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Thread: Space flight model
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Rhyus
Wed Oct 27, 2004 3:27 pm
#1
Ok, I got JTL today and went into space to do some missions. I found a problem with the flight model. If I am moving forward and I am in combat with a ship, that ship goes past me and I turn to follow it, if I cut power to my thrusters, my turning slows down. I still only have the beginning ship, so, I don't know if this happens on the other models or not. I'm also a Privateer. If I cut power to my thrusters when turning, I should get a faster turning rate, not a slower one, because if thrust is still behind the ship, it will take the ship in a wider arc, but, if thrust is cut, it will give you a shorter turning arc. This is even true with ground based flight sims with gravity affecting it, so, if no gravity is affecting it, then, no slowdown should happen anyway.
_Smoke_
Wed Oct 27, 2004 3:37 pm
#2
There's a "sweet spot" throttle setting for your fastest turn rate. It's usually between 1/3 and 2/3 of the throttle, depending on the ship. Having a slow turn rate at zero throttle helps to prevent turreting and encourages dogfights. Think of it as the space equivilant of a stall... it's there to discourage you from sitting still and spinning around to blast everything in range (this was a problem in beta).
The X-Wing series has also had this as a "feature" for over 10 years, so it's true to the established legacy of LucasArts space sims, too.
~S
The X-Wing series has also had this as a "feature" for over 10 years, so it's true to the established legacy of LucasArts space sims, too.
~S
RM-125
Wed Oct 27, 2004 3:44 pm
#3
This was done to prevent "turreting" where someone would sit in one place and just turn without actually flying. once you get the feel of your ship it will get to feel more natural to you. Just give it a little time.
Rhyus
Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:06 pm
#4
But, you know what? That is a TACTIC with space flight. Because you can sit in one spot and turn is no exploit or anything like that. There are just times where a ship is too fast for you to turn with speed behind your ship that the only thing you can do is cut your speed to 0 to keep up with the way another ship, especially an AI controlled ship, runs circles around you. Anybody remember The Last Starfighter? If I remember correctly from that movie, they had their speed at 0 and they spun all around very fast shooting out missiles. Look at Babylon 5. The Starfurys and probably every other fighter in thatshow could to 180 degree turns on a dime and I'm betting that if they had their speed cut to 0 they could spin very fast. And from what I've been told, Babylon 5 had the most realistic flight model for space craft. There is no friction in space, so, a ship that turns slower, or almost doesn't turn when stopped over full throttle is not a correct flight model.
Oh, and because X-Wing did this 10 years ago doesn't mean it is right. What kind of computers did we have back then? Graphic Cards? If I remember correctly, there wasn't even pentiums back then and as for graphic cards, bah...they were called video cards back then and theymight have 1% thepolygon count that most mid range cards have these days. Not to mention the size of the program back then, which would have probably been under 50 MB, and the detail of programming wasn't no where as close to what it is today. So, something 10 years ago can't really be compared to a game today because of a lot of reasons.
Jazerai
Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:23 pm
#5
i agree. it's a logical and effectivetactic in reality. but the game is based on star wars andthe movie physics had nothing to do with computers or real spaceflight. lucas used ww2 dogfight film footageas a model for the battles. one big difference between space and atmospheric flight is gravity. in space you turn fast when you slow down, in the atmosphere you die when you slow down. when the devs used a reality based flight model, that slow down/turn fast tactic worked so well thateveryone just sat in place and shot each other. so, to make it more 'star warsy', they made slowing down a disadvantage.
i'm ok with it.
no offense bud and i don't mean to flame,but... last starfighter? babylon 5? what's this game called? tell me you didn't know going in. it's on the box.
how lame would the death star trench scene have been if vader just cut his engines, spun around and cooked the millenium falcon, then spun to face forward again all without losing any ground on luke because inertia carried the mass of his ship forward the whole time. the movie may have ended differently... think about it.
Rhyus
Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:09 pm
#6
I know what game this is. I was usingthose as points to refer to the ability to spin faster when in one spot. But, once again, in my opinion, they should be more inclined to go with real world physics of space than fall back to using ground physicsfor space.
Manesni2
Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:22 pm
#7
Lucas used ground flight models (WW II footage to be precise) for the physics in the movies for the most part. If you want real life physics there are other games out there that offer it but this is Star Wars and should atleast at its core follow the movies canon.
HeyHolo
Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:27 pm
#8
Yeah this is the devs odd idea of balance, they have a "sweet spot" setting for throttle on each ship which gives it optimal turnin speeds, etc. Apparently this system has the adverse effect of defying the known laws of physics, go figure.
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