It would be nice to have some lighted buoys marking the approach to each docking bay. It would look cool and, as a former RL pilot, come in handy for my pickiness about a good landing.

Seconded. It's annoying that the arrows outside the docking bays are 2-D. They should be 3-D and, as a pilot in training, I wouldn't mind, as pointed out here, something similar to night flying lights into the docking bay. I believe someone else said something about wanting launch ports closer against the station to give more of a feeling of the size of the station. Maybe for the docking it could be similar to the Battlestar Galactica (new series) where there's a lip out with landing markers, perhaps a couple of "antenna" poles out like are seen on other parts of some stations sticking out from the "bottom" sides of the docking ports.

On the other side of this, one of the elements I've semi-enjoyed about landing in docking ports is there is no "up", so you can go in sideways, "upside-down". So I'm not sure everyone let alone anyone may be happy about my suggestions to this thread :-D Keep in mind, guys, it's only a suggestion to answer the OP's idea.

Yes.

Yes. And make them blue.

I wouldn't like physical obstructions around docking ports. A more visible cue would be nice, though, especially for new players.

Maybe an effect like the scanner beam, emanating from the dock.

Periodically or constantly, Whistler?

I can probably do a kind of "volume light" effect that comes out from the various docking bays and launch bays for some distance. Like maybe have the docking light "green" and the launch light "red" or some such (might be a little excessively christmassy). Dunno, I'd have to play with it. 'Tis an idea anyway. It would basically be like a fading-out box of light that would project out of the bays.

That's a much more elegant and subtle version of what I had in mind. Blue and orange would work, or any combination of "hot" vs "cold" colors.

I agree, muchly.

Red for Exit bays and Blue for docks?

I think that if you had a holographic Pee Wee Herman dancing in front of the docking bays it would help me notice where they were better than some dorky lights. There just isn't enough Pee Wee paraphernalia in VO imho.

The current arrows are too thin and too short. If you look at the arrows edge on, they are very hard to see. They could be fatter, or better yet, 3d. Like a blank cylinder put on a lathe with the 2d arrow as a template. And longer tails. About 1000m or more long. That way each docking bay would have two holographic poles sticking way out that you could easily see from a distance and odd angles and even use to line up for a smooth docking.

I like the version incarnate suggested. The one you've probably seen in one or another Sci-fi movie, where a docking ramp opens and light streams outside.
While I don't know if that would look realistic in the current situation, it certainly could when foggy sectors would make an appearance.

OTOH what steelerfan had in mind would probably be more like the docking beacons in X3.
Here's the best screens I found:
http://www.egosoft.com/games/x3/screenshots/x3_screen_190.jpg
http://www.egosoft.com/games/x3/screenshots/x3_screen_116.jpg
(The lights actually flash towards the station)

My shot at it would be different though. I'd take the HUD and make it project things into space (as if I could :P ), like say an approach vector to the docking bay in red rectangles, which fades into view at close proximity and only for the closest bay (like always target-cycling to the closest ship).

Another possible method might be to have beams of blue light running into docking bays, and beams of red light running out of launch bays. I understand that such a graphic may bog the server down, could it perhaps be used player-side instead of server-side?

Love the idea as well, while the 'S' on the radar helps, it does not always do an adequate job of 'guiding' you to the bays.

I've had this problem frequently, having passed out at the controls too many times to count, and subsequently having destroyed many bulkheads near docking bays.

For the utterly helpless amongst us, could you just have a nice tractor beam activate when we're near the dock, so we don't explode on our 5th docking attempt, or damage the stations any longer?

Perhaps then the "LeberMac in Transit to Your Station" will cease to be an all-hands alert notice.

Or maybe we could have a big neon sign above them that says, "THIS IS A DOCKING BAY" and in smaller letters under it, "it doesn't do anything, just looks cool"

The other thing that might be neat is some actual "talking" with the station. You hail the station, it says hi, you say hi, ask for landing permission, it says sure, a little target lights up on your HUD showing you the docking bays (or maybe one you've been assigned), and you go land in one.

On the other hand, how it works now is simpler, and probably quicker. Unless they automatically talked to you when you got within x meters. Or maybe you press a button and it targets the nearest docking bay. I dunno. For me, the glowing triangles never seemed to fit.

Building on your idea Phish, you could have the player (especially noobs) hail the station, and they'd put a big guiding arrow on your hud that'd guide them to the nearest bay.

I once had a newb ask on open channel how to gain docking clearance. I told him he was cleared to dock. He docked.

I didn't know you were the guy in charge of clearance, Roda. Huh. All the while I thought it was some formula running on some server somewhere. Oh well.