aircraft control

[meiam]

So I understand that the aircraft are now in beta, so can anybody shed some light on the actual control and how customizable they are?

I have 2 main worry:

1) Having to constantly pick up the mouse and putting it back to the center of the mouse pad. Not sure how to explain it, but some game have this weird things where you can't just roll/yawn in one direction and just have your aircraft keep the motion going forever, so instead you just push the mouse as far as you can they have to pick it up and they re-center it, then rinse and repeat. Tribes ascend does this and I can't use any vehicle because of that.

2) Lack of customization as far as the yawn and rotation goes. Some games don't let you customize anything so you can be stuck with yawning on the mouse and rolling on the keyboard, which I still don't understand how that even work. I usually do most of my control with rolling and pitching, and use yawning as fine tuning, so I like to bind it to something like Q and E.

Anyway excited about the game, shame on the F2P, but I'm sure it'll work out. Maybe by having some form of continent restriction :P

[Razicator]

I don't know if anybody's played Freelancer, but it's a space sim with one of the most intuitive mouse flight controls I've ever played. Essentially, where your mouse is relative to the center of the screen is how much you are turning/rising. In other words, moving the mouse all the way to the right means maximum turning to the right. No need to constantly lift the mouse and place it back down.

Some people though might think it would be too easy for this type of game though. I don't know what to think. Freelancer was a single player game mostly, so it made sense to have the easiest most intuitive flight controls.

[Kaw]

I think Totalbiscuit said the flight controls were comparable to those of the helicopter in the Battlefield games. In Battlefield, the mouse controls pitch and roll, and the keyboard controls vertical throttle and yaw. I don't know if there has been an announcement of whether you can customize the controls or not.

[Warborn]

TotalBiscuit could stop on a dime and rotate fast enough to shoot down a scythe that was on his tail before it flew by him. I wouldn't worry about maneuverability. They're not jets, they're helicopters. Space helicopters. Even more agile and fast than helicopters from Battlefield games by the look of it.

[Timey]

even if it would be the retarded way bf3 does things you could just always bind pitch up/down to space

[LegioX]

Again. It should be a crime to fly with a mouse. Seriously A MOUSE? Learn to use a joystick.

[LegioX]

Originally Posted by elfailo

Joysticks are so 1987.

No a mouse is for lazy people who don't feel like switching from mouse (inf combat) to joystick (air) in transition.

[KTNApollo]

Originally Posted by LegioX

No a mouse is for lazy people who don't feel like switching from mouse (inf combat) to joystick (air) in transition.

A mouse is for people that don't want to spend money on a joystick.

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by elfailo

Joysticks are so 1987.

oh yes and this ^

time to let them go and get with the times ladies.

[Serpent]

Originally Posted by Warborn

TotalBiscuit could stop on a dime and rotate fast enough to shoot down a scythe that was on his tail before it flew by him. I wouldn't worry about maneuverability. They're not jets, they're helicopters. Space helicopters. Even more agile and fast than helicopters from Battlefield games by the look of it.

Yeah... so about the Scythe being the most maneuverable aircraft out there...

I was afraid of this, and it looks like it has happened. The Scythe was nerfed so hard that it really doesn't matter nearly as much anymore, since the other helicopters can easily turn (as you said).

This is just what it feels like. I don't think TB should have been able to do what he did.

[Kirotan]

Originally Posted by Serpent

Yeah... so about the Scythe being the most maneuverable aircraft out there...

I was afraid of this, and it looks like it has happened. The Scythe was nerfed so hard that it really doesn't matter nearly as much anymore, since the other helicopters can easily turn (as you said).

This is just what it feels like. I don't think TB should have been able to do what he did.

I wonder what they will give in exchange if they don't have the most maneuverability anymore. Even as a VS fan this sounded imbalanced; speed and toughness for TR and NC don't help TOO much if your opponent can make tighter turns and always keep you in their sights. (I'm not a flying expert so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this).

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by Kirotan

I wonder what they will give in exchange if they don't have the most maneuverability anymore. Even as a VS fan this sounded imbalanced; speed and toughness for TR and NC don't help TOO much if your opponent can make tighter turns and always keep you in their sights. (I'm not a flying expert so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on this).

no you pretty much got it, if you can stay on their tail and outmanoeuvre them, you win in theory anyway.

[kadrin]

Originally Posted by SKYeXile

no you pretty much got it, if you can stay on their tail and outmanoeuvre them, you win in theory anyway.

This only holds true if they all go the same speed. Do we know if the Mossie, Reaver and Scythe all go the same speed?

[Whalenator]

I consider myself and excellent pilot and I always use the keyboard.
Just learn to time your turns, jesus people.

[meiam]

I think joystick are better than mouse and keyboard, but there reputation is exaggerated because of how awful aircraft control sometime are, think of it like if the aircraft would only roll/pitch while you were moving joystick rather than in the direction you were moving it, that's how bad the control can be for MK. Also joystick cost money and take precious desk space, maybe if I really fall in love with the game and the air craft control are that awful.

Also are the air craft all helicopter? I was under the impression they were more like harrier, vertical take off, then switch to jet like control. Like if you want to move forward, I don't think you have to angle the craft. But o matter how maneuverable they are, dogfighting while having to take a pause every sec to re center the mouse would be frustrating.

I'd also talk about controller support for the air craft, but that usually kick the community into frenzy, so I won't.

In the end I think the most important is lot's and lots of customization option, so that every possible control scheme can exist