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DEVBLOG: DOCKING AND BOARDING REVAMP - Discussion Thread


NQ-Deckard

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This is an addition we have long been waiting for. So many saltshakers in here thinking this is already how boarding will be forever, even for potential boarding gameplay..smh. (Ever heard of different results with different conditions e.g. boarding gear?) The argument of stowaways being a staple also falls flat once you realise the stowaways in this game cant be found before taking off when they are logged off..

 

All in all a very welcome addition, no more shaking down the parenting ship just to be sure something is docked on, hopefully no more random undocking during movement either. 

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6 hours ago, MoriarTheChosen said:

SInce the dawn of time, stowaways have been a staple of history. If someone is able to infiltrate a ship, they should be able to. 

 

This is about players logging off an alt on haulers to use as a beacon mostly I guess. Right now, it is dead easy to get in to a ship, you just need to run fast and get in before the door spawns in (literally). That issue has been long standing and seems something NQ does not want or has no ability to fix. Also, you can just jump on a ship and log off. This is so widely exploited that NQ will just carpet bomb the issue instead of design an actual solution.

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This is a first for me..

 

Inconsistent docking has always been a problem in this game. And the obvious solution that was suggested way back was to make docking a menu action, instead of the trial and error process of landing and using the move tool to try and get a coupling.

 

And now they implemented it..  Like.. what?  I don't know how to react to this. NQ actually did something we suggested? Cannot compute. Error! Error!

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Just now, CptLoRes said:

This is a first for me..

 

Inconsistent docking has always been a problem in this game. And the obvious solution that was suggested way back was to make docking a menu action, instead of the trial and error process of landing on and using the move tool to try and get a coupling.

 

And now they implemented it..  Like.. what?  I don't know how to react to this. NQ actually did something we suggested? Cannot compute. Error! Error!

 

I like it. On several occasions I too had to fight with the maneuver tool which wasn't always easy, for example when I would try to dock a smaller ship onto the "landing pad" while standing on the ground some 30m below the said pad ...

 

 

 

 

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What will happen to de-docked ships? Will they be ejected the same manner as players?

If so, can we use this like a trebuchet as a launching mechanism to save fuel?
What happen to a shuttle in front of a carrier going at max speed? Does it get ejected at a faster speed?

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On 5/6/2021 at 2:57 PM, NQ-Deckard said:

Discuss the Docking and Boarding changes below! 

 

Seems like some good changes! Some adjustments I would make though:

  1. as well as being able to right click to dock to a construct, you can right click to allow ships to dock to you. this should also be able to be done in lua.
  2. the ship repulsion feature should turn off in combat, ramming people is fun!
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Pretty good improvement.

 

I would only change one thing personally. I would have a dock element for ships. If you don’t have one you can’t dock. It would be like a door which acts as a tether between ships. If you had a carrier you would install dozens so you could dock dozens of shuttles, fighters etc. if you were a shuttle you would just need one.

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This is a good implementation for this state of the game it will just have to be rewired when AvA and more advanced PvP becomes a thing for raiding and boarding parties. SO since AvA isn't around in any sense it can't RIP. I hope we can see updates and continual little testing like this every week or two. I assume this might lead into a way to tow constructs later on that have been abandoned for salvaging purposes as you can land nearby and dock them to your ship without every leaving the cockpit. This may also be handy in some sort of spyrigging feature later down the road ;). 

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I also like these changes i think they are a step in the right direction, would like to see in the future some sort of tool that would be buildable/learn in the tech tree for hacking doors etc to get into other peoples vessels if pirating in space, but i appreciate something like that would be a long way off. Also really love the docking mechanic as i actually cant stand the manuver tool in general, however i'm actually with one of the earlier posters, i would personally have liked some sort of docking pad that you craft/sell/buy and us builders add to our builds as an element, maybe for just medium and large ships for example and maybe even an XL pad for say space stations i prefer the idea of strafing and landing and docking actually onto the ship/station rather than being stuck to the side for more immersive gameplay, all though i welcome these changes as a good step nice one NQ.

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On 5/7/2021 at 11:42 AM, SpacemanSpiff said:

Just disable repulsor fields on PvP space and contested territories when they become available.

Maybe I misunderstand but,  currently even in safe space.  You can get toons with cat3 or other stuff  in their packs to  land on ships so you cant move or stop, and have another small ship with too many brakes get in front of you and slam them on.  ( you die and your ship if its in PVP space is taken without any damage to elements)    Until force fields are in I think these are needed and much appreciated!!!   

 

This will or "should" stop 

  • Stowaway tracking of ships
  • glitched xs core tracking 
  • players holding ships for ransomed with 30kt sitting on it    (happened to me had to go get an l Core that could carry the full weight.) 
  • glitching cores to space constructs
  • stopping an XS core ship to blow up pvp ships
  • ships blowing up when you land on a speeder that is not rendered in fully.  
  • This also will give PVP players  a better way to stop cored ships I hope ? 

 

 

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This looks like a really neet feature. Some thoughts and questions from me.

 

  • What happens when a player is repulsed from a ship that is docked on another ship they are allowed to board. Will they be outside of the carrier?
  • Does the docking right include the rights to board the target construct? It seems strange to be able to walk out of your ship onto the carrier to then be repulsed.
  • Some time ago there were talks about boarding an enemy vessel in an attempt to locate the core and destroy it. This feature would make that impossible in many situations. What are the thoughts on that?
  • If at some point in the future we can steal ships and you have a team of people doing it they will be repulsed after the pilot activates the ship.
  • What happens to docked ships that lose their rights to be docked?
  • Will the repulsion mechanic work properly in a nesting doll type situation when you have carrier docked to carrier docked to carrier?
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As someone who is involved largely with pvp and non pvp in DU from various sides, I see pros and cons. They remove exploitability with this patch for many of the things listed here that people are discussing already, at the same time give some much needed to support to basic gameplay functionality.  This is simply a coded system that will allow other systems in the future to tie into it.  For example that graphic repulsing the ship and the message, I think most of you can easily see the shield in the image, this may be part of core systems related to shields in the future, we only have a small window of info here.  Many people listed cons in this thread, but not many pros.

Pro:

  •         Ships can't be stolen off space stations through false docking to a larger core.
  •         Ships can't be "accidentally" docked in space when flying past them. (Ever been flying in an XS and an L core flies by and jumps to warp with you attached?)
  •         Ships now docked will properly have weight distribution (less exploiting mass haulers docking 40+ expanded XL containers to their ship for no additional weight)
  •         PVP coring a docked ship will no longer auto-kill the primary ship by becoming cored and inanimate and effectively being the same as hitting a stopped ship when it gets          cored.
  •         This linking "tech" in the game allows future systems of code to be written that "Check if docked" or similar systems for future armor/defense/shield calculations.

Although this will harm some ship builds that currently rely on gimmicks to carry extra weight, it also opens doors to new "Space Only Showrooms" and other creations where docking was simply a barrier due to the risk of someone flying away with all your smaller ships. 


I for one am happy to see something that isn't simply visual textures being announced regarding a system everyone here knows is currently broken.   Good job NQ! Thank you for telling us about this change. 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

It would be very great, if we could at least get the visual (HUD) indicators, if something is docked (either as parent or as child). 

 

I did have 3 cases of vessels having slipped into a docked-state past week even though I had ships "next to each other". I very much pay attention to lift gently and look all around my ship if anything is moving along. Would be nicer if it was just written on the screen, if the piloted craft has child vessels attached.

 

 

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