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Traffic control within ESD (or who parks ships like this?)
amayakitsune
Member Posts: 977 Arc User
So... every time Im in ESD I usually stand and stare at the starships docked inside while Im crafting or doing DOff assignments... and as Im looking at them... my mind eventually comes to the fact that Starfleet traffic controllers must be completely inept at their jobs, because the parking inside ESD is atrocious...
Lets take a look at the parking. Heres the overhead view of the interior of the dome from Admiral Quinn's office:
Look at that! Its a mess... ships pointed at each other, with no clear way of egress ships that appear to have either entered while having top pass over others or have entered and immediately pulled 180 degree turns to park... it just makes no sense.
As an aside, Im aware that the numbers around the ring correspond to the frame numbers (interestingly the doors are 6 frames wide the 'north' door runs from frame 177 to frame 003). I would contend that this is inappropriate for diagram representing the locations of ships inside the dome and that frame numbers would be more appropriate for a map of the interior compartments. The numbers should be heading numbers, meaning 000, 090, 180, and 270 would be the numbers shown on the doors. This diagram would likely be a live image showing the real time positions of the ships as they move through the dome, much like the radar screens real air traffic controllers use. (Why Quinn has this in his office is a mystery, as ESDs traffic controllers would likely be in the 4 prongs on the central spire...)
Anyway... on to the parking jobs done in the dome... Judging by the way the ships are parked the traffic flow inside ESD appears to be this:
Each of the 4 doors appears to be designated for both ingress and egress to the dome, and I dont have an real issue with this part. Then ships appear to be allowed to go either port or starboard (relative to their entry) for berthing and this is where my issue lies... this is wholly unsafe and majorly complicated for bother entering ships and ships that need to depart. Traffic controllers will have to not only worry about ships entering and exiting but also ships in the middle of the blue areas. It greatly increases the chances of a starship striking another due to pilot error. Because Im a massive nerd and I have nothing better to do... Ive come up with suggestions to improve this...
Before I get to them I should define the areas as I see them:
The Flight Path: The 4 lanes leading directly from the space doors to the central spire. No ship should ever be allowed to park within these areas, and they should only be used as a holding pattern if traffic volume dictates it.
Semi- Permenant Berthing: These are the berths directly around the central spire, in the black area (in the image a Tempest, Phantom and Prometheus are docked to these berths (the latter two rather poorly)). I forsee these berths as those needed for ships that are undergoing mass crew transfers or other work that requires the ship be emptied of most of the personnel, or that other wise requires a hard dock with the station. These ships would be docked with a combination of mooring beams (low power tractor beams meant to keep the ships form moving relative to the station) and physical personnel umbilicials (like those we see the Enterprise use in some episodes of TNG). Depending on the ships docked and the orientation of those ships airlocks there could be a maximum of 4 ships docked per quadrant of the central spire (2 ships on either side) or 16 ships on the central spire.
Temporary Berthing: This is the blue area where the majority of the ships are currently docked in the image. This type of berthing is used for ships that do not require mass crew transfer or other physical connections. Ships that are passing through for shore leave, ships rotating through the Sol Defense Fleet or passing through the sector for any other reason. These ships would dock low to the "floor" of the dome (to allow ships to pass overhead if needed) and just be docked using mooring beams, using their transporters or shuttles to move crew to and from the station.
Shuttle Way: This is the hashed blue area nearest the outer edge of the dome. This area is reserved exclusively for shuttles, runabouts and work bees to move unhindered around the dome, whether it be to the opposite side or to navigate to starships in either of the two berthing areas. No starships would be allowed to berth within this area. (in my edited images... this will be shown with a grey line because Im bad at photoshop and I accidentally got rid of the hashing)
So... Ive defined the areas lets move on to the suggestions: (please note in my suggestions the arrows only represent starships movement, not shuttle way movememnt)
Suggestion 1: The Roundabout
This is probably the most complicated suggestion for both Temporary Berthing and for ingress and egress to the dome, but will make the best use of the Semi-Permenant Berthing spaces in the dome.
In this suggestion, much like the current traffic flow, all for space doors are designated for ingress and egress. However upon entering the dome, starships are only allowed to turn to port, meaning that all ships in Temporary Berthing will be facing the same way in their quadrant of the dome, toward their exit. Starships will never be facing each other bow to bow. and now starship will be allowed to cross the flight path unless exiting the dome. Starships requiring Semi-Permenant Berthing will simply enter straight and use either the port or starboard (relative to their bow) docking arm, and upon exit will follow the traffic flow to port and exit or exit as they came in during slack periods. Traffic flow in the Shuttle Way will go around the dome to port as well, similar to a one way road or an actual roundabout.
So this one is the most complicated of my suggestions, but is simpler than the current way. Also, looks much much nicer.
Suggestion 2: Alternating
So this suggestion is the most similar to the current way, but improves on it slightly. Although Semi-Permenant berthing becomes slightly more complicated.
In this suggestion, 2 doors (those on opposite sides of the dome) are designated for ingress, and 2 for egress. Ships entering the dome can be directed to turn either to port OR starboard from the entry doors to be pointed toward their exit point. Ships will be facing bow to bow, but only across the flight path and never within Temporarily Berthing. Ships in need of Semi-Permenant Berthing will, as above enter straight in, and be directed to either the port or starboard docking arms OR to docking arms on the exit sides of the station (by passing through Temporary Berthing), where they will then exit directly out the door. Shuttle Way traffic will move in either direction around the dome, similar to a two way road.
Slightly less complicated for ship ingress and egress... but more complicated for Semi-Permenant Berthing, and more complicated overall. Still looks much nicer than the current version...
_____
So there you have my suggestions. Yes. Im a huge nerd. No I had nothing better to do... I do hope taco sees this... his parking is bad. :P
Lets take a look at the parking. Heres the overhead view of the interior of the dome from Admiral Quinn's office:
Look at that! Its a mess... ships pointed at each other, with no clear way of egress ships that appear to have either entered while having top pass over others or have entered and immediately pulled 180 degree turns to park... it just makes no sense.
As an aside, Im aware that the numbers around the ring correspond to the frame numbers (interestingly the doors are 6 frames wide the 'north' door runs from frame 177 to frame 003). I would contend that this is inappropriate for diagram representing the locations of ships inside the dome and that frame numbers would be more appropriate for a map of the interior compartments. The numbers should be heading numbers, meaning 000, 090, 180, and 270 would be the numbers shown on the doors. This diagram would likely be a live image showing the real time positions of the ships as they move through the dome, much like the radar screens real air traffic controllers use. (Why Quinn has this in his office is a mystery, as ESDs traffic controllers would likely be in the 4 prongs on the central spire...)
Anyway... on to the parking jobs done in the dome... Judging by the way the ships are parked the traffic flow inside ESD appears to be this:
Each of the 4 doors appears to be designated for both ingress and egress to the dome, and I dont have an real issue with this part. Then ships appear to be allowed to go either port or starboard (relative to their entry) for berthing and this is where my issue lies... this is wholly unsafe and majorly complicated for bother entering ships and ships that need to depart. Traffic controllers will have to not only worry about ships entering and exiting but also ships in the middle of the blue areas. It greatly increases the chances of a starship striking another due to pilot error. Because Im a massive nerd and I have nothing better to do... Ive come up with suggestions to improve this...
Before I get to them I should define the areas as I see them:
The Flight Path: The 4 lanes leading directly from the space doors to the central spire. No ship should ever be allowed to park within these areas, and they should only be used as a holding pattern if traffic volume dictates it.
Semi- Permenant Berthing: These are the berths directly around the central spire, in the black area (in the image a Tempest, Phantom and Prometheus are docked to these berths (the latter two rather poorly)). I forsee these berths as those needed for ships that are undergoing mass crew transfers or other work that requires the ship be emptied of most of the personnel, or that other wise requires a hard dock with the station. These ships would be docked with a combination of mooring beams (low power tractor beams meant to keep the ships form moving relative to the station) and physical personnel umbilicials (like those we see the Enterprise use in some episodes of TNG). Depending on the ships docked and the orientation of those ships airlocks there could be a maximum of 4 ships docked per quadrant of the central spire (2 ships on either side) or 16 ships on the central spire.
Temporary Berthing: This is the blue area where the majority of the ships are currently docked in the image. This type of berthing is used for ships that do not require mass crew transfer or other physical connections. Ships that are passing through for shore leave, ships rotating through the Sol Defense Fleet or passing through the sector for any other reason. These ships would dock low to the "floor" of the dome (to allow ships to pass overhead if needed) and just be docked using mooring beams, using their transporters or shuttles to move crew to and from the station.
Shuttle Way: This is the hashed blue area nearest the outer edge of the dome. This area is reserved exclusively for shuttles, runabouts and work bees to move unhindered around the dome, whether it be to the opposite side or to navigate to starships in either of the two berthing areas. No starships would be allowed to berth within this area. (in my edited images... this will be shown with a grey line because Im bad at photoshop and I accidentally got rid of the hashing)
So... Ive defined the areas lets move on to the suggestions: (please note in my suggestions the arrows only represent starships movement, not shuttle way movememnt)
Suggestion 1: The Roundabout
This is probably the most complicated suggestion for both Temporary Berthing and for ingress and egress to the dome, but will make the best use of the Semi-Permenant Berthing spaces in the dome.
In this suggestion, much like the current traffic flow, all for space doors are designated for ingress and egress. However upon entering the dome, starships are only allowed to turn to port, meaning that all ships in Temporary Berthing will be facing the same way in their quadrant of the dome, toward their exit. Starships will never be facing each other bow to bow. and now starship will be allowed to cross the flight path unless exiting the dome. Starships requiring Semi-Permenant Berthing will simply enter straight and use either the port or starboard (relative to their bow) docking arm, and upon exit will follow the traffic flow to port and exit or exit as they came in during slack periods. Traffic flow in the Shuttle Way will go around the dome to port as well, similar to a one way road or an actual roundabout.
So this one is the most complicated of my suggestions, but is simpler than the current way. Also, looks much much nicer.
Suggestion 2: Alternating
So this suggestion is the most similar to the current way, but improves on it slightly. Although Semi-Permenant berthing becomes slightly more complicated.
In this suggestion, 2 doors (those on opposite sides of the dome) are designated for ingress, and 2 for egress. Ships entering the dome can be directed to turn either to port OR starboard from the entry doors to be pointed toward their exit point. Ships will be facing bow to bow, but only across the flight path and never within Temporarily Berthing. Ships in need of Semi-Permenant Berthing will, as above enter straight in, and be directed to either the port or starboard docking arms OR to docking arms on the exit sides of the station (by passing through Temporary Berthing), where they will then exit directly out the door. Shuttle Way traffic will move in either direction around the dome, similar to a two way road.
Slightly less complicated for ship ingress and egress... but more complicated for Semi-Permenant Berthing, and more complicated overall. Still looks much nicer than the current version...
_____
So there you have my suggestions. Yes. Im a huge nerd. No I had nothing better to do... I do hope taco sees this... his parking is bad. :P
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I agree that they should probably face the same direction and sport a recognizable pattern. But also keep in mind that you can probably also "stack" ships - the dome is rather big. In addition to horizontal docking stations you probably have vertical stories as well.
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You could stack ships... but you wouldnt. Stacking ships wouldnt allow for traffic to flow. You would need to leave space above parked ships equivelant to the height of the tallest ships capable of entering the dome+a reasonable clearance. I think at this point the tallest ship capable of entering ESD's dome is a Galaxy-class, so whatever the height of a Galaxy-class is + X number of meters.
For instance (using suggestion one above):
A Sovereign pulls into ESD (using the 'south' door) and moves into a temporary berth close to the 'west' door. Shortly there after a Prometheus pulls in and is directed to dock above the Sovereign. After that, a Galaxy-class pulls in and berths behind the Sovereign. A short time later the Galaxy is ready to leave, but the Sovereign and Prometheus are not... The Galaxy is now blocked from leaving out its exit door, and either has to wait or pull a 180 and leave the way it came in, neither of which should be acceptable. However if the Prometheus had been directed to dock behind the Sovereign (or beside it) then the Galaxy could move up and over the ships parked ahead of it and exit the dome. Lateral docking (that is ships parked abeam to each other would be acceptable, so long as ships do not cross into the Shuttle way or the central spire where the semi permenant berths are.
Where you would stack ships are the central docking arms, what Ive termed 'Semi-Permanent Berths', and I for see a maximum of 16 Semi-Permanent Berths (4 ships per docking arm or 4 ships per dome quadrant, however you want to think about it.), depending on what ships are docked there. Perhaps 20 if ships like the Defiant (and their like, which have bow airlocks) dock directly onto the central spire and not on the docking arms.
For the record Im much more partial to Suggestion 1 than I am number 2.
Great! I'll just delete it.
Problem solved.
:::dusts off hands:::
By the ships pulling a 180, I assume you are referring to the Scryer/Galaxy? Have you never pulled through a space in a parking lot, such that your nose is out on the far side, and not in on the spot you entered? Ships have thrusters. They can move backwards, or sidewards or upwards or downwards. They can spin in place, or do pirouettes if they like. And the Docking Bay has tractor beams. It's not hard to turn a ship around in there. It's built for that.
I will concede that the ships pointed toward each other are mostly for the aesthetics of the view from within the ESD Interior.
Ship's headings are based on their orientation to the Galactic Core. The Core is essentially "North." A ship's compass would not necessarily reorient itself to match a station's, just because they were within it's dome. Nor would ESD necessarily be oriented such that a door was directly pointed at the Core.
Frame numbering was taken directly from naval vessels of today, and is used for locations around ESD. Combined with the Deck Number, and it acts as an address. I see no reason why those addresses would necessarily be tossed out for the Docking Bay. IMO, a ship is told to park between Frame 138 and 156, just as a plane at an airport would be told to pull up to Gate G12.
Because we thought it was a cool thing to show. Clearly we were wrong. Apologies all around, I will delete it shortly.
Tractor beams, man! Tractor Beams!
0:39 - "Spacedock, you have control."
In addition, I don't think there are ships coming and going nearly as often as you imply. During the above video, the Enterprise is the ONLY ship we see moving at all, and we certainly don't see any other ships entering/exiting at the same time. This does not get the traffic that an airport gets. They deal with one ship at a time, except in the case of an emergency. If multiple ships want to dock at the same time, one is simply put on hold until the other has completed it's procedure.
These are mostly on point, and jibe with my thoughts. Though I don't understand how you are getting 16 ships docked at the center pillar? I would argue that ships docked at the pillar are not necessarily umbillicalled to the station. I could easily see a ship pulling up to the pillar, umbillicalling, offloading crew, detaching, reparking elsewhere, and then reattaching later to pick up the crew once they were ready to depart.
In addition, the "Shuttle Way" is too low (due to the slanted roof) to fit anything other than very small ships. The Shading was done mostly to show the grey area for docking ships, not specifically for shuttle passage. Though that does make sense, and it is, in fact, where I already have my shuttles/runabouts/workbees flying.
So . . . if you don't like ships being nose to nose, because it doesn't allow them to egress easily, why is nose to butt any better? How does the Galaxy leave if the Scryer isn't?
Pretty much the same issue as above.
Why?
I don't think there is enough vertical space to stack larger ships. Small ships, I guess, but it seems like an unnecessary compression for little gain. IMO, the Docking Bay is rarely filled with ships. We generally have 10-12 ships around, and that feels pretty reasonable. Most ships require repairs would be at the drydocks outside. Ships may enter the Docking Bay to offload crew (as I outlined above) but that doesn't mean the ship has to stay there. In times of emergency, I could see more ships being in the bay, and perhaps stacking would be necessary. But in the average day to day, I don't think it's needed.
Again, I don't think that's a huge issue. Ships can move backwards, even out the Docking Bay doors. see the above videos.
You seem to think there is much more space there than there actually is. You may be able to dock 16 small (defiant/Nova sized) ships, but you couldn't do more than 8 medium sized (Akira/Chimera) ships (if you stacked them), and 4 large (Galaxy/Vesta) ships.
So ... about putting an Excelsior back in ...
It IS a cool thing, please don`t delete it.
Link: Castra - a german Fleet.
I understand where frame numbers come from. And heres why they make no sense inside the dome... ships would be unable to reliably park between frames... they wouldnt be marked within the dome... they would only be marked on the interior of the station where there are people.
Headings would be used to direct ships within the dome, and for exiting and entering the dome. The station rotates in space, as it orbits the Earth, it would be trivial to keep the station oriented with the galactic core do that 000, 090, 180 and 270 remain constant inside and outside the dome.
Or the station controllers could use relative headings inside the dome and then ships could switch to the standard headings upon exiting, which is slightly more complicated, but no less probable.
And its not like a parking lot where ships would be directed to a space that happens to be pained on the "floor" of the dome. They would be guided by a controller to parking, and once moored in place, would be done, and then other ships would be directed to park around already parked ships, essentially creating fluid "parking spaces" that exist only as long as the ship that occupies them is parked.
No where did I say it wasnt cool...
Starfleet was a lot smaller back in those days... and they werent in the throws of a major nearly galaxy wide war at that point in time... the ESD of 2410 would no doubt be a busy busy place now.
A maximum of 16, meaning depending on what ships are docked, there could very well be less docked to the docking arms. For instance, if theres a galaxy doeck on one arm... there probably wont be another ship docked below it. But there could be a Prometheus and a Nova docked to the other arm next to it.
Additionally it makes no sense for ships to umbilical for a short time only to then move to parking in the dome... the way I envision it, this is for ships that require longer term parking. or that need to transfer material that doesnt react well to transporters, or for mass shoreleaves. These ships are intending to stay for multiple days, so they would stay docked.
The ships parked in the blue are there for at most a day and dont need a physical connection to the station and can use their transporters or shuttles to move crew and material to and from the station.
I figured the hashed area was like that because it was too tight to allow most ships to dock... so I decided to put it to use... and with the pass through shuttle bays ESD possesses it makes sense to dedicate it to shuttle traffic.
This is why I mentioned that ships in temporary parking park low to the "floor" of the dome, to allow passage over parked ships in the event that ships that came in later need to leave earlier.
Also... nose to butt looks better, from a purely technical "this is how it would likely be done" standpoint.
And its addressed in pretty much the same way as above, with the added benefit of dedicating two doors for ingress and 2 for egress, while complicating docking to the docking arms attached to the central spire. And ships are only parked nose to nose across the flight path.
The larger ships probably couldnt stack... ie you probably arent stacking two Galaxy-classes in the dome... not without hampering traffic flow anyway. But smaller ships (Sovereign and below) could probably stack without hampering flow, and only in periods of high traffic. Additionally ships could be docked abeam of each other, depending on size (again 2 Galaxy-classes probably arent parking next to each other... but 2 Prometheus-classes probably could).
The can... but they really shouldnt. Im complicates things, as does ships moving around in the dome for any reason other than ingress or egress.
As I said, a maximum of 16, but yes they would be stacked (top and bottom) 4 per flight path heading (4 at 000, 4 at 090 4 at 180 and 4 at 270) for a maximum total of 16 depending on docking configuration. (With the possibility for an additional 4 ships that dock via bow airlocks (ships like the Defiant/Sao Paulo/Valiant etc and possibly the Phantom) directly to the central spire rather than the docking arms.)
Ah, yes, that makes sense. I completely forgot about the large number of drydocks and smaller stations that orbit Earth alone and there are plenty of other shipyards and maintenance stations all around as well. ESD really is just the hub for crew transfer and the like and ships to be refitted/repaired would likely dock, transfer crew and then be brought to some shipyard/drydock by a maintenance crew/tractor beams/runabout tow shuttle. In that case it makes sense that all the ships don't really stay in there for very long.
That bears the question, though, should our player ships really "dock" ESD all the time when especially our characters don't really leave ship on foot but get beamed over anyway? Yeah, nitpicking. And I know we can even fly through the big gate.
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Why? With tractor beams and traffic control seeming to be the ones moving ships around inside the dome, why couldn't they be positioned precisely (if even needed)? And why would frame numbers not be marked inside the dome? It's just paint, they can mark them if they want to.
Why would headings be used? Airplanes don't use headings on the ground, they use runway numbers and gate numbers. They follow signs, and the directions given to them by air traffic control.
We know that ESD is in geo-synchronous orbit over the Atlantic. I guess we don't know if it's tidally locked, but there is also no evidence that it spins in place.
Sure, I agree with that, but I don't understand why there would not be guide markings throughout the dome. Even if it's not frame numbers, there would be something to indicate your position within the dome. Heading is not enough. Heading only indicates your current facing. Heading doesn't not indicate where you are located within the Docking Bay.
Sure, and the Docking Bay at ESD already has 3-4x the number of ships in it as we've ever seen in there on screen. It can be much busier, and still not have ships crashing into each other trying to get through the door.
Ships might be staying for multiple days or weeks, but that doesn't mean that they would stay attached for the entire time. If I pull in my ship of 1000 crew to ESD, and have a week of shoreleave planned while my ship gets retrofitted, we could pull in, offload the majority of the crew in a few hours, then back out to the main Docking Bay, and free up that spot fro another ship. I'm not saying ships CAN'T stay attached, just that it's not required just because the ship is still around.
Nothing has to be this set in stone. A ship that has docked and offloaded it's crew/transporter sensitive materials could
back out to this area. Think of it like the Cell Phone Waiting Area at the airport. Not everyone has to sit there at the curb the whole time. You really only need to be at the curb when you want to pick up your passengers and cargo. Otherwise, you just need to be in the area. (Especially with Transporters and Shuttles)
Maybe, I'd have to poke around with some ships in there to see if there's even enough room for that.
Again, I don't think it's busy enough to need that, nor is backing out of the Docking Bay a problem. (As shown by TNG)
That is 100% subjective.
According to who? We see it clearly in TNG. It doesn't appear to be an issue. No one talks about what a pain it is. It's all automated.
Doesn't the video clip above from ST3 show the Enterprise traveling a straight line to ESD ... that is spinning?
At some point, I'm sure RCS thrusters are activated to have the ship "slide" in order to match the trajectory of the station's movement ... if it's moving.
Anyways, I think the Prometheus has been in ESD long enough. I recommend moving it out, replacing it with the Chimera, and then putting the Excelsior/Resolute where the Chimera was. Yes, that's the ticket.
Traffic control are directing the ships inside the dome. Ships would be under their own thruster power and moored via their own mooring beams. Automatic pilot would only be used for ingress or egress and only in periods of high traffic.
Why wouldnt frames be marked? For the same reason frames arent marked on the interior of an aircraft carriers hangar bay... the bay takes up the space between two frames but doesnt have any frames in it. Similarly the interior of the dome occupies the internal volume, but there are no frames inside it... frames or positional data for personnel to make their way around a ship.
Runway numbers ARE headings... Runway 09 is a runway that is pointed down heading 090... runway 18 is a runway pointed down heading 180, and etc.
So when given heading by traffic control in the dome, directing them to park they are following the same form of directions that modern day air traffic controllers are using when directing aircraft on the ground using runway numbers and hate numbers.
More over... starships, even those docking with in ESD are more akin to plaes inflight than they are to plans on the ground, and headings and bearings make more sence for directing them.
Did you watch the ST3 clip you posted? You can see the station rotating even as the Enterprise approaches. Better yet, watch through the doors from the inside at 1:04... you can see the stars moving as the station rotates...
There probably would be forms of markings to identify the quadrant of the dome youre in (likely Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma) but other than that and some potential lines for general guidance, there probably wouldnt be much else.
Ofcourse... but thats not an excuse.
It would be inefficient to move ships like that. But I'll concede that they dont necessarily need to be attached.
Even a quasi-military installation such as ESD would have things set in stone for ease.
But more over, Im likening the blue to Short Term Parking and the central spire to Long Term Parking at a modern day airport. Obviously with the scales involved 'Short term' goes from a few hours at most to a few days at most and 'long term' goes from a few days at most to a week at most. For the record anything longer than a week or requiring more complex work would be a job for the drydocks outside rather than the interior of the dome.
I would actually like to see just how many ships can go in the ESD dome... I do postulate that there would be enough space to allow one galaxy-class to pass over another safely. but not for 1 galaxy to pass over 2 galaxys safely (if at all).
The act of entering and exiting is automated... movement within the dome is done by the ship itself with verbal guidance from controllers... (even in that ST3 clip Sulu is the one who moors the ship, not ESD control). And even exiting or entering doesnt HAVE to be automated given that Kirk steals the enterprise... and I very much doubt ESD control decided to automate that for him...
So yes... the act of backing out of the door could be automated... but getting the ships there to back out is an unsafe procedure, and should generally be avoided.
Where, anywhere in this topic, has anyone (myself included) implied that fun is incapable of being had in the game with ESD the way it is?
That being said... it was fun for me to come up with the things I did, and with the reasonings I have... I was bored... it was late... and I was standing in ESD as I often do in STO while doing things between queues. So I wanted to have some fun and start a discussion... which I seem to have done. I enjoy having discussions, even if I dont see eye to eye with the person on the other side of the discussion. Id like to think taco (and/or anyone else) does too.
Pssst...starships are remotely parked by Dock Control. Though I agree that the tractor beams are there when in a pinch. We could use a cut scene to show our ship being remotely parked by Dock Control. Which isn't Taco's area. But just sayin'. It would indicate simply that we (the player or as the Captain) needn't worry about the complexities of enough elbow room.
As Dock Control says in ST: III, "Enjoy the ride." And the cut scene.
But the map in Quinn's office is just fine.
Or that one time in Enterprise where Reed dings the paint on the NX-01... or that one time the Defiant almost bangs straight into a docking pylon in DS9... saying it never happens is silly...
They are remotely guided in. Sulu moors the ship manually at the end of the clip, and looks to be doing other things with the helm as they discuss the Excelsior. They could potentially be remotely docked as well, but that is an inefficient use of the controllers time.
He's playing Minesweeper.
Or like, monitoring things.
Or maybe, just poking random buttons to look busy, since it's a movie.
For the record, I don't mind discussions, but it seems like this thread is less about discussing how things work, and more about you laying out your own vision for how they work. Maybe our personal headcanons just don't agree.
Because for some people discussing stuff like that is fun. This is not about some essential gamebreaking bug or anythng, but it doesn't always have to be about that. I found it interesting and saw merit in having them aligned the same as well, although I don't get the aircraft analogy since, well, they're not airplanes and all. But I feel the whole nature of the space dock as opposed to drydocks and shipyards have explained how things work at that point. Also, Taco pointed out that the alignment of the ships is primarily build around aesthetics although it can be made work since the ships we see aren't supposed to be there all the time but to rotate after unloading the crew. And canon supports this alignment as well, so...
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Btw @f2pdrakron, I watched ST3 in the theaters and clearly remember the audience reaction to that scene. When the Excelsior was shown there were clapping and some Booing, but when the Ent-A was shown ... you'd have to close your ears from the roaring cheers and applause.
Man, it was a moment.
/threadjack OFF
Setting them up to swap every time you beam in would be a problem, since EVERYONE is beaming in ALL THE TIME.
Having them move about properly is pretty much impossible without significantly updated tech.
Yeah, we know. It's on the list to get updated, but it's lower priority than regular content. If/when I get a day or two free, I'll update it.
Out of curiosity, which ship is most likely to get that sweet spot - Command Cruiser, Pilot Escort or Advanced Heavy Cruiser (T6)?
^Words that every player should keep in mind, especially whenever there's a problem with the game...
Park a Risian Corvette there just to show off what can no longer be gotten. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
We come in peace, SHOOT TO KILL!
UGLY!
I take offense to that....
Thats a perty Ship!
Who exactly? Are you on about the nice environmental artist who posted above? Do you normally ask your decorators to fix your windows?
Norway and Yeager dammit... I still want my Typhoon and Jupiter though.
JJ Trek The Kelvin Timeline is just Trek and it's fully canon... get over it. But I still prefer TAR.
#TASforSTO
'...I can tell you that we're not in the military and that we intend no harm to the whales.' Kirk: The Voyage Home
'Starfleet is not a military organisation. Its purpose is exploration.' Picard: Peak Performance
'This is clearly a military operation. Is that what we are now? Because I thought we were explorers!' Scotty: Into Darkness
'...The Federation. Starfleet. We're not a military agency.' Scotty: Beyond
'I'm not a soldier anymore. I'm an engineer.' Miles O'Brien: Empok Nor
'...Starfleet could use you... It's a peacekeeping and humanitarian armada...' Admiral Pike: Star Trek
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Windows? No, decorators fix my lawn, gardeners fix my roof, roofers do the plumbing, and plumbers fix the windows.
We come in peace, SHOOT TO KILL!
Depends on when we do it. We'll probably grab whatever the new hotness is at the time.
Don't tempt me.