I hate "Near" Landing Pads

PyrateLV

P
Only been playing a short time, but this has got to be my most disliked thing so far
Landing Pads that are right inside the Station

Without any outside camera views I dont know if my assigned Pad is above/below me, to the left/right...... Where the *&^^! is my Landing Pad?
Plus as soon as you enter you have to immediately move in that direction otherwise you over-shoot the pad and have to loop inside the station to come about and find the pad again.
Stop to get your bearings, get hit by incoming Beluga. Get a fine and ship damage
Its hard enough making it through the Mail-slot itself in a heavy traveled Station sometimes
I use EDDI which tells me placement based on a clocks position (5 o'clock Near), but its only a marginal help.
Leaving the station is no better. As soon as you lift off your at the mouth of the exit.
Stop to rotate yourself, get hit by outgoing Beluga. Get a fine and ship damage

Personally, IMO, Landing Pads shouldnt be that close to the Entrance/Exit of a Station.
Have them start just a bit further back. (1/4-1/3 of the way inside)
 

Mohrgan

Mohrgan
Your assigned pad will be represented in the 'Bubble' displayed on your HUD. To the left and just above where your target image will appear, is a circle, that represents the location of your target in 3D space. If the blue sphere within is solid, the object is in front of you. If the sphere is hollow, the target is behind you. So you can see where a target is above, below, in front, or behind you. Use the sphere, as you are approaching your assigned bay to know where you are in relation to your landing pad.
 

Organic

Organic
The OP is referring to the limited amount of space after entering the station I believe.

I agree with him. The bigger the ship the worse it gets. I'm always smacking the back end of my Cutter on the station as I try to bring it down in time.
 
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[VR] Deggial

[VR] Deggial
Additionally to the "bubble compass", you wil probably learn the station layout soon.

All stations have the same landing pad placement. If you enter the station always with the same orientation (green navigation light on the right side), you'll find the same pads always at the same spots.

I agree on the maneuvering part, though. They are a little bit inconvenient.
 
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PyrateLV

P
Mohrgan said:
Your assigned pad will be represented in the 'Bubble' displayed on your HUD. To the left and just above where your target image will appear, is a circle, that represents the location of your target in 3D space. If the blue sphere within is solid, the object is in front of you. If the sphere is hollow, the target is behind you. So you can see where a target is above, below, in front, or behind you. Use the sphere, as you are approaching your assigned bay to know where you are in relation to your landing pad.
Click to expand...

Im familiar with the Target Bubble, just not great at using it with Station Landings
Did I mention I completely suck at piloting in confined spaces. In the open Im fine, but in a tight spot like a Station Im a wrecking machine.

Yeah I know- Get a Docking Computer
 
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Iskariot

Iskariot
PyrateLV said:
Only been playing a short time, but this has got to be my most disliked thing so far
Landing Pads that are right inside the Station

Without any outside camera views I dont know if my assigned Pad is above/below me, to the left/right...... Where the *&^^! is my Landing Pad?
Plus as soon as you enter you have to immediately move in that direction otherwise you over-shoot the pad and have to loop inside the station to come about and find the pad again.
Stop to get your bearings, get hit by incoming Beluga. Get a fine and ship damage
Its hard enough making it through the Mail-slot itself in a heavy traveled Station sometimes
I use EDDI which tells me placement based on a clocks position (5 o'clock Near), but its only a marginal help.
Leaving the station is no better. As soon as you lift off your at the mouth of the exit.
Stop to rotate yourself, get hit by outgoing Beluga. Get a fine and ship damage

Personally, IMO, Landing Pads shouldnt be that close to the Entrance/Exit of a Station.
Have them start just a bit further back. (1/4-1/3 of the way inside)
Click to expand...


The compass is one of the most important tools in your HUD.
It will give you all info you need to find a pad.
I bet this will be no problem for you any longer after you get used to using the compass.

and have to loop inside the station to come about and find the pad again.
Click to expand...

Flying in reverse is an option too, once you know how to use the compass.
The pad could be invisible and you would still be able to touch down exactly in the middle of it.
 

PyrateLV

P
Organic said:
The OP is referring to the limited amount of space after entering the station I believe.

I agree with him. The bigger the ship the worse it gets. I'm always smacking the back end of my Cutter on the station as I try to bring it down in time.
Click to expand...

Right? These Stations are HUGE. Did they really have to build the parking so tight?
 

Challenger R A

C
I feel like it could easily be resolved by re-numbering the pads like A1 or C5. The traffic controller could also indicate above, below, left or right in relation to the green entry lights. Could say something like "Assigned to landing pad B3, above with green on the right."
 

NecasekO

N
Keep in mind that the "compass" will only show the way to your pad once you're inside the station. This is what I do when entering stations:
1. While approaching the slot, look for my pad number in the distance. If I see it, good. If I don't, slow down.
2. Once through the slot check my compass and immediately start turning towards the pad. This gets some practice with big ships - to know when the rear of your ship is actually past the slot. Be prepared to get stuck a few times before getting it right.
3. Gently decelerate while moving towards the center of landing pad, pitch up at the last moment to align.
4. Use directional thrusters to fine tune position and touch down.
Works perfectly fine unless I go way too fast through the slot and overshoot.

For leaving I just use vertical thrusters to go straight up until I'm at the axis of the station. Then just roll to align with slot and go forward.
 

Iskariot

Iskariot
Challenger R A said:
I feel like it could easily be resolved by re-numbering the pads like A1 or C5.
Click to expand...

Why would anything needed to be resolved when you can simply use the compass?
There really is no problem. The necessary tools are in the ship.

Docking near the entrance is not my favourite thing either, especially in busy stations, but I consider it a challenge. I consider the pads at the back to be premium. It is just like real life where you sometimes have to use an awkward parking spot. It's cool.
 

D.D.Hariman

D.D.Hariman
Humnnn,

I am guessing you are trying to do it with some kind of HOTUS..

I do ALL thrust control on the keypad with my left hand and pitch, roll, yaw with the stick.

I approach the slot at 45% speed (just below speeding warning in my Adder) and slow down in 10% increments using keys mapped to give me 0, -10, +10 +25, +50, +75,+100

If the pad is a single digit number it will be right inside the slot so I have my finger on the 0 speed key as I clear the slot.
Get the pad direction from the compass and hit 0 and then the key mapped to the thruster for the direction the pad is so I duck out from in front of the slot. You do have to watch for things going out on the wide side when you came and sometimes add some appropriate pitch or roll to avoid contact.
Immediately drop landing gear to help keep my speed below the 100KMS.
Hit the 25% key, immediately followed by the -10% key to set 15% speed so I get some stick response and get the nose pointed at the pad.
When the pad is in front (the dot in the compass as solid and in the center) I am home free.
 
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S3B4ST13N

S
PyrateLV said:
Im familiar with the Target Bubble, just not great at using it with Station Landings
Did I mention I completely suck at piloting in confined spaces. In the open Im fine, but in a tight spot like a Station Im a wrecking machine.

Yeah I know- Get a Docking Computer
Click to expand...

How will you learn if you get a DC?

Get a sidewinder and practice, or do it carefully until you get used to it. Then blast (not boost) your way in and silly speeds, flip your ship over, and power to the finish line. :D
 

IndigoWyrd

IndigoWyrd
Love to the Docking Computer crowd - I use them myself - just not quite as intended... most of the time.

Take the recent Parun smuggling CG. I brought in over 6000 tons of weapons - in a Type-9, with a docking computer.

Or, I should call it, A Landing Computer.

On any typical run, I would drop into the station instance, line myself up, boost 3-4 times to get close to the toast rack, request docking, slip right on through, and cut throttle immediately, allowing the DC to orient and land my ship with pin-point precision. And simply by watching where I land, I can get a great idea of where these pads are located.

Rarely do I ever allow the docking computer to actually pass through the mail slot - unless I've absolutely gotta use the head - otherwise at busy stations you end up sitting in the queue, even when there are no other ships coming or going for who knows how long - and I've lost track of how many times the DC has bumped me into the toast rack, or even the station itself.

[video=youtube;QTwMNwx7iqM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTwMNwx7iqM[/video]

So I'm glad to take over that part on my own.
 

Simon Darkstep

Simon Darkstep
Figure there are about 40 pads. They start near the green lights to enter the mail slot and work their way around. 1-10 or so I come in with green on the right. 11-30 or so I come in with green on the left. 31-40 or so I come in with green on the right again.
 

Ca$hback

Ca$hback
If you suck at something, you'll get better with practice. You'll never be as good at it as someone who's a natural but you can always improve.
 
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