Let me start by saying that this is not hating on autodock. It's a good tool, and arguably the only way stations would allow giant over-engineered fusion bombs piloted by semi-professional stick-jockeys approach an inhabited and costly space station. However, as a quick search anywhere will show, it goes wrong. When it goes wrong, you, the aforementioned semi-professional stick-jockey will BE the docking computer. If you have not practiced what to do, you will probably lose your ship and whatever you are carrying. Maybe FDev will give it back to you once or twice, but like every problem in Elite, it will cost time you would rather be using for something else, and if you come here to get sympathy and get-rich-quick advice for your twentieth Anaconda rebuy, it won't just be your time, because folks here will feel compelled to help you out with THEIR time. In the spirit of the good "how to deal with a player interdiction" posts that have helped me out tremendously, here's some advice I have found useful that continues to be offered peacemeal on this forum:
- IF you are physically capable of the actions required: practice manual docking, undocking, and station transit in a cheap ship, ideally early in your career. Learn what to expect in stations, where things will be, how other ships move, and how to reorient if you get turned around. Turn off autodock periodically and stumble through the process until it smooths out again to refresh your muscle memory. You will not effectively learn this with a destruction timer counting down on your fully-laden uninsured Anaconda.
- do not AFK during docking, unless you have nothing at risk and don't mind a rebuy (frankly, I would say avoid going AFK in Elite at all unless you can afford to lose whatever you have on that ship… the game is what it is, and a quit to menu rarely loses you more than a few seconds to log back in. truckers take this calculated risk in supercruise because time is money… decide what you are willing to lose).
- the MOMENT that autodock starts acting squirrelly… seems to be off course, doesn't seem to engage, anything that looks, sounds, or smells wrong, take defensive action immediately. do not wait to see if it gets back on track before the timer runs out. You are on a clock that ends in a rebuy screen. There are signs that make autodock failure likely: traffic jam in or around the mailslot (particularly bad if you are inside the station); acceleration towards the edges of the mailslot, rather than the ship adjusting to center before proceeding; more than a couple seconds of hovering above the landing pad without automatic acceleration upwards. mindless bonking into the walls is usually preceded by other warning signs.
- resist the urge to try to make a bad landing into a good one unless you are out of options, or have nothing to lose if your ship goes boom. The professional answer it to wave off the approach, get clear, then come back.
- EDIT (add): Paraphrased from u/Panigale9 's reply below: autodock problems outside the station are more likely if you are not lined up with the mailslot on the station BEFORE autodock engages. Throttle up to override it and fly manually until you are lined up with the mailslot to avoid problems.
- EDIT (add): Also paraphrased from u/Panigale9 's reply below: high risk landing pads for autodock takeoff failure are the pads closest to the mailslot wall because the computer will thrust forward into the wall before lining up with the slot. Be ready for trouble if you are autolaunching from those pads, or switch the manual beforehand.
Survival tips (I'm sure others will have good ideas I've not thought of) and tips on manual transit:
0) Learn how to turn off autodock quickly, even hotkey it if you have room, for the rare cases where it just won't stop trying to kill you.
- When in doubt, log out. This is the single simplest way to save yourself the rebuy. Exit to menu. Return to your ship being outside the station, safe and sound. Deluxe version might be to menu log, then use "I'm stuck" option in the help to doubly ensure no bad respawns, but that is pure conjecture on my part.
- If there is a traffic jam of any kind visible when you are departing the landing pad and you do not have a *clear* exit route around the ships that looks like it will stay open more than long enough to transit the mailslot, log out. Don't run the timer down if you have anything to lose.
- The mailslot is bigger than it looks, but big ships are asymmetrical. Type 9 and 10, the ship is mostly above you and to the sides, hug the bottom of the slot and stay to the middle as much as possible. It is vital with these monsters to maintain level in relation to the slot. In the 'Conda and Cutter (I'm not a clipper pilot) the ship is almost entirely below you. Fly as close to the top of the slot as you dare. Rubbing shields on the mailslot rarely kills anyone. IF you are transiting in a type 10 and some beluga pilot comes jauntily through the mailslot from the other direction, stop and menu log. The likelihood of a fatal log jam is high, and options are limited.
- If you get hung up a bit, resist the urge to make big corrections. picture the ship around you and imagine where it might be touching the slot and try to lightly shift away from that point or slightly rotate if you are misaligned. Cycle the landing gear for a brief moment of "no collision" that might let you slide through. However, if you get really stuck, really quickly, and a landing gear cycle doesn't immediately free you, log to menu. It might not save you, but it probably will.
Elite Dangerous is a time sink. It devours your time and calls for more. The choices you make will mostly determine how much of that time is done in activities you enjoy, and how much feels like "wasted effort". Sometimes the game will just rob you with a glitch or unavoidable situation. Usually FDev is great about compensating you for those times when it is "their fault". But for many of the common risks of Elite, taking the time to make a plan and stress test it with cheap rebuys BEFORE it happens in the wild will greatly increase your chances of keeping what you've earned by the time you have any earnings worth fighting for.
Fly dangerous, CMDRs. o7