Is there an easier way to perform a raildock?

[p620]

The question is simple: is there an easier way to raildock two entities than the "aim and shoot" method?
Have some plans, which involve many rail systems, for my current build, but a single thought about piloting another freaking door through the ship's interior makes me extremely uncomfortable. If my last attempt in exterior docking took like an hour to perform (and ended in a complete failure), what to say about the interior.

Will greatly appreciate any advice.

 

[Criss]

Yes. Get close and physically touch them together.

 

[p620]

Yes. Get close and physically touch them together.

First of all, thanks for a quick response.

I am aware of such method. Unfortunately, this one is even more inconvinient.
Let me explain: the problem is that I need to actually fly through the whole interior or some difficult-to-access exterior areas. And that is practically impossible without causing some, let's say, unscheduled demolitions. And these demolitions will be quite... massive. The other way is to implement rails firstly and work on the design afterwards, but that often is impossible. Additional difficulties arise when there is a need to hide the core / docker (almost always) of the entity. Thought that I may be not the only one experiencing such problems, hoped that there is some kind of command / hotkey for docking purposes.

 

[Criss]

Unfortunately physical docking and using the beam are the only ways currently.

 

[p620]

Unfortunately physical docking and using the beam are the only ways currently.

That is indeed unfortunate news. You said "currently", may I ask, if there are some plans about changing the situation, how close are we to the solution atleast approximately (weeks, monthes,.. years)?

 

[Criss]

No there are no plans that I am aware of. Using a command to jump into a position would need to be very precise and probably just as impractical. Do you by chance have collision damage turned on?

 

[kiraen]

Shouldn't you be able to do it by spawning a docked entity in the shipyard? (I'd heard it is still bugged, tho)

 

[Malacodor]

Make a one block wide hole in your ship, so the rail you want to dock to is visible from the outside. Then just shoot in with the docking beam. Finally, get back to the ship and undo the hole.

 

[Viridis00]

I'm going to hijack this thread since the topic is similar enough and I don't want to make another thread. I've been trying to do touch-docking, specifically with USD 2.0 collars and I just cannot for the life of me figure out why they will not dock even when in extremely close proximity. Is this some kind of bug, or is there something I'm doing wrong that prevents touch-docking? I'm trying to dock a ship to a station, but even when I was doing modules for a ship yesterday, I had to use the beam to dock them.

 

[nightrune]

I'm going to hijack this thread since the topic is similar enough and I don't want to make another thread. I've been trying to do touch-docking, specifically with USD 2.0 collars and I just cannot for the life of me figure out why they will not dock even when in extremely close proximity. Is this some kind of bug, or is there something I'm doing wrong that prevents touch-docking? I'm trying to dock a ship to a station, but even when I was doing modules for a ship yesterday, I had to use the beam to dock them.

They really have to be smashed together and overlap for it to dock.

 

[p620]

Do you by chance have collision damage turned on?

I guess I do... Turning it off of course will make my life a bit easier, but not enough. The main cause of demolitions, I mentioned above, is not the collision damage itself, but the need to make big holes inside some already designed and built constructions to be able to fly the entity through them to its destination. And that can be one hell of a path.

Make a one block wide hole in your ship, so the rail you want to dock to is visible from the outside. Then just shoot in with the docking beam. Finally, get back to the ship and undo the hole.

That is, regretfully, is impossible either, as the ship is more than 100 meters in width and height. Ultimately, I'm quite unsure, if I would be able to aim so precisely from an inconvinient object, like a pipe segment with a cable attached and a docker on top of that, while the core is actually inside the pipe itself. Perhaps I can attach a screenshot for you to better understand my sufferings...

As for the shipyards - I'll look into that and post here if they will solve my problem.

 

[AtraUnam]

There is a (create docking) option in advanced build mode that lets you create a core/docker on a rail.

 

[Lancake]

I'm going to hijack this thread since the topic is similar enough and I don't want to make another thread. I've been trying to do touch-docking, specifically with USD 2.0 collars and I just cannot for the life of me figure out why they will not dock even when in extremely close proximity. Is this some kind of bug, or is there something I'm doing wrong that prevents touch-docking? I'm trying to dock a ship to a station, but even when I was doing modules for a ship yesterday, I had to use the beam to dock them.

Currently either the rail docker or the rail basic (or whatever it is you're trying to dock to) has to stick out.

If both are surrounded by blocks, getting a touch fit is close to impossible. We have it reported in http://phab.starma.de/T944

 

[p620]

There is a (create docking) option in advanced build mode that lets you create a core/docker on a rail.

True, but it forces the core to be directly under the docker, and that in unacceptable as it should be hidden due to its out-of-place look.

Here are some screenshots.
First one (003) shows an entity that should be docked. Red light represents a Rail Docker block, as the entity comes from the blueprint and the docker should point to different directions in some cases due to the action symmetry requirements.
The others represent a close-up sequence, showing where the rails actually are. And that is only one occasion from many planned.

P.S: Ship's part looks unfinished (and it really is), but it already took like 30 hours to build...

 

[Malacodor]

Ultimately, I'm quite unsure, if I would be able to aim so precisely from an inconvinient object, like a pipe segment with a cable attached and a docker on top of that, while the core is actually inside the pipe itself.

Placing a camera behind the rail docker helps with aiming, this even allows you to shoot in a different direction depending on camera block orientation.

True, but it forces the core to be directly under the docker, and that in unacceptable as it should be hidden due to its out-of-place look.

No, the core is placed in front of the virtual camera. Move the camera position to move the position where the core will be placed.

 

[p620]

No, the core is placed in front of the virtual camera. Move the camera position to move the position where the core will be placed.

Just checked that out. Thank you for this advice, it really saves me from some extreme pain caused by piloting hundreds of doors (lol) and other moving parts through the ship.

 

[Viridis00]

Currently either the rail docker or the rail basic (or whatever it is you're trying to dock to) has to stick out.

If both are surrounded by blocks, getting a touch fit is close to impossible. We have it reported in http://phab.starma.de/T944

Okay, so it is just a bug then. I was worried I was just doing something wrong. I have a rough idea on how to work around it for the moment for a receiving collar.

 

[p620]

Just checked that out. Thank you for this advice, it really saves me from some extreme pain caused by piloting hundreds of doors (lol) and other moving parts through the ship.

UPDATE: It appears that entities I connected (and built) that way did not save at all.

 

[Malacodor]

UPDATE: It appears that entities I connected (and built) that way did not save at all.

Might be related to T551.

 

[p620]

Might be related to T551.

Except there were no shipyards involved. But yes, entities appeared approximately 1km away from the ship position, all on a single side (left). I just wasn't prepared for this kind of events and didn't look for them... elsewhere.