[1.8.1] Docking Port Alignment Indicator (Version 6.8.5 - Updated 12/14/19)

[RoboRay]

I think so... it would remove any ambiguity.

[NavyFish]

That change should be simple, but it will have to wait until later next week.

[Rybec]

Might consider putting that as a toggle in the options, so people can choose which system they're most comfortable with.

[Tripzter]

Personally i'd love to see the + and - being replaced by q and e.. that way you can just look which button you gotta press to get back to 0 degree offset. So say it shows Q 1.9, you press E to get back towards 0, then you pass it now it shows E 0.5 then you press Q to get back to 0 again.

[NavyFish]

Yes, but this is only useful around the 0 degree mark. What if you are trying to align at a 90 angle?

[Tripzter]

Say it shows Q 91.2. More towards q would make the number bigger, pressing E would make the number smaller

[HeadHunter67]

I have a request that may seem odd:

Can we have a way to close the window when we don't need to use it? I do like this plugin for difficult docking situations such as a particular port on a station, etc. But when I'm doing an ordinary rendezvous between two small craft, or using any available port on a station, I don't need the window and I have to drag it off to a corner. It would be beneficial for me to be able to close the window when I'd rather dock without its visual assistance.

[AbuMaia]

I'd also request the opposite case, opening the window to access the settings even when we're not in the middle of docking.

[CoriW]

Thanks for the awesome mod! I'm going to go try it right now.

[Tripzter]

I have a request that may seem odd:

Can we have a way to close the window when we don't need to use it? I do like this plugin for difficult docking situations such as a particular port on a station, etc. But when I'm doing an ordinary rendezvous between two small craft, or using any available port on a station, I don't need the window and I have to drag it off to a corner. It would be beneficial for me to be able to close the window when I'd rather dock without its visual assistance.

Dont set the docking ring as a target, set the ship it self as a target.

[HeadHunter67]

I'm not sure that will help - I want the port as the target so that I can dock via the Navball.

[Deadweasel]

I'm not sure that will help - I want the port as the target so that I can dock via the Navball.

Maybe if there was a context menu method?

Right-click: "Set as Target" or "Set as Alignment Target"

[gilflo]

Thank's for this brilliant mod!

I had my first docking with a big lander 52T as below on my space station and I did it at the first try!. I have been playing for 6 month and I never dock manually because it was boring me to figure out my position in space and try and try again docking...I used ORDA computer.

What I did here was to align my SS with my lander by designing it as a target for the SS, then I use smart ASAS from mechjeb to align SS with Lander. Could have done it manually then use ASAS to stay aligned.

I did the same thing with my lander. This way you don't need the upper gauge nor the directional arrow and you can align, whatever you position in space.

-So first step is completed and Orange circle centered.If not well centered, use RCS with staging mode to complete this step

Then I centered the Yellow circle using precision input in docking mode. It works like a flight director on aircraft following an ILS, you just have to arrange you control mapping so that when you hit your controls it brings your circle towards the horizontal and the vertical centerline by hitting left, right, up and down.

-Once Yellow circle align, just keep it align by small inputs, as few as possible, and play with forward and backward to adjust velocity. That's all

I only used 60 units of monoprop to dock!

I say again, very amazing mode and I think we don't need any more gauges or figures because it's very simple and intuitive and it must stay simple. Just use it like a flight director.

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[RoboRay]

Personally i'd love to see the + and - being replaced by q and e.. that way you can just look which button you gotta press to get back to 0 degree offset. So say it shows Q 1.9, you press E to get back towards 0, then you pass it now it shows E 0.5 then you press Q to get back to 0 again.

Not everyone uses the default controls. I use a joystick, but other people might be using different keys.

Edited August 20, 2013 by RoboRay

[Deadweasel]

Not everyone uses the default controls. I use a joystick.

Nothing else in the game tells you what you need to hit to do something, why would anybody need a reminder as to what to do to rotate? The only new information this mod provides in this particular case is which way you need to rotate to align with the current targeted port, and honestly that's really pretty self-evident. It just takes a moment to try the keys to see how the controls influence the markers, and their behavior matches perfectly with expectation.

If you need reminders to tell you how to rotate, you probably just need a little more practice with maneuvering in general, first.

Vertical marker is to the left of Top-Dead Center, rotate left toward it, etc.

[Tripzter]

Vertical marker is to the left of Top-Dead Center, rotate left toward it, etc.

Yes but when you're down to the 1 degree you wont see the needle move at all which is why i originally asked for increased precision near the 0-90-180-270 degree points.

[Deadweasel]

Yes but when you're down to the 1 degree you wont see the needle move at all which is why i originally asked for increased precision near the 0-90-180-270 degree points.

Oh I see! So a little more blatant direction indicator when the difference is so small you can't see it graphically. Makes sense, but hoo boy that must be some powerful OCD!

(totally kidding, I get your point)

[dr_jt]

Hi,

I use to do mods for another game and I know what a thankless job it generally is. I just want to say, "Well Done!" This is a really nice mod and enhances the KSP experience for me.

[AbuMaia]

So which way to move do the green lines indicate? If the vertical green line is left of the centre line, do I need to thrust to the left to move the crosshairs, or thrust to the right to move the green line back to the centre line? Same Q for the horizontal line.

[HeadHunter67]

Maybe if there was a context menu method?

Right-click: "Set as Target" or "Set as Alignment Target"

That might work, but I'm sure it's a lot easier to just code a button in the window that simply closes it when you don't want to use it. I'm not a programmer, but it's got to be the easier solution.

[Deadweasel]

So which way to move do the green lines indicate? If the vertical green line is left of the centre line, do I need to thrust to the left to move the crosshairs, or thrust to the right to move the green line back to the centre line? Same Q for the horizontal line.

If the green line is to the right of the center, you need to translate to the right. Basically, assuming you are already oriented properly with both rings in the center, start nudging toward whichever direction the green lines are from the center lines.

[HeadHunter67]

It's helpful to think of it this way:

Where the green lines cross is where you want the orange circle to be for a perfectly-aligned docking.

Looking at it this way, the required movement becomes intuitive, as opposed to the confusion caused when trying to drag the green lines to the orange circle instead. Same action, same result.

[AbuMaia]

So just like WASD moves the crosshairs to line up with the orange circle, IJKL moves the crosshairs (and orange circle when aligned) to line up with the green lines. Correct?

Edited August 21, 2013 by AbuMaia

[NavyFish]

Picture an imaginary line extending out from the target docking port. Call this "centerline". The green lines indicate where centerline is with respect to your ship. So if they are above and right of the gauge center, then your ship is below and left of centerline, so if you translate towards the green cross - up and right in this case, you will move toward centerline.

Note that the display is relative to your current orientation. So if the green cross is centered laterally but above the center of the gauge vertically, then you were to roll 180 degrees, the green cross would now be below the center of the gauge.

[softweir]

So just like WASD moves the crosshairs to line up with the orange circle, IJKL moves the crosshairs (and orange circle when aligned) to line up with the green lines. Correct?

Exactly correct!