Learn something new every day...

Also, you always come in facing the side with the ramps. This is useful if you are right above the pad and can't see the number.
 
When I was in a new system after scanning the star I would then select the next nearest object from the Navigation panel.
I hated it when it turned out to be an Asteroid Cluster.
Imagine my delight when I found out you can turn off Asteroid Clusters from being listed by using the Set Navigation Filters settings.
You can also turn off a load of other things as well.

:eek:

After all this years, yesterday I was searching for a base in a uncharted system (no visible planets. no Nav Beacon). I forgot my ADS. Picked a point on Nav tab.
It was a cluster... Went back for a ADS, cursing the God of Modules.
 
Apologies for the micronecro but I remembered this thread and it's a reasonable place to drop this:

While I've been saving up for a 7A fuel scoop for my exploration Anaconda (a frivolous expense but an aspirational goal for a pure explorer) I've been flying around for literally years with a 6A. I only just realised this evening that the 7B is 8MCr cheaper than the 6A, draws no more power, has marginally better integrity and scoops 21% faster.

It caught me out because with many other modules going up a Class but not getting A-rated has a compromise on power drain or mass. But for some reason the 6A to 7B jump for fuel scoops has zero power hit (curiously going from 7A to 8B actually reduces the power requirement, while all other xA to x+1B pairings increase it) and of course fuel scoops have no mass.
 
My technique out the Mail Slot:

BOOST!
Straight out the slot>>>>
FA-Off!
Zero Throttle!
Coast at maximum speed.
Rotate over to align with target system.
Keep on coasting out to Mass Lock Off.
Charge FSD!

Wait for it, wait for it.
FSD 3/4 charged?
FA-ON!
Boost!
Full Throttle.



That will give you the fastest time to jump, shortest distance from the station, even if the destination is behind the station.
 
My technique out the Mail Slot:

BOOST!
Straight out the slot>>>>
FA-Off!
Zero Throttle!
Coast at maximum speed.
Rotate over to align with target system.
Keep on coasting out to Mass Lock Off.
Charge FSD!

Wait for it, wait for it.
FSD 3/4 charged?
FA-ON!
Boost!
Full Throttle.



That will give you the fastest time to jump, shortest distance from the station, even if the destination is behind the station.
This is how I like to dock as well:
[video=youtube;cbjFVXa5BU8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbjFVXa5BU8[/video]
 
My technique out the Mail Slot:

BOOST!
Straight out the slot>>>>
FA-Off!
Zero Throttle!
Coast at maximum speed.
Rotate over to align with target system.
Keep on coasting out to Mass Lock Off.
Charge FSD!

Wait for it, wait for it.
FSD 3/4 charged?
FA-ON!
Boost!
Full Throttle.



That will give you the fastest time to jump, shortest distance from the station, even if the destination is behind the station.

This is my cool-guy-jump too whenever my destination isn't straight ahead :)
 
My technique out the Mail Slot:

BOOST!
Straight out the slot>>>>
FA-Off!
Zero Throttle!
Coast at maximum speed.
Rotate over to align with target system.
Keep on coasting out to Mass Lock Off.
Charge FSD!

Wait for it, wait for it.
FSD 3/4 charged?
FA-ON!
Boost!
Full Throttle.



That will give you the fastest time to jump, shortest distance from the station, even if the destination is behind the station.

sounds fun but that isn't neither fastest nor shortest distance.

that would be boosting in a straight line away from the station until exiting masslock, then charge fsd and align nose in fa-off, boost again to align vector.

any turn you make during that process except aligning is 'wasted' time and distance.

(i'm assuming masslock zone is a sphere, haven't tested)
 
I've been playing this game for a couple of years now, and I've only just realised that there's an easy way to tell which way you're supposed to approach a docking bay...the numbers are always at the rear.

Can't believe I've only just noticed this. That'll save me some time at outposts and planetary bases...

Given that they can, somehow, project these funky holographic boxes around landing pads, I've always wondered why they don't just colour the entire front-face of the "box" green, or something?


Unless I'm mistaken, landing pads always face the "middle" of a surface installation but it's not always easy to figure that out, especially at some of the more convoluted engineer bases.
If the front of the box was green, it'd be much easier to make your approach without having to either guess at the layout or look for some teensy number that often isn't visible until you've already made your approach on the wrong side.
 
sounds fun but that isn't neither fastest nor shortest distance.

that would be boosting in a straight line away from the station until exiting masslock, then charge fsd and align nose in fa-off, boost again to align vector.

any turn you make during that process except aligning is 'wasted' time and distance.

(i'm assuming masslock zone is a sphere, haven't tested)

You do get the bit that boosting with FA-Off retains your speed for longer.

So yeah you go in a straight line out the dock. And yeah some ships are slow and you can get a couple of boosts before aligning on target. But leaving the pitch over until after your FSD charge starts sometimes means that you get “waiting to throttle up” or “align with target”. When you get it tight and tidy, the FSD charge bar kisses it’s ends just as the forward speed reaches the top of its bar.

I think I get where you’re coming from, but we’re splitting hairs.
 
Given that they can, somehow, project these funky holographic boxes around landing pads, I've always wondered why they don't just colour the entire front-face of the "box" green, or something?

They may not want to make too much coloured, due to red-green colour blindness issues. This (I presume) is why the lights on the mailslot work the way they do - IIRC the green lights to one side are steady, and the red lights to the other side flash, so a RG colour blind viewer can tell them apart. I've never noticed the lights on pads, but I'd hope it worked the same way, and I wouldn't want half the hologram box to be flashing, that might be really distracting!
 
some ships are slow and you can get a couple of boosts before aligning on target

indeed. my point is that the really limiting factor is masslock, and a straight line is the fastest way out of it, all other maneuvers can then be done during fsd load. absolute worst case is a 180º turn and full direction reversal which should be doable in 15sec in most ships but of course depends on agility, inertia and boost frequency.

in a fat ship i would 'bend' that straight line just enough to escape masslock with enough angle to get the alignment done in time.

that said, these are the sort of things you end up doing in space after several hundreds of repetitions: optimize jump, scoop, approach ... it's just something that kicks in, it isn't really we're in such a hurry, right? :D
 
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They may not want to make too much coloured, due to red-green colour blindness issues. This (I presume) is why the lights on the mailslot work the way they do - IIRC the green lights to one side are steady, and the red lights to the other side flash, so a RG colour blind viewer can tell them apart. I've never noticed the lights on pads, but I'd hope it worked the same way, and I wouldn't want half the hologram box to be flashing, that might be really distracting!

They could just make it a box with an entirely open end. ;)

Thing is, when you're trying to land a T9 on a high g planet, if you want to do it elegantly you really need to start your approach from way out, as soon as you exit glide, and you often can't figure out which end of the pad the number is until you're already committed to approaching from one side or the other.
Something visible from several km out would be nice.

*EDIT*

Also, while I'm at it, am I the only one who's disappointed that the landing-pad boxes are "real"?

I assumed they were just projections in your HUD but they're still visible via the external camera which would suggest they exist in the "real world".
Not sure if they're still visible when you've got a blown canopy though.
If they aren't, that's an inconsistency that probably needs fixing. [where is it]
 
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Well, this week I learned that a lot had changed since I last played regularly. There are weapons that bypass shields, and delivery missions make you pick up the load after taking the contract (which I found out after flying to the target system).

Also, signal source types seem much more skewed toward combat scenarios than they had been (at least in finding them).
 
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