Auto-landing gear

[Gertrude]

I would really like it if, instead of my ship warning me that I have not deployed my landing gear, if the ship would just deploy the landing gear for me. I, personally, find it immersion breaking that with all the systems our ships are able to automate, I have to constantly be reminded that my ship needs to be told to lower it's landing gear. And when I think of it, there is no where else you can land outside of the designated landing pads, which makes this process seem rather frivolous to me.

We already have the option to toggle on orbital correction. With orbital correction on, our ships magically know that when they enter the cattle gates, to counter thrust to match the rotation of the station, and when we leave the cattle gates, to stop correcting. I would like the same option (folks who do not like this option can still manually deploy/retract their landing gear) that can be toggled on or off that will automatically lower the landing gear when the landing mini-game starts, then retract the landing gear when you move away from the landing mini-game.

 

[Magic Man]

Oh please no. If lowering and raising landing gear is too much of a hassle then what's the point in playing at all...
Buy a docking computer.

 

[Blackat]

or buy voice attack

 

[Winterwalker]

Don't land!

 

[Gertrude]

I think there is more to this game than just the little bit of joy of toggling your landing gear up and down, Magic Man, and you really ought to give the game more of a chance.

We have things like automatic orbital correction, one click docking requests, automatic hyperjump calculations, etc. Again, you can ONLY land in a designated landing pad. Trying to land anywhere else, even with your landing gear deployed, does nothing. You can not land on the designated pad without your landing gear. The game mode automatically switches to a landing mini-game. The ship even goes as far as to warn you that you do not have the landing gear deployed in the ONLY SPOT IN THE GAME YOU ARE ABLE TO USE LANDING GEAR, but asking for a toggled option is just too much?

Look, if you want to go through the nonsensical act of hitting a dedicated key for one single function that only works in a very limited area and find that to be completely immersive, then by all means, don't turn on this toggle. But for me, I find the whole concept of landing gear in this game a bit of silly 1984 nostalgia that I would like to just have automated.

If you can explain to me why having this optional ability would somehow ruin the game for you, then please feel free to discuss. Otherwise, don't P!ss on my suggestion. Thanks.

 

[Magic Man]

Because it's a slippery slope to automating everything and turning it into a tablet game.
Why is deploying the landing gear such a chore to you?
Why not automatically fly us out of the station if we want to automate everything?
Why not make the flight to the jump point automatic. Automate the action of hyperspace, then automatically fly us to the next station and autoland?
Make going from one station to the next a mouse click or button press? That's just as valid as your request.
Why play the game at all?

Geez, you're meant to be flying a space ship. You chose to play the game. If the act of lowering the landing gear in a semblance of a simulation is too much hassle or something you keep forgetting then perhaps you're playing the wrong game.

 

[Sendraks]

Look, if you want to go through the nonsensical act of hitting a dedicated key for one single function that only works in a very limited area and find that to be completely immersive, then by all means, don't turn on this toggle.

Look if you want to play a game that involves a simulation of flying a space ship, then you should accept that their are functions on said ship with which you are compelled to interact. Landing gear is one of them. After all, if you're going to have landing gear done automatically, why not docking permission and cargo scooping and deploying weapons and so on and so forth.

Within the grounds of a simulation, none of the acts which simulate operating your ship can be considered non-sensical.

But for me, I find the whole concept of landing gear in this game a bit of silly 1984 nostalgia that I would like to just have automated.

We didn't have landing gear in 1984 Elite.

The reason we have landing gear now is because........simulation.

 

[Gertrude]

Because it's a slippery slope to automating everything and turning it into a tablet game.
Why is deploying the landing gear such a chore to you?
Why not automatically fly us out of the station if we want to automate everything?
Why not make the flight to the jump point automatic. Automate the action of hyperspace, then automatically fly us to the next station and autoland?
Make going from one station to the next a mouse click or button press? That's just as valid as your request.
Why play the game at all?

If you're going to poopoo someone's suggestion, at least be consistent about it.

Buy a docking computer.

So it's a slippery slope to game ruination to ask for the same automatic toggle that is orbital correction applied to landing gear deployment, but totally alright if I buy a docking computer? Does automatic rotational correction ruin your game? No, cause you can choose to toggle it off it it bothers you. This is a simple request to the game developers, not you personally. Nothing in my request will have any impact on your game play at all and, as you already pointed out, is automated more so than what I have requested already in game via the docking computer.

And no, I don't think I have to give my entire system over to the AI just to have my landing gear deploy for me. I shouldn't have to buy outside software (voice attack) to have this simple ability automated for me.

And as Sendraks kindly corrected me:

We didn't have landing gear in 1984 Elite.

And that game seemed to have done alright without landing gear.

 

[Sendraks]

And that game seemed to have done alright without landing gear.

It also wasn't much of a simulation compared to what we have now.
If I want to recreate the 1984 experience with bells and whistles on it, I'll play oolite.

The big difference between oolite and ED, in fact the selling point for me, is how the game is set out up to make you feel like you're operating a space ship. That involves manually operating parts of the ship to do what you want.

 

[Gertrude]

It also wasn't much of a simulation compared to what we have now.
If I want to recreate the 1984 experience with bells and whistles on it, I'll play oolite.

The big difference between oolite and ED, in fact the selling point for me, is how the game is set out up to make you feel like you're operating a space ship. That involves manually operating parts of the ship to do what you want.

So i assume by this, you mean that you do not toggle on orbital correction? I'm failing to see the counter argument on a toggle that does the same thing as orbital correction to the landing gear. Again, I am asking for a toggle, so unless you are trying to argue that the option for orbital correction is ruining your immersion, then I really don't understand how a toggleable option in the same vein is any different.

 

[Aravan Darkvale]

Here in 2015, I can fit a transmitter to my car that will automatically open my garage door. In 1984, I couldn't and had to get out and manually open the door. It is not too much to ask that a thousand years in the future, on a ship that can fly between stars, to have the damn thing deploy my landing gear automatically. I don't want a docking computer. I enjoy piloting my ship to the landing pad. Auto gear down/up is a quality of life feature. When the mini-game for landing/takeoff starts or ends, the gear should deploy/retract.

I completely agree that this should be a feature and have a toggle. If you want to stay true to 1984, don't use it. The rest of us here in 2015 will use it and be happy.

 

[Sendraks]

Again, I am asking for a toggle, so unless you are trying to argue that the option for orbital correction is ruining your immersion, then I really don't understand how a toggleable option in the same vein is any different.

You're asking for a toggle, I get that. However, you're not backing this up with any sort of rationale I can see beyond "am lazy" or "there is this one function on my ship I can't be bothered to manually operate."

Having to operate landing gear is no more frivolous than operating lights, cargo scoop, different weapon groups, utility modules, super cruise and so on and so forth.

Furthermore, the game is still in its early stages. We might get to land on planets or planetoids or other objects at some future point. However, none of that would actually make having to operate landing gear any more valid than it is now.

 

[Magic Man]

No, orbital correction is on by default. But you can turn it off if you want - they simulated the functionality. They also simulated landing gear that need to be deployed manually.
Your auto landing gear option requires coding time - there are far more important and valuable uses for that coding time than an auto landing gear option that only serves to simplify the limited simulation mechanics they intentionally implemented.

You have to manually operate your landing gear. Live with it.

 

[Gertrude]

No, orbital correction is on by default. But you can turn it off if you want - they simulated the functionality. They also simulated landing gear that need to be deployed manually.
Your auto landing gear option requires coding time - there are far more important and valuable uses for that coding time than an auto landing gear option that only serves to simplify the limited simulation mechanics they intentionally implemented.

You have to manually operate your landing gear. Live with it.

Oh, I didn't know you were in charge of the priority of development resources. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Well, whenever the Devs can squeeze in this suggestion, please do make sure they try to squeeze this one in.

Otherwise, IT'S MY SUGGESTION, LIVE WITH IT.

 

[Magic Man]

Any suggestion has to have merit and add value compared to the amount of resources it takes to develop and implement - they won't just squeeze it in.

It was a conscious development decision to put landing gear into the game. DB wants things to be more sim like. The devs are more likely to want more systems complexity than game dumbing down.

Don't hold your breath...
EDIT: It's rude to 'shout'.

 

[Aravan Darkvale]

No, orbital correction is on by default. But you can turn it off if you want - they simulated the functionality. They also simulated landing gear that need to be deployed manually.
Your auto landing gear option requires coding time - there are far more important and valuable uses for that coding time than an auto landing gear option that only serves to simplify the limited simulation mechanics they intentionally implemented.

You have to manually operate your landing gear. Live with it.

What forum section are we in? I thought it was 'Suggestions'. I didn't think it was the 'OMGDOITNAO' section. I clicked into this thread because an auto gear system is something I too would like to see. All I see are people saying "No, it ruins my immersion!" or "No, the Devs have more important things to do, you're just lazy!"

No, it doesn't impede your immersion at all, and yes, the devs have bigger fish to fry right now. I'm not lazy for wanting this feature. Once I get lined up over the landing pad I'm already thinking about my next steps for trade, missions, whatever. Just the same as when I pull into my driveway and the garage door goes up, I'm thinking about what I'm making for supper and then what chores need done. This is the difference between a bluetooth device that automatically opens my garage and an button transmitter from the 90s that I had to manually push to open the door. Am I lazy because I choose to use the bluetooth that replaced the old click opener?

Noone is saying make auto gear a feature right this second. It'd be nice as something to be implemented in the future once they finish the game. Then we can all look back in a couple of years and say "Hey, remember when we had to manually deploy our gear?"

 

[Gertrude]

You're asking for a toggle, I get that. However, you're not backing this up with any sort of rationale I can see beyond "am lazy" or "there is this one function on my ship I can't be bothered to manually operate."

Having to operate landing gear is no more frivolous than operating lights, cargo scoop, different weapon groups, utility modules, super cruise and so on and so forth.

Furthermore, the game is still in its early stages. We might get to land on planets or planetoids or other objects at some future point. However, none of that would actually make having to operate landing gear any more valid than it is now.

Again, is having the toggleable Orbital Correction any different? I am not asking for an automated supercruise or cargo scoop or any of that. And continually trying to compare my suggestion to those is really getting annoying. I am not saying that all landing gear functions be automated with a toggle. I am saying that, when the landing mini-game pops up, the landing gear deploys. You can toggle off this ability JUST LIKE ORBITAL CORRECTION, but you can still manually deploy and retract landing gear with whatever hot key.

Saying that I only want this because I am lazy, is really missing the point. Is it lazy that you don't have to worry about orbital correction? Or, taking it to an extreme, is it lazy that you don't have to manually calculate hyperjump vectors? It's a simple quality of life request. For me, to have my ship know i need to have my landing gear deployed and warn me rather than just deploying them instead of warning me, really seems like a very simple thing to ask. And, as was pointed out, is already automated to a much greater degree in the docking computer. But the docking computer does far more than I would like. I am looking for a happy middleground is all.

 

[Uueerdo]

Again, is having the toggleable Orbital Correction any different?

Not that I am for or against the automated landing gear idea but yes, there is a significant difference. Lack of automated landing gear means having to press 1 button, lack of automated rotational correction would mean (I guess) that a significant portion of the player population would be unable to dock at all.

 

[Sendraks]

Turning off flight assist or orbital correction, that makes sense as it is an option which significantly changes the learning curve and "ease of use" of the game.

Basically, I don't see what your justification is for making one function toggleable, landing gear and not any other similar function, such as cargo scooping.

Why one and not the other?

Or to put it another way, landing a ship is quite an involved process. Clearly this is FD's design intent. Why should they want to make this an option to be less involved? Why make the game more like 1984 and not an evolution of that?

 

[Aravan Darkvale]

Turning off flight assist or orbital correction, that makes sense as it is an option which significantly changes the learning curve and "ease of use" of the game.

Basically, I don't see what your justification is for making one function toggleable, landing gear and not any other similar function, such as cargo scooping.

Why one and not the other?

Or to put it another way, landing a ship is quite an involved process. Clearly this is FD's design intent. Why should they want to make this an option to be less involved? Why make the game more like 1984 and not an evolution of that?

In my opinion, why not one and not the other, would be because cargo scooping can happen "anywhere" whereas landing/takeoff only happen in very small, very specific areas. You can only land on a landing pad in a station or at an outpost. You can't land anywhere the game hasn't given you permission to land.

The cargo scoop being deployed activates the 'minigame' of scooping. Deploying the landing gear does not activate the landing 'minigame'. They've bothered to code a reminder that pops 100% of the time I don't deploy the gear. I just think it'd be nice to have the option to replace that message with the gear automatically deploying.