G33X Nexus Entertainment > Precursors

Space Flight Controls, and Realism

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topher:
I like the concept of n00b ships being easier but there would still need to be an override.  The main reason I got interested in this game project was the fact I could actually use a joystick and fly my ship (no other mmorpg space game has had this).  I would hate to buy the game and then have to have the carrot dangled in front of me.

topher

contingencyplan:

--- Quote from: "topher" ---I would hate to buy the game and then have to have the carrot dangled in front of me.
--- End quote ---

Agreed.  

Also, I don't particularly like the idea of a "n00b ship" - all ships should be usable by anybody, regardless of play experience.  The control aspect should either be a switch within all ships, or a System / component that is inserted and removed at will, as was mentioned earlier:

--- Quote from: "whitelynx" ---Even better, they could be saved _with_ a system. That way, if you buy a control system off someone, you need to reconfigure it to suit your control style unless you _want_ to use their controls.
--- End quote ---

The component should not be expensive at all; perhaps everyone should be given one with the purchase of a ship.

Further, I don't think that we should be thinking in terms of "n00b" vs "l337" controls - we should be thinking in terms of more flight-sim controls (e.g., automatically compensate), and the space-based ones like is already in there now.  Both have advantages to newbs and experienced players alike.  While the flight-sim style would be more useful to the new people intially, it almost certainly has advantages even for more experienced players.  Thus, both should be developed to be as intuitive as possible, rather than with the mindset of steering players in a particular direction.  We should allow them the freedom to choose what's best for them and work to make that option as effective as possible.  We may have a pet style ourselves, but others will want to make up their own mind without having to worry about "does this have an artificial disadvantage that I haven't heard about?"

~Brian

topher:
I would have to say at the moment flying is pretty, i dont know, unintuitive.  I've tried a couple of times now to master getting near the other ship and flying around it only to get lost in the void or a number of other odd things.

So is the goal to make it really realistic or fun (or a middle ground)?  All of the games I've played in the past were purely on the fun side (x-wing, tie fighter, wing commander series, privateer series, etc.).

topher

fehknt:
both -- certianly, more things are possible if you're using the "real" controls (6 degrees of freedom), but you should be able to have the AI in your ship control some of that, so that it flys more like a wing-commander type ship -- like the ability to set your foward speed, and have the computer automacially adjust throttle in all directions to attempt to keep foward velocity at the specified speed and all other velocities (slide, roll, pitch, yaw) 0, unless the controls specify a _temporary_ velocity in any of those other 4 areas -- so unlike the "real" controls, the "AI-assist" will stop you rolling after you let up the "roll right" key.  All ships should be able to do this, but there is no need for an artificial penalty to using the AI assist -- because certian things will simply not be possible using it -- like attempting to keep a firing solution on another ship while still moving in a single direction (you just turn off the foward thrusters).  AI Assist will either, with the thrusters left on, try to make you go towards the ship at a certian speed, or, with thrusters off, try to make you stop.  Neither is what you want to do -- you are going to have to fly using the "real" controls to do an advanced manuver like that.

contingencyplan:
I like your idea regarding the AI-controllers.

Personally, I really dislike introducing artifical penalties for using certain equipment (e.g., your ship is slower if you use the AI-assisted controls). Any penalties and consequences should arise directly from using those controls - e.g., you can't pull off some more complex flying maneuvers if you are using the AI controls. Maybe you want to keep rolling when you release the key, rather than having the AI automatically stabalize you. Further, stabalizing would likely use up more fuel (make it a VERY slight amount, should be barely noticable to even the most anal of players), so that would be a natural consequence. But to say that "using the AI system makes your ship slower" seems far too artificial, especially in the context of the future.

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