Docking - Does anyone find it fun?

[Harry Hates Golf]

I still enjoy docking/landing the ship manually. I have nothing against others who use the docking computer, it's just not my glass of beer (I hate "cup of tea").

If I had any good advice to give (yes, I know, I don't have any good advice), I would say to manually dock/land your ships until you are good at it, and then get a docking computer if you get bored with landing ships (or your ship is so large you worry that you are going to wreak it). This way if your docking computer starts glitching out (as other have told me it does occasionally), you can still land your own craft.

 

[GraXXoR]

Hey guys,

I gotta ask, does anyone find docking to be a fun experience? To me, as a new player, it seems like it was designed to be as stressful and difficult as possible. Approach a rotating space station, maybe from the wrong side, line up with a tiny slot, match rotation, fly in, and land on a tiny pad that may be behind you - all while a timer is counting down and knowing that if you mess up badly, you'll be fined or your ship will be destroyed. In short, it's a pain in the butt. Does anyone else feel this way, or, did you when you first started playing?

I guess I need a docking computer!

What do you think??

To be honest, I find docking one of the most satisfactory part of the game. There’s nothing quite like coming back into dock after three hours of bounty hunting. There is a palpable feeling of relaxation and unwinding. I love it.

 

[kurush]

I don't know, my docking comp seems to like it. And it is the nature of Elite series - manual docking was always a painful process. Good think you have to do it exactly once - after getting your first courier mission to a station that has docking comp for sale. I only wish it could do undock as well, was always using "trade logging" before frontier changed their code to dock you back if you are still inside.

 

[Moriendor]

I think it's quite fun with the exception of searching for the slot on Coriolis stations sometimes. Yes, I know you can align properly before dropping out of SC but sometimes it's just soooo sloooooooow when the station is close to the planet.

Generally, I almost always stick a docking computer on my Anaconda for the final approach, i.e. the last few meters to the pad because FDev forgot to make the little ship holo transparent. It's quite annoying when the little ship model blocks out everything and you can not even see the circle and the dot properly.

But with the AspX and the Python I have no problem to go 100% manual. It depends on what I plan to do. If I do have room for a docking computer then I will install it even on the smaller ships but often times I use the slot for something more worthwhile.

That said, I wish they would make the docking computer not use up an internal optional slot. If it needs to cover a slot at all then it should be using a utility slot in my opinion.

 

[milligna]

It wouldn't be Elite without people messing up docking. It's a tradition passed down from generation to generation.

 

[UmbraRex]

Hey guys,

I gotta ask, does anyone find docking to be a fun experience? To me, as a new player, it seems like it was designed to be as stressful and difficult as possible. Approach a rotating space station, maybe from the wrong side, line up with a tiny slot, match rotation, fly in, and land on a tiny pad that may be behind you - all while a timer is counting down and knowing that if you mess up badly, you'll be fined or your ship will be destroyed. In short, it's a pain in the butt. Does anyone else feel this way, or, did you when you first started playing?

I guess I need a docking computer!

What do you think??

I haven't read the ten pages of replies. That said I'm working on seeing how fast I can get onto the pad from getting permission to dock.

I'm almost at consistent 2 minutes now. But yeah, the times they assign you a pad RIGHT next to the slot are a pain.

 

[Jakester13]

I too love docking. It gives me a bit of a thrill whenever I manage to pull off some sort of "perfect" landing, avoiding scans, traffic, other CMDRs... I mean we are flying absolutely huge craft, after all!

Compared to the original: *I think* I remember weeks of early-game frustration and multiple deaths trying to dock. It was such a relief when the DC became affordable. Haven't felt the need to fit the DC in ED and value precious internals too much to sacrifice one for the sake of a DC.

Having said that, I haven't much experience of large ships, so it remains to be seen whether I will ever need it or not.

To the OP: Just practice. For extra "frission" pretend that you are always smuggling and make avoiding scans your priority. Speed and accuracy = cheap thrills!

o7

 

[Kingston@#]

once you get it, you will find it fun. keep practicing you will get there. i only use DC in the cutter. while I'm learning its handling.

 

[Dbrn47]

It was fun in the early days of smuggling when we thought that we needed to use silent running. Now it's just a necessary thing. You can always use a docking computer. The biggest hang up for me has always been the animation of going in and out of the hangar, just feels too long sometimes. I don't necessarily think anything needs to be changed there though. It has a decent feeling of realism there that would likely be a shame to lose.

 

[Cmdr Tel]

No. I put a docking computer on most of my ships. I do like manually docking on outposts going crazy fast (who actually follows the speed limit when docking?), but docking in stations is hella boring.

I love flight simulators, P3D/Xplane and so I like the procedures in landing a plane safely and correctly. Elite just isnt anywhere near as complex to make docking a challenge. I've never had issues docking but I use a hotas. Maybe KBM/gamepad players have more trouble docking but with a joystick/throttle its super easy.

Nope! On a game pad it's super easy and I never bother lining up just swoop in unless smuggling of course.
using vertical thrusters helps in my opinion but then I guess playing in 84 helps.
Wouldn't waste a slot on a DC.
Waiting in line is boring squeezing through the slot with the ever present Belugas is a little more thrilling.

 

[Tosan James]

I enjoy docking. I have never had a docking computer. I practiced with the tutorials a lot before starting the game though. To me, docking manually is an immersion thing. I like to fly as if I was a real pilot flying a real ship. That means following the docking protocols and making a smooth landing. It just takes practice. After a while, none of the ships are particularly difficult to dock, but they all are a little different, so it takes getting comfortable with the ship you're in. It's all part of the fun of flying a spaceship.

 

[Greybeard_LXI]

Much good information in the earlier parts of the thread. It seems to grow more as I read each page so I stopped a while back.

I do find flying in to the landing pad looking for a perfect touchdown challenging. This is good to me.

But I do understand the frustration of exiting super cruise on the wrong side of the station. I remember flying slowly down the side of the station and stopping to turn every few minutes to see if I went far enough. And then turning back and flying more. To make that part a bit easier, put the station on the side of your ship and look right or left past the navigation or status panels to check your progress. Even better is to set up head look so you can look around with out turning. (Queue VR pilots saying just turn your head!)

 

[Red Anders]

To answer OP's question I don't find it 'fun' in the same way as I don't find parking a car 'fun'; it isn't an inherently entertaining activity, just a necessary task to perform but I don't find it inconvenient or difficult either.

Regarding exiting supercruise at the wrong end of the station (or wrong side in the case of a Coriolis station) the 3D image of the station shown lower left in your cockpit actually shows the station's orientation including the mailslot so there's really no reason to ever do this now.

As for the argument about docking computers, there isn't one. Use it if you want, don't use it if you don't. The 'LRN 2 DOCK N00B' crowd are just one of the many hilarious aspects of the game's playerbase - who really cares what some random internet neckbeard with a misplaced superiority complex thinks about their choices?

Personally I have a docking computer on my T-9 and one on my Cutter. In both cases it's not due to any difficulty in docking manually (the T-9 in particular is a piece of cake to dock despite its size) but because I use both of those ships mainly for trade CGs and I just can't be bothered landing it on manual every 3 minutes for a couple of hours. If I had to park my car every 3 minutes for a couple of hours, you can bet I'd be trying to automate that too if possible. Humanity has been implementing ways to reduce the need to repeatedly perform mundane tasks since the dawn of time, we call it 'progress'.

At the other end of the scale, I've gone through the mailslot doing well over 350 before now in my smuggling ships and docked without incident.

 

[LeoBartlet]

To answer OP's question I don't find it 'fun' in the same way as I don't find parking a car 'fun'; it isn't an inherently entertaining activity, just a necessary task to perform but I don't find it inconvenient or difficult either.

Regarding exiting supercruise at the wrong end of the station (or wrong side in the case of a Coriolis station) the 3D image of the station shown lower left in your cockpit actually shows the station's orientation including the mailslot so there's really no reason to ever do this now.

As for the argument about docking computers, there isn't one. Use it if you want, don't use it if you don't. The 'LRN 2 DOCK N00B' crowd are just one of the many hilarious aspects of the game's playerbase - who really cares what some random internet neckbeard with a misplaced superiority complex thinks about their choices?

Personally I have a docking computer on my T-9 and one on my Cutter. In both cases it's not due to any difficulty in docking manually (the T-9 in particular is a piece of cake to dock despite its size) but because I use both of those ships mainly for trade CGs and I just can't be bothered landing it on manual every 3 minutes for a couple of hours. If I had to park my car every 3 minutes for a couple of hours, you can bet I'd be trying to automate that too if possible. Humanity has been implementing ways to reduce the need to repeatedly perform mundane tasks since the dawn of time, we call it 'progress'.

At the other end of the scale, I've gone through the mailslot doing well over 350 before now in my smuggling ships and docked without incident.

Whatever learn to dock noob!!!

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Whatever learn to dock noob!!!

Elite. The Tea And Sympathy Forum.

 

[Jack Dalton]

Much good information in the earlier parts of the thread. It seems to grow more as I read each page so I stopped a while back.

I do find flying in to the landing pad looking for a perfect touchdown challenging. This is good to me.

But I do understand the frustration of exiting super cruise on the wrong side of the station. I remember flying slowly down the side of the station and stopping to turn every few minutes to see if I went far enough. And then turning back and flying more. To make that part a bit easier, put the station on the side of your ship and look right or left past the navigation or status panels to check your progress. Even better is to set up head look so you can look around with out turning. (Queue VR pilots saying just turn your head!)

If you turn orbit lines on (function tab on the right panel) you can always see the orbit of the station around its home body and you should aim to disengage supercruise right between it and the station, you can always fine tune it with the holographic representation of the station on the left side. Just know that the mailslot always points generally in the direction of the thing it is orbiting.

 

[Abomination]

It was like reliving the original Elite, except a thousand times better.
Still loving that part and don't think that'll ever change.

 

[Kevin Kyle]

I love to dock, I love to try and master a perfect smooth fast dock. Its a challenge. I dont use the DC even on my Cutter. In fact I pretty much fly the Cutter into the dock about like I do my Sidney. Once you learn, its a piece of cake to get through the slot. Its a lot bigger than it seems it is. Its just not big enough for a Cutter and a T9 to go through at the same time, thats all. It has plenty of room by yourself. For the Cutter its simple, stay low in the slot, fairly close to center as left/right goes and your all good, just dont forget that there is a lot of ship behind you and you cant start rotating right away. Easy day.

 

[TheoJones]

Hey guys,

I gotta ask, does anyone find docking to be a fun experience? To me, as a new player, it seems like it was designed to be as stressful and difficult as possible. Approach a rotating space station, maybe from the wrong side, line up with a tiny slot, match rotation, fly in, and land on a tiny pad that may be behind you - all while a timer is counting down and knowing that if you mess up badly, you'll be fined or your ship will be destroyed. In short, it's a pain in the butt. Does anyone else feel this way, or, did you when you first started playing?

I guess I need a docking computer!

What do you think??

Yes, I adore docking. If anything, it should be a little *more* structured and difficult in busy stations - stacking at distance, actual landing slots, more interaction with flight control...

Watch some vide footage of a navy pilot landing on an aircraft carrier, or a commercial pilot landing/taking off at Heathrow... If your heart isn't in your mouth flying through busy space, and landing on a rotating space station... then the game wouldn't be doing it right.

As a newbie pilot - you SHOULD be bricking it. remember learning to drive? every control at once? can you imagine the terror a first time cesna pilot would have landing at a major airport?

Love it. Elite Dangerous seems to have nailed this.

 

[PS4gamer]

Hey guys,

I gotta ask, does anyone find docking to be a fun experience? To me, as a new player, it seems like it was designed to be as stressful and difficult as possible. Approach a rotating space station, maybe from the wrong side, line up with a tiny slot, match rotation, fly in, and land on a tiny pad that may be behind you - all while a timer is counting down and knowing that if you mess up badly, you'll be fined or your ship will be destroyed. In short, it's a pain in the butt. Does anyone else feel this way, or, did you when you first started playing?

I guess I need a docking computer!

What do you think??

Yes, I enjoy docking. I actually think its a little too easy (compared to the classic Elite games)
I have tried the docking computer on my Asp Explorer, Python and Anaconda but I removed them all as I found it incredibly slow and I'd rather dock myself fast than wait around for the computer to do it that much slower.

I have nothing against people who use it but for me, no way, manually doing it is so much faster, more fun than waiting and I don't waste a ship slot.