high gravity.
* for each of training give a different ships with a different mass and agility, and show how it should be done: first, with a view on the ship from the side, then directly from the cockpit.

 

[Hydrino]

Firstly, I understand and agree with the lowish Yaw in normal flight to avoid 'Turrets In Space' type combat and I personally like the flight mechanic. I also understand this is probably low priority.

What I was thinking though, is a mechanic that, when a docking pad has been assigned and from a certain distance of that pad (perhaps when the Landing guidance graphic appears), the yaw rate increases. This could be especially helpful on outposts where sometimes the direction of approach can be unclear (well to me anyway), particularly on dark ones, and you have to slowly Yaw to align. It could be explained as Landing Pad Yaw Assist or something along those lines, perhaps with a graphic to support this. Landing Gear would have to be in operation and Weapon Deployment would be disabled when this mechanic is employed.

Thoughts?

I agree with the observation, but my approach is not to change yaw. Rather, the approach vector is an issue that can be fixed by some UI tweaks not needing a change to yaw. When at a distance the front/back of the pad should be more clear on the left-hand holo-representation model. I've posted this as an idea before in that the assigned landing pad should be highlighted on the dash-display. Perhaps a large arrow, similar to the one on the Coriolis stations (once targeted), to show where the mail slot is, could be added to the outpost and settlement landing pads.

Another option would be to make the pads neutral as to front/rear positioning. Unless the ports and hookups to the starships are standardized (which would make sense, for instance for robotic cargo canister working, all ships unload to the right side.

 

[YinYin]

The pad direction is kind of visible via control tower and blast plate. You have yourself to blame for coming from the wrong side.

Only on the occasion that a pad has not turned back from the previous ship you got a short lived problem. In a slow ship you wait for it to turn below you. In an agile ship you do the lazy loop in place and land facing the blast plate for once.

All that could be addressed by generally allowing to land both directions. Don't mess with the yaw.

I think I've seen that in the QoL suggestions thread. So landing either way is at least getting discussed.

 

[Galactic Fork]

Easier fix would be to be able to land both ways on the pad (the bloody thing can already rotate, so why does it matter which way you land on it?)

I completely agree this would be the best fix. Especially for planetary stations and space ports with external pads.

 

[Avago Earo]

Easier fix would be to be able to land both ways on the pad (the bloody thing can already rotate, so why does it matter which way you land on it?)

There is that.

 

[RadiKyle]

Easier fix would be to be able to land both ways on the pad (the bloody thing can already rotate, so why does it matter which way you land on it?)

This.

I would even suggest that landing orientation shouldn't matter at all (can point in any direction), so long as the ship fits on the pad entirely. (In theory, it should be parked in the orientation that makes the most sense for loading/unloading, servicing, whatever, since not all ships have their doors/ramps in the same locations, and not all pads have the nearby loading docks, etc. in the same spots.)

 

[Section47ABH]

Or - and bear with me here, this may come as a radical proposal - note that your ship can pitch and roll a lot faster and get yourself lined up on a proper approach vector with those controls. Making your approach rolled on your beam to the plane in which you intend to land gives you a better field of view as you get closer anyway, as you tend to have a wider view from side to side of your cockpit than you do out the chin or through the roof.

Use your yaw control for the last-minute minor corrections you need after you flip to gear-down orientation, using lateral thrust were appropriate once you've got your vector parallel to the indicator line on the landing holo.

I'm at best a not-quite-terrible flyer and I don't have an issue with this. There is, after all, no reason other than gravity-limited thinking to maintain an orientation to the pad in which yaw is important, after all.