Cadet I/Basic flying
Wikify This article needs formatting This article is using features provided by Mediawiki poorly, if at all. For example, it may contain sections without
section formatting, lists without list formatting, links without link formatting, hardlinks to images, or similar issues.You can read the crashcourse and help by improving this article!
| ← HUD | Remapping controls → |
Simple Thrusters
Indicated in your HUD by the top right bar, the level of thrust determines the percentage of maximum speed you'll achieve. 100% of your thrusters means you'll be at 100% of your maximum speed...simple. Pressing \ (under the backspace) will engage your thrusters at 100% capacity. Pressing backspace will cut your thrusters to 0%. Pressing + and - (left of the backspace) will increase and decrease thrust power.
G-indicator
As indicated in the HUD Description, your actual direction is indicated in the center of your screen by brackets ( ). If you wish to fly by obstacles, you have to make sure that your G-indicator, your real direction, does not point toward the obstacle, because that's where you're going. Similarly, when approaching a target, make sure your G-indicator is pointed properly, otherwise you may have momentum from previous movements taking you in the wrong direction.
Unlike real space, where there is no drag, the game physics allow for drag and momentum. If you have ever driven a motorized vehicle in slippery conditions, made a sharp turn and had the vehicle continue to slid in it's original direction, you will have a feel for the mechanics of flight in game.
The G-indicator is the only hint given by your ship for you to know exactly where you're going. Pay close attention to it at all times. It is what you use to direct your ship toward targets and to keep your ship from colliding with objects.
Boosters
Pressing TAB will engage your boosters. Not all ships have boosters, so watch for it when you prepare your ship. The booster consumes fuel, indicated in your HUD display. Be careful when boosting. It is a much greater strength than your thrusters, so not using it right may result in crashing into an asteroid. Good pilots use it to change direction tightly or to avoid enemy fire in all kinds of ways. However, the primary use is faster travel. Make sure you adjust the number of fuel refills you bring to the amount of fuel you'll need. Traveling extreme distances, in a short period of time, obviously requires a lot of fuel. While short-distance defenses require little booster use, leaving more space for other, perhaps more useful items.
TIP:You can teleport while boosting! Boost and hold the button down, then teleport as normal. If you do not let up on the booster button, it will keep boosting and resume after a reload allowing you to rapidly escape an opponent.
Rotations
You can rotate your ship (clockwise and counterclockwise). Pressing shift + left/right arrow keys will have your ship rotate. This is generally not useful, but comes in handy in very particular situations. Rixian ships are extremely agile on the horizontal axis, but not very agile on the vertical axis. As a result, a good pilot will rotate his ship so that he never has to turn on the vertical axis, and always on the horizontal axis, resulting in as much as twice the maneuverability. Also, ships with a thinner profile will try to make sure that only the thinnest side is exposed to enemy fire, exposing less surface to enemy weapons, and thus becoming more difficult to hit.
Sidethrusters
Ships have sidethrusters that allow them to fly in any direction. This is widely used in dogfighting but serves pretty much at all times, which led many pilots, including myself, to remap their controls so that these buttons are closer to the rotation and boost keys, also both used widely in dogfighting. The default keys are on your Numpad. 8 sends you toward the top, 2 toward the bottom, 4 toward the left, 6 toward the right, and 5 toward the back, a straightforward system. Note that sidethrusters are generally not as powerful as main thrusters, having both lower accelerations and lower maximum velocities. However, if a ship has quick acceleration, this applies to the sidethrusters as well.
When using thrusters in a dogfight, do not alternate between opposite thrusters. For example thrusting up/down or left/right combinations. This forces your ship to a standstill and makes you an easy kill.
| ← HUD | Remapping controls → |
