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Playership Flight Controls Post v1.1

#1
The 1.1-style flight controls emerged from these two threads. (Link1, Link2)

The past being the past... moving forward.
What could be improved - if anything - and how?


One item would be the Gazz FTW feature I outlined.
A way to tell a ship to fly this way while I continue to use the view controls for targeting and gunnery.

I'm not sure if that's the best way, though. It's just easy to implement because you can already watch the prototype doing that when you switch to the tactical interface.


Once strafing is implemented, that may be everything that's needed but I wonder if I'm missing something.
For instance, could the playership be told to automatically align to a lateral course - providing the greatest "lead" - in relation to a particular target?

The ship would keep turning automatically, trying to always fly "at a right angle" to the selected target, while presenting the side that the player had rotated there when giving the order.
Obviously, that's more of a big ship thing but it would make the controls manageable for evasive flying while not watching where you are going.
If you were to do this manually - with pitch and yaw keys - you would have to think around a few corners. That is a hard thing to do for many players.


UI is a most personal subject...
There is no "I" in Tea. That would be gross.
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Re: Playership Flight Controls Post v1.1

#2
Well, let's try to be clear about what needs to happen with flight controls versus what needs to happen with autopilot. I do intend to have a full-blown autopilot (why not, the AI is already implemented). So things like "orbit that target" should be no-brainers. Perhaps even "auto-engage that target." But something like that I think is no longer strictly in the realm of flight control so much as it is autopilot. Or maybe they're the same thing. Who knows.

But everyone should feel free to throw their thoughts into the hat about how flight controls can get even better. I want the best possible balance between fun/ease-of-use (I call this the "Freelancer factor") and real practicality that helps you accomplish things (I call this the "Gazz factor").

So. Carry on.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
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Re: Playership Flight Controls Post v1.1

#3
JoshParnell wrote:Perhaps even "auto-engage that target." But something like that I think is no longer strictly in the realm of flight control so much as it is autopilot. Or maybe they're the same thing. Who knows.
That's what I'm tossing around. For the playership there is a grey area between manual and auto control.

Full-blown autopilot control, with or without "stances" / ROE?
Specific (relative) maneuvers selected from a "skill bar"? Macros?
Do formations impact this? Would the playership technically be told to fly in formation with a target and stay on a particular side of it?
The autopilot watching you and "learning" what maneuvers you want flown in different situations?
Using the view controls to set a new heading for the ship to assume?
POV-translated movement controls of pitch and yaw?
A small screen to show a "gun camera" view from the ship's nose where you can click and lock a Freelancer-control-pointer?
A mix where the ship flies a maneuver and you adjust it with pitch/yaw keys or this mini control window?

What I wrote in the OP is not meant as a preferred direction.
I'm very happy with the basic 1.1 controls but I can't help thinking about where to go from there.
I'm not even making any suggestions, yet. Just shaking a few brains and watching what falls out. =)
There is no "I" in Tea. That would be gross.
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Re: Playership Flight Controls Post v1.1

#4
There's still the fact that if you're flying right at an enemy, and they zip past you, they're still firing on you while facing away, whereas the player still can't do that.

I'm not saying the player SHOULD, because I really like how the flight controls are now. Unless we want to be able to COMPLETELY decouple the aim from direction (which I think should be worth a shot).
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Early Spring - 1055: Well, I made it to Boatmurdered, and my initial impressions can be set forth in three words: What. The. F*ck.
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Re: Playership Flight Controls Post v1.1

#5
DWMagus wrote:Unless we want to be able to COMPLETELY decouple the aim from direction (which I think should be worth a shot).
I'm all for that, specially in bigger ships.

For me, flying a bigger ship means knowing my turret layout and flying in a way that keeps an enemy or a group of enemies in range, while keeping them out of my blind spots.
I don't want to actively chase an enemy ship unless I'm flying a fighter/bomber. But even so, I'd love to try and change fighter-flying up a bit. Where the turrets can do the work and my job as a pilot is to keep the enemy in range & avoid incoming fire (which is basically what the AI does right now, except perhaps the avoiding).
Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.
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Re: Playership Flight Controls Post v1.1

#6
DWMagus wrote:There's still the fact that if you're flying right at an enemy, and they zip past you, they're still firing on you while facing away, whereas the player still can't do that.
You can.
If you hold CTRL (or was it SHIFT?) your ship stops following the pointer / view and flies straight ahead.

I merely want to discuss ways of doing that in a more orderly fashion. =)
There is no "I" in Tea. That would be gross.
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Re: Playership Flight Controls Post v1.1

#7
DWMagus wrote:There's still the fact that if you're flying right at an enemy, and they zip past you, they're still firing on you while facing away, whereas the player still can't do that.

I'm not saying the player SHOULD, because I really like how the flight controls are now. Unless we want to be able to COMPLETELY decouple the aim from direction (which I think should be worth a shot).

Has anyone here played star wars Pod Racer?
The reason I mention it is because it has a mechanic that allowed you to break traction (like drifting) while still being able to change the point direction. In that game it was to get around tight corners, (like greater then 90 deg).
For LT I wonder if it could be used in dog fights? I've noticed that most fights begin with a head-on charge and initial burst of fire. But then it becomes "who can turn the fastest?" :crazy: Well what if we could go ahead with that, but then as we rush past the target we break traction which will put us into a slide still heading the direction of the last thrust, but we have control over what direction we point so that we quickly spin around and put another burst into the guy as he is still having to turn the old fashioned way.
But since we passed him we are still travelling at the same heading and almost the same speed. So now we have some distance to play with maybe even drifting backwards while firing
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