Oolite Bulletins

I am sorry for this.
I have been playing Elite II and III during the past, and loves the game.

In Oolite I have managed to dock, and I am using this station to practice docking. Goes smooth, even if I place the station slightly off track.

The next planet, though, has taken me 15 attempts, all unsuccesfull.

Thus, this far, the gameplay seems to be a waste of time.

Please make it a little easier to dock without a docking computer.

Otherwise I just might have something else to do but playing Oolite

Hi Caramba, and welcome.
Sorry to hear that you are having trouble. Docking can be tricky for new players, but the good news is normally it gets very easy very quickly. There is an old saying around here that By the time you can afford a docking computer, you don't need one.
The funny thing is, it sounds like you have already learnt to dock successfully at Lave (the start planet), and you should therefor be able to dock as easily elsewhere. The Stations (and their docking ports) are all much the same size and their rotation is about the same as well if I remember correctly.
It might be that you are a bit tired after the flight and this is causing problems. Sometimes 'parking' near the station for a short time while you have a cup of tea/coffee/bourbon can help - go back refreshed and concentrate on the docking.
The other possibility is that something you have added is changing the game. Are you using any Expansions that affect stations? Or are you playing the game as it comes, and just flying from Lave to Diso or Leesi or one of the other planets within reach?

Hi Caramba - you might find [wiki]Neo-Docklights OXP[/wiki] useful in getting lined up properly.

There's a couple of docking techniques described in this thread that might help you. I've found that both SteveKing's & Disembodied's methods work well, sure Cody's would work as well.

Venator Dha wrote:

... sure Cody's would work as well.

<smirks> As it happens, I've often wondered whether docking on injectors (at GalCop stations) should be illegal.

Welcome to the forums, Caramba

Which Oolite version are you using? 1.80, the latest released version, should be easier to dock with than previous versions as the rotation of the stations has been slowed down quite a bit. In 1.80 you can also practice docking in the tutorial, which includes a panel to show you how well the docking attempt is going. The next release will make the penalty for "slightly off" docking less severe - more likely to be partial damage than ship loss - though that's a while away yet.

There are a few OXPs which can help - in addition to the Docklights one mentioned above, there's [wiki]Traffic_Control_OXP[/wiki] to help you through the process, and [wiki]Lave_Academy_OXP[/wiki] which has some docking training which is a bit different to the tutorial.

You could also edit your saved game to add a docking computer, and bypass the problem. Say if you want instructions for doing this.

Welcome Caramba!

Go to the station's buoy, stop, turn to the dock and go into with at least half of your max. speed while focus on proper rotation. Alignment is a smaller problem if you start your approach from the buoy and the dock is enough large to allow some inaccuracy around the center point. The high speed is a big help to reduce the risky time while you are in the open dock.

Another way if you replace your ship to a Cobra Mark I which is much smaller, can dock sideways also (70m wide and the height of the dock is 103m). In this case you get back some money so you can equip the ship for combat in the nearest high tech system and start a bounty hunter career.

Smivs wrote:

By the time you can afford a docking computer, you don't need one.

This is why [wiki]ILS[/wiki] cost 50 credits only: a new commander can afford it instantly.

Norby wrote:

...Go to the station's buoy, stop, turn to the dock and...

Even my wife can dock using this technique... (she actually did it three consecutive times following my suggestion to prove to herself that she didn't do it by chance!)

EDIT: Now that I'm reading again my post, I didn't mean to be rude, I just wanted to highlight that this is definitely the way to start docking.