CQC How do I get better at CQC?

[CMDR Runcible Shaw]

Practice, practice, practice.

PS I had my first go about a week ago. I was dreadful

I've been playing CQC since it was in beta. Going by my stats I'm not getting appreciably better. OR, everyone else is advancing faster than me. Though that doesn't take into account new players like yourself.

 

[Sir.Tj]

A barrel roll is on both axis. Imagine a bit like a single loop of a corkscrew.

Edit..

 

[CMDR Runcible Shaw]

I don't like CQC particularly, and I think that it's a waste of time playing it when I could be playing real elite (but i prefer red orchestra and arma to call of duty, so call me an old fashioned stick in teh mud) - however it can be a lot of (highly frustrating) fun at times.

It's a bit like, kill one, die one, kill one, die one, kill one, maybe kill one, die one. It's like that for everyone in the matches I've played - the games are quite close and even the top players are close in k:d.
Unless there's a total moron in the match, who everyone can get free points off - these guys are usually on your team, btw...

The ships and loadout have a big impact on your performance... it's pretty unfair, really.

The main thing that will get you better than everyone else is not having flight assist on.

Flying through gaps, close to the objects and through the tunnels helps if you are being chased, but kinda sucks if you are trying to shoot someone AND negotiate the course...
Often, I'll "take a shortcut" to the exit they might come out of, or just stop shooting as much and try not to smash into the wall.

Doing "the 180" in the middle of open space, when you are being chased and shot will just get you killed faster than if you were running away.
It can work if you have just flown out of line of sight, and /or have suddenly boosted to change direction. Chances are they have to draw an arc to turn around, because they have flight assist on.

People who don't use flight assist off tend to turn it off only when they want to do "the 180", and so will be moving in the same direction, but facing you. So you can just whack the throttle back and they slide out of range before boosting to try and come back - by which time you are already starting to turn for when they race past and you shoot them.

Powerups are the big, important things that will set you apart from the others.
They are always the best thing to aim for - but you have to get them to use them and it will take a while of using them, to know how to make use of them.

If one's a long way away and someone you are chasing to kill is going for it - don't chase them, cos they will get there before you and then be powered up and probably try to pwn you...

Some games, I'd just wedge myself into a small gap in teh scenery and wait for someone to fly past, then blast them. Like a cop. It'd work til someone knew you were there, in which case you'd be easy pickings.

Flying close to 1 or 2 teammates is super-useful.
So is TS if you are doing this, or some kind of voice comms.

In fact - the times I do best and we win most - it's times where we stick together and it's we kill one, we kill one, one dies, i die, he waits, i catch up, we kill one, we kill one, we kill one, i die, he waits, i catch up, we kill one, he dies, i wait... etc...


But... mostly... don't bother with CQC - it's not really worth the time investment, IMO - there's plenty of better games out there to spend time with. Hopefully it will become a mechanic of the real elite, in launched fighters in atmospheric planets, or something - cos then it'd be a blast.

So I've had one "never use FA off" and one "always use FA off". I tend toward never because when it's FA off is on (confusing) I cannot point my ship in a straight line and end up slamming into stuff.

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A barrel roll is on both axis. Imagine a single loop of a corkscrew.

Edit..

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...w.jpg/800px-Barrel_roll_diagram_side_view.jpg

I had no idea...

I think part of my problem is that I have a hard time thinking about maneuvers in three dimensions. So, I now see what it is, but am no closer to understanding exactly why I would do that and how it helps me murder spaceships.

 

[CMDR Runcible Shaw]

Are there actual maps online of the CQC maps?

 

[dutchy2000]

Interesting, but I'm a little confused about your terminology. I thought a barrel roll was rolling the ship along it's long axis (front to back axis). How can you be at the "bottom" of a barrel roll? Second thing, what do you mean by "toggle reverse". This is a thing I'm not familiar with, unless you mean just putting the throttle in reverse. I have a stick and throttle setup (cheap T Flight HOTAS X).

Sorry if I was not clear, its sometimes hard to explain. When I say barrel roll imagine if you stick out your arm and there is a barrel around that arm. Your direction of movement if you would do nothing is simply following the length of your arm. A barrel roll would be you still moving in that general direction but at the same time following the shape of the barrel. In the end you end up doing sort of a spiral, but since you start out in the center and are moving towards the edge of the spiral as well as along the length of the spiral its more barrel shaped. So then you have the top of the spiral and the bottom of the spiral. I guess the bottom would be once you have made a 270 degree roll.

Check your key mapper in the game, there is one that literally says toggle reverse. Map a button to it that you can reach without thinking about it. Basically what it does is reverse whatever throttle input you have set at the time and applies the reverse. So if you are going 100% forward, you press the button and you are going 100% backward. Obviously not instantly since you need to decelerate first, but going 100% reverse thrust decelerates you fast. Trick move is sliding behind a structure, hitting the button at 100% thrust until you stop and watch the person chasing you fly by and then going full thrust 100%, now you are chasing them instead of the other way around. The 'maverick' move.

Another tip, you say you can keep your noise pointed at an asteroid while boosting around it. Remember that the asteroid doesn't move, so if you want to do the same thing to a player you will need to match their movement PLUS doing the fly around stuff. Most of the time that is simply not possible, so you need to watch their movement and anticipate where they are going and adjust your movement accordingly.

 

[SushiCW]

Interesting, but I'm a little confused about your terminology. I thought a barrel roll was rolling the ship along it's long axis (front to back axis). How can you be at the "bottom" of a barrel roll?

Second thing, what do you mean by "toggle reverse". This is a thing I'm not familiar with, unless you mean just putting the throttle in reverse.

Pretty sure that's what he means. Some people use a throttle that goes 0-100% and use a button that toggles reverse (0--100%) instead. It just depends on how you set up your controls.

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Are there actual maps online of the CQC maps?

Not that I am aware.

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So I've had one "never use FA off" and one "always use FA off". I tend toward never because when it's FA off is on (confusing) I cannot point my ship in a straight line and end up slamming into stuff.

FA off isn't a super-mode. It's also not a waste of time. It's only useful in a few situation in CQC, though, so especially if you're learning it's not a bad idea to stick with FA on.

Sticking 100% to FA off or FA on will eventually limit what you can do, though.

 

[CMDR Runcible Shaw]

https://i.imgur.com/711WaLZ.jpg



Pretty sure that's what he means. Some people use a throttle that goes 0-100% and use a button that toggles reverse (0--100%) instead. It just depends on how you set up your controls.

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Not that I am aware.

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FA off isn't a super-mode. It's also not a waste of time. It's only useful in a few situation in CQC, though, so especially if you're learning it's not a bad idea to stick with FA on.

Sticking 100% to FA off or FA on will eventually limit what you can do, though.

Out of rep. Yeah, I have a stick and throttle and my throttle does both forward and reverse. I guess the toggle reverse button would save a moment or two sliding the throttle back. I feel like it might be weird having it be only forward all the time as it has a thing that sort of locks it in place at 0% throttle (in the middle) which then would lock it at 50%? I'll give it a go though.

 

[dutchy2000]

Odd never heard of a stick like that where the throttle at 0% is in the middle of the range. I guess it is just a matter of preference. At some point I had programmed the second slider on my throttle to control the reverse range. But you get odd things like throttle going forward and the slider backward and it really not doing anything. My game improved significantly once I got the toggle switch in place. If you already have an easy way of going from 100% forward to 100% backward and everything in between then the toggle won't make much difference.

Sushi is correct, that is the barrel roll I am talking about. The main difference is that you are moving in 3 dimensions on a barrel roll vs 1 dimension on an aileron roll (then again we don't have ailerons, but the concept holds). This mean in a head on merge, your opponent if he wants to keep guns on you will have to adjust to follow your movement. A barrel roll is much easier if you have rudder pedals (or a twisty stick, but that makes stuff messier). With enough direction inputs you should be able to do the barrel roll while also changing your pitch/yaw/roll to basically keep your guns on the target while doing this maneuver.

Depending on your opponents weapon placement it might be more beneficial to go up and over or below and sideways.

Eagle its up and over, even though your opponent can still see you, his beams need to travel further to reach you.
Condor its below and sideways. The weapons are center lined so your advantage is below due to his dashboard being in the way.
Sidewinder it doesn't matter much since its too slow in any direction, its easy to get behind them.
Imp fighter its harder, it has amazing views up, the weapons are at the side of the body but essentially center lined, so I would go below and sideways. The yaw on the imp eagle is fairly poor so make movements that cause him to yaw more than pitch and roll.

Of course this will all need practice, but it will come in time.

 

[Fendalton]

Play twitch games like CS:GO, get your aim time up, camp the power ups (except the speed one), play with Keyboard and Mouse.

 

[Brimstone]

If you want to get better, don't get drunk and make stupid videos like this

[video=youtube;1a11f9dN-o8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a11f9dN-o8[/video]