[CommanderDJ]

Hey guys,
I've been working on a mission where an Elysium transport captures a SAC 2 cargo container. I can get them to dock in game no problem. Now I'd planned an in-mission subspace jump, and had placed a second transport with a second cargo container to warp in as the in-mission jump happens. But to my surprise, I could not set the transport and the cargo container to be initially docked using the "Initial Status" editor. As I asked for help in IRC, Vertigo7 confirmed that no transport can be initially docked with any cargo container. He discovered a rather hackish workaround: spawn a Poseidon freighter, set it to be initially docked with the container, then change it to an Elysium transport. I tried this in game and it works. So yeah, happy ending.
My question is: is there any reason for the docking combination of transport and cargo container to be precluded? I mean, if they can dock no problem during a mission, why would we not be allowed to have them docked initially?
Thoughts?

CommanderDJ

[Galemp]

Dock points are generally set to be of a certain class, such as freighter or transport or support. This cuts down on the number of ships listed in the docking editor, so you don't have dozens of fighters listed when you just want to find a certain ship.

There's potential for a checkbox next to the dropdown 'Ignore incompatibility' in FRED for this situation, though.

[CommanderDJ]

Oh can we have it pretty please? It would make a whole lot of sense IMHO.

[Goober5000]

Try setting it as any random ship, then opening the mission in Notepad and changing the ship to the Elysium.

[CommanderDJ]

Try setting it as any random ship, then opening the mission in Notepad and changing the ship to the Elysium.

He discovered a rather hackish workaround: spawn a Poseidon freighter, set it to be initially docked with the container, then change it to an Elysium transport. I tried this in game and it works.

We've already found a workaround. The current issue is that since the ships are able to be docked, they should be dockable in the Initial Status editor, which they currently are not. Hence Galemp's "Ignore Compatibility" suggestion.

All in favour say aye!

[Goober5000]

Yes, I read those posts already.  I posted my suggestion because I'm curious whether it's an issue with FRED in general, or the Initial Status editor in particular.