Tips For Landing with FA/Off?

Synthetic Frost

Synthetic Frost
Okay, so I want to point out that I'm not new to the game. I've played heavily since Alpha and am pretty decently ranked in combat, and even higher in trading. I've kitted out pretty much every ship up to and including the 'conda. I know the game pretty well. But lately just as a personal challenge I've been flying with FA/Off completely. I'm well aware of other famous players like Isinona playing this way, and it looked fun to try.

In space, I get it. I understand that it's a different mode of thought, that I only need to barely tap the direction I want to go, and let my momentum take me there. As well as knowing which thruster to hit relative to not only the direction I'm facing, but my momentum as well. In combat, I have NO trouble flying with FA/Off.

But once I get into that station to dock, and the rotational gravity starts tugging me down, I just can't seem to stabilize. Bigger ships are much easier to land than smaller ships, but even with the rotational correction on, my ship just ends up ramming the pad no matter how much correcting I try to do with the vertical thrusters. I know to nudge the ship in the direction the pad's going to be and let the station's rotation bring the pad to me, but I just can't seem to keep my ship still. If I keep my ship rotating to match the pad, any "correcting" I do only seems to amplify the problem rather than correct it.

I understand the spatial and newtonian physics of FA/Off, but that simulated gravity inside the station is killing me. With FA/On I can land any ship in like 3 seconds flat. Why is FA/Off so dang hard? currently I'm using a Joystick with a throttle slider, with keyboard keys for maneuvering thrusters and throttle overrides for precision control.

Any advice?
 
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Fen Harel

Fen Harel
Hmm... Don't? :)

Seriously though, if you can manage that, then more power to you. Doing that would be quite a difficult challenge. Good luck Commander!
 

jgm

jgm
Docking in a station is one of the hardest things to do with FA off, it really is. It would be fine if that sudden gravitational effect didn't turn up but it does.

It's one of those "keep trying and it will click" things, although honestly more often than not I turn FA on once inside the station just to speed things up. Some things aren't worth the feeling of achievement you get from them.
 

777Driver

777Driver
@OP - If you forward to the end of my video it shows the landing, the whole flight is done with Assist OFF. As you say, it is easier with the bigger ships due to the inertia, still the same principal apply's - All ships will naturally drift down inside the station with FA OFF, you only need to apply small bursts of upwards thrust to control the descent rate.

The most important part is assigning reverse thrust to an axis, deceleration rate is thankfully a lot faster with FA OFF, again short bursts of reverse thrust combined with upwards thrust and the rest is just gliding in. I also use pedals, the toe brakes provide control of lateral thrust.

Very rewarding once you master it :)

[video=youtube;7huxkHCIFUI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7huxkHCIFUI[/video]
 
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Synthetic Frost

Synthetic Frost
Yeah... I'm deliberately punishing myself by trying to land a fully kitted out Viper. Even the tiniest tap of the thrusters sends me flying and smacking into the tower. I'm getting better. But I definitely want to learn how to do it. I'm already a better pilot because of it.
 

Twelvefield

Twelvefield
You kind of answer your own question at the top, by saying that it takes you 3 seconds to land FAOn and several minutes FAOff... remember the last time you flew in an airliner? How the pilots spend around ten minutes working up to final so that everything lines up exactly just so?

I spent some time practising in the Tutorial because doing it in the game kept getting me killed. That helps. A larger ship helps. I also dial down ENG all the way so that I get the minimum of thrust. Seems backwards to do that for fine control thrust, but I feel it helps. Of course, you send the excess power to SYS, where the shields live...
 

MacArthur

M
Try docking at outposts first, it is much easier in FAoff than in a station. I don't have too much trouble with the mail slot anymore but getting her down is tricky.

Cargo scooping, FIGHTING, edabowdid! I'm still hopeless.
 

Alvatore

Alvatore
To land effectively with FA Off, do the following:

1: Install a Docking Computer
2: Enjoy a 3300-era rendition of "The Beautiful Blue Danube" while your ship figures out all the nonsensical silly things for you.
3: Get out of your chair and stretch.
4: Get a cup of tea. Or lemonade if you prefer.
5: There is no 5.
 
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SCADVID

SCADVID
Synthetic Frost said:
Any advice?
Click to expand...

RTFM...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060932694/

I'm serious. That Russian cosmonaut mission commander that had to guide those resupply ships in remotely with some messed up controls (and communication equipment -- and the combo of the two caused the Mir disasters), is a wonderful read in all that IS actual space flight "without flight assist".

He should've gotten more than a medal.

If you're going to fly without assist, go into deep space (some place like far away from a station; or with a planet nearby as a visual reference) and practice how it feels to fly in one direction at a time and using the visual reference to judge distance. This trains you in how much a tap of the thrusters feels (as it'll be by feel because ED doesn't offer the numbers to fly by instruments itself) and that important drift and it's decay rates. Once you get that down, you can fly by feel without compensation that FA offers.
 
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