I tried playing with my MS Sidewinder FF Pro 2 for a little. I just found that it didn't work as well for me in combat.

First off, I'd like to say that this is by far one of the best (if not THE best) updates to 3.2. And no, not only because the Hornet gets an agility boost. Secondly, I'd like to apologize to Incarnate and any of the other devs for deeply criticizing the development of Vendetta and for being a general pain in the ass. I should've known better than to lose faith like that.

Anyway, back to discussing the update...

Change #1: The fire special effects gets fixed on the Mac. I know it may not be a big deal to you PC and Linux users, but it is for us Mac users who are getting a first glimpse of it. Now it looks absolutely gorgeous when a ship is badly damaged, with flames spewing out instead of just sparks and smoke. Very, very nice touch to the game. I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.

Change #2: The agility of the Hornet has been improved. For those who are wondering, no it doesn't fly like a Valkyrie or even a Warthog. Although it was a very minor agility boost, it was VERY much needed. It's still quite vulnerable to more agile fighters, but now at least it has a better chance of escaping when in danger. I couldn't have asked for more. However, the main reticule still wobbles like crazy during sharp turns. I asked about this and got a response from the devs. The reason turns out to be something called "dampers" (I think). The "dampers" aren't really fine-tuned for the Hornet's mass, causing the ship's engines to overcompensate to get it to steady.

So what now? Well a "damper" sliding bar may be added in a future release that will allow you to set how much the engine automatically compensates for changes in velocity. Setting it too high or too low won't give you a particular advantage, since both have negative effects such as creating too much reticule drag or too much spring. But either way I think the various settings will most certainly enhance the style of gameplay we choose, whether it be flying a bomber, a light fighter, heavy fighter, etc. While it hasn't been officially stated that a "damper" sliding bar is in the works for a future release, I believe there's a good chance for it.

Change #3: The Valkyrie's hull has been weakened. Good move! I'll leave the ranting to you guys. All I know is it was the king of all ships in 3.2.6. Now I think we're getting to a more level playing field.

Change #4: Where'd my boost tapping go?!! Yep, if you haven't noticed by now you're gonna have one heck of a time boost tapping. Start rethinking a new engine and battery combo, because now you lose more speed than you gain when you boost tap in a heavy/fast charge combo.

A lot of you are gonna hate this a lot at first. I know I did. But after a while you get used to it and you'll see why they chose to make this change. There are a few combos that will easily get you across any sector with absolutely NO boost tapping, at a rate of 160-180 m/s. Sure, you lose the ability to go 200 m/s while tapping, but you won't have anymore aching fingers or broken keys. 160-180 m/s isn't too bad, right? And for once that efficient engine is useful! Anyway, I believe this change is going to raise a lot of criticism on the forums. All I ask is to give it some time and experiment with different combinations to see if one works for you.

I like it.
Is it possible to bind the /set autoaim 0? I would like autoaim off at distances over 200m, but its better on closer. I think a autoaim toggle could be handy, one button for on and off.
I know there is a shot pattern to defeat circle strafeing and rolling, I just need to find it.

The valk needed the hull cut.

Oh, i havn't done more then one word command binds in awhile...
I think it is: /bind (key) "set autoaim 0"

That probably won't work. It has to be like this:

/alias zoomscope "set autoaim 0"
/bind (key) zoomscope

You can only have one-word commands in a bind.

No, you can do more than one command in a bind as I have a few I use.
I think you have to seperate them with semi-colons, like in multiple email addresses. I can't be sure as I haven't got Vendetta on this PC to check (I'm at work).

Glad about the Valk hull cut as well. I killed 4 in my Marauder last night before the update so I should get lots more now 8-)

P.S. Are the flags back yet???

Yes! Big pat on the back to everyone for releasing this update so quickly, Thank you! :D

I no longer need to mess with my display settings ;)

pheed

Yes, the flags are back. And they can't be ghosted anymore. Well not yet at least.

I think the game now is as balanced as its gonna get :)

yaaa go devs!

here's my code for the aim toggle, not quite as useful anymore (*whines about his lost prom *) but still

alias aimoff "set autoaim 0"
alias aimon "set autoaim 1"
bind MWHEELUP aimon
bind MWHEELDOWN aimoff

I would just like to point out that you're wrong, Arolte...there is still only one way to infinitely turbo - efficent + fast charge. I just looked at the engine numbers and they're the same. They didn't change a thing. Only eff + fast still yields a drain = charge scenario.

Making boost-tapping unworkable was the stupidest idea that they could have done. If they really did (I'm on a lab machine doing research, so I don't wanna fly without my joystick - but I can log in on breaks), then they need to undo that immediately. The game will just get WAY less interesting if you can't get across sectors easily and hav the kind of battery you need to fight.

I really think the efficent engine should do 55 m/s, not 45, since it is "efficent." That would help alleviate *some* of my disgust with the supposed loss of turbo tapping. (like I said, I haven't had a chance to log in and comfirm it for myself)


I can't wait to play with the Hornet though...I've been looking for that quad-linked laser fighter "thing" that I was so used ot having fun with in X-Wing *.
/me looks forward to single-kill shots....
Now all they need to do is allow some degree of in-flight weapon regrouping (so I can do single, double, and quad fire on a Hornet without having to dock - think 'X' in X-Wing * [change laser groupings from single to double to quad])

Freeman, Arolte didn't say "infinite turbo", he said "get you across any sector with absolutely NO boost tapping". With a medium engine and a quick charge battery will get you 180m/s for quite a long time. Yes, you'll have to recharge before jumping, but you don't have to stop en-route.

Infinite "boost tapping" was a bug. It has been fixed.

You can regroup weapons in-flight. You have two separate bindings available for primary and secondary weapon groups. You could bind Primary 1 to the single center gun, Primary 2 to left and right guns, and Secondary 1 to all four; then you just press 1 and 2 on your keyboard to switch between single and double fire with your left mouse button and you get quad with your right button. (the 3 and 4 keys control secondary and 5 and 6 control tertiary)

BTW, I haven't tracked down those bot bugs yet. Somewhere along the line, their scripts seem to forget what they were doing and just kind of stop. And they don't watch where they're going like they're supposed to. And they don't see the frigate at all, so they'll probably continue to run into it.

I've always found tap-boosting annoying and illogical. Why have a battery of finite capacity when tap-boosting can keep you at near top speed infinitely? Now having insufficient energy can put you in quicksand really fast. This change will actually give some life to the sectors, since you can no longer buzz away from danger quite as easily. Look for wormholes and asteroids to become much more important now. No more 200km high speed chases.

Since tap-boosting is gone, I would suggest that the 350 bots be removed from s16. Besides killing the frigate immediately, they make collecting cargo from the frigate extremely frustrating. Without a tap-boosting advantage for the human, the bots will be even more deadly. The 350 bots remove any incentive for taking on the frigate itself, so they should go away and let the big ship have its day.

I think with boost-tapping/tabbing gone, the emphasis will be more toward a role-playing atmosphere. How can that be, you ask, since it will require you to fight? Well, the answer is simple, the ships will require more specialization. A trader will need the medium+fast to escape an enemy, and a fighter will need the heavy+fast to stay maneuverable.

I have not yet played 3.2.7, but hope to in a couple hours.

/me glances at the In Progress page, that's old.

The 350 alien bots are definitely way too powerful right now. By the time you accelerate to full speed they'll be all over your ass with those tachyons. Either their speed should be slowed down or they should have a slower turn rate. It's just too insane in s16, s17, and s18.

I don't understand how turbo tapping is a bug.
It just doesn't make sense...uness you're allowed to turbo in reverse...that's the only thing that can provide sufficent counterforce.

How long before we can have variable deceleration for each ship? Could that be done even without a mass system?
It'd be cool to have ships overshoot and do stuff like slam into asteroids.

I think we already have variable deceleration for each ship, or at least, it has always seemed to me that massy ships require longer to stop than 'lighter' ones.

I agree with Celebrim. We do have it. Try boosting toward a station in a Prometheus or a Rag (FULL SPEED) and try to stop your self from hitting the station from a starting distance of 3000 meters. Use the eff eng/batt and let go of the boost and hit the brakes when you're about 500 meters from a hangar.

Then try the same thing in a Centurion, Vulture or Valk. Watch how fast you stop.