How attached is everyone to the mail slot?
- Thread starter Teh Smoo
- Start date
As I run both Open and Private Session in and out of many of the stations -- other than the occasional Orcas and Beluga NPCs that seem to suffer from routine schizophrenia, the worst danger to entrance and exists from the mail slots are impatient players gunning their ships to max throttle to get out of the station. Hell, I've even seen this problem with players getting to their landing berths.
I can tell you I've seen an Anaconda leaving with a Federal Corvette coming in through the mail slot. From my vantage I can tell you they both had more than enough space to fit and still not scrape any paint.
The problem with this is that we commanders have 4 minutes to exit the station. 9 minutes to get into the station. In the busiest stations I've taken no more than 2 minutes to get out of the station and 3 minutes to land in the station.
Perhaps patience is required to getting in and leaving stations, and not necessarily rushing and requesting for a separate entrance/exit.
+1
Though I am not against the idea of newly designed station class with a newly designed traffic management system, just existing slots should be left alone
I've never had a problem with the mail slot. I pay attention to incoming and outgoing traffic and whether they are NPC or human controlled, and treat them accordingly. I am no slouch when entering and exiting but only had one non fatal crash.
I think having an exit slot on the opposite end would be fine on the cuboid stations but would limit other designs. It could be a feature of only the cuboid stations perhaps, and you could have maybe one way force fields the force people to travel in the right direction, i.e. solid from one direction but permeable from the other.
I do sometimes wonder if it would be cool to have the option of requesting external maintenance. You would "park" outside the station and call ground control for maintenance for a modest fee, then a number of drones/limpets would come to your ship and repair, refuel, reload etc. You wouldn't have as many facilities as going into the station but people don't always want all the facilities. You could maybe be given a remote connection to a cut down terminal so you could access mission, contacts, etc, but not things like outfitting or ship yard. I think it could make the outside of stations look more interesting and help people with bigger ships who sometimes struggle with the slot.
I think having an exit slot on the opposite end would be fine on the cuboid stations but would limit other designs. It could be a feature of only the cuboid stations perhaps, and you could have maybe one way force fields the force people to travel in the right direction, i.e. solid from one direction but permeable from the other.
I do sometimes wonder if it would be cool to have the option of requesting external maintenance. You would "park" outside the station and call ground control for maintenance for a modest fee, then a number of drones/limpets would come to your ship and repair, refuel, reload etc. You wouldn't have as many facilities as going into the station but people don't always want all the facilities. You could maybe be given a remote connection to a cut down terminal so you could access mission, contacts, etc, but not things like outfitting or ship yard. I think it could make the outside of stations look more interesting and help people with bigger ships who sometimes struggle with the slot.
It could stand to be slightly taller and wider to accommodate large ships so they can do proper in/out lanes, or get the traffic management callouts to actually be a little more strong and enforced so you don't get surprised trying to squeeze out the same time something big and wide shoves through.
As much as the traffic controller warns you vaguely about things, the traffic control doesn't really lock traffic priorities.
"Watch for oncoming ships during departure". Informative as bricks.
I'd rather hear:
"Stand by. You are number [two] for departure. Please hold while a [Type-9] makes entry."
Followed by:
"[LAKON] [Alpha, Tango, India], airlock is clear. You are go for departure."
Listen to some actual tower chatter some time.
While we're at it, would be nice of the random chatter you heard around stations was actual tower comms talking to the AI milling about instead of the same tired "This is X! I've been hit by pirates! My frameshift drive has taken major damage!" -- "Hold tight commander, help is on the way."
I'd much rather the chatter actually be meaningful. Hearing arrivals and departures.
As much as the traffic controller warns you vaguely about things, the traffic control doesn't really lock traffic priorities.
"Watch for oncoming ships during departure". Informative as bricks.
I'd rather hear:
"Stand by. You are number [two] for departure. Please hold while a [Type-9] makes entry."
Followed by:
"[LAKON] [Alpha, Tango, India], airlock is clear. You are go for departure."
Listen to some actual tower chatter some time.
While we're at it, would be nice of the random chatter you heard around stations was actual tower comms talking to the AI milling about instead of the same tired "This is X! I've been hit by pirates! My frameshift drive has taken major damage!" -- "Hold tight commander, help is on the way."
I'd much rather the chatter actually be meaningful. Hearing arrivals and departures.
I think one of the big problems with us going through the mailslot has to do with depth perception and pilot perspective. While I've come to teach myself how to ignore the collision warning klaxon when I'm going through the mailslot, with my Viper I've learned that I'm not aiming correctly... I use the closer to the bottom method of exit and found out that it should be closer to the top.
What I think is that we need the radar seriously upgraded so that we can see during exit (and even entry) where our ship is aiming through the slot...
We have it for the cargo door opened. Why not when the landing gear are extended? After all, we have this now and this is only 2017.
Bricks are actually more informative. Especially when thrown at you
Alpha, Tango, India? I would think it's Alpha, Delta, Mike?
+5,000,000 for this, but I suspect that until the devs completely lobotomize the AI for Orcas, Belugas and Type 9s, we're not going to be seeing this happening any time in the near (or far) future.
It is fine as it is. You are claiming that it is too small for two way traffic, but it is only the 'less competent' human pilots that seem to have issues with getting in and out. If you had two; one in and one out, they would be half the size and therefore harder to squeeze into etc..
I'm attached to the mail slot, but I wouldn't mind some stations having a different arrangement.
Why have two "mail slots". Hell, we might as well go all out!
Have a mail slot for drivers going slow.
Have a mail slot for drivers going fast.
Have a mail slot for drivers leaving in a hurry.
Have a mail slot for drivers who are leaving but taking their time like its a Sunday morning.
Have a mail slot that allows easier "slippage in" to get past scanners when you got naughty goodies.
Have a mail slot that's fake so members of another faction will wait at it for you there to come out, all the time while you use the "Taking your time like its a Sunday morning" mail slot.
Have a mail slot that has a lot of traffic going through for drivers who enjoy traffic jams.
Have a mail slot....
Have a mail slot for drivers going slow.
Have a mail slot for drivers going fast.
Have a mail slot for drivers leaving in a hurry.
Have a mail slot for drivers who are leaving but taking their time like its a Sunday morning.
Have a mail slot that allows easier "slippage in" to get past scanners when you got naughty goodies.
Have a mail slot that's fake so members of another faction will wait at it for you there to come out, all the time while you use the "Taking your time like its a Sunday morning" mail slot.
Have a mail slot that has a lot of traffic going through for drivers who enjoy traffic jams.
Have a mail slot....
Space Station: Las Vegas
(Because it has a lot of slots....Get it!?!)
(Because it has a lot of slots....Get it!?!)
Actually, I wouldn't be surprise that the FDevs kept the space station entrance/exit the way it is as to pay tribute to Stanley Kubrick and his masterpiece, "2001: A Space Odyssey".
If that's the case, I don't have a problem with the mail slot at all.
It is a great film, and is (in some small way) the reason we have Elite: Dangerous today.
FDEVS NOTE: I know you guy will never read this, but it would cool if you had a ship designed after the Pan Am Space Shuttle from "2001: A Space Oddyssey". It would be a passenger transport ship, obviously. And have the Pan Am Space Shuttle paintjob as well. Sure, there might be some copyright haggles, but you guys can do it. I believe in you!
Anyway, thanks for all you do, we appreciate it.
Dudes, it would be like....so coooool
If that's the case, I don't have a problem with the mail slot at all.
It is a great film, and is (in some small way) the reason we have Elite: Dangerous today.
FDEVS NOTE: I know you guy will never read this, but it would cool if you had a ship designed after the Pan Am Space Shuttle from "2001: A Space Oddyssey". It would be a passenger transport ship, obviously. And have the Pan Am Space Shuttle paintjob as well. Sure, there might be some copyright haggles, but you guys can do it. I believe in you!
Anyway, thanks for all you do, we appreciate it.
Dudes, it would be like....so coooool
I think one of the big problems with us going through the mailslot has to do with depth perception and pilot perspective. While I've come to teach myself how to ignore the collision warning klaxon when I'm going through the mailslot, with my Viper I've learned that I'm not aiming correctly... I use the closer to the bottom method of exit and found out that it should be closer to the top.
What I think is that we need the radar seriously upgraded so that we can see during exit (and even entry) where our ship is aiming through the slot...
We have it for the cargo door opened. Why not when the landing gear are extended? After all, we have this now and this is only 2017.
Bricks are actually more informative. Especially when thrown at you
Alpha, Tango, India? I would think it's Alpha, Delta, Mike?
+5,000,000 for this, but I suspect that until the devs completely lobotomize the AI for Orcas, Belugas and Type 9s, we're not going to be seeing this happening any time in the near (or far) future.
My moniker is cut down to A_TIGERCLAW in-game.
But yeah, there's issues figuring out where you actually are when you're utilizing larger ships. The ever-present problem of getting an Anaconda stuck actually has me putting my new beast in storage until something can be done. Wouldn't bother me as much except I'm not willing to risk a 150+ million credit ship on a ten second countdown when I jam the thing against the ceiling of the slot trying to figure out where the bottom of the ship is so I can slip it through. And even then, that wouldn't bother me so much, except with a Conda, the docking options are pretty much all Mail-slot stations or surface locations. So pretty much everywhere I go is putting the ship at risk over a docking procedure.
Agree, just like any ATC controller in FSX would do.
+1
[video=youtube;vnd29riSRFE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnd29riSRFE[/video]
I think doing in in >>> out passthrough configuration would require a few more changes than just model.
Aside from designing a station that doesn't have a giant neck on the back end that would get in the way, docking pads would have to be adjusted. The current system of docking pads are configured to turn you around to face the exit. The Devs would have to program an alternate pad-type in for this mechanic to keep you facing the right direction. This is on top of the highly detailed station.
Though, it would be neat to see a huge station that has say, a capital shipyard wrapped around the familiar rotating point of the classic station. A place like that would be hilariously busy. To make things even more fun, apply multiple dock types all over. Central ring, pass-through docking bay, as well as surface docks out on the edges away from the gravity ring. But then, it would need some kind of excuse for counter-torque not to cause the whole thing to spin counter to the central gravity ring. And that just introduces other fluff issues that if not addressed right, can kill suspension of disbelief.
Aside from designing a station that doesn't have a giant neck on the back end that would get in the way, docking pads would have to be adjusted. The current system of docking pads are configured to turn you around to face the exit. The Devs would have to program an alternate pad-type in for this mechanic to keep you facing the right direction. This is on top of the highly detailed station.
Though, it would be neat to see a huge station that has say, a capital shipyard wrapped around the familiar rotating point of the classic station. A place like that would be hilariously busy. To make things even more fun, apply multiple dock types all over. Central ring, pass-through docking bay, as well as surface docks out on the edges away from the gravity ring. But then, it would need some kind of excuse for counter-torque not to cause the whole thing to spin counter to the central gravity ring. And that just introduces other fluff issues that if not addressed right, can kill suspension of disbelief.
True.... Will I get to hear, caution wake turbulence after the Conda takes off?
It is actually something I have asked for in the past. A Coriolis station that's not spinning on its axis and so you have to enter the slot that's spinning eccentrically, and there's something up with the docking protocols so everyone has to dock manually... that's a big "yes please" from me!
Removing game play and replacing it with an easy button is not my idea of an improvement.
What game play would that be? Can you be more specific?
Wouldn't this mean the AI will have two slots to get stuck in? Logic dictates your not avoiding the issue your creating a dublicate and if one slot is blocked then that will force every one to fly through either the entry/exit only slot that is unblocked, regardless if it is only an entry or exit slot, which means nothing really will change.
