Elite Dangerous' flight model is severely flawed

[lgn15]

I have to say that the absolute biggest offender in this game is the flight mechanics; they are so severely broken and boring. I love simulation but above all a video game should be fun.. that is the first principle of why people play them and can escape in video game worlds. Otherwise, people would be playing desk job simulators.

Therefor, there is no doubt that the flight mechanics in this game are one of the biggest things holding it back, as it is one of the most BORING things to do in any game ever. How could anyone justify the super cruise. You literally must supercruise every 2 minutes in this game as it's mandatory to getting anywhere beyond your immediate vicinity (due to the vastness of space). BUT, this mechanic which takes up so much playing time consists of nothing but staring at the screen. No input controls beside setting speed which is mindless because of the 7 second rule. Acceleration is way too slow, slowing down is too slow and the max speed is too slow.

Hypercruise: charge up, load destination. Very boring, and usually immediately followed by another boring stint of supercruise.

Please Fdev, FIX THIS! a 50k ls supercruise can make a man LOSE THEIR MIND.

 

[Factabulous]

Sounds like you should give No Man's Sky a go - more like your cup of team - have fun!

 

[Caldric]

Sounds like supercruise is your complaint not actual flight model? Flight model would be control of the ship being piloted.

 

[Vasea Azure]

Elite flight model and traveling mechanics are not going to change at this point, Im sure of it. Also as "flight model" I understand flying the ship directly outside of SC and hyperspace and its the most fun part of this game I think.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I have to say that the absolute biggest offender in this game is the flight mechanics; they are so severely broken and boring. I love simulation but above all a video game should be fun.. that is the first principle of why people play them and can escape in video game worlds. Otherwise, people would be playing desk job simulators.

Supercruise is fun. Also sometimes people escape to fantasy job simulators.

 

[Vingtetun]

Unfortunately, I believe you are wrong.
Supercruise allows you to see the systems you are in at speed, to observe the celestial mechanics and orbits of the planets. To swiftly get around to just the view or approach vector you want and to enjoy space.

It lets the developers insert things like the Voyager probes you need to search for, allows you to engage in the cat and mouse of running from NPC who are after your cargo. It lets you search around planets for mission target USS and in the cases of places like Hutton Orbital experience the vastness of space within one system.

It lets you approach stations from the vector you want, drop to the dark side of a planet or just above the mountain you want to land on.

'Warping' between locations simply injects everyone at just the same location and misses out the highlights and enjoyment of being in a simulation of the milky way.

Supercruise might take time but without it, the game would just be a closed set of rooms linked by a simple click.

 

[Autoculto]

Just press 'J' and keep it pressed. You'll skip sections of bland space quickly.
Well, that's what it used to be on the old BBC micro

 

[the100thmonkey]

I smashed my Zelda: Breath of the Wild cartridge because I have to walk to so many places. I mean, it's literally just pushing the stick up for minutes at a time.

 

[Red Martian]

I have to say that the absolute biggest offender in this game is the flight mechanics; they are so severely broken and boring. I love simulation but above all a video game should be fun.. that is the first principle of why people play them and can escape in video game worlds. Otherwise, people would be playing desk job simulators.

Therefor, there is no doubt that the flight mechanics in this game are one of the biggest things holding it back, as it is one of the most BORING things to do in any game ever. How could anyone justify the super cruise. You literally must supercruise every 2 minutes in this game as it's mandatory to getting anywhere beyond your immediate vicinity (due to the vastness of space). BUT, this mechanic which takes up so much playing time consists of nothing but staring at the screen. No input controls beside setting speed which is mindless because of the 7 second rule. Acceleration is way too slow, slowing down is too slow and the max speed is too slow.

Hypercruise: charge up, load destination. Very boring, and usually immediately followed by another boring stint of supercruise.

Please Fdev, FIX THIS! a 50k ls supercruise can make a man LOSE THEIR MIND.

50k? I make regular trips out to Smeaton Orbital, and Hutton Orbital. Each one is anywhere from a 35 minute to 2 hour one way cruise. I get that you might not like it, but space is huge. HUGE. As for the rest of the flight model, I find it to be one of the best of any space sim I've ever played. I have gripes about the game from time to time, but the flight model? I think that's the one thing FDEV nailed, without exception.

 

[VR andysonofbob]

[EDIT] Didn't realise OP had flown to Hutton or something like it!

Who hasn't made that mistake at least once

Especially at the beginning of their career!

Check distances!

Most voyages last 3 to 4 minutes from system entry to dock

 

[lgn15]

Sounds like you should give No Man's Sky a go - more like your cup of team - have fun!

I think we all are after that hilarious spoiling of the Gnosis event 6 hours early

FDEV take note; No Man's Sky developers learn from their mistakes

 

[the100thmonkey]

50k? I make regular trips out to Smeaton Orbital, and Hutton Orbital. Each one is anywhere from a 35 minute to 2 hour one way cruise. I get that you might not like it, but space is huge. HUGE. As for the rest of the flight model, I find it to be one of the best of any space sim I've ever played. I have gripes about the game from time to time, but the flight model? I think that's the one thing FDEV nailed, without exception.

My average SC time is a couple of minutes. There are a few stations (already mentioned. To add, the OP should stay away from Dea Motrona) with cruise times in the 15 minute + range, but they're actually rather unusual.

If you're just jumping around an area, pay attention to the systems with long cruises to the stations (i.e. use the system map to set destinations; I know it's not always possible, but still). If you're running missions, the missions that require you to go to a specific station always give you a decent estimate of the distance. Make sure you read the label!

 

[Red Martian]

My average SC time is a couple of minutes. There are a few stations (already mentioned. To add, the OP should stay away from Dea Motrona) with cruise times in the 15 minute + range, but they're actually rather unusual.

If you're just jumping around an area, pay attention to the systems with long cruises to the stations (i.e. use the system map to set destinations; I know it's not always possible, but still). If you're running missions, the missions that require you to go to a specific station always give you a decent estimate of the distance. Make sure you read the label!

Exactly. Always read the label. Me, I just like traveling long distances. I love the idea of space trucking, so it's just fun for me. Everyone has their cup of tea.

 

[Iskariot]

I have to say that the absolute biggest offender in this game is the flight mechanics; they are so severely broken and boring. I love simulation but above all a video game should be fun.. that is the first principle of why people play them and can escape in video game worlds. Otherwise, people would be playing desk job simulators.

Therefor, there is no doubt that the flight mechanics in this game are one of the biggest things holding it back, as it is one of the most BORING things to do in any game ever. How could anyone justify the super cruise. You literally must supercruise every 2 minutes in this game as it's mandatory to getting anywhere beyond your immediate vicinity (due to the vastness of space). BUT, this mechanic which takes up so much playing time consists of nothing but staring at the screen. No input controls beside setting speed which is mindless because of the 7 second rule. Acceleration is way too slow, slowing down is too slow and the max speed is too slow.

Hypercruise: charge up, load destination. Very boring, and usually immediately followed by another boring stint of supercruise.

Please Fdev, FIX THIS! a 50k ls supercruise can make a man LOSE THEIR MIND.

I love Supercruise. I really do. I love zooming past planets.

But... I do feel it could be improved upon.
I have posted my ideas in the other threads about this topic.

I agree with you about the lack of player input for example. We need more player agency in supercruise, more piloty things to do.
This could be done by giving the pips a function in supercruise.

I also would like the HUD to look different in Supercruise, just like it looks different when we approach a planet.
The HUD might display the ideal trajectory if you want to use a gravity field to speed up, or brake.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

To be fair, I use lot of supercruise time when traveling to 100k and beyond to do quick routine checks like getting water, coffee, stretching legs. Almost everything I would do if I was in space ship.

Supercruise has some things I want to improve, especially regarding SS and their scanning.

 

[Marklar_]

You might want to avoid taking missions to Hutton.

You'll learn that long SC trips are easy to avoid if you want. Also, smaller ships have much better SC handling. Hang in there.

 

[the100thmonkey]

Who hasn't made that mistake at least once

Especially at the beginning of their career!

Check distances!

Most voyages last 3 to 4 minutes from system entry to dock

You need to dirty up a Viper Mk. III and put drag drives on it. Similar speeds to the Sidey (a wee bit slower), but my god the thruster performance. And you can actually do a few other things than bomb around surfaces

 

[VR andysonofbob]

I also would like the HUD to look different in Supercruise, just like it looks different when we approach a planet.
The HUD might display the ideal trajectory if you want to do use a gravity field to speed up, or brake.

I love this!

@the100thmonkey
Soz

I edited my post when I realised OP had taken a superlong voyage. I did that accidently on my first session. I had no idea. I was baffled as to why anyone would put up with it!

 

[Backelaer]

I love Supercruise. I really do. I love zooming past planets.

But... I do feel it could be improved upon.
I have posted my ideas in the other threads about this topic.

I agree with you about the lack of player input for example. We need more player agency in supercruise, more piloty things to do.
This could be done by giving the pips a function in supercruise.

I also would like the HUD to look different in Supercruise, just like it looks different when we approach a planet.
The HUD might display the ideal trajectory if you want to do use a gravity field to speed up, or brake.

I want this!
You probably did, but just to be sure: have you posted this in the suggestion section as well?

 

[Lestat]

I have to say that the absolute biggest offender in this game is the flight mechanics; they are so severely broken and boring. I love simulation but above all a video game should be fun.. that is the first principle of why people play them and can escape in video game worlds. Otherwise, people would be playing desk job simulators.

Therefor, there is no doubt that the flight mechanics in this game are one of the biggest things holding it back, as it is one of the most BORING things to do in any game ever. How could anyone justify the super cruise. You literally must supercruise every 2 minutes in this game as it's mandatory to getting anywhere beyond your immediate vicinity (due to the vastness of space). BUT, this mechanic which takes up so much playing time consists of nothing but staring at the screen. No input controls beside setting speed which is mindless because of the 7 second rule. Acceleration is way too slow, slowing down is too slow and the max speed is too slow.

Hypercruise: charge up, load destination. Very boring, and usually immediately followed by another boring stint of supercruise.

Please Fdev, FIX THIS! a 50k ls supercruise can make a man LOSE THEIR MIND.

If you don't like long distance travel. Find stations close to the main star. Research a mission before accepting them so you don't have to fly long distance. If it too far DON'T ACEEPT IT. There 15,000 system with Stations. So stop whining and look for system that suite your needs.