Advantage with FA off?

[Sanguisaevum]

Hi. I am a premium backer with a quick question about FA OFF.

Many of the great videos available show people dogfighting... In these fights i often see people flick fa off during a turn...

Why?

What advantage does this confer? I have tried the same thing in aplha 1 missions and i can see no real difference in turning speed when compared to leaving fa on and throttling back to the blue zone.

Am i missing something? Where is the advantage of flicking fa off during a turning fight?

 

[Mike Evans]

I think in certain circumstances maintaining your direction of travel and turning your ship results in less turning required to bring the target back in your sights compared to turning whilst tracing out a circle with flight assist on.

 

[MuthaF Jamal]

...and the side-strafing of larger ships [move in parallel, FA off, turn to target, pepper with shots as you fly by]

[edit]
and -1 point for reading comprehension for me

 

[Viajero]

I think in certain circumstances maintaining your direction of travel and turning your ship results in less turning required to bring the target back in your sights compared to turning whilst tracing out a circle with flight assist on.

This.

By rotating (and cutting throttle to zero) while you still travel in the same vector that you had just before entering FA-OFF you should (all else being equal) get your target back in your sights faster than if you continue in FA ON. FA ON means your ship will try to perform a wide circle (narrowest would be at the speed sweet spot) in order to come around and get your enemy in your sights. While you are doing that wide circle your opponent may be doing the same behind you and thereby delaying your chase.

The trade off by going FA OFF is that your slide may lead you out of range for your weapons, depending on how fast you were traveling when you entered FA OFF and how fast your opponent is. So you may need the booster available after you complete the rotation etc.

Hopefully you get my drift (pun intended).

See my video for the Incursion mission below. I have pointed out also below a few occasions when I go FA OFF to chase a turn in my fight with the Cobra:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCZXmheHo0g&list=PLEejfQ83153nAi0ZoFpAFWI6SQnjQ5fYe

look at min 4:42, 5:22, 5:35

 

[Sanguisaevum]

Then there must be changes in the flight model in later builds then...

Because in alpha 1 the ship rotation rate seems to be based on your actual velocity regardless of your vector facing...

EG... if you are "sliding" at near full velocity with fa off, you rotate just as slow as if you were trying to turn at full speed with fa on.

Has this changed in later builds? Because in alpha 1 it is actually faster to leave fa on and drop throttle to the sweet spot and then throttle back up (combined with lateral thrusters for positioning)

There really doesn't seem to be any point in fa off, other than for personal preference.

 

[Thespen Tombs]

Never tried it but I expect that while in "stealth mode" maintaining your direction of travel without additional power will reduce your heat build up.

Can anyone confirm that?

 

[Alphasite]

I think in certain circumstances maintaining your direction of travel and turning your ship results in less turning required to bring the target back in your sights compared to turning whilst tracing out a circle with flight assist on.

Do you think there would be any advantage of gradually disabling flight assist at the extreme edges of movement (on joystick/controller of course)?

 

[popuptoaster]

You can do it with flight assist ON in a Cobra, it has a high enough speed on boost that the thrusters can't slow you down as fast as you can pitch over 180 degrees. Occasionally i add in some reverse thrust to help.

I assume you can do it in anything that's quick-ish.

I did it here look, Quite often use it fighting against Sidewinders as they can turn sharper but if you can get them coming at you head on you can rip them to bits.

http://youtu.be/D8bC-uDZK5c?t=1m17s

 

[Captain N]

You can do it with flight assist ON in a Cobra, it has a high enough speed on boost that the thrusters can't slow you down as fast as you can pitch over 180 degrees.

The thrusters won't slow you down anyway if you tell them to maintain the sideways velocity.

Using pitch together with vertical thrust control in FAON is basically the same thing as turning in FAOFF.

 

[Viajero]

Then there must be changes in the flight model in later builds then...

Because in alpha 1 the ship rotation rate seems to be based on your actual velocity regardless of your vector facing...

EG... if you are "sliding" at near full velocity with fa off, you rotate just as slow as if you were trying to turn at full speed with fa on.

Has this changed in later builds? Because in alpha 1 it is actually faster to leave fa on and drop throttle to the sweet spot and then throttle back up (combined with lateral thrusters for positioning)

There really doesn't seem to be any point in fa off, other than for personal preference.

That is correct. Rotation speed seems to be based on absolute velocity, irrespective of orientation. So best is to go FA-OFF while on sweet spot, then cut throttle to zero to maintain your sweet spot while you rotate.

But remember, the added value of FA OFF in this particular scenario is not just the rotation per se, but the fact that you are not performing a wide circle that would otherwise delay your chase as your opponent may be also doing the same behind you and so you need to catch up.

 

[Cosmos]

I often flick it off when I want to stay firing on target but my ship is going in a velocity that would otherwise mean I'd lose the target.

So a good example is with larger ships, say the Anaconda. If I approached it from above and started firing, moving directly downwards with the Anaconda continuing to move forward, at some point I'd have to pitch and during this time I would lose sight of the target if I wasn't going slowly which could be disadvantageous during combat. If I switch FA off I can continue moving in the same direction but maintain a lock and continue to fire.

In this particular example, I would end up coasting towards the back of the target. When I've reached a certain position, usually behind the ship, I turn FA back on.

I use it in a lot more advanced kind of ways but its hard to explain without a video. Its a really great element of the flight model and I am glad its in there.