Entering & Leaving the docking bay

milkyway_dingo

milkyway_dingo
Good Day Everybody :D

Firstly, I would like to apoliogize if this thread is in the wrong section.

Secondly, I would also liek to apoliogize if this has been covered before.

If there is another good thread covering this, please point me in that direction :cool:


So. Entering & leaving docking bays.

I would like to know how you all have decided on the systems that you use. Here is what I do, which of course, there are exceptions, because of the sizes of different ships, namely the hulking Lakon Type 9.


When I am approaching (or leaving for that matter) the docking port entry/exit, I orientate my ship in, what I believe, to be accordance with the lights on the given side of the door. Red lights are on the left, and green lights are on the right (I assume the same methodology as with real-world aircraft lighting.)

I keep the red lights on my left, and the green lights on my right.

I will then, depending on the width of my ship (the Type-9 is the major exception), move through the door closer to the green side (right side).

I feel this is the most logical way of going about the whole procedure. Does anybody else disagree with this method?


To note:

The Lakon Type-9 is too big to even bother. It must come through centrally for it to even fit at all :D

The other thing that I believe adds confusion into the mix, is the automatic centre guidance which the docking port does. IMHO, this is a clash of different ideas that the developers were toying around with. The way the docks work right now, it doesn't make much sense for ships to be moved back in the centre, atleast with anything else other then the Lakon Type-9.
The dock shouldn't really try and centre up smaller ships, which are perfectly capable of passing each other through the door. But I can see how it would help out pilots of that bloaty hulk :D


What do you guys think? Thoughts, comments, ideas, constructive criticism?

I personally like the idea of, perhaps in the future, having some starports with a kind of straight fly through. Entry on one side of the bay, and exit on the other. This would allow some pilots (on the rare occasion after realizing they had just come to the wrong starport altogether :D ) to just keep flying straight through if they wanted to get back out again right away.
It would also eliminate the two-way traffic congestion which we currently experience.
I wouldn't want this for "all" starports. I do like the idea of mixing things up, and the current system can be fun (like waiting at traffic lights in anticipation :D ).
 

forger

forger
if you are flying very slowly or see any ships in front of you stick to green lights, otherwise doesn't matter if there are no ships or you fly fast enough past slower ships in the letter box, also letterbox is big enough for 2 type 9 (i usually fly one side if there are ships in front of me or in the middle if there are no ships when i'm in type9)
 

milkyway_dingo

milkyway_dingo
Hey forger,

Thanks for your prompt reply =)

Is that with two Type-9s flying above and below each other?


A funny story from the other day, where I was coming out of the docking bay in my Lakon Type-6, and I was maybe going a little too fast ( the port/letterbox was clear). I was keeping to the right, closer to the green lights, when all of a sudden a Cobra MK3 came "swooping" in from the outside out of nowhere, also, going too fast. The problem was, he was coming in on my side (for him outside, closer to the red lights). Even if I was going slower, I don't think it would have made much difference. I took a good hit to my shields, but my hull was still 99% intact. He span out of control and exploded.
I kind of felt bad lol! But a situation that would have not occured had he come straight into the port instead of swooping in, and kept himself closer to the green lights on the outside.

Only had that happen that one time, so perhaps not the most common occurance :D
 

Krow

Krow
Yep - That's the beauty of the Yak9, essentially its shields are one big Bug zapper when smaller ships hit it.
I've had Eagles and Sideys bounce off me.. 1....2 ....3..... BOOM! :cool:
 

forger

forger
milkyway_dingo said:
Hey forger,

Thanks for your prompt reply =)

Is that with two Type-9s flying above and below each other?


A funny story from the other day, where I was coming out of the docking bay in my Lakon Type-6, and I was maybe going a little too fast ( the port/letterbox was clear). I was keeping to the right, closer to the green lights, when all of a sudden a Cobra MK3 came "swooping" in from the outside out of nowhere, also, going too fast. The problem was, he was coming in on my side (for him outside, closer to the red lights). Even if I was going slower, I don't think it would have made much difference. I took a good hit to my shields, but my hull was still 99% intact. He span out of control and exploded.
I kind of felt bad lol! But a situation that would have not occured had he come straight into the port instead of swooping in, and kept himself closer to the green lights on the outside.

Only had that happen that one time, so perhaps not the most common occurance :D
Click to expand...

haha, npc do not follow lights, keep that in mind, also npc tend to stop right after they enter letter box and that's annoying, if i can move past them i do, if i cant i just ram them, hopefully they will improve over time ;)

check pilot's guide, there is a pic with type9 in the letter box (don't remember where i got it from so can't point you to original but that image was posted somewhere on forums), you can see that there is plenty of room around type 9 :)
 

Unknown Terror

Unknown Terror
I pretty much just boost FA off til about 8km from the station then request docking, FA back on, find the hole, deploy landing gear and fly full speed into the station hoping the best and quickly locate the pad.

Not really anything fancy, but I try to do everything as quick as possible, taking certain risks wherever possible. I haven't tried any of the larger ships like the Lakon-9 yet though. I'm sure that's a laugh.
 

Scourge

Scourge
I like to test myself by pressing the boost button as soon as my ship is released and seeing if I can make it through the exit slot in time. I don't always make it but then neither do some of the ships entering either, makes it all worth it.
 

OVMorat

OVMorat
Docking/Landing is a bit of a mess at the moment. Yes, it's pretty and impressive, but it's hardly practical with more than a couple of ships docking/landing at once. We need better traffic control - or at least traffic lights on either side of the forcefields!

Also, I hope that ED will have much bigger ships than the type 9 in the future. Will they dock on the outside of stations somehow? Or will there be special structures purely for huge freighters and capital ships? There could be a nice trade opportunity for captains of smaller ships to do in-orbit shuttle work.
 

Codec

Codec
I'd think they would dock outside, maybe on mooring piers of similar.
Taxi service sounds like fun!

I definitely agree that some sort of ATC is needed at the bigger stations.

"Circle at beacon 1"
"Cleared for approach, you are number 3"
"Proceed to outer marker"
"Cleared to enter, use side with green lights"

Together with some new holographic signs that already adorn some stations this could help the traffic problem.
 

pnboogie2

P
milkyway_dingo said:
Hey forger,

Thanks for your prompt reply =)

Is that with two Type-9s flying above and below each other?


A funny story from the other day, where I was coming out of the docking bay in my Lakon Type-6, and I was maybe going a little too fast ( the port/letterbox was clear). I was keeping to the right, closer to the green lights, when all of a sudden a Cobra MK3 came "swooping" in from the outside out of nowhere, also, going too fast. The problem was, he was coming in on my side (for him outside, closer to the red lights). Even if I was going slower, I don't think it would have made much difference. I took a good hit to my shields, but my hull was still 99% intact. He span out of control and exploded.
I kind of felt bad lol! But a situation that would have not occured had he come straight into the port instead of swooping in, and kept himself closer to the green lights on the outside.

Only had that happen that one time, so perhaps not the most common occurance :D
Click to expand...

I wouldn't feel too bad for him. Same thing happens in the real world when you're stupid and don't look where you're going :) Might be a lesson there somewhere.
 
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