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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

Author Topic: "Strafe to cursor" toggle  (Read 7209 times)

Sophismata

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"Strafe to cursor" toggle
« on: August 30, 2016, 01:57:26 AM »

Been playing this on and off since Starfarer. I picked it up again recently and just wanted to say - it'd be really nice if we could bind a toggle to the "strafe to cursor" functionality.
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Gothars

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2016, 03:00:24 AM »

Hi, welcome to the forum!

If you want you can reverse the behavior at any time in the settings->settings menu, so that holding shift will disable the turn to cursor option. Hope that helps.


Here's why there's no in-combat toggle:

I actually tried it as a toggle early on. It was a huge pain to mentally keep track of the state, even with some UI help. Also takes longer to only turn it on for a brief period - you have to press the button twice, instead of press/release. Just didn't work well.
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Linnis

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2016, 10:50:27 AM »

why not just instead of having the option of reverse behavior, make it in to an option to turn it into a 1 press toggle?
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Sophismata

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2016, 02:15:16 AM »

Hi, welcome to the forum!

If you want you can reverse the behavior at any time in the settings->settings menu, so that holding shift will disable the turn to cursor option. Hope that helps.


Here's why there's no in-combat toggle:

I actually tried it as a toggle early on. It was a huge pain to mentally keep track of the state, even with some UI help. Also takes longer to only turn it on for a brief period - you have to press the button twice, instead of press/release. Just didn't work well.

Thanks for the welcome, and thanks for showing me that link. I did know about the option to reverse the behaviour, and while I agree with Alex about how keeping track of an arbitrary control state can be difficult, I think it might have a place as an optional extra (or just an optional keybinding). In general I find myself using both control styles in battle, depending on what I'm flying (large, slower ships work much better with no strafe to cursor, but the fast frigates and ships with mostly spinal mounts are much easier to control with strafe to cursor on). So going into the options to change the setting from battle to battle (or frigate to cruiser) depending on my preferred ship-of-the-moment is a little annoying (as is the alternative of flying while holding down shift).

Other than that, been a joy to play the game as it's slowly been updated, and the blog posts are always interesting reads. Very much looking forward to what's to come.
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woodsmoke

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2016, 01:13:04 PM »

why not just instead of having the option of reverse behavior, make it in to an option to turn it into a 1 press toggle?

Seconded. While it's obviously not a major problem, having to go into the settings menu to check/uncheck that box every time I switch between ships is kind of irritating. Just being able to tap shift once and have the game automatically switch between cursor/keyboard targeting would be a nice QoL improvement.
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TaLaR

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2016, 10:17:51 PM »

Actually, I came to conclusion that current 'strafe to cursor' while button is pressed is best.
Sometimes you need to very quickly perform single action like teleport with Hyperion or block missile approaching from rear with omnishield. Just letting shift go for split second is faster than toggle off -> do your stuff -> toggle on, and less error-prone.
Plus, shift doesn't count for keyboard key rollover (on almost any keyboard) and it's not like there are any other keys to conveniently press with pinky.

Still, just having option to toggle (not as default) wouldn't hurt.
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woodsmoke

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2016, 03:53:05 PM »

Whereas I would find it much easier to simply press the shift key a couple times in fairly rapid succession, even in edge cases like that.

In any case, I agree; giving the option for the player to choose whichever they like is generally the best approach.
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Sophismata

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #7 on: September 15, 2016, 06:46:52 PM »

A toggle doesn't have to override the current functionality, it could be another key altogether. It's just that I find myself switching ships often depending on my preference for the coming (or current) battle and some work best with strafe to cursor and some do not.
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Morgan Rue

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #8 on: September 16, 2016, 03:24:26 PM »

Having a separate key that inverts behavior of strafe to cursor button would be nice.
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Sophismata

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2017, 12:28:44 AM »

Hey, I just wanted to bump / re-iterate this suggestion, especially with a new release pending. It would be great to have any or all of the following as an option:

  • An additional keybind for a strafe-to-cursor toggle (can be unbound by default).
  • An option or .ini setting to switch the behaviour of the the current strafe-to-cursor from a modal to a toggle.

As mentioned earlier, I know you feel that it leads to confusing controls but it would really enhance my (and I'm sure a few others' based on this thread) enjoyment of the game when switching flagships in large battles. It's a pain to have to go into the options and turn strafe-to-cursor off and on every 2 minutes or so depending on whether I'm piloting a frigate or a battleship.
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Ranakastrasz

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Re: "Strafe to cursor" toggle
« Reply #10 on: January 31, 2017, 06:18:44 PM »

Irrelevent as it is, I also still want seperate control for shield, so I can run the atypical ships with omnishields, instead of being forced to convert them to forward. That and Ai controled own shields.
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