I'm not sure if this is intentional but currently it is a little difficult to locate the entrance of an asteroid for docking. I was circling around an asteroid looking to dock for a good 5 seconds.

One benefit of having a hard to find entrance is the "hidden asteroid base" factor. You can't find the entrance = it's well hidden (not sure if it is hidden from the AI as well though).

One downside to it would be the inability to make a quick dock, ie. flying straight towards the entrance and docking immediately...if you know where the entrance is...so, intentional?

Are you seeing the 'runway' lights? The blue ones? Or are they blending into the background too well?

DWMagus wrote:Are you seeing the 'runway' lights? The blue ones? Or are they blending into the background too well?

I'm seeing the lights, but it's sometimes a little dim and short, length-wise. I'm in the Sobinon system...and even with the red background it still blends!

The asteroid with docking will ultimately be replaced with a space-station (in the near future), but we'll add more clear distinction / brighter lights to the list if the next release doesn't contain the space-station!

I have trouble finding it too.

AndyThompson wrote:The asteroid with docking will ultimately be replaced with a space-station (in the near future), but we'll add more clear distinction / brighter lights to the list if the next release doesn't contain the space-station!

I have trouble finding it too.

Thanks! Nice to know I'm not the only blind person here.

TanC wrote:

AndyThompson wrote:The asteroid with docking will ultimately be replaced with a space-station (in the near future), but we'll add more clear distinction / brighter lights to the list if the next release doesn't contain the space-station!

I have trouble finding it too.

Thanks! Nice to know I'm not the only blind person here.

I am actually legally blind and man have I had trouble sometimes with the entrances. Sometimes it's obvious: lines of blue lights pointing the way ever so nicely, aligned with the speed gates and everything is perfect.

But I'm no longer convinced that the entrances are aligned with the gates; I'm on pause right now to mention this to the suggestions forum because I've just spent plenty of frustration trying to find entrances on two stations and I just can't seem to find either of their entrances.

I agree making them clearer is a really important suggestion for when (some of?) the asteroid stations turn into regular steel stations.

But maybe also consider this: How about if you have a button that "autopilots" you to the entrance? You wouldn't have to even have the ship move, just go to the station screen (or you could animate the ship move). This can be justified with games like Traveller where there are stations and planets that demand to take over your craft for landing for security protocols, among other things. You wouldn't have to have it for every station if you didn't want to; maybe a 50/50 chance or something, so there would be a reasonable chance that somewhere you could.


I do love the LTP prototype and it rarely crashes on me. But I've sometimes really struggled finding these entrances, sometimes abandoning the game for a reload, losing progress, or even just a new game. I can't find any entrances right now, and the last time I found a station entrance was completely by accident(!)


coder1000

How about...

• If you press SHIFT-d,
  a chain of "virtual" lights points from the center of your ship to the nearest friendly / neutral docking bay. (within a few km?)
• This pointer turns itself off after 10-15 sec or so.
• Multiple presses of SHIFT-d cycle through all "nearest docking bays"

Impossible to miss and no issue with distance and/or LOD.

That's an interesting idea Gazz. For gameplay justification, would those be HUD lights? (Not real lights that others would see, I mean.)

There's also a space game series called Galaxy on Fire where no matter where you are you can just press a button for autopiloting to the nearest station (friendly or no). I think that's how it does it; you might have to be within a certain proximity but I don't think so. It might also be that in some situations it just hyperspaces you to a system with a station instead; can't remember.

Yah, but with immediate autopilot control this could get messy if you launch from your carrier, flying to the station.

With my proposed system you would press SHIFT-d twice, first having it point towards your carrier (obviously), then to the station's docking bay.



And it doesn't matter if they are "HUD" lights or other. Having a literally see-through glass cockpit would be the stupidest thing ever in space so I assume that everything is transmitted by cameras. That's why you can have a 3rd person view.
And if it's a screen, a computer can surely include "lights" that are about as realistic as say, the real lights in some prototype of a space game.

That should be really easy to implement. When Josh puts in pathfinding, all you're doing is invoking the pathfinding call and placing a translucent path a la Dead Space.

DWMagus wrote:That should be really easy to implement. When Josh puts in pathfinding, all you're doing is invoking the pathfinding call and placing a translucent path a la Dead Space.

But pathing through dead space would be scary!

Gazz: That is such a good point I can't believe it didn't hit me on the head years ago. Of course, they're all HUDs because they're all monitors! That actually solves a lot of problems I've had with the genre. And you wouldn't want to be looking at actual stars, you'd be fried in your suit. I suppose the excuse of Battlestar Galactica et al was that their windows were "transparent aluminum" or something, but the HUD idea sells it for me.

After playing with the prototype (1.0) for a little while now, I've gotten a lot better with finding the stations. (The pattern of the blue dots has finally grown on me.) Still, it'll be good to have the stations and/or distinctions that Andy mentions.

Can't wait for the next version that's released at my level; I suppose that's the beta. Ahh!

coder1000

I'd like you to leave some asteroids in as really rough outpost type bases.. Could be the first type of base you can afford?

I agree should be more noticeable..