Planned Expansion on Fleet mechanics for single ships: autopilot, station auto-docking

[nightwalker_007]

Hurray for fleets!

Now that we have a few new game mechanics, how about we expand these to include more options for stations and lone ships?

• Fleet Move mechanic expanded into autopilot for ships: Add the ability for a players command their ship to fly to a new waypoint, just like fleet ships would move to a new location. This will allow players to exit their ship, roam around, and enjoy the scenery, read mail, and chat with others on the server. Possibly even design a new ship or station while in flight, should that Design computer for both starbases and ships suggestion ever get implemented--although, potentially you could dock a ship core to a rail and build it out while in flight as well. This system could also be used to recall a ship to the player, should it have lost control, or become separated from the player thanks to server lag or a crash.
  
• Expand Pickup/Shootout rail system for station docking requests: Now ships can automatically dock with a carrier. How about adding the ability for players to request docking with a station? For docking, like transporters, they could be given a list of stations where they can request docking to. We'll need to add a few things for this to work properly:
  
  • Add another invisible block to mark out the size of a ship that may dock to the rail-- this is needed for internal docking bays. The server will pick the smallest area size that will fit the ship requesting docking
    
  • The player must have permission to dock to the rail block at the end of the pickup rail. Faction members first will fill up all faction-member only rails that will fit their ship before filling up the "public access" rails.

Both of these could require the presence of computer blocks (which already exist as decorations) on a ship, and a block that can be accessed while in astronaut mode to issue docking/move commands.

Sure, you could make a fleet of one, but it won't help you dock with stations. Also, making yourself into a fleet would make your ship visible on the universe map, which may be something you want to avoid. Another solution would be to make small fleets invisible on the game map, based on total fleet mass-- but wouldn't nearly be as fun as being able to issue docking and navigation commands to your computer, then get up and roam around your ship.

 

[timmymorrison1]

Also having fleets to dock to shipyards would be nice.

 

[MacThule]

Autopilot the ship you are in to a sector +1

The idea of new blocks to essentially LIMIT the size capacity of rail docks sound like going backwards to the old docking system where we had to define the dimensions. I'm not opposed, but guessing that since it only changed 6 months ago that's probably not a direction the devs are trying to go with docking.

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

MacThule, did you miss the part where that restrictive block is intended to be used for an Internal docking bay? As in, the ultimate destination of said dock is size-restricted by the presence of walls and a roof?

As in, to keep a titan from trying to wedge it's ginourmous arse into the fighter/shuttle-bay, because the rails currently only check to see if an object trying to dock can fit on the specific block it is docking to, instead of the Final block? (or, for that matter, any of the blocks along the designated path)


For that one reason, I'd be happy to have such a block. Aye, idiots and trolls are going to mis-use it, but since when don't idiots and trolls mis-use things? Besides, sometimes, mis-using things is part of the fun.

EDIT: Damn you cat, I wasn't done yet.

Sorry for how, harsh, this post sounds. I'm clearly not having a good day, and just can't wrap my head around a more polite way to say all of that.

So, sorry in advance?