Docking Range

[uneven void]

if it hasnt been said yet or enough, PLEASE increase the docking range from stations.

[viscid scroll]

What exactly do you mean by "docking range"?

[uneven void]

how close ships can dock at stations. i had 2 small monolith ships turn a station into a turbine.

[timber vessel]

But what is docking?

[next ocean]

Maybe hailing? How close AI ships get when trying to transfer resources?

[uneven void]

when you click a station or asteroid and your ship moved to it, then reorganizes and you see a green line leading to it. you are docked. im confused about why i need to explain docking in a space game.

[timber vessel]

Docking isn’t a feature yet, you’re technically “following” the station

[uneven void]

it is practically the same thing.

[timber vessel]

True

[next ocean]

Yeah, usually when people say “docking” they mean that the two ships are actually touching in such a way that the crew can go from one ship to the other without going outside into space. This is currently impossible but will probably be added in a later version.

[uneven void]

the devs dont need to trouble themselves with something the game already has. the AI pathfinding on the other hand is a very serious problem.

[dark crater]

Translation : Make that ship don't approach stations that close

[outer sapphire]

1: this isnt docking. its just the "follow" feature.
2: you can change how close your ship will "follow" asteroids/stations. as for ai, its unfortunate but increasing the distance of this likely wont help that much with the ai just being stupid.
3: you can hail stations from any distance within your radar, you dont need to get close to it unless you just want to be able to trade faster

the docking distance itself is pretty far for ai ships im pretty sure. its just that the ai doesnt know how to properly stop in time for some reason

[uneven void]

if the station is a turbine guess what cant happen? ships cannot trade to it. please do not argue semantics with me. when you tie a boat to a pier its docked. it is the same tethering the ship to the station or asteroid. its docked. the devs do not need to add something as cosmetic as "clicking a station that brings up a menu" over cleaning up AI pathfinding.

[outer sapphire]

again my point is that "docking" distance isnt the issue here just really stupid ai

increasing the docking distance would make trading take way longer on npc ships

and it wouldnt probably do much to solve the core issue

[viscid scroll]

I mean dosnt have to be way back, and manipulator beams on stations would help speed things up, it's not a proper fix sure but still helps a little

[outer sapphire]

ive found that the main cause of these situations is where one merchant ship comes in after another, and the collission avoidance goes haywire and forces them to both careen into the station

maybe it would help a bit but idk

[viscid scroll]

Usually when trading I have to park myself further back either way

[uneven void]

i think the issue is much deeper. you can see it even in combat and when the ai is trying to path around asteroids. it tries to strafe rather than turn around, use the back thrusters and go to the clicked point

[outer sapphire]

yeha thats def one of the things

esp when a lot of career ships dont have good or any strafe

it usually works alright enough in flight and combat but breaks down sometimes and causes mosh pits

because collission avoidance demands strafe pretty often

[shy pelican]

hear me out:
what if NPC (and player ships alike) get marked as hostile if they push around a station for too long.

so the ships doing that are automatically destroyed and harvested by the station

[viscid scroll]

That doesn't fix the issue of pathfinding being a big problem