Oolite Bulletins

Hello, just a thought here.
I reckon it would be a really nice touch to be able to watch your ship dock, when the big "S" appears on screen.
I don't mean externally, but from the helm as usual. What do you think?
It seems a bit abrupt to hit the docking key and be straight in! I'd like to enjoy the view

Mindyou, a 3rd person view on docking fly-by would be quite interesting too

That’s what happens if you use the “normal” autopilot docking key, C.

Ahruman wrote:

That’s what happens if you use the “normal” autopilot docking key, C.

Lol, guess who hasn't red the manual !
Ok, I'm very old school (Electron) and didn't realise this extra functionality

Next question then, any chance the procedure could be made to look a bit more 'showy' i.e. smooth, sweeping curves (not stopping and lining up like us mere mortals)?

Afterall, a computer should make it look effortless

capt.Pirk wrote:

Next question then, any chance the procedure could be made to look a bit more 'showy' i.e. smooth, sweeping curves (not stopping and lining up like us mere mortals)?

Spline-curve navigation? It's in the working-on-it stage (it's kind of necessary to the growing racing code).

aegidian wrote:

Spline-curve navigation? It's in the working-on-it stage (it's kind of necessary to the growing racing code).

Well good luck with that
funnily, when I used 'autopilot' mode for docking, I had to smile.
Not only did it abort it's first approach, it scraped the sides of the orbital on its way in second time around

Frighteningly reminiscent of my own skills!

capt.Pirk wrote:

Hello, just a thought here.
I reckon it would be a really nice touch to be able to watch your ship dock, when the big "S" appears on screen.
I don't mean externally, but from the helm as usual. What do you think?
It seems a bit abrupt to hit the docking key and be straight in! I'd like to enjoy the view

Mindyou, a 3rd person view on docking fly-by would be quite interesting too

Actually, when using the autopilot docking there should be an External view option, maybe one from the station's pov (it would have cameras)?

aegidian wrote:

capt.Pirk wrote:

Next question then, any chance the procedure could be made to look a bit more 'showy' i.e. smooth, sweeping curves (not stopping and lining up like us mere mortals)?

Spline-curve navigation? It's in the working-on-it stage (it's kind of necessary to the growing racing code).

Don't forget the appropriate docking music, ala 2001 Space Oddyssey (and Frontier).

Ironlion45 wrote:

Don't forget the appropriate docking music, ala 2001 Space Oddyssey (and Frontier).

Oolite already as the same tune (A remix of Strauss' Blue Danube Waltz) It first used in the Elite series by... Elite.

Currently, you can hear it when you engage a docking computer.

Well, nothing happens when you hit the letterbox (as you would expect since one of the best versions of the game had this), so the whole docking thing for me is a bit of a pointless transition :-)

I know there were valid concerns about how to generate and maintain a list of docked ships in the hangar, but initially it would be cool to just pick some at random. If this annoys the user (the ship that docked before you has vanished), then have hangar numbers so you can imagine that the previous ship got docked to a different level.

So busy atm, but I hope to get back into this project in a few months. Did the customsounds modifications become part of the main branch yet? I still have a fully functional modified version of Oolite on my hdd that uses Amiga sound files.

Agreed on the docking thing, I loved on the Amiga version how it was an actual tunnel to the bay with ships sitting in it. Otherwise at the moment docking is identical to hyperspace...

Hyperspace would be nice too. Although the Amiga was also just some concentric rings, the thing I found good about it was that it took about 5 seconds. When you are hyperspacing from a fight you are losing, those 5 seconds are a very peacefull relaxing moment to gather your strength for whatever you have escaped into.

Would it be offensive to the purists to have modern graphics for the hyperspace transition? Something simple though, I found the FFE one to be over the top.

Heh, for a propper old school mad hyperspace thing that took ages as well - Captain Blood! Cannot find a pic at the mo as at work. However it used a very simple set of maths to generate a spectacular effect that changed everytime. It built up, cruised then powered down.

Now it was ott for Elite, however a similar effect but wrapped in a tunnel could be good...

Could also lock the controls for a second before entering hyperspace, ensuring that the singularity (or whatever) you are openning up is directly in front of you.

Hmm, that could be good. Maybe have a little vibration at the same time. I was also thinking about the whole Hyperspace effect and the wormhole hitchhiking that we already have...

How come Hyperspace tunnels are purple/pink bands yet the wormhole is a cool blue with a great fringe around the edges, also when another ship hits it there is that great white impact ripple. How about making the whole hyperspace trip like it, have it blue, with that fuzz effect at the edges and the water ripple overtaking us going down the wormhole half way then us overtaking it on the way out, showing us entering witchspace and then escaping it... That make sense?

Someone's been watching Stargate...

It's a good idea though - the hyperspace tunnel should have a more...interesting look. However, the rings are not actually hyperspace - and neither are they the docking sequence. They're a MemnSomn pattern to ease the subjective experience of the transitions, which can cause motion sickness.