leaden lion
So right now a player usually has to press a button to open the first door, and then press another button to cycle the airlock and open the second door.
I've seen many suggestions asking to make the process automated, but it inevitably runs into the issue of the doors closing in your friend's faces, which usually ends up being waved away by suggesting to make the automatic mechanism toggleable.
I suggest a better idea: let's have it half-automated!
It goes like this: the first door opens automatically when it detects a player approaching, unless someone is close to the other side and is holding their end of the airlock open, in which case the first player would need to manually override the door and open it by hitting the outside button just as it functions today.
However, if no player is holding the other side of the door, the entrance door will open automatically, allowing the player a faster and easier access to the airlock chamber without interacting with anything. To actually cycle the airlock and open the other door the player would still need to press the button on the inside of the airlock, upon which the door they came through closes and the other one opens, just like it does today.
This way the required button presses are cut in half but the player is still given the ability to wait for their teammates if multiple people are rushing back to the ship. I believe this is honestly a no downsides solution to the issue 🙂
willow condor