Before i throw this game away......

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Are there any one of you who actually had problems landing tha craft on a landing pad.
I've been trying to get, sigh, the sidewinder from station into deep space, no problem there, finding my destination, also after a few tries, no problem, getting to a station works only with lock, sadly I tried this without lock several times until i figured that out.
In the eighties i played also Elite, and the landing was then a terrible thing, mastering it with analog joysticks, but now it seems the technique has not improved. Come on, this is almost 4 decades ago, and we still use this stupid not automated control to land? and if time runs out, the fines are bigger than your wallet. !!!!!!

Seriously, if this does not improve, because i am no robot, then i return this<Ahem> game!
 
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I've never had a problem with a HOTAS, in fact I'd go as far as saying it's easy.
I find it tricky with just keyboard but then I don't use that method very often.
Have you done the training missions on the main menu?
There's a landing mission there to practice with.
.
 
lack off skills is really no reason to start this rant.
get to know your controls. you have yaw, left right, thrust left right , up down. they are all you need to land.
 
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Originally, I had difficulties landing also. There's a tutorial which might help you practice.

There is an automatic docking computer available in outfitting, but not all stations have it in stock. Unfortunately, it does require a slot in the cargo bay, but I almost always use a docking computer (not because I can't land, but because it's a whole lot more convenient).
 
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As someone who played in 84 as a teenager, I fired up the ED beta expecting landing to be a nightmare. But with a cheap HOTAS and thruster controls, I found it a doddle. You're doing something wrong, probably with your bindings. As was suggested above, try the landing tutorial until you get the hang of it.
 
Before I drop in with my usual Welcome spiel, might I suggest that, before you start playing the game proper, you play through the various training missions? That way you can make mistakes (and learn from them) without it costing you anything other than time. Anyway, here is my standard Welcome speech;

First, let me welcome you to the Elite: Dangerous Galaxy. My rule 2 is; Have Fun (it is just a game, but WHAT a GAME!).

The learning curve is so steep (it has an overhang!) that the mountain goats go around in teams, roped together (and even then they may fall off, but that means the Vultures get to eat!). However, when you master something, and do it well, the buzz is worth the effort. To my mind the most important skill to master is landing your ship. Until you can do this nothing else matters (how can you complete a mission, for example, if you killed yourself on landing?). It would be a good idea to go through some of the Training missions to start learning the necessary skills to survive.

Now, Golden Rule 1, which is; Never Fly if you cannot cover the REBUY. REBUY is the insurance excess on your ship, and is 5% of the value of your ship (including all upgrades, but not the cargo). Any changes you make to a ship will affect the REBUY. You can see what your REBUY is on the Status screen (normally accessed by pressing key 4 when in cockpit view), bottom left, below Balance. If you get killed, and you can cover the REBUY, you will get a replacement ship identical to the one you lost (although the cargo bay will be empty). However, if you cannot cover the REBUY you may well end up back in a basic Sidewinder. Please do not let this happen to you, as the forum is littered with tales of woe when other Players have ignored Rule 1, and then got killed. This links to the latest I have seen;

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/324391-1-5-years-to-get-Anaconda-1-day-to-lose-it

You will, at various stages, upgrade your ship (buying is covered in the next paragraph). Be aware that all internal equipment has numbers and letters associated with them. The number is the Class, while the letter is the Rating. Until you have a good understanding of the Class make sure (when upgrading) to fit the same Class as the unit coming out. There are stories of Players who fitted a 1A FSD to their Sidewinder, thinking it would help increase the jump range, only to find that (as the FSD that came out was a 2 Class) they had REDUCED the jump range. The letter is for Rating, with E being the weakest and A being the strongest. However, there are two that confuse this somewhat. All D Rated equipment are very light (and are preferred by Explorers for this reason), while B Rated has heavy armour (which is great for combat specialists). I do not (at this time) intend to explain weaponry, as this is definitely a matter of personal preference.

When you decide to buy a new ship, try to have 200% of the purchase price first. That way you have enough for the ship, some basic outfitting, a couple of loads of cargo, and a couple of REBUYs (just in case). If you are trading in a ship, take it back to factory spec first. When you sell any ship you will always take a 10% hit on the value of the ship at the time of selling. However, if you take it back to factory spec first you get back the full amount that you paid for the upgrades (at this time, at least). Then, when you sell the ship, your losses will be reduced. For example, I have an A Rated Cobra MkIII worth 10Mcr. If I were to sell her now I would take a loss of 1Mcr. However, if I take her back to factory spec and then sell her my loss will be about 35Kcr.

Have fun, fly safely, and see you out amongst the stars. Feel free to ask any questions, we all had to learn somewhere, and those that care will answer all they can.
 
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Just here to hold my hand up and say I had many hours of having issues landing on the pad.

The way I solved it:

Bind the 4 arrow keys up/down/left/right to: Forwards/backwards/strafe-left/strafe-right respectively.
Then bind right shift and right control to: vertical up and vertical down respectively.


When you get close zero the throttle and manual it in.


Or just buy the docking computer.



A key fact is you have to face the control tower not the "blast shield" and that you have to be at low speed for it to engage.
 
You can drop out of supercruise close to a station where you are just 50 to 100 km away by disenaging or not using lock when close enough to the station. Sometimes it's done that way to attempt to sneak into the vicinity or to watch out for station griefers/rammers.
You probably just need some more practice to land. Maybe try practicing moving the sidewinder around with just all the directional thrusters and not the throttle for a bit.
I had little problem because I had played FFE and landed a lot on the ground without autopilot.
 
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Ignore the Dock computer messages - obviously in a sidewinder you have no spare slots and if you can't even dock then you'll have no money for one anyway.

Practise is the way to learn - use the training missions and practise.

In 5-6 months you'll have a bigger ship with a spare slot and some money to buy a docking computer, but guess what? you probably won't bother because by then you'll be speed docking like a pro. I played well over a year and didn't bother with a docking computer until I got my Anaconda, spare slots and lots of money and large slow ship = get a docking computer - anything smaller and you simply don't need one.
 
As someone who played in 84 as a teenager, I fired up the ED beta expecting landing to be a nightmare. But with a cheap HOTAS and thruster controls, I found it a doddle. You're doing something wrong, probably with your bindings. As was suggested above, try the landing tutorial until you get the hang of it.

If you're playing on PC with a Mouse and Keyboard, my first tip is to change mouse controls to be Yaw instead of Roll, and rebind roll to A and D.

The video Fost posted was the one that I was also going to post. That's our Producer, Adam Woods, talking you through the docking procedure. It's something that I sometimes have issues with when I switch ships and forget how to use it, and sometimes just when I'm not paying attention. Once you get used to it, and start to remember the procedure, you'll be a pro in no time. :)
 
the ship reacts according to its mass and thruster size. This is no arcade game, it's a simulator, so every aspect of your ships stats is taken into account when maneuvering. Just don't lose patience and practice a lot. It takes time to learn it all and get used to it but it eventually pays off.

I have around 1k hours into the game now and I still manage to bump off the pad because my landing gear is not leveled enough...
 
Are there any one of you who actually had problems landing tha craft on a landing pad.
I've been trying to get, sigh, the sidewinder from station into deep space, no problem there, finding my destination, also after a few tries, no problem, getting to a station works only with lock, sadly I tried this without lock several times until i figured that out.
In the eighties i played also Elite, and the landing was then a terrible thing, mastering it with analog joysticks, but now it seems the technique has not improved. Come on, this is almost 4 decades ago, and we still use this stupid not automated control to land? and if time runs out, the fines are bigger than your wallet. !!!!!!

Seriously, if this does not improve, because i am no robot, then i return this<Ahem> game!

Remembers me of my first landings. Stick to it, you'll get good rapidly :)
 
Play with a Xbox 360 controller or Xbox one. Its very easy then, you only sometimes need Q and E to make tiny corrections if your not perfectly placed. L for landing gear and everything else is very simple.
Otherwise play the training mission and learn how to do it.
Be sure you dont use the thruster boost in station ;)
 
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