There's no dogfighting in this game and combat is god-awful...

[fabittar]

/rant on

OK...

I bought this game (and its expansion) on both PC and Xbox One, and now I regret it because apparently devs at Frontier don't know how to make a game fun. Combat in this game is beyond frustrating. There's no dogfighting at all: it's either jousting, circle straffing (omg so boring / annoying) or backward flying <-- this sucks.

Also, the whole engineers RNG upgrade grind fest is ridiculous. Nobody wants to go through that crap just be on par with NPCs. Maybe if you limited these upgraded NPCs to defined pockets (combat sites etc), but NO.. it's everywhere and it is killing the fun.

Finally, the same messed up bugs persist to annoy us: NPC ships making jumps they couldn't possibly have made, pirates spawning everywhere, omg boring boring annoying so very annoying interdictions that never end unless you engage etc etc.

Seriously Braben, you should have made this a single-player game from the start and let us mod it, because you don't know the first thing about making a game fun.

Go play other (better) space combat games that have ACTUAL dogfighting in them and then think very carefully about everything that is wrong with the combat in this game.

/rant off

EDIT:

/rant on AGAIN

And the devs must be <nope> or something, because they tied the ship handling (pitch, rotation and yaw) to the speed vector in FA OFF mode, making FA OFF annoying to fly.

FINALLY and NOT THE LEAST, IT'S THE FUTURE and ships don't have a speed vector indicator on the HUD... you have to look outside to have a general idea of the direction your ship is accelerating towards. HOW MORONIC IS THAT??

/rant off for good this time....

 

[Barking_Mad]

/popcorn

 

[Soulstain]

I'm not really sure how they could fix it. In 2016 Dogfighting is considered a last resort. Almost all air to air combat is fought beyond visual range. That would be boring in a space game. Most people want to see the ships they're fighting. I think you may get more of the type of combat you're looking for when we have atmospheres to fight in. That will change everything.

 

[Ziljan]

There is only dogfighting. Just so happens that some ships are better at it, and when big slow ships try it, it looks like what you describe above. Try flying a smaller ship. It's a lot more fun. More like a wrestling match to gain the flank.

Also, the above is why they're introducing ship launched fighters in October. So you can dog fight (best part of the game) and fly big ships at the same time. And for some reason people want to fly huge ships. Over compensating?

Also, you don't need engineers to be on par with NPCs. Skill alone will win 9/10 fights. Even if you are out classed! However, once you fully engineer your ship, NPCs will be like half melted butter.

 

[Mangal Oemie]

Exactly. Main reason I don't engineer... I'd like my NPC fight a _little_ challenging, at least.

 

[duffbeeeer]

oh boy this thread has potential...

 

[Martian Successor]

/rant on

/rant off.

Please to be so courteous as to offer a specific suggestion of how to improve the dogfighting whilst maintaining the current flight mechanics so that the devs' souls may crumble at the sheer weight of your wisdom.

 

[Ian Skippy]

OMG! OMG! This so urgh, like, whatever dumb! Braben so stupid nothmn combat like OMG WHAT?

(just trying to keep the discussion on the same level as the OP)

 

[fabittar]

I'm sorry for the harsh words, but I was trying to make a point (and the aggressiveness of it is aimed towards the devs, not my fellow forum goers): the suggestion of adding a speed vector indicator to the HUD seems to me a pretty obvious feature that should've been there from the start.

"It's the year 3303, and top notch engineers at Faulcon DeLacey are working on their latest creation, the ultimate conveyance, the greatest fighter known to men, and the following conversation ensues: hey, maybe we should have some avionics in here telling the pilot which way the fighter is drifting off to because - you know - it's space and all... Naw, nevermind that... more fun if the pilot has to guess by looking outside for visual reference. In space."

 

[WR3ND]

It's threads like these that help the community come together in general agreement even though we may have our disagreements elsewhere.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I'm sorry for the harsh words

Don't be sorry. It was quite amusing

Moar harsh words!

 

[Jockey79]

Go play other (better) space combat games that have ACTUAL dogfighting in them

Care to suggest the ones you are thinking about?

 

[Dbrn47]

Yea.. the turn fighting in this game does get obnoxious.. Unfortunately, that's all the NPCs know so you either turn fight or shield tank. Only so much skill you can apply. *shrug*

 

[goemon]

"Nobody wants to go through that crap just be on par with NPCs. " - while engineering makes combat more easy (up to: trivial), i'm still killing npc more often then i'm killed on my second non-horizon account. actually i'm rarely killed and kill very often. took some time to adapt and readjust my builds. give a HRP-cobra mkiii or a DBS a try!

 

[h347h]

Is it me or is there a slight uptick in posts like this?

 

[WR3ND]

"Nobody wants to go through that crap just be on par with NPCs. " - while engineering makes combat more easy (up to: trivial), i'm still killing npc more often then i'm killed on my second non-horizon account. actually i'm rarely killed and kill very often. took some time to adapt and readjust my builds. give a HRP-cobra mkiii or a DBS a try!

Yeah, or try a Vulture, OP, if you want to "dogfight" more. [up]

 

[Dbrn47]

"Nobody wants to go through that crap just be on par with NPCs. " - while engineering makes combat more easy (up to: trivial), i'm still killing npc more often then i'm killed on my second non-horizon account. actually i'm rarely killed and kill very often. took some time to adapt and readjust my builds. give a HRP-cobra mkiii or a DBS a try!

Is it me or is there a slight uptick in posts like this?

It's a rant. I never expected much of it to really be all that coherent. Seems the point is about dog fighting though.. which this game... yea.

 

[fabittar]

I did make suggestions on how to improve it.

 

[jasonbarron]

There is only dogfighting. Just so happens that some ships are better at it, and when big slow ships try it, it looks like what you describe above. Try flying a smaller ship. It's a lot more fun. More like a wrestling match to gain the flank.

Also, the above is why they're introducing ship launched fighters in October. So you can dog fight (best part of the game) and fly big ships at the same time. And for some reason people want to fly huge ships. Over compensating?

Also, you don't need engineers to be on par with NPCs. Skill alone will win 9/10 fights. Even if you are out classed! However, once you fully engineer your ship, NPCs will be like half melted butter.

I agree with this assessment. On the subject of upgrades, I also agree that they play second fiddle to skill, but they are quite lovely once installed. I've quite enjoyed the engineers portion of the game.

 

[[VR] Marrs]

Movement in space is only measurable in relation to another object. So which object should the avionics use as a reference point? The dust? the star, the planet, the ship you are fighting?