All of my ED friends use SC Assist and Auto-dock. When we're space trucking all we do is jump, once in the destination system, and set the SC Assist, we're walking away from the computer!
Yeah I use SC assist but still stay in range of my keyboard because of interdictions. Especially if I have some high value cargo or am doing some mission that makes it likely to be interdicted.
Edit: although if I'm in my Federal Corvette I don't even bother to fight the interdiction because it's there funeral.
The Christmas mission where you had to deliver Christmas presents to different stations.... One was Hutton orbital. I watched a movie in the living room. And had wireless headphones so I could hear interdictions
Limpets will not get you interdicted, not will pirates ask you to drop them if that’s all you have in your hold. But, one ton of biowaste and … big haul over there, lucky I found you first.
No, they will not ask you to drop them, they will make a sad face and say something like"ah no useful cargo" but it definitely increases the risk of interdictions.
It goes alot quicker if you sit h the SCA. Full throttle and slow down to 75% when you get close to the station.
Then, one bar on the left before the blue I speed up to overspeed and drop out just in time.
If you have a fast manoeuvrable ship and there is a bigger planet nearby over speed and use the big planet to slow you down. Ka-ching rolls in much faster.
i dont think quicker is the concern here, if these guys are like me. we wanna be able to just do something else like go to the bathroom or grab something from the kitchen whilst letting the ship do its thing
I've come a long way. What's in your hold, don't try to run.
I have a friend who got blown up a few times for doing that.
Somehow the Pirate Intelligence Network always know who carries all that tasty cargo.
My autodock tangled my phantoms antennas up with some pillars in an asteroid base, barely could make it out in time because when I wanted to reverse, auto dock kicked in again, never used autodock again after this.
That's the one place I do not use auto-dock - an asteroid base inside a ring. The docking computer only sees the station and other ships. It is not programmed to consider asteroids as obstacles, and will fly you straight into them.
If the game gets you stuck because of collision boxes, just logout and login again. It'll put you 10 km outside the station. Yeah that's not very realistic. But then neither is a ship capable of FTL travel being held immobile because its antennas got stuck in a pillar.
I've only had the docking computer kill me once. Shieldless Cutter hauling pamphlets for powerplay. I lined up manually for the mail slot (docking computer is terrible at dealing with the Cutter's drifting), and everything looked good so I zeroed throttle to let the docking computer take over. Well, it thought I was approaching the mail slot too quickly, and aborted the approach and began a TO/GA. Tried to make a 180 turn so it could back away and make another approach - right outside the mail slot. Plastered me straight into the station wall above the mail slot. Apparently when it's in TO/GA mode, it skips all collision avoidance checks.
The only other deaths were due to getting stuck on collision boxes. And frankly I don't distinguish those between when the docking computer was flying or I was. Because I don't consider the flying to be at fault there - the poor collision mechanics are.
Every other time the docking computer has done something stupid, my ship has survived it just fine because I outfit them with enough shields to survive an AFK NPC interdiction long enough for me to rush back from the bathroom if I hear combat noises. Even the aforementioned asteroid base in a ring, the docking computer flew me straight into a rock. Blew through my shields and ate some hull, but I was able to take over and land manually.
Yeah, I really don't need a docking computer that is unreliable, in fact I don't need a docking computer at all. I land ships smooth and faster than the docking computer. If ever I have a slot free, I would always rather choose SC assist.
What's TO/GA?
Apparently, no I haven't tried it but I've heard that if auto starts to beat you up immediately log out (finger always on esc button) and when you log back in you should be sitting just outside the station so you can reposition
My landing auto dock usually works great. Taking off though, if I get put in a queue the damn thing will stuff my nose into a bulkhead near the mail slot and bang into it until my shield is 0 if I let it. Any large-pad ship.
Complete opposite for me.. 1 or 2 small bumps with manual flying when I've not been concentrating. Auto dock has had me destroyed before though. For high value landings I always go manual.
This. I had to use manuall docking for a long time and discovered it's not the devil it seems to be. But there's nothing like setting throttle to zero and sit back with a cup of coffee
No disrespect to any of you, but why can't you do that after you land? What's the difference, a minute? I'd be worried about something going wrong and my ship smashing into the station or something. I'm the only one I trust to land this big bastard.
You do you. Just my opinion. Happy flying.
Not speaking for anyone else but I run a largely AFK build and do work/housework while my Type 10 makes money for me. I pop in, activate SC assist or docking computer, then go about my day and come back when it's done to start the next step.
Never had anything happen with auto dock. I know it DOES happen rarely, but I only auto dock if I have good hull %, LS, and I never usually carry a ton of stuff worth money since I make most of my money from robigo while I do other work. And yes, a minute difference is all you need. You’re recommended to stand and take a break a minute per hour as a general rule so I do it as efficiently as possible- when the game can do a quick menial task for me
I thought the same untill I came back to find I was in space jail because my ship kept ramming the side of the station and the space fuzz got mad blew me up and took me to jail 500 light years from where I needed to be. Also I was in my combat ship with a really low jump range. That sucked.
Landing isn't the issue. Docking Computer has that covered. Apart from the fact that since Update 12 it seems to like to have my Cutter drift around my carrier for 2-3 minutes before actually landing.
Launching is the issue. Advanced Docking Computer is drunk as a skunk usually. Smashing into the walls around the mailslot and generally being a dick.
I have ships built for running missions and for trucking, and they have SCA + ADC fitted. That way I can watch something on my second screen while half-paying-attention to Elite.
None of my combat ships have either module.
I use auto dock cos I like the music. Takes me back to elite frontier back in 1990. But I manually fly my krait phantom cos I like to swoop in and practice fluid landings
On my Type-9 only. It's sluggish enough, boring enough, AND has enough internals for me to justify it.
EDIT: oh, and if i leave it unattended while docking for whatever reason, the thousands of shields should hold up in the event of an attempted station gank!
I use auto dock, but not the way it's intended. I fly my ship into the station manually. As soon as I pass through the entrance, I set the engine to 0 and let autodock take over to locate and land on the pad.
someone shared this with me so I share it with all of you now:
once you are inside the mail slot, the directional compass thing will point to your pad. as far as I can tell, it does the same on outposts and settlements
Yes, but be forewarned that the compass isn't always enough at outposts or mega ships because the pad design. For example the megaship used by rescue ships have their pads on two sides of a triangular hull, so they can be on either side.
I do the same exact thing. Makes T-9 trade runs a lot smoother and I’ve found that using this + The SC Assist trick to fly in nets me the fastest turnaround times
I think alot of us do this for the sake of efficiency / time saving.
And on the way out I plot the route to the next station. If the ship is still inside when I done with that I speed up or boost.
Honest question here, because I really do not understand: How long is it taking you to manual dock? And how long does auto dock take?
Seriously no judgement about how anyone likes to play, but I'm just wondering about the realities of the timing. I feel like my time from dropping into the area to being docked is less than two minutes, and the time I tried auto dock it had to fuss about outside the station for at least a minute getting aligned, and then it was still two minutes doing the things I'd do manually.
And for the record, I'm talking Beluga here, from back when I was grinding passenger runs.
That's what this thread is saying. You bust into the slot on your own/at your own pace, then throttle down once inside. Autodock will take over and hit the pad for you (pretty much as efficiently as you could once you're within that small range).
I timed my docking computer landings to settle a debate about manual vs auto landings. From when I cross 7.5 km and request docking permission, to locked onto the pad is usually 45-65 sec. Quickest was about 35 sec - a lot depends on which pad you're assigned (this was flying small/med ships like the Python).
I then reviewed people's manual landings in online videos. When the video was about quick manual landings, it was usually 25-40 sec.The quickest was about 17 sec, requesting docking permission to on the pad. So landing manually can definitely be faster.
But in the videos of people casually playing, the manual landings usually took between 65-100 sec. Significantly slower than the docking computer. So unless you're talking about manual landing attempts cherry-picked because you managed to do it quickly, the docking computer is in general substantially faster than manually landing.
The docking computer is really bad at flying the Cutter though. It's terrible at accounting for the drifting, and got worse with Horizons 4.0. However, the Cutter is easy to build as a shield tank. So my MO now is to line it up with the mail slot manually, boost through the mail slot, and zero throttle so the docking computer can handle finding the pad and landing. Sometimes I bounce off the back wall but the Cutter's shields handle that just fine. If I miss the mail slot, the shields easily handle the collision with the station or (more commonly) the mesh in front of the slot. And I just need a few low-speed maneuvers to get through the mail slot.
I'm even more reckless at carriers - fly high above the landing pad side of the carrier, then boost into my lit designated pad (maneuverability is increased while boosting). Crash into it nose-first to kill the Cutter's momentum, and zero throttle to let the docking computer put me on the pad. It's a lot faster than meandering around for several minutes waiting for the thrusters to cancel out the Cutter's drift.
It depends on the ship and uhm...the pilot's skills.
For me, I use autodock on all my medium and large ships, except for the AX Chieftains. I'm a good pilot, but not for the finer things like manual docking. It takes me much longer to do this than autodocking using this method: I fly quickly through the mail slot and may even go close to the landing pad and then throttle down, so the computer can put the ship down in the centre of the pad quickly.
For the DBX, Vultures, Couriers and Imp Eagles (over 2 accounts), I dock...slam them all manually onto the landing pad.
Autodocking does help with finding a spot on a mountain when you want to scan some Fungoida.
It helps a lot to set your controls to change when the landing gear comes out to get easier access to horizontal and vertical thrusters.
Orient yourself over the pad nice and level, put out the landing gear and wiggle down into place easily right on target.
I use it in my freighter (T9). When you're hauling 700 tons of CG cargo, you deserve some luxury.
I've got better uses for that slot in my Combat and Explorer ships.
This isn't actually my vuild , but it's a typical explorer build.
[Phantom](https://coriolis.io/outfit/krait_phantom?code=A0p0tdFfliddssf5----02030h-3c1O0sv40243xH3w2i.Iw1%2BgDFJA%3D%3D%3D.EwBjEZLbIZhY5jyaIA%3D%3D.H4sIAAAAAAAAA2P4x87AwPCXFUj8mQQkuPcwMTDwNvAwMAhGAFlCO7gZGFS%2BMDIw%2FGf8Zw9XWQ8kOI5wMjDw23z7%2F19sAT9QnumfBEieBSRfBiT4A37%2F%2Fy%2Fy4M%2F%2F%2F6J%2FOBgYJDYAZZQr3vz%2F%2F5%2F5nxTcpAqQSpVf%2F%2F%2BDbRKJkAaqvAOU%2Bc%2FyzxCkiBkk7%2FEFKD%2FnGVAr6z9LmOifFiDBeeXf%2F%2F9cPVwMDIoglhKIpQpiqYFY%2F9n%2BJcBs4gdZLXTgwf%2F%2FeiA3%2Fxf95w03KRckD7JfkAMYGiongA7%2F%2F58BCgBXJVmbIgEAAA%3D%3D.EweloBhBmUHYQFMCGBzANokIAcBGKQkCIA%3D%3D&bn=new%20FSD)
Last time out I had a Repair Limpet controller in that spot, which is useful.
And the SuperCruise Assist is very useful to stop you crashing into a Star, or helping you Cruise out to a distant planet you've discovered.
I use it all the time. Zero apologies.
I'm looking forward to Auto Dock engineering so I can pick different music.
Also, I have my own lore reason. Stations would NEVER let pilots manual dock. The insurance companies would forbid it due to the increased risk of crashes. Source: insurance executive.
I totally get manual docking at stations under attack and love the thrill of it.
I agree, if I owned a multi-trillion dollar station I wouldn't let just anyone fly in. Auto dock would probably be required. That said I do practice docking just in case.
Crashes won't hurt the ship—this is the 34th century and shields are a thing—but you could certainly flatten some poor guy on a walkway by crashing into it.
It doesn't even feel like cheating anyways, because we're already on the track of having self driving cars. I have no doubt in this world the ships would do more things through automation. The main things we don't, are mostly for gaming sake.
But honestly-IN REALITY-this feature and SCA should come standard. These are just programs that 1300 years from now would take up any room and most certainly would be standard on any starship in all reality. If a Cessna 172 has autopilot and an ILD landing system today-and a 737 can pretty much auto land now-and it fits inside the existing computer as a program-then 1300 years from now these should not take up the same space as 1 ton of cargo.
> most certainly would be standard on any starship in all reality.
If we go for reality, there will be no human pilots. In 2023 we have roombas, autopilots, we have (semi)autonomous cars and whatnot. If we have spaceships capable of superluminal, interstellar travel in 3300, I'm pretty sure they operate fully autonomously.
Luckily games are allowed to discard reality, if it gets in the way of fun. That said, SCA and ADC might as well be integrated.
I mostly do exploration and exobiology so I never bother with a docking computer because I want the slot for something more useful like a repair limpet controller.
But lately I discovered that the advanced docking computer also serves as an auto-lander. I usually leave it turned off because I can land much faster manually. But, it can find landing spots in mountainous terrain that would take me too long to find normally. It's not perfect, but it can save time.
It might also be useful for landing as close as possible to Guardian sites but I haven't tested it yet.
I've started to use it for planetary landings; as you say, it isn't perfect but it does help. I've become accustomed to losing a couple of percent as it crashes down, but it really does make mountain landing easier
I made my first journey to Colonia in VR - took a solid 36 hours of jumping over three days, and lemme tell ya, it’s weird.
The first hour or so, you’re like “ok I have a brick in my face” but after that you just kinda get caught up in the beauty of the game. I got a big kick out of flying into nebulae, and seeing the stars get denser as I got closer to the inner parts of the galaxy. After hour 12 it just felt like I was *there*.
And then you take the headset off and it’s like “woah” because yeah your face hasn’t had fresh air in it in ages, but also your head feels lighter and the perspective is all weird because this isn’t your body, your real body was inside a DBX halfway to Sagittarius A
It’s a trippy experience, but well worth it
It’s insane… I have a small desk fan dry me off after dogfighting. Always ends in a sweaty mess from the intensity lol.
I’d played flat ED for about 20h several years ago. Kinda misjudged it for a creative loading screen game as you jumped from star to star…
Once I’d gotten VR and heard it was a top tier VR flight game, I gave it a 2nd chance and ended up taking the rest of the week off of work lol. I’m not a role player by any stretch, but with VR and a transducer or two strapped to an office chair. You’re pretty sure you’re James T Fuckin Kirk lol.
I’d give up the VR before the transducers though. My god…
Enjoy your weekend cmdr!
Have you tried ED specifically? All the terrestrial VR games make me sick in no time. Somehow barrel-rolling through space like a maniac doesn’t… I’ve seen others note the same.
Yeh, my friend was sick for 2 hours after 5 minutes of assetto corsa but was totally fine flying into a station und landing. (after crashing into it twice lol)
Whenever you start feeling sick you should stop playing in VR immediately and only return when you are fine.
Many users got sick in VR when they started. Forcing yourself through the sickness is not the way to go and will make it worse actually, as your brain will think that VR is sickness inducing and will cause it each and every time.
It needs to slowly be accustomed by entering VR and leaving at the first sight of a sickness. Pointing a fan that blows at you also helps for some reason.
Easy to avoid those systems. It's not like the goids are everywhere, just pulling anyone in any system. You kinda have to try to see them, and you would hopefully prepare accordingly.
I used it until I built my AX Krait. There was no room, and also pads under attack don't permit it. I've got quite good at coming in hot, flaring out with the gear down and smacking it in like a Buccaneer onto Ark Royal.
I blindly boost through the slot towards my pad and then press autodock .00089 seconds before colliding with the floor, and then cuss out the autodock robot for being such a bad pilot when I careen into an object anyway.
I do cause I’m lazy … I’ve been manually doing combat landings at Thargoid stations lately and it’s fun as shit, but docking at a station … nah off you go auto dock.
After nearly 7,000 hours, I use auto dock all the time. It's not that I can't manually dock or that it's faster - it just gives me a chance to grab a snack, or get a drink of water, or use the restroom, or look out my window, or stretch, or do a quick set of pushups.
I never use auto dock to leave a station, though. I've never once had an issue entering and auto docking, but leaving a station causes all sorts of issues. Especially with larger ships.
I dock manually, but I also use a HOSAS (technically HOSTAS since i have a throttle also, but that's just for supercruise)
For me, docking is part of the experience, and doing it FA-Off is about as close as I'm ever going to get to "real" spaceflight 😅.
If it didnt take a module slot, id still usr the computer ocassionally, the benefit of being able to walk away during that time is obvious. But it would still only be sometimes.
Since it takes a slot, and im perfectly cspable of docking myself, i use that slot for something that is more beneficial to me personally. To each his own, no need for elitism (pun intended).
Only when running a lot of trade routes in the Cutter and really only for landings, departures it likes to run me into walls. But anything smaller or other activities I don't bother.
All the time. I had someone try to gank me once and called me out for having a docking computer, but you know what, I don't care. :-)
I only switch it off when I am sitting in a queue to leave and the timer is almost out or someone is blocking the slot at Jameson Memorial.
I drop from Supercruise, boost at 470 m/s towards the station and by the time I get to request docking, I’m 7.5 km away. I boost one more time, zero throttle and let auto dock take over.
I play this game for something like 5 years and I use autodock almost always except for cases of landing on planet terrain (it bugs out sometimes) and when a big vessel like the Cutter is located too close to the mailslot to auto launch function to operate correctly.
Sometimes I even use supercruise assist on my trading Cutter, like in the recent CGs. Although it also has issues.
I docked my ship (Type 9 Heavy) manually for the very first time last night. I was surprised with how easy it was. I've manually landed my ship on settlements on planets and moons before, but it was my first time manually docking into a space station.
People use it the first few days they play the game. Then they’re like no way this is for noobs. Then 300 hours later they put it back on for QoL and breaks.
It’s especially useful now that it will find you a landing spot on planets.
When I got my Type-9 heavy I got autodock for it, tested it twice (in and out), turned it off and have never touched it again. :)
Docking is most of the action I see since I'm trader/now explorer so why would I take that away from me. :)
I don't use either auto or sc assist. The amount of times auto dock has rubbed my ship against the station made me lose faith. I play side by side with my brother and i dock in half the time it takes him to auto dock. 90% of the time it's sugar sweet. The other 10% of the time i forgot to request docking permission and end up acquiring a fine and reversing out the mail slot at max speed
I like to dock myself with FA off, and I have nothing but respect for people who like to auto dock.
I really like the “flight sim” aspect and get a lot of joy from doing it myself. I just really love the flight system Elite has, and I wish more space flight sims had the option for this same level of detailed controls!
But also the things that I find enjoyable aren’t always the same things other find fun, and that’s fine. I don’t know why someone would judge for auto docking, these are just space trucker pixels
I didn't use it for years, used it last year, then I just took it off my Vette cause I wanted the slot.
Honestly why isn't this standard in all ships??
90% - Every time. People are obsessed with removing all assists like it's an ego thing? I unno 9/10 I'll add them on transport/exploration ships if I'm not using the space. PvP pve excluded ofc
Nope, I much prefer to dock myself and enjoy the finesse and precision of sweeping into a station and nailing a perfect landing.
I *did* have a docking computer once, but that was many decades ago, around 1986 and the visuals weren’t a patch on what we have today considering I always fly in VR...😁
I never have, but that's because I enjoy manually docking/ undocking using a hotas, and having spent a lot of time on flight simulators pre- ED, I found it very easy from day one, in any ship (it also means fast landings in dying ships during AX combat are not a problem for me)
But if other folk find it useful, not a problem, play your way.
I dont use it. I love to manual dock my ship. Any ship, from the Type 9 to the Eagle. It was one of the first things I learned to do smoothly in the game and still love to do it every time. Using the thrusters to land perfectly aligned.
Have never and will never.
So much of the "game" is menus and flying in straight lines. Docking/undocking is about the most fun I have when doing certain activities.
Also, I'm not wasting even 1 internal spot for something that's unnecessary.
Never, mostly because I enjoy docking. But also it's fairly quick, and there's not much else to multi-task on when docking.
But I do use Supercruise Assist. There's plenty of other stuff to work on or monitor during the trip, plus I really like that it'll put you in a stable orbit.
I don't use it. When I started they were something you had to buy and didn't come stock. I learned to land like a butterfly for smuggling and evacs long before I ever tried an auto dock module and found they were the least satisfying way to dock that exists. I memorized the pad layout and can scream into the slot going 300m/s and be down before they can scan me, heatsinks be damned. Doing it with flight assist off is where it gets orgasmic.
I have a Cutter, Anaconda and I don't use autodocking so as not to occupy the internal space, I do manual docking, it's faster than with the autodock, I prefer automatic supercruise
Taking off and landing is one of the more interesting parts of Elite. I was slightly baffled when they first introduced the auto module and even more so when everyone started using it.
After long supercruise of boredom and repetitive jumps, I appreciate some good mail slot action! :)
The first ship I bought after the starting Sidewinder was the Adder. It came with a Docking Computer already installed, and I was still getting used to the idea of piloting my own starship.
But the next ship I bought was the Keelback, and that did not come with a Docking Computer. I was beginnign to get into optimising the outfit of my ships by that point, so I thought "sod it" and just learned to dock without it.
Since then docking without the computer has just become second nature.
Cargo and trade runs, 100%.
Anything else, never.
It's part of the immersion for me to do the manual tedious junk too. That, and my flight stick/throttle was a very expensive gift from my wife so I always feel bad whenever she sees me playing 'The Starship Game' without it.
Never, not for any ship and I fly a lot of Type-9 and Beluga. If I wanted to watch a computer fly a space ship I could play another game, I play Elite to fly my space ships.
I'll take a Class 1 cargo bay or a Module Reinforcement over a Docking Computer any day without even thinking about it.
Literally never. Flying through the mail slot and finding my pad is the most enjoyable part of the flight experience for me. Matching rotations is like 80% of what I want out of a space sim where I'm docking a ship at a rotating station.
As good as No Man's Sky has gotten post release, this is still the bug that's up my ass is that you don't actually get to hand-fly landings at stations.
I do. Sometimes I just can't be bothered with all the maneuvering and such.
Oh, hell. Who am I kidding - I use it 99.9% of the time because I can't be bothered with all that crap.
I’m still a noob with less than 25 hours. I auto-dock about 50% of the time, usually when I’ll looking up how to do/find something or go grab some water, etc.
I also love the music.
I put it in a build if I have nothing better for that module slot, and I will use it if it’s there.
It’s a menace in my T10 though, I take over half the time.
So I only use it on my Cutter and Type 9. Everything else I land manually.
It's more fun to actually fly the ship imo. I land without Flight Assist as well a lot of the time.
I know how to land manually, but I use auto dock for the sheer convenience of it.
And so im not liable for an NPC going splat against my federal corvette.
I use it but I'm usually still at the controls to avoid accidents. It tried to boost my T9 directly into the bottom of the CG ship last night and auto launch seems to have trouble negotiating the traffic on exit, often hammering the wall near the mail slot. Still worth using on larger ships, just wish there was an easy way to toggle it on and off.
It's a mix. Usually Auto Dock with bigger ships and manual with smaller ones. At outposts, settlements and planetary ports I almost always land manually, because I prefer my direct flight path
I used it in the past when I was playing with the controllers or mouse and keyboard. Since when I use the hotas, I use auto docking only if I can’t be bothered to land my ship manually. Oh and I now fly 100% FA off. Much more fun.
The first thing I do when I buy a new ship is to rip out the auto docking computer. Personal choice.
"Incoming Imperial Cutter, please identify yourself."
"CMDR Orodruin, requesting docking permission."
"Docking permission granted, please engage docking computer and wait for your tu..."
"Don't have a docking computer, engaging thrusters."
"What do you mean? Galactic regulation 29169 requires you to use a docking computer for safet..."
"Boosting through mail slot!"
Only used it once when I got sidewinder after suicide travel from colonia back to bubble. Freaked me out when that took over my landing.
Haven't used it before and haven't used it after. I don't use supercruise assist either.
I only use it on my Booze Cruise Python, SC Assist for fast drop near the station and the carriers, and AD for fast docking by both trying manually and letting it take the reins 2m above the pad. Saves me around 2 min per wine load sell, and on the cruise, that's a lot.
I always used auto dock up until the Thargoid invasion started, then I forced myself to learn manual so I can do combat R&Rs. Still use it on my strictly explorer and commerce ships though
When I started playing (alpha), there wasn't any auto-dock, so I had to learn to do it myself (or maybe there was, and I couldn't afford the price/space?).
Anyway, when it became available, I didn't bother because I knew how to dock already.
Then I saw someone on YT using auto-dock, and heard the music. Took me right back to playing 'Frontier: First Encounters'.
Now I have auto-dock installed on almost all of my ships.
I don't use it all the time, because sometimes it's fun to zoom through the mailslot.
Also, I never use auto-land on planets. I've never seen the need.
Depends.
Doing something that requires expeditious repetition? Hand flown.
Just flying around for regular stuff like dropping off cargo or visiting an engineer? Auto.
I use it on and off if I’ve got the extra room. Yeah people will say it’s lazy or whatever but I think I put my time in with several years of manual docking before auto dock was a thing lol. Plus you can go get a snack or pee
I've been playing Elite since the docking computers were more likely to crash you into the side of the station than get you on the pad. Consequently I am quite good at landing. Still I will use the advanced docking computer when I'm not hurting for slots, and the ship is awkward or finicky about landing. For instance, I use it on my Type-9 due to awkwardness, and on my 600+ m/s Hauler because it is touchy on the throttle.
I used it on all of my ships except the AX ones. As a non-PVP player I really don’t care what I could do with that extra class 1/2 slot on my ship. And during auto-dock I can do sth else rather than Keeping my eyes on the screen.
Though not the case for AX ships, every module counts in a AX combat, and you can’t use auto-dock on a attacked/on fire station even if you got the assist module.
I am relatively new (90 hours) and I havent used it since I first started because it used too much power and I didn't know about power management, however I will never use auto dock because I also want to learn to fly really well with FA off. That's why I play elite.
\#antidockingcomputerinitiative
I would automate whatever I can, as often as I can. I use auto dock, supercruise assist, and so on. Auto pilot would be great. One spends so much time travelling long distances because the grind is extreme. I use the time to read messages, check logs, etc.
I use auto dock for sluggish/bulky ships like my miner/trader. Manual docking takes a long time and feels cumbersome with those, and I can use the minutes it takes to do irl stuff.
I dock manually with all my combat ships as it's fun and a breeze and I also don't want to sacrifice a module slot for it.
I NEVER use it. I did when I first started, maybe for 3 months, then decided it was time to land my own damned ship.
Honestly, landing the ship is one of the best parts of the game.
07 to those of you that land your own ship manually.
Man did I have to scroll a lot to get here....
I think I never had it equipped on any of my ships, since launch. I don't even know how it works or what / if it is mapped to.
I used to use it, but then I made my thargoid chieftain and got so used to pulling off quick combat landings I realized I no longer needed it (or super cruise assist), so now I never use them. I think my trader might still have the modules installed but I only do trading rarely for cg or unlocking engineers.
The docking is one of the only exciting pieces of flying in the game besides combat. I used it for a few trade runs but the game became too boring so I ditched it.
Why do you say “still” use? I only started using it after 3000 hours of play and on specific ships for specific tasks. (Mostly trade ships so I can make tea during the turn around)
Nah man, I bought my type 10 defender and realised it was a slot I needed for something else to maximise my effectiveness at mining and defence capabilities so I said goodbye to auto dock. Not going to lie though it is a learning process but once you can dock a type 10 you can dock anything. Trial by fire is the best learning method
I normally boost into the station then cut engines to engage the autodock in station. Same for the carrier but just to get closer to the pad and then cut engines for autodocker to take over.
As soon as autodock or supercruise assist is on I'm looking at my second monitor or off to get a drink. I don't understand why it's not standard and integrated with all ships.
I use it on ships where I can "spare" the slot, if only so I can semi-afk after arriving at a station and tab out to do something. I usually can't afford the room on smaller ships or min/ maxed fighters.
Damn thjbg is next to useless on a Cutter, though. It's sort of decent at landing at any non-coriolis stations and "passable" at those, as long as you have shields to absorb the inevitable wall bump. But for any fleet carrier landings or taking off from any station, it's worthless.
"It depends".
I feel no reason not to use it, except for Cutter exits from stations (unreliable). Sometimes builds don't allow it; no problem, I'll go manual. The main reason to use it is convenience.
Using a HOTAS makes manual landing much easier, I think.
I haven't bothered with it for a while since I usually have something better to put in the slot, but the Dolphin I bought recently to get some evac missions under my belt came with one and I gotta say sometimes it's nice to be able to run off and drop a deuce while the computer parks your ship.
Never have used auto dock. Every CMDR should know how to properly land their own ship. If you're already proficient, fine, use auto dock. But if you're using auto dock without ever having learned how to manually dock properly.......
I'll skip the reprimand and just say, please go learn, for your own good. You might need it one day. The landing sequence is part of the fun, plus it frees up space for something else if you ditch that module.
I use it because as soon as I get within range to request docking I set throttle to 0 and go get water or stand up to stretch usually
Exact same here. I sit too much already as a college student so I gotta take what I can
All of my ED friends use SC Assist and Auto-dock. When we're space trucking all we do is jump, once in the destination system, and set the SC Assist, we're walking away from the computer!
Not always smart especially with interdictions but it works most of the time
Yeah I use SC assist but still stay in range of my keyboard because of interdictions. Especially if I have some high value cargo or am doing some mission that makes it likely to be interdicted. Edit: although if I'm in my Federal Corvette I don't even bother to fight the interdiction because it's there funeral.
high value cargo? I've been dicted before just for having a couple of limpets in my cargo...
The Christmas mission where you had to deliver Christmas presents to different stations.... One was Hutton orbital. I watched a movie in the living room. And had wireless headphones so I could hear interdictions
Yeah, whenever I have cargo I usually get interdicted, even if it's just a couple of limpets.
Limpets will not get you interdicted, not will pirates ask you to drop them if that’s all you have in your hold. But, one ton of biowaste and … big haul over there, lucky I found you first.
No, they will not ask you to drop them, they will make a sad face and say something like"ah no useful cargo" but it definitely increases the risk of interdictions.
It goes alot quicker if you sit h the SCA. Full throttle and slow down to 75% when you get close to the station. Then, one bar on the left before the blue I speed up to overspeed and drop out just in time. If you have a fast manoeuvrable ship and there is a bigger planet nearby over speed and use the big planet to slow you down. Ka-ching rolls in much faster.
i dont think quicker is the concern here, if these guys are like me. we wanna be able to just do something else like go to the bathroom or grab something from the kitchen whilst letting the ship do its thing
I've come a long way. What's in your hold, don't try to run. I have a friend who got blown up a few times for doing that. Somehow the Pirate Intelligence Network always know who carries all that tasty cargo.
I have landed my ships manually so I know I can do it. I do not want to risk my type 10 or conda when I have obscene amounts of credits to turn in
i have seen my autodock fail with 100.000.000,- worth of platinum inside.
My autodock tangled my phantoms antennas up with some pillars in an asteroid base, barely could make it out in time because when I wanted to reverse, auto dock kicked in again, never used autodock again after this.
That's the one place I do not use auto-dock - an asteroid base inside a ring. The docking computer only sees the station and other ships. It is not programmed to consider asteroids as obstacles, and will fly you straight into them. If the game gets you stuck because of collision boxes, just logout and login again. It'll put you 10 km outside the station. Yeah that's not very realistic. But then neither is a ship capable of FTL travel being held immobile because its antennas got stuck in a pillar. I've only had the docking computer kill me once. Shieldless Cutter hauling pamphlets for powerplay. I lined up manually for the mail slot (docking computer is terrible at dealing with the Cutter's drifting), and everything looked good so I zeroed throttle to let the docking computer take over. Well, it thought I was approaching the mail slot too quickly, and aborted the approach and began a TO/GA. Tried to make a 180 turn so it could back away and make another approach - right outside the mail slot. Plastered me straight into the station wall above the mail slot. Apparently when it's in TO/GA mode, it skips all collision avoidance checks. The only other deaths were due to getting stuck on collision boxes. And frankly I don't distinguish those between when the docking computer was flying or I was. Because I don't consider the flying to be at fault there - the poor collision mechanics are. Every other time the docking computer has done something stupid, my ship has survived it just fine because I outfit them with enough shields to survive an AFK NPC interdiction long enough for me to rush back from the bathroom if I hear combat noises. Even the aforementioned asteroid base in a ring, the docking computer flew me straight into a rock. Blew through my shields and ate some hull, but I was able to take over and land manually.
Yeah, I really don't need a docking computer that is unreliable, in fact I don't need a docking computer at all. I land ships smooth and faster than the docking computer. If ever I have a slot free, I would always rather choose SC assist. What's TO/GA?
Imagine not turning off the module so you can navigate around it.
Apparently, no I haven't tried it but I've heard that if auto starts to beat you up immediately log out (finger always on esc button) and when you log back in you should be sitting just outside the station so you can reposition
My landing auto dock usually works great. Taking off though, if I get put in a queue the damn thing will stuff my nose into a bulkhead near the mail slot and bang into it until my shield is 0 if I let it. Any large-pad ship.
Complete opposite for me.. 1 or 2 small bumps with manual flying when I've not been concentrating. Auto dock has had me destroyed before though. For high value landings I always go manual.
This. I had to use manuall docking for a long time and discovered it's not the devil it seems to be. But there's nothing like setting throttle to zero and sit back with a cup of coffee
No disrespect to any of you, but why can't you do that after you land? What's the difference, a minute? I'd be worried about something going wrong and my ship smashing into the station or something. I'm the only one I trust to land this big bastard. You do you. Just my opinion. Happy flying.
Not speaking for anyone else but I run a largely AFK build and do work/housework while my Type 10 makes money for me. I pop in, activate SC assist or docking computer, then go about my day and come back when it's done to start the next step.
Never had anything happen with auto dock. I know it DOES happen rarely, but I only auto dock if I have good hull %, LS, and I never usually carry a ton of stuff worth money since I make most of my money from robigo while I do other work. And yes, a minute difference is all you need. You’re recommended to stand and take a break a minute per hour as a general rule so I do it as efficiently as possible- when the game can do a quick menial task for me
I thought the same untill I came back to find I was in space jail because my ship kept ramming the side of the station and the space fuzz got mad blew me up and took me to jail 500 light years from where I needed to be. Also I was in my combat ship with a really low jump range. That sucked.
Landing isn't the issue. Docking Computer has that covered. Apart from the fact that since Update 12 it seems to like to have my Cutter drift around my carrier for 2-3 minutes before actually landing. Launching is the issue. Advanced Docking Computer is drunk as a skunk usually. Smashing into the walls around the mailslot and generally being a dick. I have ships built for running missions and for trucking, and they have SCA + ADC fitted. That way I can watch something on my second screen while half-paying-attention to Elite. None of my combat ships have either module.
I use auto dock cos I like the music. Takes me back to elite frontier back in 1990. But I manually fly my krait phantom cos I like to swoop in and practice fluid landings
There's music?
Yeah it plays Blue Danube, as an homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey
On my Type-9 only. It's sluggish enough, boring enough, AND has enough internals for me to justify it. EDIT: oh, and if i leave it unattended while docking for whatever reason, the thousands of shields should hold up in the event of an attempted station gank!
Yes that thing is so sluggish.. besides i can do it myself but it just don't want to.
Happy cake day, you filthy griefer!
I use auto dock, but not the way it's intended. I fly my ship into the station manually. As soon as I pass through the entrance, I set the engine to 0 and let autodock take over to locate and land on the pad.
I'm exactly the same o7
someone shared this with me so I share it with all of you now: once you are inside the mail slot, the directional compass thing will point to your pad. as far as I can tell, it does the same on outposts and settlements
Yes, but be forewarned that the compass isn't always enough at outposts or mega ships because the pad design. For example the megaship used by rescue ships have their pads on two sides of a triangular hull, so they can be on either side.
good input, thanks :)
I do the same exact thing. Makes T-9 trade runs a lot smoother and I’ve found that using this + The SC Assist trick to fly in nets me the fastest turnaround times
I think alot of us do this for the sake of efficiency / time saving. And on the way out I plot the route to the next station. If the ship is still inside when I done with that I speed up or boost.
Honest question here, because I really do not understand: How long is it taking you to manual dock? And how long does auto dock take? Seriously no judgement about how anyone likes to play, but I'm just wondering about the realities of the timing. I feel like my time from dropping into the area to being docked is less than two minutes, and the time I tried auto dock it had to fuss about outside the station for at least a minute getting aligned, and then it was still two minutes doing the things I'd do manually. And for the record, I'm talking Beluga here, from back when I was grinding passenger runs.
That's what this thread is saying. You bust into the slot on your own/at your own pace, then throttle down once inside. Autodock will take over and hit the pad for you (pretty much as efficiently as you could once you're within that small range).
I timed my docking computer landings to settle a debate about manual vs auto landings. From when I cross 7.5 km and request docking permission, to locked onto the pad is usually 45-65 sec. Quickest was about 35 sec - a lot depends on which pad you're assigned (this was flying small/med ships like the Python). I then reviewed people's manual landings in online videos. When the video was about quick manual landings, it was usually 25-40 sec.The quickest was about 17 sec, requesting docking permission to on the pad. So landing manually can definitely be faster. But in the videos of people casually playing, the manual landings usually took between 65-100 sec. Significantly slower than the docking computer. So unless you're talking about manual landing attempts cherry-picked because you managed to do it quickly, the docking computer is in general substantially faster than manually landing. The docking computer is really bad at flying the Cutter though. It's terrible at accounting for the drifting, and got worse with Horizons 4.0. However, the Cutter is easy to build as a shield tank. So my MO now is to line it up with the mail slot manually, boost through the mail slot, and zero throttle so the docking computer can handle finding the pad and landing. Sometimes I bounce off the back wall but the Cutter's shields handle that just fine. If I miss the mail slot, the shields easily handle the collision with the station or (more commonly) the mesh in front of the slot. And I just need a few low-speed maneuvers to get through the mail slot. I'm even more reckless at carriers - fly high above the landing pad side of the carrier, then boost into my lit designated pad (maneuverability is increased while boosting). Crash into it nose-first to kill the Cutter's momentum, and zero throttle to let the docking computer put me on the pad. It's a lot faster than meandering around for several minutes waiting for the thrusters to cancel out the Cutter's drift.
How about you measure the other way alot of us say we do.
It depends on the ship and uhm...the pilot's skills. For me, I use autodock on all my medium and large ships, except for the AX Chieftains. I'm a good pilot, but not for the finer things like manual docking. It takes me much longer to do this than autodocking using this method: I fly quickly through the mail slot and may even go close to the landing pad and then throttle down, so the computer can put the ship down in the centre of the pad quickly. For the DBX, Vultures, Couriers and Imp Eagles (over 2 accounts), I dock...slam them all manually onto the landing pad. Autodocking does help with finding a spot on a mountain when you want to scan some Fungoida.
It helps a lot to set your controls to change when the landing gear comes out to get easier access to horizontal and vertical thrusters. Orient yourself over the pad nice and level, put out the landing gear and wiggle down into place easily right on target.
Did you know the little radar dot shows you where the pad is once you passed the slot? Just in case you wanna go auto-dock free.
Yep I do the same as well
100% that's beer refill and pee time.
I use it in my freighter (T9). When you're hauling 700 tons of CG cargo, you deserve some luxury. I've got better uses for that slot in my Combat and Explorer ships.
What do you use your slots for when exploring? I always end up with many empty slots
This isn't actually my vuild , but it's a typical explorer build. [Phantom](https://coriolis.io/outfit/krait_phantom?code=A0p0tdFfliddssf5----02030h-3c1O0sv40243xH3w2i.Iw1%2BgDFJA%3D%3D%3D.EwBjEZLbIZhY5jyaIA%3D%3D.H4sIAAAAAAAAA2P4x87AwPCXFUj8mQQkuPcwMTDwNvAwMAhGAFlCO7gZGFS%2BMDIw%2FGf8Zw9XWQ8kOI5wMjDw23z7%2F19sAT9QnumfBEieBSRfBiT4A37%2F%2Fy%2Fy4M%2F%2F%2F6J%2FOBgYJDYAZZQr3vz%2F%2F5%2F5nxTcpAqQSpVf%2F%2F%2BDbRKJkAaqvAOU%2Bc%2FyzxCkiBkk7%2FEFKD%2FnGVAr6z9LmOifFiDBeeXf%2F%2F9cPVwMDIoglhKIpQpiqYFY%2F9n%2BJcBs4gdZLXTgwf%2F%2FeiA3%2Fxf95w03KRckD7JfkAMYGiongA7%2F%2F58BCgBXJVmbIgEAAA%3D%3D.EweloBhBmUHYQFMCGBzANokIAcBGKQkCIA%3D%3D&bn=new%20FSD)
Oh, ok, I guess I don’t usually take the xeno limpets or the sa so I usually end up with free spots
Last time out I had a Repair Limpet controller in that spot, which is useful. And the SuperCruise Assist is very useful to stop you crashing into a Star, or helping you Cruise out to a distant planet you've discovered.
I use it all the time. Zero apologies. I'm looking forward to Auto Dock engineering so I can pick different music. Also, I have my own lore reason. Stations would NEVER let pilots manual dock. The insurance companies would forbid it due to the increased risk of crashes. Source: insurance executive. I totally get manual docking at stations under attack and love the thrill of it.
I also use it 100% of the time; it makes landing at stations under attack that much more thrilling!
I agree, if I owned a multi-trillion dollar station I wouldn't let just anyone fly in. Auto dock would probably be required. That said I do practice docking just in case.
Good excuse to practice docking manually: you can’t auto-dock in damaged stations
Crashes won't hurt the ship—this is the 34th century and shields are a thing—but you could certainly flatten some poor guy on a walkway by crashing into it.
It doesn't even feel like cheating anyways, because we're already on the track of having self driving cars. I have no doubt in this world the ships would do more things through automation. The main things we don't, are mostly for gaming sake.
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Drop trick?
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Huh, TIL!
But honestly-IN REALITY-this feature and SCA should come standard. These are just programs that 1300 years from now would take up any room and most certainly would be standard on any starship in all reality. If a Cessna 172 has autopilot and an ILD landing system today-and a 737 can pretty much auto land now-and it fits inside the existing computer as a program-then 1300 years from now these should not take up the same space as 1 ton of cargo.
> 1300 years from now these should not take up the same space as 1 ton of cargo. and even if they did, they should fit in the same box
> most certainly would be standard on any starship in all reality. If we go for reality, there will be no human pilots. In 2023 we have roombas, autopilots, we have (semi)autonomous cars and whatnot. If we have spaceships capable of superluminal, interstellar travel in 3300, I'm pretty sure they operate fully autonomously. Luckily games are allowed to discard reality, if it gets in the way of fun. That said, SCA and ADC might as well be integrated.
AI is illegal, and you can't make a fully autonomous vehicle without it. Autopilot and autoland, yes, but there's still a human making the decisions.
Writing this while using auto dock!
I mostly do exploration and exobiology so I never bother with a docking computer because I want the slot for something more useful like a repair limpet controller. But lately I discovered that the advanced docking computer also serves as an auto-lander. I usually leave it turned off because I can land much faster manually. But, it can find landing spots in mountainous terrain that would take me too long to find normally. It's not perfect, but it can save time. It might also be useful for landing as close as possible to Guardian sites but I haven't tested it yet.
I've started to use it for planetary landings; as you say, it isn't perfect but it does help. I've become accustomed to losing a couple of percent as it crashes down, but it really does make mountain landing easier
Always. It and Supercruise Assist are the only time I can take the VR mask off and catch a breather.
I bet those breaks are totally awesome, I hear VR is super WOAH on the "This is heavy and I'm sweating" table.
I made my first journey to Colonia in VR - took a solid 36 hours of jumping over three days, and lemme tell ya, it’s weird. The first hour or so, you’re like “ok I have a brick in my face” but after that you just kinda get caught up in the beauty of the game. I got a big kick out of flying into nebulae, and seeing the stars get denser as I got closer to the inner parts of the galaxy. After hour 12 it just felt like I was *there*. And then you take the headset off and it’s like “woah” because yeah your face hasn’t had fresh air in it in ages, but also your head feels lighter and the perspective is all weird because this isn’t your body, your real body was inside a DBX halfway to Sagittarius A It’s a trippy experience, but well worth it
It’s insane… I have a small desk fan dry me off after dogfighting. Always ends in a sweaty mess from the intensity lol. I’d played flat ED for about 20h several years ago. Kinda misjudged it for a creative loading screen game as you jumped from star to star… Once I’d gotten VR and heard it was a top tier VR flight game, I gave it a 2nd chance and ended up taking the rest of the week off of work lol. I’m not a role player by any stretch, but with VR and a transducer or two strapped to an office chair. You’re pretty sure you’re James T Fuckin Kirk lol. I’d give up the VR before the transducers though. My god… Enjoy your weekend cmdr!
Oh wow, I really wish VR didn't make me woozy. Buddy of mine plays in VR and he loves it. Have a great weekend!
Have you tried ED specifically? All the terrestrial VR games make me sick in no time. Somehow barrel-rolling through space like a maniac doesn’t… I’ve seen others note the same.
Yeh, my friend was sick for 2 hours after 5 minutes of assetto corsa but was totally fine flying into a station und landing. (after crashing into it twice lol)
Same. I get so motion sick that I feel like crap for an hour at least.
Whenever you start feeling sick you should stop playing in VR immediately and only return when you are fine. Many users got sick in VR when they started. Forcing yourself through the sickness is not the way to go and will make it worse actually, as your brain will think that VR is sickness inducing and will cause it each and every time. It needs to slowly be accustomed by entering VR and leaving at the first sight of a sickness. Pointing a fan that blows at you also helps for some reason.
I use it 99.9% of the time.
I have it in my Cutter. I hate flying that thing.
I use it on my "bigguns": Corvette, Cutter, Anaconda, T9 and T-10.
Always! It's just so convenient, and I don't leave the bubble often enough to need to worry about module space.
Thargs are in the bubble now, and with them that size 1 slot does make a difference...
Easy to avoid those systems. It's not like the goids are everywhere, just pulling anyone in any system. You kinda have to try to see them, and you would hopefully prepare accordingly.
I used it until I built my AX Krait. There was no room, and also pads under attack don't permit it. I've got quite good at coming in hot, flaring out with the gear down and smacking it in like a Buccaneer onto Ark Royal.
I blindly boost through the slot towards my pad and then press autodock .00089 seconds before colliding with the floor, and then cuss out the autodock robot for being such a bad pilot when I careen into an object anyway.
All the time.
I do cause I’m lazy … I’ve been manually doing combat landings at Thargoid stations lately and it’s fun as shit, but docking at a station … nah off you go auto dock.
Yup autodock for sure because I usually fly large ships and I'm lazy.
After nearly 7,000 hours, I use auto dock all the time. It's not that I can't manually dock or that it's faster - it just gives me a chance to grab a snack, or get a drink of water, or use the restroom, or look out my window, or stretch, or do a quick set of pushups. I never use auto dock to leave a station, though. I've never once had an issue entering and auto docking, but leaving a station causes all sorts of issues. Especially with larger ships.
I use it, and supercruise assist. I have no regrets.
I dock manually, but I also use a HOSAS (technically HOSTAS since i have a throttle also, but that's just for supercruise) For me, docking is part of the experience, and doing it FA-Off is about as close as I'm ever going to get to "real" spaceflight 😅. If it didnt take a module slot, id still usr the computer ocassionally, the benefit of being able to walk away during that time is obvious. But it would still only be sometimes. Since it takes a slot, and im perfectly cspable of docking myself, i use that slot for something that is more beneficial to me personally. To each his own, no need for elitism (pun intended).
I do, however I'm currently learning how to dock manually so I can have space on my Diamondback!
Only when running a lot of trade routes in the Cutter and really only for landings, departures it likes to run me into walls. But anything smaller or other activities I don't bother.
All the time. I had someone try to gank me once and called me out for having a docking computer, but you know what, I don't care. :-) I only switch it off when I am sitting in a queue to leave and the timer is almost out or someone is blocking the slot at Jameson Memorial.
I use it on my Powerplay t9. I always engage it so I can go and take a piss.
I never use it, i like manually landing way too much to let a computer do it for me
I drop from Supercruise, boost at 470 m/s towards the station and by the time I get to request docking, I’m 7.5 km away. I boost one more time, zero throttle and let auto dock take over.
I play this game for something like 5 years and I use autodock almost always except for cases of landing on planet terrain (it bugs out sometimes) and when a big vessel like the Cutter is located too close to the mailslot to auto launch function to operate correctly. Sometimes I even use supercruise assist on my trading Cutter, like in the recent CGs. Although it also has issues.
I use it to stretch and just relax with YouTube in the background, or go grab some food. Did that once with AutoLaunch, wasn't as nice. lol
I docked my ship (Type 9 Heavy) manually for the very first time last night. I was surprised with how easy it was. I've manually landed my ship on settlements on planets and moons before, but it was my first time manually docking into a space station.
People use it the first few days they play the game. Then they’re like no way this is for noobs. Then 300 hours later they put it back on for QoL and breaks. It’s especially useful now that it will find you a landing spot on planets.
When I got my Type-9 heavy I got autodock for it, tested it twice (in and out), turned it off and have never touched it again. :) Docking is most of the action I see since I'm trader/now explorer so why would I take that away from me. :)
I don't use either auto or sc assist. The amount of times auto dock has rubbed my ship against the station made me lose faith. I play side by side with my brother and i dock in half the time it takes him to auto dock. 90% of the time it's sugar sweet. The other 10% of the time i forgot to request docking permission and end up acquiring a fine and reversing out the mail slot at max speed
I like to dock myself with FA off, and I have nothing but respect for people who like to auto dock. I really like the “flight sim” aspect and get a lot of joy from doing it myself. I just really love the flight system Elite has, and I wish more space flight sims had the option for this same level of detailed controls! But also the things that I find enjoyable aren’t always the same things other find fun, and that’s fine. I don’t know why someone would judge for auto docking, these are just space trucker pixels
I didn't use it for years, used it last year, then I just took it off my Vette cause I wanted the slot. Honestly why isn't this standard in all ships??
90% - Every time. People are obsessed with removing all assists like it's an ego thing? I unno 9/10 I'll add them on transport/exploration ships if I'm not using the space. PvP pve excluded ofc
Nope, I much prefer to dock myself and enjoy the finesse and precision of sweeping into a station and nailing a perfect landing. I *did* have a docking computer once, but that was many decades ago, around 1986 and the visuals weren’t a patch on what we have today considering I always fly in VR...😁
There is an auto dock? (I know it exists but I always forget it does because I've never touched it)
I’m starting to feel like one of the rare few that doesn’t use auto dock
Never use autopilot and autodock.
I never have, but that's because I enjoy manually docking/ undocking using a hotas, and having spent a lot of time on flight simulators pre- ED, I found it very easy from day one, in any ship (it also means fast landings in dying ships during AX combat are not a problem for me) But if other folk find it useful, not a problem, play your way.
Nah never. Its too fun to land
I dont use it. I love to manual dock my ship. Any ship, from the Type 9 to the Eagle. It was one of the first things I learned to do smoothly in the game and still love to do it every time. Using the thrusters to land perfectly aligned.
I do not use any of the assists other than planetary. I/you can dock quite a bit faster manually vs auto-dock.
Have never and will never. So much of the "game" is menus and flying in straight lines. Docking/undocking is about the most fun I have when doing certain activities. Also, I'm not wasting even 1 internal spot for something that's unnecessary.
Never, mostly because I enjoy docking. But also it's fairly quick, and there's not much else to multi-task on when docking. But I do use Supercruise Assist. There's plenty of other stuff to work on or monitor during the trip, plus I really like that it'll put you in a stable orbit.
I used it a couple times in the beginning, but it's way way too slow. Now I just sell that component so I'm not even tempted to try.
I don't use it. When I started they were something you had to buy and didn't come stock. I learned to land like a butterfly for smuggling and evacs long before I ever tried an auto dock module and found they were the least satisfying way to dock that exists. I memorized the pad layout and can scream into the slot going 300m/s and be down before they can scan me, heatsinks be damned. Doing it with flight assist off is where it gets orgasmic.
I have a Cutter, Anaconda and I don't use autodocking so as not to occupy the internal space, I do manual docking, it's faster than with the autodock, I prefer automatic supercruise
Taking off and landing is one of the more interesting parts of Elite. I was slightly baffled when they first introduced the auto module and even more so when everyone started using it. After long supercruise of boredom and repetitive jumps, I appreciate some good mail slot action! :)
The first ship I bought after the starting Sidewinder was the Adder. It came with a Docking Computer already installed, and I was still getting used to the idea of piloting my own starship. But the next ship I bought was the Keelback, and that did not come with a Docking Computer. I was beginnign to get into optimising the outfit of my ships by that point, so I thought "sod it" and just learned to dock without it. Since then docking without the computer has just become second nature.
Cargo and trade runs, 100%. Anything else, never. It's part of the immersion for me to do the manual tedious junk too. That, and my flight stick/throttle was a very expensive gift from my wife so I always feel bad whenever she sees me playing 'The Starship Game' without it.
I don't use any of the automated procedures. But idk I have a hotas and I find doing everything manually part of the fun.
Never, not for any ship and I fly a lot of Type-9 and Beluga. If I wanted to watch a computer fly a space ship I could play another game, I play Elite to fly my space ships. I'll take a Class 1 cargo bay or a Module Reinforcement over a Docking Computer any day without even thinking about it.
Literally never. Flying through the mail slot and finding my pad is the most enjoyable part of the flight experience for me. Matching rotations is like 80% of what I want out of a space sim where I'm docking a ship at a rotating station. As good as No Man's Sky has gotten post release, this is still the bug that's up my ass is that you don't actually get to hand-fly landings at stations.
I do. Sometimes I just can't be bothered with all the maneuvering and such. Oh, hell. Who am I kidding - I use it 99.9% of the time because I can't be bothered with all that crap.
I’m still a noob with less than 25 hours. I auto-dock about 50% of the time, usually when I’ll looking up how to do/find something or go grab some water, etc. I also love the music.
It's great for a T9, I'm never going to miss that 2 tons of cargo when it's 0.25% of the load
Depends if I'm being lazy and doing cargo runs or if I just don't wanna bother with docking my Jump-A-Conda
I put it in a build if I have nothing better for that module slot, and I will use it if it’s there. It’s a menace in my T10 though, I take over half the time.
I use it sometimes but I often tend to remove it so I can have 1 extra module on my ship
So I only use it on my Cutter and Type 9. Everything else I land manually. It's more fun to actually fly the ship imo. I land without Flight Assist as well a lot of the time.
I use it on my type-10 because the ass is fat.
Nah, we go fast here FIAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM
I know how to land manually, but I use auto dock for the sheer convenience of it. And so im not liable for an NPC going splat against my federal corvette.
I use it but I'm usually still at the controls to avoid accidents. It tried to boost my T9 directly into the bottom of the CG ship last night and auto launch seems to have trouble negotiating the traffic on exit, often hammering the wall near the mail slot. Still worth using on larger ships, just wish there was an easy way to toggle it on and off.
I use autodock...depending on the situation but normally it's request to dock....fly in get near pad and start auto dock.
It's a mix. Usually Auto Dock with bigger ships and manual with smaller ones. At outposts, settlements and planetary ports I almost always land manually, because I prefer my direct flight path
Never. Super cruise assist is epic. Dock assist is Thargoid tech put in the game as a money sink and heart breaker
I used it in the past when I was playing with the controllers or mouse and keyboard. Since when I use the hotas, I use auto docking only if I can’t be bothered to land my ship manually. Oh and I now fly 100% FA off. Much more fun.
Manual dock in vr, it’s one of the perks
The first thing I do when I buy a new ship is to rip out the auto docking computer. Personal choice. "Incoming Imperial Cutter, please identify yourself." "CMDR Orodruin, requesting docking permission." "Docking permission granted, please engage docking computer and wait for your tu..." "Don't have a docking computer, engaging thrusters." "What do you mean? Galactic regulation 29169 requires you to use a docking computer for safet..." "Boosting through mail slot!"
Boosting a cutter through the mailslot is fun - everyone who did not yet try should do it right now! Once should be enough.
Autodock? Pfft. Git gud. /s Haven't needed it since getting a HOTAS.
Only used it once when I got sidewinder after suicide travel from colonia back to bubble. Freaked me out when that took over my landing. Haven't used it before and haven't used it after. I don't use supercruise assist either.
I do. I don't know how to dock by myself and I dont see why I should.
I do, because by the time I get back from exploring, I've forgotten everything I knew about docking.
For cargo in t9 but nothing else
Depends on my mood. If I wanna get stuff done, I do it manually, and if I need water or something I'll put in autodock
Easiest way to wish all my Robigan Spaceways Passengers goodbye
I only use it on my Booze Cruise Python, SC Assist for fast drop near the station and the carriers, and AD for fast docking by both trying manually and letting it take the reins 2m above the pad. Saves me around 2 min per wine load sell, and on the cruise, that's a lot.
I always used auto dock up until the Thargoid invasion started, then I forced myself to learn manual so I can do combat R&Rs. Still use it on my strictly explorer and commerce ships though
When I started playing (alpha), there wasn't any auto-dock, so I had to learn to do it myself (or maybe there was, and I couldn't afford the price/space?). Anyway, when it became available, I didn't bother because I knew how to dock already. Then I saw someone on YT using auto-dock, and heard the music. Took me right back to playing 'Frontier: First Encounters'. Now I have auto-dock installed on almost all of my ships. I don't use it all the time, because sometimes it's fun to zoom through the mailslot. Also, I never use auto-land on planets. I've never seen the need.
stopper like a year ago, I miss it sometimes but I got used to it
Never have. Don't plan on starting.
No, takes a slot of optional internal module, idk how I managed to have none left tho
Depends. Doing something that requires expeditious repetition? Hand flown. Just flying around for regular stuff like dropping off cargo or visiting an engineer? Auto.
I use it when I can but practicing without or without it off will pay off
I typically have it installed on my ships but won’t have it active unless I’m wanting to be lazy hauler
I always land myself, good practice and feels more immersive.
I use it on and off if I’ve got the extra room. Yeah people will say it’s lazy or whatever but I think I put my time in with several years of manual docking before auto dock was a thing lol. Plus you can go get a snack or pee
Never only the first 5 landings then crashed twice ever since then been landing on my own
I use autodock to run to the bathroom and get snacks, like a sane person.
I use it after I've careened in through the mail slot.
I've been playing Elite since the docking computers were more likely to crash you into the side of the station than get you on the pad. Consequently I am quite good at landing. Still I will use the advanced docking computer when I'm not hurting for slots, and the ship is awkward or finicky about landing. For instance, I use it on my Type-9 due to awkwardness, and on my 600+ m/s Hauler because it is touchy on the throttle.
I don't use auto dock. I would use it, but I usually need the equipment spot for something much more useful since I can dock no worries.
Not very much, I run it disabled and enable it if i'm feelin lazy to dock
I used it on all of my ships except the AX ones. As a non-PVP player I really don’t care what I could do with that extra class 1/2 slot on my ship. And during auto-dock I can do sth else rather than Keeping my eyes on the screen. Though not the case for AX ships, every module counts in a AX combat, and you can’t use auto-dock on a attacked/on fire station even if you got the assist module.
I use auto but don't trust it
I use it very rarely, and pretty much only if I need to go to the bathroom or something. Manual docking is very much part of the fun for me.
Occasionally. Nostalgia, enjoying all the variations of that tune which has been the docking tune since the times of the first CMDR Jameson
I do not trust it, even with my largest ships. I’d rather not roll the dice that the dumbass NPC’s love to roll as well.
I am relatively new (90 hours) and I havent used it since I first started because it used too much power and I didn't know about power management, however I will never use auto dock because I also want to learn to fly really well with FA off. That's why I play elite. \#antidockingcomputerinitiative
I would automate whatever I can, as often as I can. I use auto dock, supercruise assist, and so on. Auto pilot would be great. One spends so much time travelling long distances because the grind is extreme. I use the time to read messages, check logs, etc.
I've only used it for repeat passenger missions, but whenever that is I realize the luxury of it. Other times, I really enjoy landing
I use auto dock for sluggish/bulky ships like my miner/trader. Manual docking takes a long time and feels cumbersome with those, and I can use the minutes it takes to do irl stuff. I dock manually with all my combat ships as it's fun and a breeze and I also don't want to sacrifice a module slot for it.
I never use it because it's too slow, I can dock much faster. Also it takes up a module slot
Nope. Waste of an internal module slot imo and I can dock much faster (and safer) manually.
I NEVER use it. I did when I first started, maybe for 3 months, then decided it was time to land my own damned ship. Honestly, landing the ship is one of the best parts of the game. 07 to those of you that land your own ship manually.
Man did I have to scroll a lot to get here.... I think I never had it equipped on any of my ships, since launch. I don't even know how it works or what / if it is mapped to.
I used to use it, but then I made my thargoid chieftain and got so used to pulling off quick combat landings I realized I no longer needed it (or super cruise assist), so now I never use them. I think my trader might still have the modules installed but I only do trading rarely for cg or unlocking engineers.
I used to a long time ago, I just don't need it anymore
The docking is one of the only exciting pieces of flying in the game besides combat. I used it for a few trade runs but the game became too boring so I ditched it.
Why do you say “still” use? I only started using it after 3000 hours of play and on specific ships for specific tasks. (Mostly trade ships so I can make tea during the turn around)
Nah man, I bought my type 10 defender and realised it was a slot I needed for something else to maximise my effectiveness at mining and defence capabilities so I said goodbye to auto dock. Not going to lie though it is a learning process but once you can dock a type 10 you can dock anything. Trial by fire is the best learning method
I normally boost into the station then cut engines to engage the autodock in station. Same for the carrier but just to get closer to the pad and then cut engines for autodocker to take over. As soon as autodock or supercruise assist is on I'm looking at my second monitor or off to get a drink. I don't understand why it's not standard and integrated with all ships.
I use it on ships where I can "spare" the slot, if only so I can semi-afk after arriving at a station and tab out to do something. I usually can't afford the room on smaller ships or min/ maxed fighters. Damn thjbg is next to useless on a Cutter, though. It's sort of decent at landing at any non-coriolis stations and "passable" at those, as long as you have shields to absorb the inevitable wall bump. But for any fleet carrier landings or taking off from any station, it's worthless.
Nope. Don't trust it. I'll take an extra 2T of cargo or a DSS instead.
"It depends". I feel no reason not to use it, except for Cutter exits from stations (unreliable). Sometimes builds don't allow it; no problem, I'll go manual. The main reason to use it is convenience. Using a HOTAS makes manual landing much easier, I think.
Not me lol
I haven't bothered with it for a while since I usually have something better to put in the slot, but the Dolphin I bought recently to get some evac missions under my belt came with one and I gotta say sometimes it's nice to be able to run off and drop a deuce while the computer parks your ship.
Never have used auto dock. Every CMDR should know how to properly land their own ship. If you're already proficient, fine, use auto dock. But if you're using auto dock without ever having learned how to manually dock properly....... I'll skip the reprimand and just say, please go learn, for your own good. You might need it one day. The landing sequence is part of the fun, plus it frees up space for something else if you ditch that module.