The Docking Computer thread.

OlFart

O
I was a bit disappointed. First thing I noticed was that it wasn't playing 8-bit music, which I would have made sure it did (for a few days at least just to show heritage.) And second, it headed straight towards the wall of a station and in a state of panic, I ended up disabling it in the module menu and docking manually. Can't trust these darned computers: I see how the computer flies ships into stations!

I don't trust em! Just do it by hand. It's much safer.
 

Cmdr Spencer Renton

Cmdr Spencer Renton
Docking Computer

It's great to see the DC back in the game but what is with the suicide glide angle once your inside a station. lol

No human pilot in their right minds would fly at that angle. Hope it gets fixed.
 

katheb

K
I am a new commander however I did not need the docking computer... Well most of the time.

There was that time in free-port when I accidentally boosted in the station... instead of thrusting "Up"

Yeah good thing I did not have any cargo on me and managed to eject in time. The Dockmaster there, a tough old lass gave me a right scolding, as the dockworkers spent the next two hours clearing debris from the docking entrance.

They left me in my escape pod for the entire duration and made me watch as they cleaned my mess.

I spent quite a bit of credits on a fancy meal for them all, to apologize. They promised not to paint "Dunce" on the back of my sidewinder.

I have not boosted in station since. Mainly because they showed me how to disable the boost control when my landing gear was down.
 

flyperson

F
How smart is the Docking Computer?

I must say I'm enjoying using the DC even though some of the gymnastics it goes through seem a little unnecessary and often appear to be showboating :) Still like it though.

My question is how smart is this piece of kit? Is it aware of other ships also docking, will it take evasive action if a crash is imminent? If not, how does the player take back control to avoid potential disaster?

Had a quick scan of the threads here but couldn't see whether it has been covered. Apologies if it has :eek:
 

astrologos

astrologos
flyperson said:
I must say I'm enjoying using the DC even though some of the gymnastics it goes through seem a little unnecessary and often appear to be showboating :) Still like it though.

My question is how smart is this piece of kit? Is it aware of other ships also docking, will it take evasive action if a crash is imminent? If not, how does the player take back control to avoid potential disaster?

Had a quick scan of the threads here but couldn't see whether it has been covered. Apologies if it has :eek:
Click to expand...

This is what I am afraid of.

DC = SUICIDE?:(
 

Bruce Turnbull

B
flyperson said:
I must say I'm enjoying using the DC even though some of the gymnastics it goes through seem a little unnecessary and often appear to be showboating :) Still like it though.

My question is how smart is this piece of kit? Is it aware of other ships also docking, will it take evasive action if a crash is imminent? If not, how does the player take back control to avoid potential disaster?

Had a quick scan of the threads here but couldn't see whether it has been covered. Apologies if it has :eek:
Click to expand...

My DC seemed to dodge another ship coming out of the entrance, even though we were both in the middle to start with
 

flyperson

F
astrologos said:
This is what I am afraid of.

DC = SUICIDE?:(
Click to expand...

You could be right.

Fenris Wolf said:
Remember the ZX Spectrum 48K?

That is what the DC is made from, right down to the rubber keypad :eek:
Click to expand...

Love it :) Still more power than available to Apollo - but then they probably did their docking old-skool.

Bruce Turnbull said:
My DC seemed to dodge another ship coming out of the entrance, even though we were both in the middle to start with
Click to expand...

Good to know - would you trust it enough for a loo break during docking I wonder?
 

alchemy42

A
First time I used the DC it is was pretty slick.

The two times following that, my ship didn't fly to its pad. It sort crawled and shambled. In fact the final time I used it I just turned it off through the module panel and completed the landing on my own.

I decided to sell if off, and I'll dock myself until I hear of improvements.
 

Flinx

F
Docking Computer - HunkaJunk???

Hi there,
Would be interested to find out other folks experience of the docking computer. Bought one and was sorely disappointed at it's performance. It jitters all over the place trying to get aligned and not once has it actually landed on the pad.

Every single time it hovers over the pad and then messages up telling me to get aligned. Not remotely impressed with it at all. I was hoping it would save me time like it did in the original game (84) where you activated it and boom, you were in, landed and ready to trade.

Sold the damn thing and went back to manually landing. I could do it a lot faster than the hunkajunk piece of kit.

Anyone else frustrated by it's total inability to land?
 

Darojax

Darojax
I surely hope the Docking Computer is work in progress. Bought it and used it twice, but then sold it again judging it was too dangerous to be used. Also, it is extremely slow, and makes the ship moves in all kinds of silly manners. In fact when using the docking computer was the first time I crashed into someone else when docking, and we are talking more than 100 manual dockings here. I hope they'll improve it, and also remove that docking music. Of course docking music is fine, but not if I have my music settings to mute.
 

CMDR Nirnroot

CMDR Nirnroot
Yes hopefully it will improve. I used mine the first time having rashly emptied my cash on cargo thinking it would be a safer option, not that I have crashed (badly) manually docking or had any kind of permanent accident in or near a station.

Foolishly I switched the docking computer on when I was on the far side of the station and then watched, with a kind of horrified fascination, my hauler spiral and jitter insanely around the station to the entrance, the whole experience rendered so much more surreal by the gentle blue danube music softly playing in the background.

Then I noticed a Lakon Type 9 appear on the radar and was convinced I would be back in a sidewinder in moments, as my ship did a kind of 19 point turn in the letterbox.

All ended safely (eventually), and when I calmed down I realised that I could have switched the damn thing off...

I havent used it since, I am sure it will improve over time though :)
 

zombieapocalypse

zombieapocalypse
I did exactly the same. Bought one, used it three times and then sold it back.

I though it would speed up the docking process, but it turns out I can dock much quicker without the aid of the docking computer.

It spins me all over the place and seem to take ages to align/pathfind. And I simply don't trust it not to crash me into a wall or another ship.

The Blue Danube music is a nice touch though (very nostalgic!). Maybe they'll improve it's pathfinding in the future.
 

Styggron

S
I'm sure it will improve. :)

It says "standard docking computer" so that implies there will be other models. I think it is just there for people to test for the present.

I tried it and sold it too :) I can dock much faster myself ;)
 
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