Were ED's flight controls always this good?

[Maxeren]

Externally it has always been that good, yes.

Internally it took a lot of work getting them to feel right before alpha 1.0 but the general idea of favouring pitch and roll with far slower turn speeds than is typical for every other space game ever was set as soon as I got my hand on the design of this thing.

As usher would have said "pop ya collar"

Seriously.. keep up the damn fine work.. and to the of the ED team.. you too!

 

[withnail]

They don't work lol. It's just on my pad because there is no better place to put it.

That's the photo that made me think about this a fair time ago

Do you think you will include support for them in the future? I think the extra buttons etc would come in handy. I'm also thinking about when you bring communications on line.

Cheers.

 

[Associat0r]

Hang on a minute, mouse controls are no way near decent at the moment and I have some plans to improve them but it just hasn't been given the time yet to do so. I'm amazed that people can be as effective as they have been with them but there is still much to do yet.

Good to hear, but please don't forget keyboard sensitivity.

 

[Mephane]

Hang on a minute, mouse controls are no way near decent at the moment and I have some plans to improve them but it just hasn't been given the time yet to do so. I'm amazed that people can be as effective as they have been with them but there is still much to do yet.

Since we got your attention...

I am a mouse+keyboard user and I am quite content with how mouse flight works (using absolute pitch+roll), apart from a few minor things only:

- Lack of a key to manually zero mouse control. I don't want too big a deadzone but still be able to easily have the control centered again quickly (i.e. the equivalent to releasing a joystick).
- Mouse control arrow indicator currently fades away with lower mouse displacement; when doing small course corrections there is often the situation where the arrow is hardly visible at all, or even completely transparent. I think just giving it 100% opacity as soon as the mouse leaves the deadzone would be perfect.
- Lack of a sensitivity slider for the mouse wheel when used as an axis (generally mouse wheel as an axis has too low a sensitivity).

Edit: Oh and something not directly mouse-related:
- The key that turns roll input into yaw, could that be enhanced to swap yaw and roll input while held?

 

[Dwarden]

so the 1:1 mouse possible?
no forced acceleration?
no forced smoothing?
no negative acceleration ?

 

[Fenris Wolf]

If we look at some of the internal pics we can see the dev's using them

Spoiler

Surely there isn't enough pizza on that table for someone to write/test code?

 

[Ixnatifual]

The Star Citizen forums actually have quite a lot of praise for Elite's flight model, but I hope Mike & Co. manage to stay humble.

But honestly, while I hope SC ends up with a flight model as great as Elite's, I hope it will be great in a different way. When I've been playing Elite for 2 years after release and Star Citizen comes out, I don't want my flight experience to too closely resemble what I've been doing for 2 years already.

 

[Ixnatifual]

so the 1:1 mouse possible?
no forced acceleration?
no forced smoothing?
no negative acceleration ?

Well the ship has limits to how fast it can move regardless of how quickly you move the mouse.

 

[Stormprooter]

Hang on a minute, mouse controls are no way near decent at the moment and I have some plans to improve them but it just hasn't been given the time yet to do so. I'm amazed that people can be as effective as they have been with them but there is still much to do yet.

The very best of everything with that Mike, I imagine it's not too straightforward to get the mouse controls improved - but I do like your ambition!

 

[Daffan]

Have to say, I didn't support that decisions till I played AC. Now I understand what you guys wanted to avoid and I totally support it.

True, i only started saying things about it AFTER i played it. It was not pretty.

 

[prasak]

Elite controls felt just like I hoped they will be from the beginning, also weapons are working very well, except I could have lived without gimballs

 

[fireFly1000]

- Mouse control arrow indicator currently fades away with lower mouse displacement; when doing small course corrections there is often the situation where the arrow is hardly visible at all, or even completely transparent. I think just giving it 100% opacity as soon as the mouse leaves the deadzone would be perfect.

Nope, that's not the way to do it.
It will get int the way when you have your target almost centered.

Edit:
Maybe make the arrow smaller and smaller (or a better visual effect - like drawing only the part of the arrow between the center and the mouse position) as the pointer approaches the center.
Since your attention will be focused in the center near the dot, you don't need the big arrow showing you the direction.

 

[deMangler]

Hang on a minute, mouse controls are no way near decent at the moment and I have some plans to improve them but it just hasn't been given the time yet to do so. I'm amazed that people can be as effective as they have been with them but there is still much to do yet.

Best news I have heard for a while.
Thanks!

 

[Jack Booted Thug]

Hang on a minute, mouse controls are no way near decent at the moment and I have some plans to improve them but it just hasn't been given the time yet to do so. I'm amazed that people can be as effective as they have been with them but there is still much to do yet.

I am interested as to what changes will be introduced.

I actually find the current mouse controls very responsive and they work quite well.

I can easily maneuver and do things like fly-throughs of the Impeccable and fly around inside the external structure of a rotating space station on a consistent basis. Landing is also very easy.

I am really confused about what kind of problems people are having.


Mouse + Keyboard Combat - Non-gimballed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CmpCdRD0uU

Capital Ship Fly-Through - Mouse + Keyboard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJDQE3jjBCk

Space Port Home Run - Mouse + Keyboard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RZhV17FWmY

 

[Jack Booted Thug]

Nope, that's not the way to do it.
It will get int the way when you have your target almost centered.

Edit:
Maybe make the arrow smaller and smaller (or a better visual effect - like drawing only the part of the arrow between the center and the mouse position) as the pointer approaches the center.
Since your attention will be focused in the center near the dot, you don't need the big arrow showing you the direction.

I think making the arrow more visible would be a distraction.

With practice it is all about "feel" as opposed to additional visual cues.

 

[Teefur]

I am interested as to what changes will be introduced.

I actually find the current mouse controls very responsive and they work quite well.

I can easily maneuver and do things like fly-throughs of the Impeccable and fly around inside the external structure of a rotating space station on a consistent basis. Landing is also very easy.

I am really confused about what kind of problems people are having.

There really isn't much wrong with mouse control as it is. I use abs.p+r which is fine for normal FAON flight, but is really awkward for FAOFF. Using rel.p+r is great in FAOFF but needs far too much desk space for FAON. If there could be an option for abs.p+r during FAON and rel.p+r during FAOFF, I think this pilot's life would be extended during combat.

 

[Jack Booted Thug]

There really isn't much wrong with mouse control as it is. I use abs.p+r which is fine for normal FAON flight, but is really awkward for FAOFF. Using rel.p+r is great in FAOFF but needs far too much desk space for FAON. If there could be an option for abs.p+r during FAON and rel.p+r during FAOFF, I think this pilot's life would be extended during combat.

So the issue is really how people set up their binds.

Mine are...

w = Throttle Forward
s = Throttle Back
` = 50% Forward Throttle
TAB = 50% Rear Throttle
X = Zero Throttle
CTRL = Boost (using control means I never accidently hit it)
Shift = Toggle Flight Assist Off/On
A = Yaw Left
D = Yaw Right
Q = Strafe Left
E = Strafe Right
R = Strafe Up
F = Strafe Down
Spacebar = Select Menu Item
WASD = Cycle Through Menu Items
QE = Cycle Back and Forth Between Menu Panels
1 = Target Ahead
2 = Nearest Hostile
3 = Next Hostile
4 = Next Target
6 = Previous Hostile

I use the number keys on the side of my mouse for targeting (ie. 1&2, 3&6 are next to each other).

Arrow Keys = Power Management

Mouse 1 = Fire Primary
Mouse 2 = Fire Secondary
Mouse Wheel = Cycle Subsystem

I use the inverted Pitch and Roll mouse setup with a small deadzone.


A fella I game with who recently purchased the Beta prefers the roll into yaw setting and finds it easier to fly with that. I have never tried that because my current controls work perfectly for me.

Everything is close at hand with my binds except for power management but I can very quickly utilise the power management functions without a problem. It is the same with landing gear, cargo scoop and deploying weapons.

 

[Jack Booted Thug]

The only throttle increments I use are the +50%, -50% and the 0%. Everything else I just use the increase and decrease key. If I want full throttle and I am operating at less than 50% I simply hit the 50% key and then increase to 100%. It is almost instant and saves having to use keys for the other increments.

The +50% and the -50% binds allow me to set the sweet spot instantly now matter how many energy pips I have set in engines.

 

[fourty6to3]

Externally it has always been that good, yes.

Internally it took a lot of work getting them to feel right before alpha 1.0 but the general idea of favouring pitch and roll with far slower turn speeds than is typical for every other space game ever was set as soon as I got my hand on the design of this thing.

And the result? Was this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY5x85F-DKM

 

[MikeSnos]

Hang on a minute, mouse controls are no way near decent at the moment and I have some plans to improve them but it just hasn't been given the time yet to do so. I'm amazed that people can be as effective as they have been with them but there is still much to do yet.

I have never got to grips with Mouse Control in any game... Too easy to accidentally knock the thing which mucks everything up... Keyboard only was the way for me until Alpha came out at which point I got an X52 after all the raving about it.... and yes, the controls, from an X52 player's perspective, have been pretty much bang on all the way through... Excellent work!