Docking in hostile sector

ArsenicSpritzer · Post by **ArsenicSpritzer** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 5:51 am

Hi. I'm a bit late to the party, but I hope I can still get an answer.

I've read in many different places that the trick to docking at a station in a hostile sector is to simply target the station, set pitch 0, set inertia and hit Jump. That should line me up and all I have to do is scoot in ahead of the missiles. But it seems every time I try this, I'm not lined up properly and end up bouncing off the station's hull. I know heading is relevant to line up with gates and I can do that without a problem, but what I read (repeatedly) says this isn't necessary for stations. I've been failing this at Oasis for a while now, if that makes a difference.

So what am I doing wrong? Has there been an update that's changed this so that previous advice (admittedly from two+ years ago) is no longer valid? I'm exactly level with where I need to be (pitch 0), but always end up smacking into the hull precisely between two bays. That's got to be a problem with the jump coordinates, not my heading.

And a related question, am I physically in the universe during a jump so it's possible to collide with other objects like planets, stars, stations or other ships? Or does a clear "flight" path only matter when entering and emerging from a jump? If I were to set jump coordinates on one side of a station and jump from the OTHER side of that station, would I actually hit the station since my course from A to B should take me through it, or just appear in the other side of it on the same heading?

Thanks.

SeeJay · Post by **SeeJay** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 7:19 am

Hi and welcome.

You are almost correct in setting up the jump.
You also need to set your heading. There are 5 docking bays evenly spread out on 360 degrees.
Set your heading to 36, 108, 180, 252 or 324 and you'll dock right away if pitch is set to zero.

You will not collide during the jump itself but when you accelerate to jump speed and coming out of the jump you are vulnerable.
Stations normally don't kill you when you jump from inside it. Doesn't matter if you jump "through" a wall.
Haven't tried jumping "through" it as you describe but I don't think that' will kill you either.
Hitting atmosphere, asteroids, caves, stars etc will kill you!:P

Good luck!;)

Post by **DaveK** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 2:16 pm

From post: 167048, Topic: tid=11213, author=SeeJay wrote:Hi and welcome.

You are almost correct in setting up the jump.
You also need to set your heading. There are 5 docking bays evenly spread out on 360 degrees.
Set your heading to 36, 108, 180, 252 or 324 and you'll dock right away if pitch is set to zero.

There are a couple of compass tape mods available with the 5 docking gate entrances marked - quicker than doing it manually by eye!

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 3:41 pm

Hello ArsenicSprtizer! Welcome to the game/sim and forum community!

Both DaveK and SeeJay are correct and on target. The information regarding station entry that you have read (2 plus years out of date) primarily regards the docking technique that was suitable for the open station paradigm in Evo-Legends. Having a clear lane (or clear area) of travel for jump/warp inception is ideal. As I understand the 'warp mechanics', a 'warp tube' is created when you enter hyper-space, and dissolves upon exit. I have yet to experience, or hear tell from anyone, being a casualty during a warp transit. As SeeJay has said: planets, planetary atmosphere, asteroids and asteroid caves, and system stars are all 'hazards to navigation'. If you are disposed, hire on a navigator as a crew member. They're primarily tasked with providing/entering the coordinates/heading you select, but with an eye towards preventing mishap. This works really well, except when involved in a combat fur-ball and you mini-hop to a tactical advantage. The navigator has a definitely different interpretation of 'safety' in this particular regard.

If you are comfortable using mod files to enhance your Evochron experience, pick up one of the compass tape mods with the station portal degree hacks. If you don't already have one in place, create a folder entitled 'hud' (without the quotes) for placement within the game folder itself (not the savefile folder). Place the compass tape and compass tape shadow files within this folder. This will provide you with a better station portal entry tool than trying to do it manually all the time, as DaveK suggests.

Hope we've helped some.

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 4:45 pm

As Busch mentioned, the navigator can come in handy, especially once you install a Mantis jump drive. He will keep you from jumping beyond map range and into a planet.

EPICTHEFAIL · Post by **EPICTHEFAIL** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 4:50 pm

One more thing to note: the above only applies to trade stations. Constructors have 4 docking bays on headings 0, 90, 180, 270, pitch 0 for all, and carriers only have a bay on heading 180.

Also note that the docking bays on constructors and carriers are quite glitchy -- approaching a constructor`s bays at above 1000 tends to randomly kill you, and jumping within anything other that a trade station causes Flaming Death (TM) even when you`re lined up with the docking bays. Jumping inside a trade station is entirely harmless even if you mash your cockpit against the wall.

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 4:55 pm

Not a glitch. Operators of constructor stations are just a wee bit more demanding in how you approach ... less forgiving of sloppy docking procedures.

EPICTHEFAIL · Post by **EPICTHEFAIL** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:13 pm

And then they complain when no one wants to actually dock at their stations. Quite typical of Alliance engineers to almost get you killed through their own incompetence and then refuse to actually make what you want them to (yes, a load of metals known to be excellent conductors, brought by a pilot who makes custom weapons DEFINITELY means I want a load of armour plate). Sorry, just venting my frustrations a bit.

Busch · Post by **Busch** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 8:21 pm

Lol, Epic. Two good points in your above posts. Good job!

The trade station Delta and the Harris mining station, in Oly Primus, often have armor plate offerings available. (Both are game hard-wired.) One may need to station-hop to roll the menus on the IMG boards, however.

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:06 pm

From post: 167066, Topic: tid=11213, author=EPICTHEFAIL wrote:Sorry, just venting my frustrations a bit.

Some players are more frustrated in that there is no penalty for running into the side of a trade station.

ArsenicSpritzer · Post by **ArsenicSpritzer** » Tue Jan 28, 2014 10:52 pm

First, thanks for the welcomes. That's much appreciated.

So I've had a cockpit/HUD mod installed for a while now and lo and behold, there happens to be these interesting little marks on the heading display that just happen to correspond to the default headings for each of the bays of trade stations. Once I realized what they were for, I've been able to slide right into stations with very little mishap.

Thanks for cluing me into what those marks were for. It's probably in the notes for the mod but I either missed them or didn't understand the context of hot docking at the time and dismissed it.

I've come across one constructor so far and it didn't look very inviting to me so I wasn't planning on testing my luck with them anyway. I'm content to fly in on manual if I need them. I'll just do it in friendly space.

One last quick (related) question. Is there anyway to set heading and pitch with precision? I just eyeball it and get it close enough to do the job, but making those micro-adjustments to get perfectly lined up is a bit of an irritant. And it's impossible when taking fire because I get bounced around so much I can't even read my instruments. I'm pretty sure a steady hand is the only means of getting into position for a jump, but I wanted to be certain. There's plenty I've overlooked already.

Again, thanks for all the replies and the much needed advice.

Major Grubert · Post by **Major Grubert** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 12:52 am

My 2 cents,
If i need docking on a hostile place surrounded by reds... and dont want jump into station (mainly because.. dunno, i dont like it)
I exit my last jump around 1000 from station staying high velocity till aim station dock then accelerate up to 2500 let it go on relative mode, no heat, faster than missile

done

always keep in mind distance and speed, thats all, sometimes if really crowded with large hostiles just go faster or use some hiding device...

I dont like jump from inside a station to inside another one, i dunno, its not looking very logical from safety point of view to me (my personal game-play), even in future i think that kind of stations will use some field protection against direct warp jump to avoid accident, collision, fast attacks, and so on.. and on my personal point of view it should not be possible to jump from and in a x perimeters around stations...

and i do like manual docking while coming from strange angle and have to correct in relative mode, let it sliiide then push and correct fast for a nice docking motion

but i know my crew dont like it at all... ahahahhahaha

[Edited on 1-29-2014 by Major Grubert]

Post by **Marvin** » Wed Jan 29, 2014 1:03 am

From post: 167077, Topic: tid=11213, author=ArsenicSpritzer wrote:Is there anyway to set heading and pitch with precision?

Precision can be adjusted via whatever device you use to control your ship ... settings are available in-game by pressing the Esc key. You can then use one of the HUD mods to display pitch tic marks in single degrees and compass tic marks in ten-degree increments. Normally, though, precise heading and pitch is unnecessary ... unless you're following you science officer's directions while searching for hidden containers.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 1:03 am

Hi ArsenicSpritzer, welcome to the game and forum!.....There is also a trick to jump directly into the station without the need to slide in through one of the docking bays of a trade station. Kind of a spoiler. It is the same principle as when trying to jump through a wormhole in a black hole!......