I left the US military more than thirty years ago.
The combat players want Full Metal Jacket, turned up to 13.
I left the US military more than thirty years ago.
The combat players want Full Metal Jacket, turned up to 13.
Troy_McClure
Banned
I wasn't expecting this...:O
'random internet dude dishes out spurious supercilious advice - while implying his own god-like abilities - without providing any evidence of his own proficiency in a like-for-like scenario'
...surely this has never happened before on a vid game forum?
Oh & good luck with your self-esteem issues
I fly my fully mod combat Corvette quite often in Open. Main reason? I enjoy the ship and am usually left alone by other CMNDR's.
My other ships are also combat capable to a lesser extent as they can carry cargo (except for the FDL).
Flying in Open means always ready.
However, doing this means that NPC's are bumps on the road. That's OK because when starting out, they chewed on me more than once.
The only challenge is at CZ's when the AI switches to all ships attack mode. I've burned through all my SCB rounds to stay in the battle. I leave only when almost out of ammo.
We'll see what the aliens bring.
My other ships are also combat capable to a lesser extent as they can carry cargo (except for the FDL).
Flying in Open means always ready.
However, doing this means that NPC's are bumps on the road. That's OK because when starting out, they chewed on me more than once.
The only challenge is at CZ's when the AI switches to all ships attack mode. I've burned through all my SCB rounds to stay in the battle. I leave only when almost out of ammo.
We'll see what the aliens bring.
.I wasn't expecting this...:O
'random internet dude dishes out spurious supercilious advice - while implying his own god-like abilities - without providing any evidence of his own proficiency in a like-for-like scenario'
...surely this has never happened before on a vid game forum?
Oh & good luck with your self-esteem issues
I think you are taking this the wrong way. I also watched the video and i also see a lot of missed shots. While gimballed do a little less damage per shot, this is more than compensated for by hitting more often. I also usually have some gimballs on my ships. Not only am i not the absolute marksman, which some others appear to be, gimballs also allow me some maneuvers while dealing damage which fixed weapons would prevent. (If you want to know more, there's an excellent thread from TrueSilver around, which explains it better than i could. )
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The very only real drawback of gimballs is that they can be countered by chaff, but then you just deselect the target and have the weapons in fixed mode.
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So i dare to say that B1rdy just wrote the same i did here, just in shorter form. The only difference is that i explicitely state that i am not a top end pilot, so it's absolutely clear that just try to help instead of projecting any "better than you". But i also see none of that attitude in B1rdys posting, he just cut it down to the essential info.
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NPCs are easy no matter what ship I fly. Haz res in an eagle vs wings? Ok fine. Killing cops in a viper near a station? Sure. High CZs in a sidey? No problem. Now if I jump in my Corvette or FDL, then the only challenge is: how many can I kill per minute?
So when people say they find the NPCs challenging, I have to wonder what basic info about flying are they missing? And how can they best learn it? And soon! Because, ready or not, winter is coming.
So when people say they find the NPCs challenging, I have to wonder what basic info about flying are they missing? And how can they best learn it? And soon! Because, ready or not, winter is coming.
Just using a xbox one controller and i found the npcs quite a challenge very hard to stay with them in a dogfight.
Now i'v just got a oculus rift. i find the npc's a hell of a lot easer and staying with them is a walk in the park now.
So ppl who saying there no challenge are prob using better equ like a vr headset/head tracking or hotas.
Well of course with them setups it's going to be easer.
Now i'v just got a oculus rift. i find the npc's a hell of a lot easer and staying with them is a walk in the park now.
So ppl who saying there no challenge are prob using better equ like a vr headset/head tracking or hotas.
Well of course with them setups it's going to be easer.
Nowhere in-game does it tell you these things. You learn them through a lot ot trial and error, or by reading these forums outside of the game, or by watching videos explaining how to improve your combat. It's entirely possible to play the game avoiding combat so I'm not surprised that some people find NPC's challenging - simply because they've never had to learn how to fly better.
1) Fly in the blue zone of your throttle as much as possible.
2) Boost away if you end up in front of your attacker.
3) Be moving in a curved path as much as possible
4) Don't joust and make it an accuracy fight, get in close and outmaneuver them.
Watching enough videos of beginners showing off their combat skills, most of them fail on some (if not all) of the above points and they're pretty easy to follow if you put your mind to them and make them a habit.
I have only an A rated Viper (I don't have Horizons) and I've never found the AI to be challenging at all. I can also sit in a CZ until I have to leave to resupply my ammo - we could do with better AI but we also don't want different "regions" of difficulty though I'm sure it would be easy to come up with something.
On the other hand, Eagles fold like tissue paper once their shields are down. A typical NPC Eagle can be destroyed by about five or six seconds of sustained fire from a single gimballed beam laser. The scenario described here is very similar to one of the ones off the training menu except the Eagles are armed with lasers and, well, I have no idea what rating the modules on the Vulture are. I've never checked. You do get one gimballed beam laser and one gimballed class 2 multicannon. I suspect the laser is a class 2 as well.
I think the training scenarios are pretty good practice, especially the Incursion ones where you can pick the rating of your NPC opponents. There are four levels - Mostly Harmless, Competent, Dangerous and Elite. I've only tried out the two lower levels so far. I don't consider myself a super pilot in any way, probably competent if anything, but I haven't lost my shields on ether of those scenarios to date. They're a great place to practice against NPCs, one on one. I think there are many on one scenarios too, but I'm not sure. Well, there's at least a two on one, and a three on one scenario. Anyway, they're a great place to try out boost turns, FA-off stuff, circle strafing or other fancy flying without facing a rebuy. The Mostly Harmless level opponents are somewhat like flying potatoes that even my nine year old son can destroy. He is beaten by the Competent NPCs though, but perhaps that will change soon with practice.
Sure, you get given a set ship but it's not all bad - Mostly Harmless gives you an Eagle armed with two fixed burst lasers (hate) and one gimballed multicannon. Competent gives you a Viper Mk III with two beam lasers and two multicannons, all gimballed. That's where I discovered that it's actually a really nice combat ship to fly - nice strong shields and decent firepower. I don't know what ships the other two levels give.
However in one of the other challenge scenarios, you get an Asp Explorer with two class 2 beams, 2 class 1 beams and 2 homing missile launchers. You start off against Eagles and Sidewinders and the end NPC opponent is an Anaconda. No reloads or repairs. If you can beat that, I reckon you've got the AI nailed, and you're a better pilot than I
Best I've done is taken the Anaconda down to about 10% hull before ”eject, eject". My twelve year old son gets to the Anaconda too...
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It's not that the AI is "bad", it's just utterly predictable. When you learn how it flies you can crush it. Kinda like the video games a looooong time ago.
If you want the short answer of how to beat it: it tries to get behind you when hey are using smaller ships, and sits and face tanks you in big ships. Turn FA off and keep facing their small ships, and zoom behind them vs big ships. You will rarely be hit.
If you want the short answer of how to beat it: it tries to get behind you when hey are using smaller ships, and sits and face tanks you in big ships. Turn FA off and keep facing their small ships, and zoom behind them vs big ships. You will rarely be hit.
yesterday cops tried to kill me while i was scooping materials t9 droped after i popped him. it lasted good few minutes and cost me some chuff and occasional scb to witness their pathetic attempt. i was in diamondback scout.. they are like mosquitos, annoying
perhaps they are like me older and without the 10 year old reflexes you still have? or maybe we just like fun rather than feeling under extreme pressure followed by relief it was them that died or that you JUST got away because we find andrenaline overdose stressful not a legal high addiction?
just because FA OFF is possible doesnt mean everyone wants to be forced to use it all the time. not everyone has a hotas nor will get one.
I'm not sure the AI, itself, could be called "challenging" but when you got 20-odd Elite Black-Flight DBXs chasing after you, along with 2 or 3 Elite Anacondas, it certainly gets your attention.
If you don't believe me, go to Celaeno and try to scan the data-points on Comm's Station PSJ-17.
You might want to take a broom to sweep up the bits of your ship.
If you don't believe me, go to Celaeno and try to scan the data-points on Comm's Station PSJ-17.
You might want to take a broom to sweep up the bits of your ship.
obviously we know that some players suck at flying and some do not.
The current game's AI doesn't do a good job at catering to those that dont suck at flying.
Nobody is demanding that Fdev make the AI hard for everyone.
What we want is a better scaling of AI difficulty, that relates to areas of high crime / war. These would be cleary marked in the galaxy and system map. Players with lower flying skills can easily avoid these areas.
The increased difficulty would scale appropriately with increased rewards / risks.
It's simple, everyone gets what they want. No handwavium needed.
The current game's AI doesn't do a good job at catering to those that dont suck at flying.
Nobody is demanding that Fdev make the AI hard for everyone.
What we want is a better scaling of AI difficulty, that relates to areas of high crime / war. These would be cleary marked in the galaxy and system map. Players with lower flying skills can easily avoid these areas.
The increased difficulty would scale appropriately with increased rewards / risks.
It's simple, everyone gets what they want. No handwavium needed.
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Whether or not it's a challenge depends on what you're flying and what you've bolted on to it, to a certain extent.
Flying a Vulture with twin plasmas in a HazRES can be really challenging when you take on wings of craft, particularly one med/large with two small escorts - a Gunship with two Viper Mk. III wingmates and a fighter is a real handful. I've been chased out of RESes multiple times by similar setups. Lone Anacondas and Clippers, etc. die very quickly.
Flying the same ship with engineered gimballed burst lasers is a very different experience - it's nowhere near as hard.
So yeah, I find the NPCs challenging when I want them to be.
Flying a Vulture with twin plasmas in a HazRES can be really challenging when you take on wings of craft, particularly one med/large with two small escorts - a Gunship with two Viper Mk. III wingmates and a fighter is a real handful. I've been chased out of RESes multiple times by similar setups. Lone Anacondas and Clippers, etc. die very quickly.
Flying the same ship with engineered gimballed burst lasers is a very different experience - it's nowhere near as hard.
So yeah, I find the NPCs challenging when I want them to be.
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You didnt add "in my own personal opinion".
You cant come and pretend everyone seeks the same from the game as you.
For some it is challenging and that is alright.
The game needs to have places where the difficulty is high and places where is low.
T
Or perhaps players can switch up their loadouts in preference of high-DPS fixed weapons that they really have to work hard to use effectively?
The problem is, of course, that it's intended as a shared universe so if, for example, you're in a RES with a group of newbies, chances are that an NPC which spawns to challenge you is going to wipe the floor with a newbie that gets in the way.
I do agree, in principle, though.
Anarchies should scale in just the same way "normal" systems do, perhaps even more dramatically.
There should be anarchy systems which every law-abiding player will deliberately avoid due to the likelihood of hostilities.
If you're a lawless player, you could fight your way in, gain rep' with the controlling faction there and then you get treated with respect and you get a "safe haven" where no sane person would try and attack you.
Would make for interesting gameplay, IMO. Especially in conjunction with a working C&P mechanic.
Your solution is self nerfing, where as Ddraigs is much better as it caters to everyone without people having to gimp themselves.