Conveyer for internal docking and undocking.

[gashnal]

moveing another ship into an internal docking spot can be dificult depending on open space around the ship. my sugestion is that there be included a block that when hit with a docking beam would path the ship using the linked blocks as a guide for automatic movements, ship facing would be based on how the faceing of the block is configured. leading the ship to the docking spot with the precision that a player lacks in tight spaces then auto attaching it to the dock spot, when undocking it would work the same in reverse. it would massivly simplify getting into and out of a docking area.

 

[Riftmaster]

Sounds kinda like a tractor beam, or at least the tractor beams in most science ficton...

Or perhaps more like a \"docking cradle\" which then carries the ship to it\'s hanger?

 

[gashnal]

eather or is accurate, i find that docking in any internal space that isnt way over sized for the need is dificult due to the system thinking i am stuck and tping me out or actuly becomeing stuck because i some how wedged at an odd angle trying to get the docking beam to lock.

 

[Riftmaster]

Alternatively you could use plexdoors to open/close the space, but then those doors don\'t have the damage resistence of hull...

 

[Digi]

It would be better to have a dedicated dock/undock button (instead of the hotbar item, that could just be used as \"use\" for doors and stuff) and when a ship is inside the area of docking just press that button, easy.

This way you force ships to be close to the spot to dock (instead of just teleporting to the spot from long range) and expecially eliminates the current restrictions described in this thread.

 

[Hierarch]

Large ships could have rails, angled and non angeled, and would be able to double as an elevator base

 

[gashnal]

thank you for all the feed back, i feel like i am not the only person to feel the internal docking pains. given ships dont share there sheilds with docked ships internal docking is the best way to go. Also internal docking is a Sci-fi convention. as an off thought about docking i would love to be able to build a working version of the promethius but the current docking system doesnt lend it self well to it.

 

[Riftmaster]

To have the ship dock normally, in the \"landing bay\".

Then, somehow, have the docking port, ship and all, moved further inside the ship to a \"hanger bay\".



Possible workarounds with current systems would be to place a large U-shape in the entrance passageway, so that the docking ship has to fly around it, but weapons fire will hit the U and avoid penetrating further into the hanger....



OR make the whole thing T-shaped, with the top of the T being the entrance area, and the hanger area being the lower part...



Something like that...