Advanced Docking Computer working as intended...

[gorankar]

Guess I have been lucky. Never had it fail to properly land or launch me since whenever the DC/ADC came out. I only have about 1200 hours in game since I purchased it in 2015. Way less than most it seems
It should work as intended all of the time. The reasons against it working all of the time seem a bit contrived.
How does having an ADC that works 100% of the time instead of 95-99% of the time really change any of that anyway?

 

[Atol]

LOL. Maybe what people should do is watch videos of self driving car parking Fails.

As you can see Nothing will ever be 100%.

I hope no one was hurt in that video and proves even if we have the Technology it can and will fail once in a while. So deal with it. It just tells us we have to be aware of our surrounding and not act stupid and walk away.

 

[DiabolusUrsus]

I hope no one was hurt in that video and proves even if we have the Technology it can and will fail once in a while. So deal with it. It just tells us we have to be aware of our surrounding and not act stupid and walk away.

Because when you can't win an argument with facts, it's safer to retreat to an echo chamber and insulting the opposition.

 

[Atol]

Because when you can't win an argument with facts, it's safer to retreat to an echo chamber and insulting the opposition.

I think they already won the argument. I am just watching some of those videos which are quite funny. One thing they did point out on the videos if the sensors are not clean and have dust on them they Fail to give out the right reading. So what they should do is for Exploration and passenger missions. Docking computer should be affected like the other Modules. They should have wear and Tear and be affected by combat damage also. So let it jeopardize the Docking computer also. So it acts more like the Car when the Senser are dirty.

Now I gave 2 real reason why Docking computer should fail sometimes.

Wear and Tear and Ship damage.

 

[DiabolusUrsus]

I think they already won the argument.

I meant YOU, not Lestat.

Now I gave 2 real reason why Docking computer should fail sometimes.

Wear and Tear and Ship damage.

So if the player keeps their ship in good condition and they haven't suffered combat damage, the ADC should work fine, right?

 

[Atol]

I meant YOU, not Lestat.

Well a lot of the people here pointed out the Docking computer has it fault and is part of the gameplay. So Paul Smith the 3rd, Raino, Greasetrap42, FalconFly, varonica and Of course Lestat are right.

I wish people would do their research before they Shoot their mouths.
We also have to look at the Lore of AI on Elite Dangerous been banned. Sentient Machines

Here what I found on Docking computer Standard Docking Computer.

While the automatic docking process is generally reliable, it is not foolproof. Other ships flying through an Access Corridor at high-traffic stations may not be recognized by the Standard Docking Computer, resulting in accidental collisions followed by fines or ship destruction. Sometimes, automatic docking may decide on an erroneous flight path that travels through objects, such as a station's exterior, which may also result in fines or ship destruction. These are fringe cases, however, and even if they occur, a wary player will still have time to interrupt automatic docking and avoid serious accidents.

Advanced Docking Computer

As with the SDC, the ADC is not error-proof. At facilities with high traffic, the module may cause inadvertent collisions with other nearby ships, the Access Corridor, or structures on the exterior or interior of the station itself during both docking and launching. This can result in fines or even the accidental destruction of the ship. It is suggested that the pilot remain present during auto-docking and auto-launching to take control of ship should the ADC steer it into a hazardous situation.

I enjoyed watching the back and forth between people . But it hard to ignore the Truth. I almost did not post DC or ADC wiki page because the bickering was so damn funny.

So if the player keeps their ship in good condition and they haven't suffered combat damage, the ADC should work fine, right?

Well I hope that what Frontier decided.

 

[Winterwalker]

So if the player keeps their ship in good condition and they haven't suffered combat damage, the ADC should work fine, right?

The DC and ADC are not independent of the station by the way. Not all stations support autodock (it's listed under station services in system map when they do) so it can easily be an ATC guidance malfunction, rather than damage to your ship, that causes a crash.

Seeing that video, I want to see an ED epic fail compilation in the worst way.
(ps. If anyone makes one, please add canned laughter and quack quack oops sound effects!)

 

[Greasetrap42]

And as you'll probably have seen in my first screenshot in the OP, the base is in complete darkness, and the bridge was directly underneath me, so how could I have seen it? I had to fly off and enable night vision for the second picture to even see that it was there

Yes, looks like an unusual situation. You learn pretty quick which stations it works great and which ones don't. Auto docking in a planet cavern in complete darkness...ehhh, you auto-flew your ship into an unfamiliar dark hole blind. I suspect you don't drive a vehicle IRL. Driving blind is not a good excuse for crashing.

 

[Kailoren]

I probably should have rephrased my OP, this whole situation could have been avoided (and improved significantly) if the FDevs had just moved the bridge further up the canyon.

ADC/Pathing issues aside, who thought it was a good idea to stick a bridge DIRECTLY ABOVE a large landing pad? That's just poor game design imo

 

[Fenwe]

You guys are really pushing hard to make this argument about how the game should be played, when the issue raised in the OP is whether an official feature needs improvement. I don't really care if the ADC ultimately stays automated or becomes more of a proper "assist," but you should at least avoid raising bad-faith talking points as shallow, indirect flexes.

So in 2019, an entire fleet of Boeing 737 Maxes was grounded because of an issue between it's Auto Pilot and it's Fly By Wire. The planes have been grounded across the entire world.

Loop forward into the future and governments and independent pilots flying passengers and billions of dollars in cargo using billions of dollars worth of ships are going to demand less from their flight assistance programs?

Just chalk this up to another ED 'Huh?' community moment.

 

[Fenwe]

And yet the ultimate goal of R&D is to get designs as close to 100% reliable as possible, meaning the devs should also strive to make the ADC better than it currently is.

If we're going with an argument from realism, anyway.

The issue here isn't about realism. The issue here is that if it worked flawlessly then the game would be easier to learn to play and get into and that isn't a goal of the community.

Though it does work well enough so it usually doesn't destroy your ship, so that's something.

 

[Lestat]

I probably should have rephrased my OP, this whole situation could have been avoided (and improved significantly) if the FDevs had just moved the bridge further up the canyon.

ADC/Pathing issues aside, who thought it was a good idea to stick a bridge DIRECTLY ABOVE a large landing pad? That's just poor game design imo

Well it depends on how you look at it. Atol, Winterwalker and Fenwe have valid points. If everything works 100% we would not have to think on our toes. Having a Bridge over a landing pad might be an inconvenience. But looking at the Picture you can land on just fine. But it requires skill on your part The only poor design I see is you not using Shields. It like putting a sign on the rear of your ship saying Kill me I am not using Shields.

 

[Fenwe]

Well it depends on how you look at it. Atol, Winterwalker and Fenwe have valid points. If everything works 100% we would not have to think on our toes. Having a Bridge over a landing pad might be an inconvenience. But looking at the Picture you can land on just fine. But it requires skill on your part The only poor design I see is you not using Shields. It like putting a sign on the rear of your ship saying Kill me I am not using Shields.

I'm a dead hand on a stick. I've gotten better mind you, but this was the first joystick\throttle game I have ever gotten into. I can now land every ship in the game by hand, including the T9 that I sold off because I couldn't stand the way it flew.

What allowed me to get to that point though was the fact that my first sidewinder came with an auto dock. The first time I flew the cutter, I was getting stuck half way going thru the mail slot. The auto dock helped me thru that.

Darn good 'training wheels'.

It should work flawlessly.

It's down sides are inherent. You can land and take off from stations much faster by hand. As long as they leave that inherent 'flaw' in there, everybody should be happy.

 

[Lestat]

I'm a dead hand on a stick. I've gotten better mind you, but this was the first joystick\throttle game I have ever gotten into. I can now land every ship in the game by hand, including the T9 that I sold off because I couldn't stand the way it flew.

What allowed me to get to that point though was the fact that my first sidewinder came with an auto dock. The first time I flew the cutter, I was getting stuck half way going thru the mail slot. The auto dock helped me thru that.

Darn good 'training wheels'.

It should work flawlessly.

It's down sides are inherent. You can land and take off from stations much faster by hand. As long as they leave that inherent 'flaw' in there, everybody should be happy.

You would love my setup. Dual flight sticks. Left Joystick is Saikek St290 pro which deals with all the Thrust directions and forward and backward Thrust (same as Throttle) secondary fire button and the X52 Pro right with Throttle (use Blue zone in combat) Which deals with basic Joystick controls and Main fire button.

Hum My Training wheels. Let see. Descent 1,2,3 Flying in those corridors under 6 degrees of freedom was killer and the PvPer hated me. Damn that game was fun. They are talking about new releasing 2020.

 

[Kailoren]

The only poor design I see is you not using Shields. It like putting a sign on the rear of your ship saying Kill me I am not using Shields.

Or I could just not play in open... works just fine

 

[Lestat]

Or I could just not play in open... works just fine

Why not look into Mobuis You can get help when you need it from fellow pilots that will not kill you.

 

[DiabolusUrsus]

Well a lot of the people here pointed out the Docking computer has it fault and is part of the gameplay. So Paul Smith the 3rd, Raino, Greasetrap42, FalconFly, varonica and Of course Lestat are right.

Yes, they are. I even directly acknowledged this in my first post:

It's true that there are workarounds for the computer's flaws. It's true that shielded builds are generally more advisable than unshielded builds. It's true that the pathfinding glitches aren't exactly new. However, all these points are non sequitur relative to the content of the OP. They address the docking computer in terms of how it currently behaves when the OP's suggestion is explicitly aimed at changing that behavior.

The problem is that them being "right" is completely irrelevant to the OP. Them being right does not actually make the OP "wrong." Therefore, they are not valid arguments despite being factually correct.

I wish people would do their research before they Shoot their mouths.

Yeah, me too.

We also have to look at the Lore of AI on Elite Dangerous been banned. Sentient Machines

The ADC is not an AI, nor would it NEED to be an AI to perform as-expected.

Well I hope that what Frontier decided.

ROFL; this concession immediately undercuts your entire argument.

The DC and ADC are not independent of the station by the way. Not all stations support autodock (it's listed under station services in system map when they do) so it can easily be an ATC guidance malfunction, rather than damage to your ship, that causes a crash.

If the station does not support automated docking, the player should not be able to engage the ADC at all when using those stations.

I personally think having unsupported stations is bad design that doesn't positively affect the game, but that's a separate issue.

So in 2019, an entire fleet of Boeing 737 Maxes was grounded because of an issue between it's Auto Pilot and it's Fly By Wire. The planes have been grounded across the entire world.

Yes, this is actually an excellent example of what I was getting at with making the ADC a proper "assist" if that's the official intent. The design flaw with the anti-stalling software on the maxes was that it overrode pilot control completely and couldn't be quickly or effectively disabled.

If the player is meant to be participating in ADC-guided docking, they should be able to instantly take manual control back where needed to prevent accidents... And the ADC has no business triggering Boost. Like, EVER.

Well it depends on how you look at it. Atol [and] Winterwalker have valid points. If everything works 100% we would not have to think on our toes. Having a Bridge over a landing pad might be an inconvenience. But looking at the Picture you can land on just fine. But it requires skill on your part The only poor design I see is you not using Shields. It like putting a sign on the rear of your ship saying Kill me I am not using Shields.

Those points are factually accurate but logically unrelated to the OP's request. They are not "valid" for evaluating the merits of improving the ADC; nobody claimed that docking was impossible or that the game should be perfectly safe.

 

[Atol]

Question DiabolusUrsus did you skip this part or are you ignoring it?

Here what I found on Docking computer Standard Docking Computer.

While the automatic docking process is generally reliable, it is not foolproof. Other ships flying through an Access Corridor at high-traffic stations may not be recognized by the Standard Docking Computer, resulting in accidental collisions followed by fines or ship destruction. Sometimes, automatic docking may decide on an erroneous flight path that travels through objects, such as a station's exterior, which may also result in fines or ship destruction. These are fringe cases, however, and even if they occur, a wary player will still have time to interrupt automatic docking and avoid serious accidents.

Advanced Docking Computer

As with the SDC, the ADC is not error-proof. At facilities with high traffic, the module may cause inadvertent collisions with other nearby ships, the Access Corridor, or structures on the exterior or interior of the station itself during both docking and launching. This can result in fines or even the accidental destruction of the ship. It is suggested that the pilot remain present during auto-docking and auto-launching to take control of ship should the ADC steer it into a hazardous situation.

I enjoyed watching the back and forth between people . But it hard to ignore the Truth. I almost did not post DC or ADC wiki page because the bickering was so damn funny.

 

[DiabolusUrsus]

Question DiabolusUrsus did you skip this part or are you ignoring it?

Ignoring it, because it's irrelevant. It doesn't doesn't logically disprove any of my points.

 

[Winterwalker]

If the station does not support automated docking, the player should not be able to engage the ADC at all when using those stations.

I personally think having unsupported stations is bad design that doesn't positively affect the game, but that's a separate issue.

Stations that don't support ADC are quite rare, but they are out there in backwater systems.

Personally I think you're focussing over hard on ADC being a function of how ED works 'as a game'. In other words you're arguing that because ADC exists it should work every time all the time, but that's the perfect world of a computer program. The ED galaxy is meant to be a real galaxy and in the real world things break, things go wrong, it's up to a real world pilot - with all the navigation and landing assistants that exist in the real world - nevertheless to be ready for anything and deal with emergencies if or when they arise. The miracle on the Hudson being a great example of a pilot thinking on his feet, and landing his damaged aircraft, on a river! His (ship) wasn't meant to lose power in both engines though.

I think there's a lot to be said for embracing bugs as 'ghosts in the machine'. Sure they're bugs and as such should be reported but inside the game itself there are lots of imaginative ways to see at least minor bugs as things that make the game better. This might sound weird but one recent example is the wing mining bug (that made seismic charges blow up prematurely). I mine in an unshielded chieftain and when a seismic blew up in my face, it turned an everyday mining trip into a fight for survival. It's things like that - even your ADC bug - that make good stories and we sure wouldn't be talking about it if your ADC worked perfect every time. Instead it's things like; should be more careful, don't trust docking authorities with your ship or is an ADC a good idea with a corvette? And etc. For sure though, a used universe is more interesting than a shiny perfect and boringly predictable one.