Is docking more difficult in v2.2? (especially for iClipper)

RadiKyle

RadiKyle
Has anyone noticed that docking is more finicky in 2.2?

I was having a lot of problems getting the iClipper to dock after 2.2. I'd be on the bullseye, it's blue, gear are down, etc., but it won't dock. End up smearing the ship all over the pad and it refuses to dock. Only "fix" was to leave the pad's holobox and try again, and then it would dock okay.

I eventually discovered I was pitched down a little too much for it to achieve lock. Raise the nose a bit more and no problem. But I was using the same landing technique that I was using before 2.2 and never had any trouble getting it to dock before. Full disclosure that I'm on some meds at the moment, lol, but I'm pretty sure that's not it! :D

It feels like the tolerance on docking alignment is tighter in 2.2, or at least so for the iClipper. Anyone else noticing something similar?


Edit: This is now a bug report, here https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/302583-Trouble-Docking-on-Landing-Pads
 
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MassiveD

MassiveD
Seems to slide to the left every time -.- (thats what she said?)

But irregardles of what she said, its clearly a bug
 

Gunnet

G
I haven't noticed anything different in my Clipper. But for the sake of RP I always level out above the pad and touch down within the speed range displayed on the left of the landing display. Making contact with the pad at a speed high enough to cause a shield blip just feels wrong to me.
 

Tanner

T
Yes, it is. You can't just hold the down thrusters because you will bounce off or slide sideways. I have to completely stop right over the bullseye, then touch the down thrusters.
 

Hempstead

Hempstead
Yes, it's a lot harder. Any slight pitching up/down, and it won't lock. And the height now needs to be very low. It used to be that if you use standard in-atmo landing technique with a glide slope and the final flair, you'd lock down perfectly.

Now, you glide in, and even if you bump your nose on the ground, then flair up to have your nose perfectly horozontal, you ae still too high and needs to down thrust a bit for it to lock.

But, it's like this in Beta already.
 

Section47ABH

S
Odd. I'm finding the landing target a lot less finicky since the update.

That said, I fly with a few drinks down me a lot of the time and haven't had a chance to get down the offie since the update hit, so that might be it.
 

m1dane24

m1dane24
I think it's become slightly harder for all the bigger ships and quite annoyingly my ship keeps getting caught or stuck in those new structures inside the starport, i mean it feels nice to get new starport designs and im not complaining about them but... (sigh)

Although, they make for some great obstacle course for the smaller ships :D
 
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GG7

G
It has become more picky for manual touchdowns in 2.2, but much improved when using the Docking Computer. Since I manually fly my approaches and then hand off to the DC once inside the docking bay to actually land my larger ships, I consider the change an improvement over 2.1. And I always use 100% DC for outposts and planetary bases. Its all about speed and efficiency for me.

So... If you are tired of wasting time trying to find that "Sweet Spot" on the pad, just use a DC. Problem solved. ;)
 
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RadiKyle

RadiKyle
MassiveD said:
Seems to slide to the left every time
Click to expand...

This exactly! The ship would touch the bullseye and slide left on every attempt, no matter how low the vertical speed.

Okay so it sounds like from the posts here that it wasn't just my meds, lol. Something about the touchdown mechanics has been changed, at least for some of the ships. I dunno if this is bug-report-worthy or if it was an intended change by FD in 2.2. Off to stare at the release notes...
 

kofeyh

kofeyh
Gentle tip.

Pitch up 10° and try landing; you'll find in about 99.9% of the attempts, landing will now occur without issue.

I suspect the changes to station 'clutter' as part of the update may have impacted the location/ interaction for collision detection and triggering of landing animation. This was the case during Beta. I am now used to pulling a 'flare' manoeuvre (, !) as I come in. Haven't really had a problem since.
 
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Itaki

Itaki
RadiKyle said:
Has anyone noticed that docking is more finicky in 2.2?

I was having a lot of problems getting the iClipper to dock after 2.2. I'd be on the bullseye, it's blue, gear are down, etc., but it won't dock. End up smearing the ship all over the pad and it refuses to dock. Only "fix" was to leave the pad's holobox and try again, and then it would dock okay.

I eventually discovered I was pitched down a little too much for it to achieve lock. Raise the nose a bit more and no problem. But I was using the same landing technique that I was using before 2.2 and never had any trouble getting it to dock before. Full disclosure that I'm on some meds at the moment, lol, but I'm pretty sure that's not it! :D

It feels like the tolerance on docking alignment is tighter in 2.2, or at least so for the iClipper. Anyone else noticing something similar?
Click to expand...

I've been flying the Clipper since 2.2 and yes my ship has had to get rather intimate with the pad on a number of occasions before it would acknowledge docking complete. Not sure it's 2.2 or just me. But I had a similar problem with the FDL prior to 2.2.

<shrugs>
 

HailVectron

HailVectron
Slightly related, I notice that Auto-Dock is appearing as a feature in the list of available ones for that base/port. I wonder if some of them will get it turned off so that DC users have to dock! Great idea (and I use a DC)...
 

mistohise

mistohise
Yes! My usual "heavy" docking approach (slam down on the pad and let the shields do their job) has been nerfed. Now I have to slow it right down before contact or the ship will just slide left across the pad like it's an ice rink.
 

AgingGamer

AgingGamer
mistohise said:
Yes! My usual "heavy" docking approach (slam down on the pad and let the shields do their job) has been nerfed. Now I have to slow it right down before contact or the ship will just slide left across the pad like it's an ice rink.
Click to expand...

I thought it was just me who did that ;)

Responding to the original question- I noticed that landing my Anaconda has become more difficult, for sure. I'm experiencing symptoms that seem to match what has been described a few times in this thread- aligned (blue target), come down, bounce-slide to the left.

I've found that, after the bounce, I can usually switch to alternate controls and 'slide' back across the pad and dock successfully. It is kind of like a dog scooting its butt across the carpet... a 300M Cr dog with 1000 Mj shields... but it works ;)
 

Hempstead

Hempstead
I just noticed last night that my Cutter when preparing to launch (return to surface), the radar screen shows my Cutter's outline, but with the tail clipped under the floor. It wasn't like that before 2.2. Perhaps they moved the docking zone down. It was always like this when landing on planets though (picky docking clamp), even pre-2.2. I always wrote it off as gravity influence on planet. Now I am inclined to blame the docking zone arrangement.

It's not a big deal, it's just quite annoying for the pros who don't use docking computer. So, I guess they are raising the bar for being a "pro", eh? Challenge accepted! I will git gud then.
 

Kaybe

Kaybe
Yes, very much so. Ships tend to bounce around a good deal more. Not much of a problem with most ships, but really challenging with some of the big ones.
 

Monk

Monk
I haven't noticed

Flown the clipper, cutter, orca and Beluga since 2.2 released.

Though, my method of slamming down into the dock to "leave my mark" might skew my perspective a bit :D

BTW...speed docking the beluga is a fun challenge, lol
 
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