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[Big Bee]

Hey there!

I do hope this has not been suggested before, I did a quick search but couldn't find it. I'm not used to forums with topics and categories and all, so sorry if I posted this in the wrong place.

I bought this game recently and I've been having a lot of fun, but I found the manual controls to be very hard to get used to, so I just ended up using autopilot for the most part. Messing around with the controls further, I found that my main problem, especially during strafing, is that the movement directions are relative to the direction the ship is facing instead of being absolute. If my ship is aiming 'south', then if I hold A, it will go 'east', etc., which is something I found very annoying and clunky. I think it would be really nice if there was a toggleable option in the settings to make the controls absolute, so if I press A, the ship will go 'west', no matter which way it is currently facing. Such a feature would probably make the game a lot more accessible to people more used to such controls.

[Yunru]

I... don't think I've ever seen a game that controls like that, outside of arcade games and the very first wave of the boom (even then, I'm pretty sure Asteroids had relative turning).

I can't see a reason why it can't be an option, I'm just perplexed by the existence of the necessity for it.

[Big Bee]

I cannot think of any specific examples off the top of my head but I'm *pretty sure* most games with top down movement and shooting that I've played had it like this. I think it's much easier to control things like that, when you don't have to worry about which way left is. That being said, I'm sure people more used to such controls could argue that I just need to 'git gud' but idk, I think it would be a nice addition that could make the game a bit more intuitive.

[Alex]

Hi! This has indeed come up before, but no worries

I did mess with it at some point, and... it just doesn't really work for this sort of game - at least, not with how movement actually works. You very rarely actually want to go exactly along a cardinal direction (i.e. straight up/down, or left/right). Generally speaking you always want to move at some sort of angle - say, strafing perpendicular to a target, etc.

The kind of movement model you're suggesting wouldn't handle that - at best you could maybe do diagonals. Plus, ships accelerate at different rates forwards, backwards, and sideways, so it wouldn't be consistent, it'd depend on which way you're facing. I think this sort of thing could work well for an arcade-like game that's built around that. But here, with how important movement is, restricting yourself to at most 8 directions - the issues with actually being able to translate these sorts of control inputs into "legal" ship thruster commands - would be a massive disadvantage.

I do understand that it can take a bit of getting used to the controls when facing down, though. I guess some of that depends on how used to that kind of thing you are from prior games (going all the way back to Spacewar!, funnily enough), too...

[Big Bee]

Dang, guess I'll have to suck it up and 'git gud'. Either that or just keep using autopilot...

Also yeah, that makes sense, I have next to no experience with games with tank controls so I wouldn't be able to pick it up as easily as someone who is a veteran to these kinds of games. I'll get there eventually!

[Alex]

I appreciate your understanding! Fortunately, most of your time piloting is probably going to be spent facing vaguely "up"...

[AdmiralRem]

Dang, guess I'll have to suck it up and 'git gud'. Either that or just keep using autopilot...

Also yeah, that makes sense, I have next to no experience with games with tank controls so I wouldn't be able to pick it up as easily as someone who is a veteran to these kinds of games. I'll get there eventually!

Have you used the option so you’re always facing the mouse cursor? Makes everything waaaaaay easier!

[Big Bee]

Have you used the option so you’re always facing the mouse cursor? Makes everything waaaaaay easier!

I did try it out in simulation a little but I was still very focused on my initial issue with the controls. I will give it another go, maybe it will help get used to the controls faster. Thanks for the tip!

[AdmiralRem]

Have you used the option so you’re always facing the mouse cursor? Makes everything waaaaaay easier!

I did try it out in simulation a little but I was still very focused on my initial issue with the controls. I will give it another go, maybe it will help get used to the controls faster. Thanks for the tip!

It will seriously change the game. The only reason to not use it is for broadside ships and Omni shields so you can block incoming damage. But if you hold shift (in point towards mouse mode) it temporarily lets you revert to the other control. It’s handy but I don’t use it much.

[KDR_11k]

I... don't think I've ever seen a game that controls like that, outside of arcade games and the very first wave of the boom (even then, I'm pretty sure Asteroids had relative turning).

I can't see a reason why it can't be an option, I'm just perplexed by the existence of the necessity for it.

Reassembly has it as a control option and in that game ships can end up with VERY uneven thruster setups.

Another possible alternative would be rotating the camera with the ship.

[Tecrys]

Another possible alternative would be rotating the camera with the ship.

I like that idea

[SCC]

Some frigates can spin really fast, and with manjets or plasma jets, even capital ships can be turning around really fast. Aiming or using the shield could prove quite impossible

[Killian]

If you're having trouble understanding which way your ship is moving, may I recommend Ship Direction Marker?

Flux Reticle also allows you to toggle Strafe-and-Turn behaviour mid-combat, rather than making you dive into an options menu to switch it over for more than a few seconds.

[Big Bee]

If you're having trouble understanding which way your ship is moving, may I recommend Ship Direction Marker?

Flux Reticle also allows you to toggle Strafe-and-Turn behaviour mid-combat, rather than making you dive into an options menu to switch it over for more than a few seconds.

Thanks, I downloaded both of those mods and they're quite helpful!

[keantmp]

Hi! This has indeed come up before, but no worries

I did mess with it at some point, and... it just doesn't really work for this sort of game - at least, not with how movement actually works. You very rarely actually want to go exactly along a cardinal direction (i.e. straight up/down, or left/right). Generally speaking you always want to move at some sort of angle - say, strafing perpendicular to a target, etc.

The kind of movement model you're suggesting wouldn't handle that - at best you could maybe do diagonals. Plus, ships accelerate at different rates forwards, backwards, and sideways, so it wouldn't be consistent, it'd depend on which way you're facing. I think this sort of thing could work well for an arcade-like game that's built around that. But here, with how important movement is, restricting yourself to at most 8 directions - the issues with actually being able to translate these sorts of control inputs into "legal" ship thruster commands - would be a massive disadvantage.

I do understand that it can take a bit of getting used to the controls when facing down, though. I guess some of that depends on how used to that kind of thing you are from prior games (going all the way back to Spacewar!, funnily enough), too...

I think you think this is more complicated than it is. I too basically gave up on flying any kind of maneuverable ships myself because I would constantly be using the option to have my ship point towards the mouse cursor and then strafe the wrong way when my ship was pointing 'down'/'south'. I think all you would need to do would be to invert left and right strafe when a ship crosses the 180 line and is facing down.