I agree on the fact that docking is easy, and no help is needed there; flightassist is more than enough for this, and like fighting, docking is a skill that must be learned. Fixit9660 said it all, except that I fail to see the purpose of making it harder, as you can do that yourself. Just put metal to the medal and spin/strafe like crazy while you're approaching the bay from an angle, all of this with flightassist turned off!

Most stations have multiple docking bays, so why not having a simple "I-want-to-dock-at-this-station"-Button, and the station answeres "You're clear for dock 3", then a counter starts so you have 20 seconds to enter this docking bay. There need to be a signal WHICH of the docking bays is 'yours'.

Another good thing would be a maximum allowed speed near the docking bay - if you exceed this speed limit then an emergency shield would pop up and the docking bay would close for you. Strike force could give some warning shots at you (without killing you, the player shouln't get KOS just for beeing 1m/s too fast).

Also, as i said in another thread a long time ago, make a docking fee at stations except the one you are homed. Perhaps this fee could vary (depend on the faction standing).

To HOME at a station you should need at least +200 faction standing, anything between -599 and +199 and you're allowed to dock but not to home there!

Repairs are free at +900 or above.

a docking autopilot would me nice bu i think the docking system is fine as it is. (although capitle ships would need some considering)

LARGER blue, flashing arrows that point inward. and viewable via HUD outline if eclipsed by the station whould eb a GREAT adaptation...

um...

The arrows are quite large, the dock looks completely different from the exit dock, and the entrance is already marked on the radar. What more do you want? If you put the entrance dot in the center of your front radar screen and you don't see an entrance, directly in front of you, then might you possibly assume that the station is inbetween you and it, and you just need to go around?

And *cough* this thread is *cough* 8 months old.... How did you find it, anyway?

Heh, I was afraid this might be the side-effect of adding links to the "PLEASE READ PRIOR TO POSTING A SUGGESTION" sticky. That's where he's getting these. Go easy on him folks.

Keeps us from having whole new topics on the same ol thing.

Any way I don't see how you could miss the bay, you got them on radar and then you got these massive blue arrows. Personally I never liked the blue arrows, I always thought we should only have bays on radar...

The blue arrows are presumably composed of the same tech as the signs in space, think of them as the lights of a landing strip. Anyway they're a great help to newbies and vets alike if you ask me. I wouldn't mind if they extended farther than they do, they look kinda cool.

(I know, I know, this thread is old)

To give the ships computer the ability to dock would be nice i think.

As it is now the damned thing can only draw a reticule on where to aim beforehand.

I think any new functionality to the ships computer is welcome, i keep getting annoyed by the fact that three space straveling internations cannot come up with really simple, and in fact nescesery aplications for the onboard computer.

If any of you have played X3, the docking system there is "fun"

You have to go up to the docking port, request permision to dock in.

BUT after taht...the door opens, you have to navigate through a tunnel thing and then into a port :)

and the same as ye go out.

I think there should be an autopilot, but not for docking, for long distance navigation. If I have to travel from Jallik to Deneb 4 times to do a mission it would be far easier if I could leave at Jallik and have the computer plod on automatically along the most direct routes from wormhole to wormhole automatically managing warp and hyperspace jumps for me. I would expect the autopilot to disengage automatically:

* on arrival in the destination subsector
* if the journey was interrupted by attackers or ion storms

Autopilot has been suggested, is planned (IIRC) and does not need much further discussion.

Make some sort of "turn around, set full throttle fly straight for 120s, try jump, turn around, ..." script. It should do what you want eventually, although sometimes it will get you killed, and will take much longer than a player controlled craft would.

As for docking, I like it the way it is. Docking computer would be an insult to my coordination, and smaller docking ports would not fit a moth. I feel it is something the devs got right. I sometimes thought it would be interesting to not be able to dock until you hail a station, and then get permission, and a docking port is cleared to you to dock (and highlights on the HUD), but relaised that the queues would get long as more people started playing.

docking comp? sure, would be nice perhaps to have a HUD setting or something for docking, complete with big overlays and voice cues for the newbs, right? cool, and might even teach them how to dock effectively on their own so the rest of us don't need to hear it...

but that's a lot of work, for the devs, and I don't see it taking a higher priority than a bajillion other things VO plers would like.

How about a simple subroutine you can engage to auto-repair and rearm upon docking.

Lecter: That is a worthy suggestion deserving its own thread. I would welcome it as a client option.

atleast rearm and repair when docked with your warships as they battle repairs are free anyway.

I like the idea of an animation, where you're still vulnerable during the animation. It would be kinda cool to see a ship being pulled in and blasted out of the docking claws.

Way back i used to dock behemoths loaded at full speed by bouncing them off parts of the station into the bay, back when they had i think 40000 armor and did i think 200m/s