Make takeoff & landing more challenging

[Zueuk]

Elite 1 required a lot of skill just to enter the mail slot without a docking computer. Fortunately, docking in Elite Dangerous is much easier but still requires some skill.
After you entered the station though, you can basically smash your ship into the landing pad and your shields will absorb any damage.
Taking off is also not very complicated - often you can just point your ship to the mail slot and boost. Even if you hit something on the way, chances are that you won't get any real damage because of, once again, shields.

Takeoff and especially landing are the most difficult/interesting part of the atmospheric flight, but in ED they are way too easy.
I'm not sure there should be any changes to the flight model, but there can be another simple change to fix this - what if everybody had to disable their shields when landing? This can be explained either by some obscure technical reasons - EM interference or something inside the station (though this might not apply to outposts and planetary landings in the future), or just because working shields shouldn't let you land by "shielding" you from the ground.

 

[Distance]

Turn off flight assist and rotational correction. Remove shields for hard mode.

 

[T'vol]

Turn off flight assist and rotational correction. Remove shields for hard mode.

This. You want it harder? Make it harder. But the traders in the game would, rightfully, scream bloody murder if they upped the difficulty of landing and taking-off. It's already a chore to do it as efficiently as possible so you can break 1mil/hr when you're just starting in a T6.

 

[Tinman]

Personally I would be against the OPs suggestion, but in terms of balancing the game for everyone we should probably keep it as it is.

Anyone who wants to can still roleplay by turning off shields, rotational correction and flight assist themselves.

 

[DocLooshkin]

So, if I understand the idea correctly, the solution to docking not being hard enough is not to do anything which might make docking harder, but to make it almost impossible for smaller ships to survive attacks en route to the docking pad? That's genius! In addition, may I suggest that shields be removed from the game entirely and all modules be reworked to ensure every player's hull strength is as constantly close to zero as possible? Just to add to the fun, like.

 

[Cmdr. Numa]

Considering the amount of threads lamenting death by station, no. For some it's easy, for some it's next to impossible. Old problem in any multiplayer environment, where the pros find it too easy and the noobs too hard. Still you have to find ONE balancing setting for all. And that has to be the happy medium.

 

[Captain N]

It isn't particularly difficult even with flight assist off...

 

[Parmo]

It isn't particularly difficult even with flight assist off...

You meant to write:
For me, it isn't particularly difficult even with flight assist off.

 

[Captain N]

I meant for anyone who understands the basics of how the flight controls and physics work.

 

[Drizzt Do Urden]

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=140077

make this harder, make that easier

 

[Gramps]

Fly out of the mail slot in reverse from the back of the station, that will set you a challenge

 

[Psycho Romeo]

I think OP has a point regarding how simple it is to smash your belly on the pad enough until you mag lock. Personally I think you should get fined if you hit the station with too much force. Someone suggested adding a speed limit in or around stations - if you collide with something while over the speed limit, you get fined. I like this idea too.

Parallel parking a car is easy for some, but it doesn't mean you can spin around and drift into the stall sideways just because you're good at it.

I do not agree with making docking harder though.

 

[Zueuk]

So, if I understand the idea correctly, the solution to docking not being hard enough is not to do anything which might make docking harder, but to make it almost impossible for smaller ships to survive attacks en route to the docking pad?

Survive arracks en route from mail slot to the docking pad? :S

But the traders in the game would, rightfully, scream bloody murder if they upped the difficulty of landing and taking-off. It's already a chore to do it as efficiently as possible so you can break 1mil/hr when you're just starting in a T6.

I piloted a T6 with no shields (removed to install more cargo racks), and this is the only time I actually had to think while landing & taking off.

 

[kevin-nightwolf]

hmm i allways wondered what the flight aassist really do... i have tried to turn it on, and leave it off....
i really feel no difference xDD

anyone please tell me what effect im looking for when i turn it off xDD

i simply cant figure out what the flight assist helps me with... the ship is way easy to control no matter what i do... even with fligth stick xDD

i mean... flying and docking in a speed at 300... you guys should really try it.. it aint hard at all

 

[Psycho Romeo]

hmm i allways wondered what the flight aassist really do... i have tried to turn it on, and leave it off....
i really feel no difference xDD

anyone please tell me what effect im looking for when i turn it off xDD

i simply cant figure out what the flight assist helps me with... the ship is way easy to control no matter what i do... even with fligth stick xDD

i mean... flying and docking in a speed at 300... you guys should really try it.. it aint hard at all

Flight assist should be extremely obvious. So I assume you mean rotational correction, which corrects the spin that stations do when you're in them.

 

[CopperHamster]

I think OP has a point regarding how simple it is to smash your belly on the pad enough until you mag lock. Personally I think you should get fined if you hit the station with too much force. Someone suggested adding a speed limit in or around stations - if you collide with something while over the speed limit, you get fined. I like this idea too.

Parallel parking a car is easy for some, but it doesn't mean you can spin around and drift into the stall sideways just because you're good at it.

I do not agree with making docking harder though.

The scraping grates on me, but I do swoop in's pretty hard these days. I was looking at the numbers and realized I was oh so gingerly touching down at about 1/10 the decent rate of something like a big Boeing or Airbus.



I did manage to have a very bad turn Saturday, don't know how I got this way but I was coming straight down onto the pad at high speed (at least high speed with gear out), and did a flight assist off pitch to level and whammed hard enough that when I got into the dock my shields were recharging and I needed 5cr of repairs.

 

[trollson]

mmhaaaa....

New weapon - paint gun - fires quick drying paint over the cockpit canopy of the enemy ship. Can only be removed as part of maintainance...

muuhaaa!...

 

[EUS]

I have to agree with the OP about being able to smash your ships into the landing pad, and suffering nothing by ways of repairs, or hull damage, or even death.
While watching the videos of pilots doing this is good for a laugh ('condas, buckyball competition), it really doesn't make sense.

 

[kevin-nightwolf]

my point is i dont rememebr whatever it is called but i tried to turn it on and off but seriously i dont feel any difference at all xD

i know it is self explainatory but i still dont see any difference xD