Improving the mining shuttle/mining dock experience

[Warriorstar]

The mining shuttle and the airlocks for getting to it have a handful of problems.

1. It is incredibly easy to be spaced from the dock when a crew member is on the same tile as the external airlock just as the mining shuttle leaves. This happens pretty regularly, and usually at the beginning of the shift which is obnoxious at best and leads to unnecessary crew death or drifting to another Z-level at worst.

2. If a crew member is in the dock when the shuttle leaves, they are trapped in there until the shuttle returns or the AI lets them out.

3. The mining shuttle allows its destination to be changed mid-flight with its console. This is arguably a miner (heh) annoyance compared to the above but it is still an annoyance, inducing frustration when arguably there doesn't need to be. If you've ever tried to take the shuttle while people on the station and/or in Lavaland and/or the person on the shuttle and/or the AI are fighting to control it, you know how obnoxious this is.

The above are exacerbated if the circumstances aren't just "I'm trying to get on the shuttle". Piloting a Ripley onto the shuttle, moving crates out of it, or transporting an injured crew member etc. become exercises in frustration when combined with the above.

I'm approaching this with the idea that not only do these issues cause player annoyance, but Nanotrasen probably would not want the airlocks to function in this way, especially considering the normal station EVA airlocks are outfitted with airlock controllers.

In my ideal world:

1. In the same way that the supply shuttle can't depart if there are crew members on it, the mining shuttle would prevent departure under certain conditions. It might be exploitable to prevent departure if the airlocks are obstructed, but not departing if there are crew members still in the dock might be a good idea.

2. If that is unwieldy, I would want the dock to contain an airlock controller similarly to station EVAs and the dock between the mining station and Lavaland. This way someone trapped in the dock can get themselves back out without assistance.

3. At bare minimum, if the above active measures can't be taken, then having a preventative measure: providing the same shuttle countdown displays as the supply and escape shuttles, so that people are more aware of when it's safe to enter the dock.

 

Thanks for reading

 

EDIT: Oh also the delay between the shuttle console's announcement that it is departing and the actual departure is like... 1.5 seconds. Increasing that time would probably help.

Edited October 7, 2021 by Warriorstar

[S34N]

Quite frankly the dock having two locking airlocks seems a bit pointless to me. The interior one could be removed and just have one door to the shuttle

[Longpipe23]

I think most of this would be resolved by simply making the shuttle one row wider with more seats. I've seen way too many miners dogpile into the shuttle like one of those crowded Japanese trains and it's quite frankly a bit ridiculous; maybe we should have a "professional pusher" job.

[procdrone]

point 3:

you dont even imagine how many times i managed to redirect a shuttle with a drake or legion that was enroute to the station, back down to the mining outpost, or recall someone trying to kidnap his victims down there.

Maybe if there was a status display showing current shuttle status above the console? If you miss the text message sent by the console you practically have no way of knowing if the shuttle is going to move, arrive, or another. "away" "arriving" "departing" "docked" could be useful status display things to communicate what is going on.

Maybe even in both the airlock and the console room? Then, if you miss both the message and the status display, you can only blame yourself for trying to rush a departing shuttle.

point 2:
Maybe the airlock should work like a regular airlock then? just... without adding and removing air, have buttons inside to force doors closed and open, just like it does in mining outpost, airlock leading out to lavaland.