Now this is the kind of PvP I'm looking for

I didn't cut or edit anything, so it starts off a bit slow, but gets pretty heated...

balls of steel :D
good fight!

I agree that it is satisfying to have full granular control of your flight systems but i dont consider the automation of such systems as anything more than technology at work.

agree. the only reason i don't use them is not having to mess with shaky third party addons, but it's indeed striking that there isn't a 'divert all energy to shields' function in a space combat game ...
 
True, but i would further argue that just because the system is not available in the game that does not disqualify it as a valid system. They are missing a whole bunch of systems that i would consider essential.

If one can jerry rig the existing system functionality to enhance its performance to the level of what is a contextually congruent system then i would say its fine - e.g a pip macro.

Of course defining the demarcation between legitimate and illegitimate is no easy task and often simply relies on the morals of the individual at the controls.

Generally agreed on all points.

Which is why I don't really complain about pip macros, even though I won't use them; you can get most combinations of pips with three simple inputs or less, only certain half-pip allocations taking more than four. All of these are simple, hard to screw up, and easy to correct.

I'm still putting things like complex module pane automation in my 'cheat' category, because many of these functions take complex inputs and have both high potential for screwing up under pressure, and major consequences for screwing up. It takes half a second to correct a bad pip placement. However, if you accidentally repair, disable, or change priorities of the wrong module mid-fight, that could easily change the entire outcome...resulting in the loss of a ship, or having to do without that module until it reboots (and in the case of shields that have been disabled or lost power, regenerates), expending AMFU ammo unnecessarily, or wasting time rooting through the modules pane while under fire to see what you did wrong. Automating this is dangerously close to having a bot fly the ship for you, IMO.

If anything, complex module management is opportunity for a future 'engineer' crew member to pull their weight.
 
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Another thing worth mentioning is the competent use of non-cosmetic cosmetics. Making your weapon fire blue both makes the projectiles harder to see against the backdrop of space, as well as obfuscates special effects to some degree.

Noticed this myself, blue is very low contrast against the sky background and as you say obfuscates the origin of fire.

I will however admit to being a shameless color pimp junkie and using wholly unsuitable non tactical colors for my engines and lasers.
 
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Noticed this myself, blue is very low contrast against the sky background and as you say obfuscates the origin of fire.

Hmmm ... don't make me not want to use my Star Wars green.

I will however admit to being a shameless color pimp junkie and using wholly unsuitable non tactical colors for my engines and lasers.

I just can't bring myself to use the engines since I saw the contrails. I mean, I usually fly a midnight black Courier. It's not a very fast build but if I want to skedaddle from a fight gone wrong, usually just SR + FA-off is enough to slide away out of sensor range at the right moment, without even a chase. But those contrails ... too many breadcrumbs.
 
I just can't bring myself to use the engines since I saw the contrails. I mean, I usually fly a midnight black Courier. It's not a very fast build but if I want to skedaddle from a fight gone wrong, usually just SR + FA-off is enough to slide away out of sensor range at the right moment, without even a chase. But those contrails ... too many breadcrumbs.

haha yeah....


"IM HERE SHOOT ME !"


 
But those contrails ... too many breadcrumbs.

Big problem with the engine colors, at least from a purely pragmatic perspective, is that the exhaust is not only easy to distinguish from NPCs (who only have a grey or dull red color), but that the trails are visible from dozens of km away. Same issue with weapon fire...any of the weapon colors is immediately distinguishable from NPCs and can be seen from much further than maximum sensor range. This doesn't matter much if you are in an area without NPCs, but in a CZ or RES it's a dead giveaway.
 
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