Seems pretty clear that the commander of a capital ship will need an interface tab. First on my list would be a way to eject each docked ship, either to deploy a fighter wing, or to oust an unruly guest. Also, the pilot should have a way order a weapons hold on any or all turrets to avoid a gunner mishap like triggering a strike force. I vote for the pilot being able to hop into any available turret, but I know that has been debated before. I'd settle for the (eventual) ability merely to cycle each turret's view.

Dear Devs,

Now that VO has finally delivered on it's promise of player owned cap ships (1), please devote all your time and resources to improving the cap ship experience as much of the playerbase (1 player) will benefit greatly from your time.

Thank you,

-Conflict Diamond

PS Can I have a pony?

Dear Devs,

I know you told Conflict Diamond to "feel free to send us feedback on how the Trident ownership mechanics are working", but I still have to whine and troll your forum because you never asked me for feedback, and until you make my priorities your priorities, I will continue to troll your forums and not actually play vo. DON'T YOU GET IT?!!! I LOVE YOU, VO!!! YOU'RE SO BLIND!!! *cuts on self* Why do you listen to this idiot who actually played the game content as it was delivered? CD is so stupid for building a trident instead of whining about how much they suck, whining about how much vo sucks, whining how much whining sucks.

You suck!

-Impavid

P.S. Please love me anyway, Mommy's basement is lonely.

-1 to OP, stupid suggestion.

P.S. And yes, CD. You ****. :] sorry for offtop

Conflict Diamond, you rock!! Couldn't have said it better myself.

+50 to OP... I would think that any species capable of building huge capital ships would have the technology to manage one, especially as the commander.
Not so sure about being to hop around between turrets yourself, but definitely having an On Screen Display for your various turrets, and having "Fire Control" over them seems reasonable for any capital ship.

Anyway, this is a required step. Another TAB... would fit greatly with ability to use own turrets...

Commands
-Turrets Master Switch (Live|Safe)
-Dock Control: (Free4All,Authorized,Closed)
...{List of docked ships} (RR,Kick,Ban,Load,Unload,Pay,BuyCargo)
...Access List Control: (Invite,Add,Remove) {key management}
-Autopilot: [Park] [Drift] [Ahead.Slow] [Ahead.Full]

That I guess cover most needs. Pilot/Owner can lock turrets, control who is docked and who can dock, and the very basic "autopilot", like the PARK commands, so owner(s) can use his personal ship to load/unload the cappie.

Also, like this one can order his "autopilot computer" to park, drift and fly direct ahead at Max/Turbo speeds, and use his own turrets.

Limits:
-Owner only can launch if ship is in parked state.
-If all owners log - disconnect, the cappie enters park state. They does not vanishe as regular ships
-One only can board or leave a ship in two ways: When it is parked to a station with capital docks (like a gunner now), or using a small ship to dock or launch. Only exception is if capship is destroyed while someone onboard of it is logged off, when is just like if player was killed in inside parked ship.

+1 OP and Impy bashing.

Thanks, CD, both the pilot-ejecting and weapons-hold ideas are exactly the sort of feedback I'm looking for from real usage. Both had crossed my mind before, but this is excellent reinforcement of what features seem useful.

I just noticed the pilot can't participate in ship comm chat as the gunners can. Not a big deal, as we're usually grouped, but that's the sort of thing this suggested tab could include.

I just noticed the pilot can't participate in ship comm chat as the gunners can

+1

Ship captain should also be able to prevent launching.

MINIMUM CONTROL SET:
(PARK) -> Allows owner/pilot to leave ship or use turrets.
Turrets Switch: (Live|Safe)
Dock Control: (Open4All, Listed, Closed)
Access List: (____) GiveOwnerKey,GiveUserKey,RevokeKey,DeclareKoS

-----------

Complete controls, with legend:
-Turrets Master Switch (Live|Safe)
Activate or Disable all turrets. Usage examples: Prevent gunners from firing, switch off all mining turrets when roid is hot

-Dock Control: (Free4All,Authorized,Closed)
...{List of docked ships} (RR,Kick,Ban,Load,Unload,Pay,BuyCargo)
...Access List Control: (Invite,Add,Remove) {key management}

Free4All - Anyone can dock and launch
Authorized - Only authorized (key holder) can dock and launch
Closed - no one can dock and launch
---{List of docket ships} allways have at least one ship, or no one is onboard. Drop-down list.
RR - Repair and Reload
Kick - launch pilot and his ship now
Ban - Kick and add pilot as KoS/Banned
Load - Give/Load items to docked ship's cargo bays.
Unload - Accept cargo from docked ship. Its pilot must "unload" from there
BuyCargo - Make an offer for items from docked ship. Its pilot must accept it, then cargo and credits are swapped
---Access List Control is a very basic interface to owner/user key management

-Autopilot: [Park] [Drift] [Ahead.Slow] [Ahead.Full]
Park: So pilot can leave ship for (un)loading, mining, etc.
Drift: Best suited for single-player combat, when pilot wants to use own turrets.
Ahead: Slow is "MaxSpeed" while Full is "Turbo Speed".
> Note no directional controls of any type. But PARK function is the only fundamental, the other ones can be deployed later!

==========
My doubts>
-How to control who can load/unload items in cappie? And trade?
-RR - Repairs and reload
--will be free or charged/sold?
--Will it require items to be previously loaded, like player cappie only can reload guns that the owner have stockpiled, or will it have a "Generic Ammo Crate" that fits all guns?
--Will it repair up to the amount of previously loaded "repair nanites" , like an 'internal repair gun' with limited ammo?

ammo reloads should be handled the same as with fuel - PFM. I dont see the point of making the owner select and load what ammo the cappie carries and this would also limit the amount as well.

Most of the control issues for loading and unloading could be done thru the key mechanic.

Open public access is perhaps too open and extremely dangerous. I am not sure it would be very usefull except in very rare situations - Access by group or guild would be much better additions.

A ship captain also should have the option to kill anyone and confiscate thier ship and goods.

That depends on how turrets are operated - if I am physically leaving my ship to operate the turret, that would be possible. If I'm operating the turret remotely from my own ship sitting in your cargo bay, you would have to destroy my ship to kill me. Also, if this were reality, Rin would probably set up a dead-man's switch to automatically cause his ship to self destruct if he should die while docked in an untrusted capship or station, but I don't expect the devs to go into that much detail.

As I said, operating your own turrets and all the other suggestions for what the pilot's tab contains are subject to debate. I just want to see a tab put in place with basic functions, that can be refined as the years go by. Currently the pilot has no way to know when or if someone docks, what turret they choose, etc. Being able to oust a docked ship seems fair to me, as does the pilot's ability to disable/enable the turrets. Access to the ship comm would be nice, too. I just know they're all talking behind my back!

Thanks for the tab and the ship comm! First add to this tab page: display a list of who is aboard and who occupies each turret. You might also want to add "so & so is aboard" and "so & so has lauched" notification to the chatline (dare I say, to all capships in the game?) like station bars have "enter the room" prompts.