How long to get used to Flight Assist Off

[Don_Von_Hulio]

After watching videos, i noticed that keeping flight assist off and having the skills to pilot, offers way more maneuverability than using it or even toggling it.

I dont have my joystick in yet since its back ordered, but i plan on going the route of no flight assist. so far im stuck with a 360 remote or M/KB. Without having any experience with the game prior i could tell right off the bat there was a lack of control using those input methods. And while fighting the Ai, i felt that my maneuvers were too predictable, as if i myself was an Ai... i can only imagine if it was an actual player, i probably would've died at spawn in.

 

[Aleksej]

FA OFF flying is somewhat strange and quite difficult for me to get used to and is absolutely useless now if flying using all 6DOF as the same effect could be achieved while maintaining full control over the ship applying thrust correctly. There is no need to counter momentum that way.

 

[drbosnovich]

It isn't easy; I've been using it near-exclusively since Beta Premium release, and aiming is just far easier with FA on. However, your attitude (rotational) control isn't linked to how sharp your translation controls let you turn; so you can pivot faster, which makes it feel like FAoff changes direction slower.

It really comes down to how co-ordinated you are. But fine aiming is much more difficult, and by joystick isn't great, but then other people have shown how good you can get with the same stick as me.

In addition, following someone at close to full speed is a much more involved process, as you need to make significant use of your lateral thrusters, whereas FAon, you of course just point at your target.

I suspect 'optimal' will be a combination of the two.

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Do you think there will be a happy medium between the two? So those who dont care fore FA Off, but dont necessarily like how FA On feels? Like, instead of having to counterthrust ever movement, you only have to counter thrust your forward and back?

 

[Anthony Jones]

The best thing to do is have FA button set to a joystick button and switch it on and off as required. I have it set to my pinky button on my x65f set to hold and use it when turning . I always shoot with FA on and sharp turn with it off.

Anthony

 

[Donik]

I've been exclusively flying with FA Off after being inspired by Isinona's youtube videos, and I have to say - it's not going well.

My mind can get to grips with all the counter thrust, that doesn't seem to be a big issue. The issue is getting the correct sensitivity out of my HOTAS to be able to do something worth while. It's been a long, mostly hopeless process so far. At default settings, it seems like 5% movement from my controls equates to 100% input on the ship. Finding the right balance has been extremely difficult so far.

I've been practicing using the first single player combat encounter, and while I've gotten better at the flying (while still tweaking my hardware), I cannot keep my weapons trained on that ship to save my life most of the time. I suspect, once I find a comfortable sensitivity/curve setting things will get quite easier.

Rather than talk about myself this whole post, may I suggest one thing:
See if you can tweak your joystick sensitivity and/or make custom curves per axis. It may help you fine tune the control of the ship. It's helped me a great deal, even though I'm still trying to find some nice even ground with it.

 

[Leonick]

Do you think there will be a happy medium between the two? So those who dont care fore FA Off, but dont necessarily like how FA On feels? Like, instead of having to counterthrust ever movement, you only have to counter thrust your forward and back?

A lot of us are hoping for a mode where the flight computer will cancel roll, pitch and yaw (like it does in FAON) but leave the rest to the pilot.

I like the way FAOFF handles but having to cancel out my rolls and so on is just too much of a pain to deal with.

 

[cptzipzap]

use it temporarely

 

[CaptainKremmen]

A lot of us are hoping for a mode where the flight computer will cancel roll, pitch and yaw (like it does in FAON) but leave the rest to the pilot.

I like the way FAOFF handles but having to cancel out my rolls and so on is just too much of a pain to deal with.

Seconded. I throw my hat in with the "lot" you speak of.

K.

 

[Mace FTWindu]

Can't you get the flight assist to counter only rotation without translating for you? Like Kerbal Space Program or Diaspora.

Edit: Never mind

 

[Styggron]

After watching videos, i noticed that keeping flight assist off and having the skills to pilot, offers way more maneuverability than using it or even toggling it.

I dont have my joystick in yet since its back ordered, but i plan on going the route of no flight assist. so far im stuck with a 360 remote or M/KB. Without having any experience with the game prior i could tell right off the bat there was a lack of control using those input methods. And while fighting the Ai, i felt that my maneuvers were too predictable, as if i myself was an Ai... i can only imagine if it was an actual player, i probably would've died at spawn in.

I use only keyboard and mouse and I am a FA off person. I have to make many corrections per second. The mouse I use to fire, cursor up down and , and . and the numeric keypad for thrusters.

It takes some getting used to it but I find it superior to FA on mostly.

 

[Aleksej]

A lot of us are hoping for a mode where the flight computer will cancel roll, pitch and yaw (like it does in FAON) but leave the rest to the pilot.

I like the way FAOFF handles but having to cancel out my rolls and so on is just too much of a pain to deal with.

FA OFF was a little bit simplified in Alpha 2 phase. So this simplification might not be present for Premium Beta users yet.

Some citations:

Just to make sure everyone is aware I did implement a slight assistance when in FAOFF mode in that any axis currently at zero input will slowly dampen over the course of a couple of seconds whilst another axis is either greater or less than zero. What this means is that if you get a slight yaw going on but you're mainly concerned with pitch at the time, the yaw will dampen out. It's a subtle thing but it's as far as I want to go with assisting the player when they're in FAOFF mode.

We're purposely not going to introduce a mode that only compensates for angular velocity. This is a design decision to ensure that using FAOFF is difficult to master and use.

 

[robo]

The best thing to do is have FA button set to a joystick button and switch it on and off as required. I have it set to my pinky button on my x65f set to hold and use it when turning . I always shoot with FA on and sharp turn with it off.

Anthony

This. A lot of us alphas use this method, seek out videos on YouTube from Cmdr Sam the Destroyer, he's done some pretty good guides, here's one that covers FA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0SEEd_Law4

 

[psykokow]

I use my pinky trigger as FA OFF Toggle..

In combat if someone is too close and I can't get the turn on him, I'll boost, FA OFF, spin round then FA ON when my sights are round enough to continue to fire..

It really adds an element of ability to adapt and using lateral thrusters too really gives you a sense of control..

 

[jamieboo]

I use my pinky trigger as FA OFF Toggle..

In combat if someone is too close and I can't get the turn on him, I'll boost, FA OFF, spin round then FA ON when my sights are round enough to continue to fire..

It really adds an element of ability to adapt and using lateral thrusters too really gives you a sense of control..

I was thinking about mapping this to the pinkie switch on my x52 also. But do you find it interferes with the UI focus mapping? Or have you mapped that to something else?

 

[Aleksej]

I was thinking about mapping this to the pinkie switch on my x52 also. But do you find it interferes with the UI focus mapping? Or have you mapped that to something else?

I have it assigned FA ON/OFF to a button on a throttle.

 

[Andread]

A lot of us are hoping for a mode where the flight computer will cancel roll, pitch and yaw (like it does in FAON) but leave the rest to the pilot.

I like the way FAOFF handles but having to cancel out my rolls and so on is just too much of a pain to deal with.

Exactly what I was thinking after playing the first few premium beta levels last night! That sort of 'lower level' assist sounds ideal for manoeuvering.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Exactly what I was thinking after playing the first few premium beta levels last night! That sort of 'lower level' assist sounds ideal for manoeuvering.

Just to make sure everyone is aware I did implement a slight assistance when in FAOFF mode in that any axis currently at zero input will slowly dampen over the course of a couple of seconds whilst another axis is either greater or less than zero. What this means is that if you get a slight yaw going on but you're mainly concerned with pitch at the time, the yaw will dampen out. It's a subtle thing but it's as far as I want to go with assisting the player when they're in FAOFF mode.

Based on Mike's post, I don't think that the proposed option will be offered.