Ship behavior in atmospheres over 0.25 (eventually)

[Gordon Freeman IV]

Some ships have aero or intakes (fed mediums, kraits) it would be cool if ships with flaps, alerons, and other aero could get a handling buff. In an atnosphere over 0.5 federal gunship would get a 25% boost in turn rate and a 30% buff on deceleration and a 10% reduction in top speed (or 15% increase in fuel consumption) because the front is fairly aerodynamic. Dropship (less aero but more than assault ship) would get a 15% boost in turn rate and 20% buff in deceleration but a 8% reduction in top speed
Ships like T7 or T9 would get a 25% reduction in speed as they are just pushing the air. Ships like DBX, adder, etc. Would only get 5% drop in speed.
This would also be based on altitude and atmosphere density. When flying through clouds you would come out the other side with a wet or icy hull and glass. Going through a thunderstorm would glitch out your hud, jam your sensors and if you got struck could damage or reboot a module. (You could evade an attacker by going through a thunderhead to drop his target lock. Wind would also effect your ships handling larger ships would not have as much effect as small ones as their mass makes the forces to move them larger (my 2375 Ton corvette would move less in wind then my 461 Ton DBX)

 

[Riverside]

It's nice to dream that those wings & the general aerodynamics of various ship shapes will have some effect on how those ships handle thicker atmospheres but all have enough thrust to not need any other form of control surfaces.

I don't think we really need more than getting blown about enough to make having airspeed as well as ground speed a factor, somewhat like gravity does now when the ship isn't level (ie canned).

 

[Sylow]

It's nice to dream that those wings & the general aerodynamics of various ship shapes will have some effect on how those ships handle thicker atmospheres but all have enough thrust to not need any other form of control surfaces.

I don't think we really need more than getting blown about enough to make having airspeed as well as ground speed a factor, somewhat like gravity does now when the ship isn't level (ie canned).

Hehe, yea. I very much guess that, in the unlikely case that we still live to the day where ED allows us to enter an actual atmosphere, our thrusters will still matter. We have a number of ships, which don't have any aerodynamic surfaces of significance, so they probably be treated as merely cosmetic for the rest, too.

If they would matter, then ship kits would suddenly be a balancing problem, after all. Not good.

 

[varonica]

If you fly a brick, any of the Lakon Type freighters, it probably won't matter, a Dolphin or Python then probably yes angle and speed should affect handling a lot, but with a brick you would just let it fall until you get near the ground!

 

[Gordon Freeman IV]

Hehe, yea. I very much guess that, in the unlikely case that we still live to the day where ED allows us to enter an actual atmosphere, our thrusters will still matter. We have a number of ships, which don't have any aerodynamic surfaces of significance, so they probably be treated as merely cosmetic for the rest, too.

If they would matter, then ship kits would suddenly be a balancing problem, after all. Not good.

Meh. It would be neat to see your ship reacting to your inputs other than with thrusters.

 

[Riverside]

Meh. It would be neat to see your ship reacting to your inputs other than with thrusters.

There are some ships that have thrust directors already, the cobras and T-9 come to mind. But I agree having flaps & ailerons visibly moving would be cool

 

[Insanerobert]

If done right, this would add several other factors in mind. They could just make a standard atmosphere at 0 m altitude and let's say that every ship handles the same in the planet's atmosphere under 20km (where most supercruise dropout and gliding goes in action). In practice though, everything is altitude dependent, from temperature to density and pressure which will affect drag and controls responsiveness. This will also add another layer to ship's flight characteristics. Would be nice though to see it as viable, but will also complicate things a little and sometimes this will also complicate ease/complicate ships controls depending on their shape. Vulture for example is not a very aerodinamic friendly design and will have issues with turning and drag due to it's straight surfaces - especially the side walls.

 

[Gordon Freeman IV]

If done right, this would add several other factors in mind. They could just make a standard atmosphere at 0 m altitude and let's say that every ship handles the same in the planet's atmosphere under 20km (where most supercruise dropout and gliding goes in action). In practice though, everything is altitude dependent, from temperature to density and pressure which will affect drag and controls responsiveness. This will also add another layer to ship's flight characteristics. Would be nice though to see it as viable, but will also complicate things a little and sometimes this will also complicate ease/complicate ships controls depending on their shape. Vulture for example is not a very aerodinamic friendly design and will have issues with turning and drag due to it's straight surfaces - especially the side walls.

Yeah but dogfighting in a ship like gunship or dropship in an atmosphere with all its control surfaces would give the big federal doorstop a whole new edge that it never had. You can tell some ships are designed for atmospheric flight (gunship,dropship,adder) and some not so much. (T7, etc) these lakon bricks would be able to go in atmosphere but would use much more fuel and go significantly slower than in space.