Camera lock, and docking zones

[Goober]

Mac OS X 10.6... Hopefully that won't matter.

Sometimes, when I try to turn my ship while using the cockpit view, I find myself staring the same direction. And depending on which direction I turn, the view appears to roll/spin. The steering changes appropriately, but I'm no longer looking where I'm going. This particularly happens as a result of gravity wells and maybe autopilot. I was able to avoid it once, the first time I landed within a session, but then it stuck when I launched. This only affects the cockpit view; I can steer fine using F5. This is particularly annoying when the green cubes marking docking areas only show up when I'm in the cockpit. How can I unlock the cockpit camera?

And my other issue: I just tried to dock at Atlantis, and heeded advice from another thread to press into the green space and stubbornly press D until I dock. I reached somewhere around 730km distance from the planet, then found via Google that I should be able to dock at about 1000km. Can I get any other tips...?

[TBeholder]

Sometimes, when I try to turn my ship while using the cockpit view, I find myself staring the same direction. And depending on which direction I turn, the view appears to roll/spin. The steering changes appropriately, but I'm no longer looking where I'm going.

"Cockpit::ViewTarget" mode by default has all features of Cockpit::Inside like VDU and target boxes, but looks at the current target instead of straight ahead. It's useful to keep an eye on the target while doing things like "turn away & thrust". My guess is that you accidentally activated it. Just check if switching the target turns the view and if yes, switch back; it if it repeats try to figure out how you end up with this (HAT, pressing the wrong key).

And my other issue: I just tried to dock at Atlantis, and heeded advice from another thread to press into the green space and stubbornly press D until I dock. I reached somewhere around 730km distance from the planet, then found via Google that I should be able to dock at about 1000km. Can I get any other tips...?

Docking boxes are off for planets long ago. See the distance indicator on the target VDU for "ready". Also, check if SPEC is on - you can't land like this.

[klauss]

There's also "head turning keys" you might have pressed unintentionally.

Pressing the cockpit view keys repeatedly should reset it. (ie: pressing "1" more than once).

[Goober]

"Cockpit::ViewTarget" mode by default has all features of Cockpit::Inside like VDU and target boxes, but looks at the current target instead of straight ahead. It's useful to keep an eye on the target while doing things like "turn away & thrust". My guess is that you accidentally activated it. Just check if switching the target turns the view and if yes, switch back; it if it repeats try to figure out how you end up with this (HAT, pressing the wrong key).

Oh, yep... I was confused between 1 and 7.

Docking boxes are off for planets long ago. See the distance indicator on the target VDU for "ready". Also, check if SPEC is on - you can't land like this.

Err, well I get a green box at Atlantis. And I never see anything saying "ready."

Thanks.

[CLoneWolf]

If you see the green box for planets too, and no docking ready indicator, most probably you're using an old version; in that case, IIRC, the docking distance with Atlantis was different, 1000 Km is the current one. What exact version are you using?