Panets and Docking Rings.

[Baltar]

I always thought the docking rings were there to give specific entry and exit vectors for ships. These corridors prevent any collisions from happening. Either from other soace craft or the local terrestrial air transports.

I do think the there should be separate docking areas for unlawfuls in planets. Makes a bit of sense that they could have some way of approaching a planet and landing. They would lead to a seedier side of the planet with a new bar, equipment dealer and comodaties broker. Although I think the problem with that is the planets can only be set to one faction owner. So...kills that idea

There's at least one planet in Galia that has 2 docking rings. And each ring is run by a different faction ... so this idea is very plausible. I like it.

Rings are out, make no sense.

Docking moors need to stay. Makes sense to off-load crews and cargo onto space elevators and lower to the surface, keeping bulky ships from clogging spaceports.

Again ... you gotta break the laws of physics to have mooring fixtures staying in one place. Unless they are in geostationary orbit (about twice the diameter of the planet away from the surface) it wouldn't work. And since planets and such do not orbit in this game ... we're stuck with an illogical setup. Please ... lets not micro-role play here. Large ships CAN land on planets. Not every planet has a huge gravitational pull. Some of these planets barely have any gravity and some barely have an atmosphere. Every planet has a different makeup and in some cases ... a huge planet would crush a small vessel due to extreme atmospheric conditions and gravitational pull.

So ... you want realism ... might wanna hit F9 when you select a planet ... read what it says about its atmosphere and gravitational pull. If you're a small fighter or a freighter and you try to land on a planet with a hostile atmosphere or extreme gravity ... get some insurance cause your ship's gonna fall apart on entry.

Now ... I do see some logic in the huge ships "landing" on planets or "docking" with itty bitty bases. You'd expect to have some way to transport goods to and fro.

Another thing about micro-role playing ... and a bit off topic ... but it still applies to this discussion. In open space ... away from trade lanes and beyond the reaches of planets and such ... you'd expect to see large vessels but NOT fighters or small freighters. Reason is this ... smaller vessels do not have the fuel nor the capability to fly too far from some form of support. A small fighter just puttin along in the Omicrons would run out of fuel eventually. Not to mention that the pilot would have to wear a diaper since he has no bathroom facilities ... nor does he have a galley to prepare meals. Fighters are short range vessels. Unless he's flying with a battleship or cruiser or something ... he's gonna be just another piece of space junk eventually. Gunboats and larger are capable vessels to survive open space. Same goes for freighters and transports. A freighter should be the vessel docking with the transport to bring the cargo to the surface ... they are too small to survive open space for any length of time.

[AdamantineFist]

There, the docking rings info card.

Which makes no sense. After all, if your ship can withstand both all the harsh conditions of deep space AND heavy laser fire, I'd think they'd be built to withstand re-entry. Docking rings are pointless and weird, mooring fixtures make sense. Although the rings DO allow for multiple entry points, I'm sure we could find a way around that if we needed to. Perhaps a docking area around planets and invisible docking rings for secondary bases?

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[dr lameos]

Erm... while we're discussing science and logic... tradelanes? nomads? mass-less armour upgrades? the engines themselves? the physics?

Seriously, Freelancer isn't meant to be scientifically sound, it wouldn't work if it was.

However, if we must discuss it, the docking rings' elevator doesn't go all the way to the planet, infact probably only slows down/assists in speeding up a ship through the outer atmosphere, once it's slowed down enough it can detach and fly to the ground under it's own propulsion. Then it takes off under it's own power, flys upwards til it needs some assistance, docks with the elevator.

It works fine, Ageira's developed many things which don't make sense by our logic, but they're basing it from Daam'K'vosh material, an 'advanced race'. So they came up with some impossible magical stuff.

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[Turkish]

As I recall, doesn't the infocard say soemthing about crystaline strands that are of superstrength being used in docking ring technology, to pull or guide ships in?

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I have a fetish for all things Norse.

[Blodo]

Docking rings are a concept of the "space elevator" to guide ships through the upper atmosphere onto the planet surface. Most ships would be unable to survive entry without the use of one, as proved by ships exploding if they enter the atmosphere of a planet without a docking ring. And since space elevators are a bunch of machinery, they can be controlled by the local government. That doesn't mean that in RP factions cant send packages and people onto a hostile planet in drop pods or spy ships, its just a whole lot harder for them.

[reavengitair]

Honestly, remove the docking rings. They look ****, and they cause alot of problems.

[Cellulanus]

The entire in RP point of Docking Rings is to make landing and taking off economical, a fighter would probably use up a large portion of its fuel without it, and the costs would probably outweigh the value of the cargo for transport class ships.


Sure unlawfuls COULD land on planets and make basses on the planets, but why would they? Their ships would use up massive amounts of fuel when launching and satellite tracking would make it outrageously easy for lawfulls to find the bases and in turn simple flatten the base from orbit if its in a remote area, or take it with military ground troops, vehicles and fighters that are operating in the atmosphere. (The Valkyries in SP demonstrated how effective fighters are against land targets.)


Why go through all of the risks when they could easily set up a space station or take over an abandoned one and operate safely away from the eyes of the law with the big guns? Yes there are probably unlawful bases on planets but they probably fit into one of two category. A) They operate exclusively on the planet with little or no contact with the space forces or B) they are the "fences" for the assorted smugglers that sell the goods there.

[DiscoveryAccount]

Ahem... sorry Johann Brunhild but I think your logic fails as I think you are pretending things while about details we know nothing of.

First, today we use a lot of fuel to get out in space with our space ships.. but who said that in Freelancer it is so? Maybe the ships are actually taking off to space from planets don't need so much fuel because of advanced ship technology and a very efficient kind of fuel.

And pirates can have bases on planets for sure. It's not like they can really scan them and see that they are RED PIRATES. pirates are organized, they would use false IDs and they would find some ways to conceal where they are actually going. Or maybe they wold be some known company that is actually pirate owned without anyone knowing it.

And about the satellite.. they could have as well underground bases who knows?

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[Friday]

I know that Freeworlds doesnt use Docking Rings - they use small Docking Buoys.

This makes the planets look 'cleaner' to me, no fugly docking rings covering the equivalent of thousands of square miles of terrain. Ships simply enter the atmosphere and land - no 'space elevators' or any such thing.

One could also put more than one on the planet. The normal 'lawful' point - and an 'unlawful' point on the far side of the planet. It would encourage unlawfuls to take the 'back door' - and encourage lawfuls to make patrols by orbiting the planet.

It would require a fair bit of work though - so perhaps a single planet could be chosen as a test for this?

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[Elsdragon]

the problem, is that any sheilding looks like a big bilnd spot.......a big target, Visual deflectors would make Easy to hit big targets. Furthermore, the docking ring would be ripped up by the nearest navy patrol.

I know the fuel, and as far as i know it works in RL, But it is not THAT efficent. It takes very little H fuel to propel somethinng in space.


Liberty is on the verge of a dicatorship . Its on the verge of big brother

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No longer a slave to the man!