My Docking Computer is scared of the Onrira Torus!

[Mara Jade]

I've just upgraded to 1.77 and have installed the Torus OXP. Now when approaching the Torus Station at Onrira the Auto Pilot turns and runs! lol

When you push "c", you wait for ages in a holding pattern, which is expected because the space outside is chocker with ships, then finally the ship turns around and heads away from the station, eventually moving out of the stations "S" zone. Incidentally, if you just push Shift+C for quick docking it docks straight away. Its a shame it does this because watching the animation of your ship approaching the Torus station would be awesome. I'm just playing in a standard Cobra Mark III.

Is this a bug?

[Eric Walch]

Look here. It is a combination of two bugs. We just have to figure out who is to blame. For now, fixing the station is the easiest fix, but in trunk it will also soon be fixed.

[Mara Jade]

Thanks, I think I'll just delete the OXP until it can be fixed.

[Diziet Sma]

I think I'll just delete the OXP until it can be fixed.

That seems a little unfortunate, since you've clearly been looking forward to seeing the docking happen.

If you like, here is a copy of the shipdata.plist file which has been fixed already. Download and save it into the AddOns/Tori2.01.oxp/Config folder, over-writing the one already there. Then, start Oolite while holding down the shift key. Keep shift held down until you see the spinning Cobra MkIII. That will force Oolite to read the new version of the file into its' cache.

After that, you'll be able to enjoy watching your Cobby dock with the Torus Stations.

[Cody]

... you'll be able to enjoy watching your Cobby dock with the Torus Stations.

Or dock at the Torus on manual, and enjoy the thrill of weaving through the spokes on approach.

[Commander McLane]

... you'll be able to enjoy watching your Cobby dock with the Torus Stations.

Or dock at the Torus on manual, and enjoy the thrill of weaving through the spokes on approach.

<shameless plug>[wiki]Stationrotation OXP[/wiki] will perhaps make that a little easier, while simultaneously making the Torus look even a little more majestic (it slows down its rotation speed).</shameless plug>

[Cody]

... you'll be able to enjoy watching your Cobby dock with the Torus Stations.

Or dock at the Torus on manual, and enjoy the thrill of weaving through the spokes on approach.

<shameless plug>[wiki]Stationrotation OXP[/wiki] will perhaps make that a little easier, while simultaneously making the Torus look even a little more majestic (it slows down its rotation speed).</shameless plug>

Yeah... a slower, more stately rotation improves all stations. I've adjusted all my Griff stations (I think - or more probably, they're slower by default anyway).

Out of interest, what rotation speed does that so shamelessly plugged OXP set for a Torus?

[Commander McLane]

Out of interest, what rotation speed does that so shamelessly plugged OXP set for a Torus?

Here's the complete list:

Code: Select all

this.shipSpawned = function(ship)
{
    if(ship.isMainStation)
    {
        ship.roll = 0.14;
        if(ship.hasRole("transhabstation")) ship.roll = 0;
        if(ship.hasRole("coriolis")) ship.roll = 0.18;
        if(ship.hasRole("dodecahedron")) ship.roll = 0.16;
        if(ship.hasRole("icosahedron")) ship.roll = 0.15;
        if(ship.hasRole("transhabstation-rotating")) ship.roll = 0.14;
        if(ship.hasRole("globestation")) ship.roll = 0.12;
        if(ship.hasRole("globestationxl")) ship.roll = 0.1;
        if(ship.hasRole("tori")) ship.roll = 0.05;
        if(system.scrambledPseudoRandomNumber(3261) < 0.5 && !ship.hasRole("transhabstation-rotating")) ship.roll = -ship.roll;
    }
}

So, it's 0.05 for a torus. And there's a 50% chance that it will rotate in the opposite direction.

[Cody]

Ah... thanks, McLane.

My Torus has station_roll = 0.04; and the Griff stations are all station_roll = 0.08;
I should adjust Griff's slightly (I thought I had already done so - maybe an update I've forgotten to tweak).

[Commander McLane]

You see that I'm keeping a larger range, between 0.18 and 0.05. The general rule is: the bigger the station, the slower the rotation. Also, I'm not making a difference between station variants. Whether it's the original models, or Griff's, or any other replacements, it's always the same value for Coriolisses, Dodecs, and Icos.

The values themselves are just from trial and error. I placed myself in front of each station type and experimented, until the speed felt right. And purely for my own amusement I also created a variant of the Transhab station: it rotates counter to its lifepods (which I also slowed down via shipdata), which looks kind of cool. This Transhab will never rotate in the opposite direction, because station and lifepods rotating in the same direction looks silly.

[Cody]

The general rule is: the bigger the station, the slower the rotation.

Yep, I'm pretty sure that's how I'd tweaked my Griff stations a while back - but they do need re-tweaking (re-opens Notepad++).

Edit: Torus = 0.04; Ico = 0.06; Dodo = 0.08; Coriolis = 0.10 - that'll do for now.

[Smivs]

For comparison, Delightful Docking OXP slows the standard stations (and their direct OXP replacements) by:-
Coriolis 0.18
Dodecahedron 0.16
Icosahedron 0.15
which (to me) looks about right in-game. A bit slower would certainly look Ok, but would also make docking easier as well and the slower rotations are intended to improve the 'look', not make life easier. It does not affect any other OXP stations

[Cody]

A bit slower would certainly look Ok, but would also make docking easier as well...

I'd advise any new pilots to learn to dock manually using Oolite's default station rotation speed, though - a useful skill.

[Smivs]

<nods>

[cim]

This will be fixed in our next release so that the docking computer will still dock with something marginally off-centre, or tonight's nightly build for testing.

Thanks for the reports.