Agree with roblex. You are given a number and your pad lights up. To be honest, I never use the compass thing when docking. ...I just fly thru the hole and look for my number. Although some numbers are directly above or below the entrance (literally), so you may need to look around if you don't see your pad number right off the bat
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Newcomer / Intro Docking for newbies is a nightmare (dev's U need to do something)
- Thread starter claretonmyshirt
- Start date
So, yeah, all I can say to this type of posts, is that some people do not want to or feel the need to learn a game, expecting the game to change for them and just 'work' for them. Or at least that is what it seems like, landing is easy to learn.
Do tutorial = You learn how to fly.
Don't do the tutorial, just click play and expect that you can do whatever you want right off the bat without having to learn how it works = crash and burn.
So..sorry, I just can't have any other thoughts then this is an obvious troll..
Do tutorial = You learn how to fly.
Don't do the tutorial, just click play and expect that you can do whatever you want right off the bat without having to learn how it works = crash and burn.
So..sorry, I just can't have any other thoughts then this is an obvious troll..
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To be honest I was giving him the benefit of the doubt and wondering if he had some technical issue ;-) People that say it is too hard to fly through the letterbox and dock though don't get any sympathy from me. On the plus side it does mean that I will never have to listen to them whine in my other game, IL2 Cliffs Of Dover, which expects you to land WW2 fighters with engine torque, crosswinds, engine management etc., not to mention shot-up elevators & ailerons 
Still find it staggering that people complain that docking is so difficult and expect the Devs to change something to make it easier for them.
They've already made some changes, not sure how much more hand holding they can possibly do!
Rather than rushing out to do what ever it is people want to do within the game, how about spending a little more time with the docking tutorial or better still practice in game a bit more? There's more than enough guides and videos out there to assist them, it shouldn't require game changes to help, what I can only assume, is a few.
I think docking in the original Elite was more difficult than what we have today, and that only required you to get through the incredibly small letter box. The letter box we have in Elite: Dangerous feels like the size of a canyon!
Just my 2 credits worth.
They've already made some changes, not sure how much more hand holding they can possibly do!
Rather than rushing out to do what ever it is people want to do within the game, how about spending a little more time with the docking tutorial or better still practice in game a bit more? There's more than enough guides and videos out there to assist them, it shouldn't require game changes to help, what I can only assume, is a few.
I think docking in the original Elite was more difficult than what we have today, and that only required you to get through the incredibly small letter box. The letter box we have in Elite: Dangerous feels like the size of a canyon!
Just my 2 credits worth.
It is easy. Just cut your speed down, use the navigation aide and use the tutorials. In less than a day you will master it. Kids are right now
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The depressing thing is that *almost* every online game I have played has ended up being nerfed to appeal to the masses who don't want to put any effort in. Give it five years and combat will be restricted to a single system so nobody has to fly too far and there will be a button to instantly transfer you to the nearest CZ and another to instantly transport you back into the station to get your money and fix your ship..except nobody will bother fixing their ship because it will get replaced for free with all your bounties awarded so everyone will just fight until they explode and be back in the fight ten seconds later with an identical ship.
Yes. There will be someone out there wishing there were respawns at a CZ. [sigh]
Way to make a guy feel welcome around here guys. I have figured it out the problem I was running into was not deploying my landing gear. Then in other circumstances while I was attempting to land another ship landed and my pad number changed. It's not unreasonable to be walked through your first time. I completed the docking walk through and it was very vague. I had to search on the forums to fill in the gaps it left out.
Having never played any previous Elite games, the only difficulty I had in docking was finding the entrance the first few times I approached a station... After that, it was simple enough. Landing the ship can be a bit tricky sometimes if you throttle too hard but even that is just a point and shoot maneuver...
Issues I have had other than that:
Misalignment when approaching the entrance, grazing or bouncing off of the containment field walls.
Landing on the pad and not docking, requiring me to redo the landing sequence.
Minor inconveniences, but I have had no issues after buying a 5k docking computer until today when it actually catapulted me against a wall...
Nowhere near a nightmare.
Issues I have had other than that:
Misalignment when approaching the entrance, grazing or bouncing off of the containment field walls.
Landing on the pad and not docking, requiring me to redo the landing sequence.
Minor inconveniences, but I have had no issues after buying a 5k docking computer until today when it actually catapulted me against a wall...
Nowhere near a nightmare.
I think the problem is the thread you posted in. The title is a complaint and a demand that the game be simplified, rather than a request for help. The title certainly isn't your fault, but it's going to continue attracting people that are looking to Defend Their Game from the bogeyman of developers dumbing down games to appeal to the lowest common denominator of players.
I'm glad you've gotten your issue sorted. Have fun out there. Fly fast and take risks!
Yup, docking is stupid hard for beginners like me. Enough so I just gave up on the game after spending a couple hours with tutorials and in-game just for this one aspect of it. I mean it's the first thing you have to do! And if the rest of the game is like that then who needs it? I just cannot recommend this game. Not saying I expect everything to be "handed to me on a silver platter" which is the common brain-dead retort or some insulting graphic. But if it's going to take an hour or more just to learn one skill, who wants that? It's just a game.
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In the first 6 hours after I downloaded ED.....twice I threw up my hands and said "EFF this game" as I walked angrily away....only to be back at my PC 30 seconds later.
Yes, the learning curve is steep. Docking requires finesse and a light touch on your thrusters. And speaking of thrusters....no matter what control devices you use, you need to be able to use your right/left straffing and vertical thrusters. Also, in the large space stations make sure you haven't accidentaly turned rotational correction off. (left panel under 'functions')
Having said that: If you give it an honest hour or two with a calm demeanor and a can-do attitude and still you end up blowing up your ship, then maybe Elite isn't the game for you. Thousands of us are enjoying the game and most of us had some issues at first.
Yes, the learning curve is steep. Docking requires finesse and a light touch on your thrusters. And speaking of thrusters....no matter what control devices you use, you need to be able to use your right/left straffing and vertical thrusters. Also, in the large space stations make sure you haven't accidentaly turned rotational correction off. (left panel under 'functions')
Having said that: If you give it an honest hour or two with a calm demeanor and a can-do attitude and still you end up blowing up your ship, then maybe Elite isn't the game for you. Thousands of us are enjoying the game and most of us had some issues at first.
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Wait I thought undocking was the like the 1st thing you needed to do?
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Um, when u say u figured that out, thought the game warned you when landing WITHOUT your gear deployed - what did you figure out?
If you have a joystick then getting it through the slot is just 'line up and go in'.
Lining up: Fly to a spot at least 5k out from the slot and curve in until the slot is lined up with no side, upper or lower walls visible then just keep coming with enough roll to stay lined up (and lower your landing gear) It is OK to do this at 50 or even 25.
If you make a mess of 'curving in' then just stop (or go very slow) and use the maneuvering thrusters to move sideway/up/down until it is centred. That is no harder than 'press the arrow keys until this X is is in this box'. Anyone can do that.
On the old Elite in the 80s, joysticks would only give you a set roll rate faster than the station roll or a series of steps so keeping the slot horizontal was tricky. Also there were no side or vertical thrusters. This is why old-timers will give you no sympathy
Docking: If you find it tricky to stop exactly over the pad and lower onto it then slow down to 25 as you get closer to the pad and aim your nose at the bottom of the sloping ramp and 'fly' it like an airplane towards the near edge of the pad (just above the sloping ramp) at about 45 degrees. Reduce speed to 15 or 10 or even 5 as you get close then level out and edge forward slowly using the indicator to see how far you need to go before you stop. Use the side thrusters to get straight. Depending on what altitude you levelled at either the docking clamps will grab you when you are over the bullseye or you need to stop there and lower yourself gently.
Warning: If you use the 'fly forwards at low level until the clamps grab you' method then, at least on my setup, the engine settings seem to get remembered so when you go to launch again and the clamps are released you may find your engines set to 5 even though your throttle is closed and you end up grinding over the ramp. It is a good idea to be ready with vertical thrusters as soon as the clamps release.
Lining up: Fly to a spot at least 5k out from the slot and curve in until the slot is lined up with no side, upper or lower walls visible then just keep coming with enough roll to stay lined up (and lower your landing gear) It is OK to do this at 50 or even 25.
If you make a mess of 'curving in' then just stop (or go very slow) and use the maneuvering thrusters to move sideway/up/down until it is centred. That is no harder than 'press the arrow keys until this X is is in this box'. Anyone can do that.
On the old Elite in the 80s, joysticks would only give you a set roll rate faster than the station roll or a series of steps so keeping the slot horizontal was tricky. Also there were no side or vertical thrusters. This is why old-timers will give you no sympathy
Docking: If you find it tricky to stop exactly over the pad and lower onto it then slow down to 25 as you get closer to the pad and aim your nose at the bottom of the sloping ramp and 'fly' it like an airplane towards the near edge of the pad (just above the sloping ramp) at about 45 degrees. Reduce speed to 15 or 10 or even 5 as you get close then level out and edge forward slowly using the indicator to see how far you need to go before you stop. Use the side thrusters to get straight. Depending on what altitude you levelled at either the docking clamps will grab you when you are over the bullseye or you need to stop there and lower yourself gently.
Warning: If you use the 'fly forwards at low level until the clamps grab you' method then, at least on my setup, the engine settings seem to get remembered so when you go to launch again and the clamps are released you may find your engines set to 5 even though your throttle is closed and you end up grinding over the ramp. It is a good idea to be ready with vertical thrusters as soon as the clamps release.
Docking is SOOOOOOOO easy! Play the C64 version of Elite and you will laugh about your own comment.
I have to admit I am rather baffled that anyone could say this version is harder. I can only guess the Elite he played 'Years ago' is one I would consider to be a 'recent version'. I think I tried the docking tutorial once, made a sloppy but successful landing and said 'OK I am good to go' and just played the game. I admit I have scraped along the outside pylons a couple of times when not paying attention
, but I have never had any serious problems docking. If anyone has played this game for 6 hours and cannot dock then.... I shall stop there. Flying through the slot is VERY easy now; docking is tricky but as you can take it as slow as you like then it should not really be a problem.
Getting into Corolis Stations and docking used to be a real challenge for me - I was forever getting tangled in the 'toast rack' or bashing into the sides of the opening and quite a few times I think I am over the pad only to find I am closer to the wrong pad and got trespass warnings. and at least twice hitting the boost button instead of landing gear. Now I really enjoy the entering of these stations, having got it down to a fine art. I found one way of making my entering easier was, once I had got permission to enter, I would leave my Hotas throttle alone and use keyboard thrusters for forward and back and the hat on the joystick for vertical movement. This gave me more control and obviously I moved the keybind for landing gear next to the thrusters. I am getting confident enough to perhaps try the stealth approach by flying straight in ( in a cheap sidey though)
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It sure does. The stipulation is that it does not clearly tell you " landing gear not deployed! Press 'L' to deploy landing gear now! " Instead all it says is "loitering! " pull away now! So here I am floating above the pad trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. A quick search on the forums gave me my answer. The tutorial really should have spelled it out though I mean it is a tutorial ya know.
yeah the tutorials are no good in this game afaik..
Learning the hard way in solo atm myself. got about 38 hours played now. too much time goes to waste in trial and error