TDP system or best know as Travel-Dock-Point for stations

[GalactusX]

Hello everyone, I would like to know if there is something in mind, to add this dock system for starmade, which would help everyone.

When you build a space station, you must build / set "dock points" for your ships, big or small, either need it, and if you want a ship to be docked, you have to go where you created the dock point.

When you travel long distances, and return to your base, or friends come to visit you, it would be good to have a form of "automatic dock system" for the ships that enter range, perhaps the distance that the shops have, allowing a player establish the automatic points for the ships.

This can help to establish "routes" from point-to-point ... select a station from your "contact list?" or on the galaxy map, select the "automatic trip" option and your ship automatically travels and docks at the destination. This would be very useful to create a system of "missions", where the player has to travel long distances to complete them.

I rely on the system that had the old game "Freelancer" ( and the great majority of space games ), where you could select the destination, and your ship travels automatically and dock if is allowed to do so.

 

[Jojomo]

Hello everyone, I would like to know if there is something in mind, to add this dock system for starmade, which would help everyone.

When you build a space station, you must build / set "dock points" for your ships, big or small, either need it, and if you want a ship to be docked, you have to go where you created the dock point.

When you travel long distances, and return to your base, or friends come to visit you, it would be good to have a form of "automatic dock system" for the ships that enter range, perhaps the distance that the shops have, allowing a player establish the automatic points for the ships.

Could this part not be manually build by players with pickup rails?

 

[GalactusX]

Yes, it can be done with "pickup rails", but that means that the player has to move the ship to where the pickup rail is, what I mean is the possibility of adding the option to "automate" the process of "travel and dock" the ships.

 

[Arcaner]

Seems like a good idea-now your friends wouldn't need to know where you built the damn dockers in your AllInOne-MegaPowerShieldsTurrets-Factory-Roleplay-Station. BUT, this would give rise to a host of other exploits, needless to say lag increase (way more calculations would need to be done) and implementation (new blocks :\ )

Spoiler

Tom:Hey! Where'd Sid put the damn dockers? Can't see em .
Harvey:Lets orbit round his station.....gotta be somewhere.

1 hour later...

Tom:Dammit Harvey. I'm gonna kill Sid if he comes online
---Server: Player Sid783 has joined the game---
Sid:Hi ya'll look what I-
---Server: Player Sid783 was killed by GamerTommyJ
---Server: Player Sid783 has left the game---

 

[Dire Venom]

I mean with fleets you can get them to automaticaly travel to a saved point and dock, I don't see how this is any different imo.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

Great idea and something I wished for a long time. Your post prompted me to pull finger and post some ideas I've been sitting on and I hope it could provide you with what you are looking for.
Fleet Docking Order and New Pickup Point Block

 

[GalactusX]

Seems like a good idea-now your friends wouldn't need to know where you built the damn dockers in your AllInOne-MegaPowerShieldsTurrets-Factory-Roleplay-Station. BUT, this would give rise to a host of other exploits, needless to say lag increase (way more calculations would need to be done) and implementation (new blocks :\ )

The system would be included, in the panel of entity "space station", allowing the use "public / members alliance only/ owner only".
There would be no need to include a new block, just add an option to select a rail, and include it in the system, perhaps, using the same system as the stabilizers, you know, place a rail, press "R", "add as a rail port ".

I mean with fleets you can get them to automaticaly travel to a saved point and dock, I don't see how this is any different imo.

Yes, you can use the fleet commands ... but I mean, to be able to give the command to "travel to ... dock if possible" to your own ship, without having to be your ship inside a fleet, or have saved a point of dock previously.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I like the idea and would really like to see it implemented but there are two major issues that will need to be addressed.

1) We need to get rid of the exploit being used to steal ships by using a pickup point to force another factions ship to dock to yours. As it stands now, it's not worth the risk to have any rail dockers on fleet craft on a PvP multi-player server.

2) We need better AI path finding. Otherwise, any ship attempting to dock to a TDP will slam into your station (or any other ships attempting to dock nearby) and start spinning in place, just like the current formation commands. As was mentioned above; lag fest.

Other thoughts;
- Station fleet recall docking using pickup points should be implemented.
- Each ship will need to record all TDPs that are linked to each on board rail docker. These settings will need to persist through server resets.

 

[Dire Venom]

Yes, you can use the fleet commands ... but I mean, to be able to give the command to "travel to ... dock if possible" to your own ship, without having to be your ship inside a fleet, or have saved a point of dock previously.

I was refering to the post suggesting it would cause lag, I fully agree with your post.
I think being able to automate ships somewhat would be benifical to the game as a whole, e.g selecting a staion, pressing autopilot and have your ship fly to within (x) distance to it. No one wants to spend 5 minutes flying within sectors trying to get their ships lined up everytime them want to dock imo.

 

[GalactusX]

1) We need to get rid of the exploit being used to steal ships by using a pickup point to force another factions ship to dock to yours. As it stands now, it's not worth the risk to have any rail dockers on fleet craft on a PvP multi-player server.

- If the station is set up to accept ships that only belong to your faction, or only to your person, there would be no problem that other players from other factions would try to dock in your station, they simply could not.

2) We need better AI path finding. Otherwise, any ship attempting to dock to a TDP will slam into your station (or any other ships attempting to dock nearby) and start spinning in place, just like the current formation commands. As was mentioned above; lag fest.

- Definitely, we need a better "AI pathfinding", the current one has many errors to solve. In that I can not say anything, since the last word, the Developers have it.

Other thoughts;
- Station fleet recall docking using pickup points should be implemented.
- Each ship will need to record all TDPs that are linked to each on board rail docker. These settings will need to persist through server resets.

- Another function that all players are waiting for, since we saw the fleet commands appear "Station fleet recall docking", thanks for remember it mate.
- There is no need to keep that type of information and make it persistent. When a ship wants a "remote dock" in a space station, it only makes one call, and the station responds with the accessible dock point. If when the ship reaches its destination and enter in range of the station, the dock point has changed, another call to the station to know if there are free docks; and if there are no free dock points, the system could return the ship to its starting sector.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

- If the station is set up to accept ships that only belong to your faction, or only to your person, there would be no problem that other players from other factions would try to dock in your station, they simply could not.

The station wouldn't be a problem. The problem is when someone uses a pickup rail or any rail with a public permissions module on it to snag one of your fleet AI ships while it's idle or moving to another location. It's a common theft tactic used in multi-player. Normally, I'd recommend a wireless-logic-controlled blast door cover but I'm told that pickup rails work regardless of if your rail docker is covered since pickup rails are intangible. Of course, you could always set your AI to fire on all neutrals but that wouldn't be very neighborly.

- There is no need to keep that type of information and make it persistent. When a ship wants a "remote dock" in a space station, it only makes one call, and the station responds with the accessible dock point. If when the ship reaches its destination and enter in range of the station, the dock point has changed, another call to the station to know if there are free docks; and if there are no free dock points, the system could return the ship to its starting sector.

The reason I suggested persistent settings is because players may want to create separate but 'reserved' docking areas for specific AI craft.
For example: If you have a squadron of AI ships stationed at a base and you allow AI trade ships to dock but don't want them getting in each other's way.


Also, do you have a plan for how the docking ships will choose between multiple TDPs on a station? For public stations with a lot of docks, I can see this becoming a massive headache.

 

[GalactusX]

The station wouldn't be a problem. The problem is when someone uses a pickup rail or any rail with a public permissions module on it to snag one of your fleet AI ships while it's idle or moving to another location. It's a common theft tactic used in multi-player. Normally, I'd recommend a wireless-logic-controlled blast door cover but I'm told that pickup rails work regardless of if your rail docker is covered since pickup rails are intangible. Of course, you could always set your AI to fire on all neutrals but that wouldn't be very neighborly.

- One thing is to talk about the AI-controlled ships, which keep their last point of dock, and another to be able to create TPDs; I mean, they would be completely separate things ... while the AI-controlled ships would use the actual pick-up rails, the TDP system would dock any ship that enters, at the detection station, as long as this have the dock allowed

The reason I suggested persistent settings is because players may want to create separate but 'reserved' docking areas for specific AI craft.
For example: If you have a squadron of AI ships stationed at a base and you allow AI trade ships to dock but don't want them getting in each other's way.


Also, do you have a plan for how the docking ships will choose between multiple TDPs on a station? For public stations with a lot of docks, I can see this becoming a massive headache.

- There are ways to make a rail dock, even if it is in "allow dock mode", automatically reject any ship that tries to dock with logic, I think I have an entry in my post MANIAC LOGIC, but if I do not have it, I will include it today
- The system would be simple, for example, if a station has 5 TDP's, and a ship wants to dock, the game would allocate it in the first dock that is available; if for example, the same station, dock points 1,2,3,4 are occupied, it would automatically jump to the last one that is free ... and as I said before, if the station does not have any available dock, it will cancel the Dock order, perhaps by sending a message "Station X, no dock available.".