Any advice to a newb for docking? Pulling out hair!

[930]

Let me get this off my chest...

I *love* Oolite. I have been playing around with it for about 4 hours (when I get time.) However the most frustrating part of the game is docking with the space station. I am curious if anyone has come up with a good technique for docking?

The tutorial says to take it slow while coming in but I've found that if you go too slow you exponentially increase the possibility of mistakes.

Any advice would greatly be appreciated!

[Arexack_Heretic]

I found that Oolite offers the best manual docking of all elite versions I played.

Just head towards the station: As soon as the station is in scanner reach, aim between planet and station untill the beacon becomes visible.
Head for that, when you are almost on top of the beacon, cut speed to a crawl and turn towards the station.
Line up for the docking port and set speed to max. (rotate!)
When almost inside the mouth, cut speed to half or one third and continue to rotate with the station.
You are now docked.

Getting the rotationspeed correct will take some practice.
(don't try to dock with your speedometer in the red!)
But as an elite veteran, you should know this already.

[Murgh]

yes, that's good advice.

once stinding still "on top of" the beacon, aim at the center lights and push forward. it's really a piece of cake.

[Rubinstein]

The tutorial says to take it slow while coming in but I've found that if you go too slow you exponentially increase the possibility of mistakes.

But then the tutorial don't say "too slow", just "slow". No, seriously, slow or too slow is all relative, but
speed isn't the main point for docking at all. The key for easy docking is to adjust your vessel's rolling axe
perfectly to that of the station, and that what the buoy is for (as a helper).

While you fly towards the buoy, already try to center the buoy as good as possible, then fly very close to
the buoy, but don't collide. Stop. Turn. Now center the station in your view while still at zero speed. How
perfectly you center the station *now* will determine how easy your docking will be. Now move slowly
(you can very well start with 'red speed' and decelerate on the last few meters) towards the station.
If you'd done everything right before, you shouldn't have to correct your route. Until you're close to the bay
you also don't need to roll your ship. Use rolling just to control whether the axes are perfectly adjusted: if
they're not, you would see a docking bay more or less 'tumbling' around the center view.

HTH, have fun.

P.S:
Something I still have to try: docking in full speed. IIRC that wasn't allowed on C64-Elite but maybe different
in Oolite...

[Arexack_Heretic]

I think it's more fun to not come to a complete stop, just coast on a curve into the tumbling bay...offcoarse you tend to get scraping sounds and low energy warnings now and again.

[Rubinstein]

There are more than one methods of course (you don't need a buoy at all). I just tried to describe the easiest manoeuvre.

[930]

Well I'm docking with the best of them now. It just took some practice and altering some technique. Thanks guys.

Honestly though I really wished it stopped there. Once I started docking perfectly it was all over. Now the wife is pissed that I'm coming to bed after shes long been asleep.

This game is ADDICTING.

[Rubinstein]

Once I started docking perfectly it was all over. Now the wife is pissed that I'm coming to bed after shes long been asleep.

That's the grand problem at all. I take it to the extreme since the night is my day. If I only could say how I managed being married for 25 years now (+ 7 years being together with that same girl already before), I would have written a book for gamers (and probably would be very rich by now)... Maybe it's all that easy and turns out to a simple "love just have to be strong enough".

[jonnycuba]

Now the wife is pissed that I'm coming to bed after shes long been asleep.

This game is ADDICTING.

An unfortunate byproduct of Oolite

[Mad Dan Eccles]

This game is ADDICTING.

Which is the best thing anyone can say about any game.

[Wiggy]

In my day, (BBC Elite) we didn't have fancy Navigation Beacons.

It was recommended that you fly at the Station with the planet above you. Then pull up towards the planet when you're about to hit the station, stop, do a 180, and tap rotate in.

By the way, two things:

Firstly, you *can* dock with Afterburners on. Nice!

Secondly, has any gone down to the bottom of the planet? You can look back up at a blue sky with clouds. As you fly out, the sky gets darker until it becomes Space. Double Nice!

[Ineptitube]

Here's a docking technique nobody seems to have mentioned and which I evolved when I
was ready to give up on Oolite.

For whatever reason the highest FPS I can get is more or less 6 using the lowest 320x240
fullscreen resolution. At that FPS I found I could match my ship's rotation to that of the
station well enough to dock about one time in ten.

Much more successful is to approach the station from the buoy lining myself up as
nearly as possible with the station axis of rotation. I creep as close to the docking
port as I dare then stop. At this range the height of the docking port when it is
horizontal fills 3/4 or more of the screen. I now wait as the station rotates in front
of me until it is 30 to 45 degrees from horizontal then stomp on the 'W' key and slide
right in. My success rate is now more like nine times in ten.

Elite purists may be horrified but this and constantly saving after every successful dock
boosted me to the point where I could buy a docking computer. What I keep looking for
now is a planet with a high enough technology that it sells a way for me to increase my
FPS.

[Lanx]

In the good old days of original Elite, there were no navigation beacons. Since sometimes they vanished in Oolite (there must be horrible pilots …), this is the technique I used in Elite and sometimes even today:

When you approach the station, try to keep it on on your right or left side of the screen. Approach until the station appears on your port (or starboard) screen, and make a full stop when the entrance is nearly in the correct postion. Now roll the ship until the station is above your ship (or below), then pitch until you can see the entrance in front of you. You should be lined up now in an almost perfect way. Accelerate and keep rolling until you dock.

[Rxke]

For whatever reason the highest FPS I can get is more or less 6 using the lowest 320x240

Probably outdated drivers, or an ancient machine like mine (G3@350MegaHurtz)

I also have framerates around than number, close to planet/station, which makes it hard to dock.

I use a bit a samey approach like yours, once the framerate was well below 4fps (it shows 4FPS as minimum, but sometimes it goes lower,)

but I just *had* to dock, after a very successful flight, so I just fuelinjected towards the entry, even at a *very* oblique angle, it was the best I could do.

And sure enough: BOOOOM. I heard...

And then the breakpattern (!) I made it! Despite having 'exploded,' I was still in one piece!

They say speed kills, but in my case it did the opposite!

[Odo987]

In my day, (BBC Elite) we didn't have fancy Navigation Beacons.

Indeed, I was surprised when I saw them in Oolite. Maybe tech level 1 and 2 worlds shouldn't have beacons.

Firstly, you *can* dock with Afterburners on. Nice!

In fact doing so makes docking easier. Just line up, and punch it. Done. None of that roll tweaking.

Secondly, has any gone down to the bottom of the planet? You can look back up at a blue sky with clouds. As you fly out, the sky gets darker until it becomes Space. Double Nice!

See my icon.
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