Forums » General
VO 1.8.206
VO 1.8.206 includes:
- Added new 3rd-person flight camera modes for all platforms. It is the default for new Android installs and can be changed in Options->Game->Flight Camera Mode Turn off mouse-look when using them on PC platforms.
- Added Auto-Fire mode for Android version when in Touch-screen mode for a better new-player experience. Auto-Fire is default to on and can be toggled in Options->Game->Auto Fire and is an optional setting for the 'Activate' HUD touch button. Auto-Fire only fires when the selected target is an enemy ship outside the No-Fire-Zone and is close enough to be hit. Only the Primary Group is hooked up to Auto-Fire.
- Flight-Assist mode now has the ability to fly backwards. When the desired speed is zero, pressing decelerate further will cause the ship to fly backwards.
- Android HUD touch regions no longer release when dragging out of them. This mainly affects the Look Direction touch region in the lower right of the HUD.
- Escort, Border Skirmish and Hive Skirmish missions are now aware of partial damage and will credit players for "assists."
- Border Skirmish mission descriptions now include an indication that there are players in the opposing mission.
- Fixed Trade Guild missions to count ore given to the mission as being sold to the station for Mining Badge credit.
- Fixed a broken docking bay in the Training Sector.
A Few Comments:
The addition of "reverse" to Flight Assist has been requested for a very long time, and we're happy to finally add it for all those who favor this control method.
Third-person flight might not seem that useful to experienced people on the PC, and aside from the control of capships, first-person remains the best option (especially for combat). However, for new users on phones and tablets, the display of the ship helps bring across a certain rapid understanding of distances and helps make the overall experience a little more intuitive. Playing VO on a touchscreen is no picnic to begin with, so these improvements are pretty meaningful. It is notable that there are actually two different 3rd-person control models available, which can be selected from the Game area of the Options menu.
The addition of auto-fire may cause controversy in some circles. Generally we aren't big on automating the control of weapons or flight. VO is a very skill-driven game, and we prefer to stay pretty close to the recipe. For touchscreens, however, some improvement needed to be found, to let people play with only two inputs (fingers/thumbs). Auto-fire allows one to aim with one hand, strafe/accel/decel with the other, while leaving the firing up to the client when the ship is properly pointed to the target's leadoff reticle. The improvement in combat usability on a tablet is pretty dramatic. One can actually do some low-level botting of collectors and the like. Touchscreen devices will still be hilariously crushed in PvP interactions, this is no real "advantage"; and in any case, I don't think serious PC pilots would use the feature anyway (auto-fire overuses energy by firing constantly at the maximum rate, and is generally wasteful and inflexible). But as far as basic PvE, the ability to take on some bots with a touchscreen and actually succeed, it is a night and day difference.
The Escort and Skirmish missions properly recording "Assists" is a big improvement in the fairness of allocating XP and the like. Plus, it is also another step towards having a lot of cool stats on the website, showing off the Skirmish skills of pilots.
Border Skirmish missions now indicating when people are playing them will hopefully make it a bit easier to locate other player-pilots within the Skirmish framework.
Thanks all, please report any issues you find on the Bugs forum (or the Android forum for Android-specific stuff).
- Added new 3rd-person flight camera modes for all platforms. It is the default for new Android installs and can be changed in Options->Game->Flight Camera Mode Turn off mouse-look when using them on PC platforms.
- Added Auto-Fire mode for Android version when in Touch-screen mode for a better new-player experience. Auto-Fire is default to on and can be toggled in Options->Game->Auto Fire and is an optional setting for the 'Activate' HUD touch button. Auto-Fire only fires when the selected target is an enemy ship outside the No-Fire-Zone and is close enough to be hit. Only the Primary Group is hooked up to Auto-Fire.
- Flight-Assist mode now has the ability to fly backwards. When the desired speed is zero, pressing decelerate further will cause the ship to fly backwards.
- Android HUD touch regions no longer release when dragging out of them. This mainly affects the Look Direction touch region in the lower right of the HUD.
- Escort, Border Skirmish and Hive Skirmish missions are now aware of partial damage and will credit players for "assists."
- Border Skirmish mission descriptions now include an indication that there are players in the opposing mission.
- Fixed Trade Guild missions to count ore given to the mission as being sold to the station for Mining Badge credit.
- Fixed a broken docking bay in the Training Sector.
A Few Comments:
The addition of "reverse" to Flight Assist has been requested for a very long time, and we're happy to finally add it for all those who favor this control method.
Third-person flight might not seem that useful to experienced people on the PC, and aside from the control of capships, first-person remains the best option (especially for combat). However, for new users on phones and tablets, the display of the ship helps bring across a certain rapid understanding of distances and helps make the overall experience a little more intuitive. Playing VO on a touchscreen is no picnic to begin with, so these improvements are pretty meaningful. It is notable that there are actually two different 3rd-person control models available, which can be selected from the Game area of the Options menu.
The addition of auto-fire may cause controversy in some circles. Generally we aren't big on automating the control of weapons or flight. VO is a very skill-driven game, and we prefer to stay pretty close to the recipe. For touchscreens, however, some improvement needed to be found, to let people play with only two inputs (fingers/thumbs). Auto-fire allows one to aim with one hand, strafe/accel/decel with the other, while leaving the firing up to the client when the ship is properly pointed to the target's leadoff reticle. The improvement in combat usability on a tablet is pretty dramatic. One can actually do some low-level botting of collectors and the like. Touchscreen devices will still be hilariously crushed in PvP interactions, this is no real "advantage"; and in any case, I don't think serious PC pilots would use the feature anyway (auto-fire overuses energy by firing constantly at the maximum rate, and is generally wasteful and inflexible). But as far as basic PvE, the ability to take on some bots with a touchscreen and actually succeed, it is a night and day difference.
The Escort and Skirmish missions properly recording "Assists" is a big improvement in the fairness of allocating XP and the like. Plus, it is also another step towards having a lot of cool stats on the website, showing off the Skirmish skills of pilots.
Border Skirmish missions now indicating when people are playing them will hopefully make it a bit easier to locate other player-pilots within the Skirmish framework.
Thanks all, please report any issues you find on the Bugs forum (or the Android forum for Android-specific stuff).
Thanks, Devs! Nice update. Both the 3rd person and F/A tweaks are really nice for trident piloting.
Is there, or could there be any way to adjust the static camera angle in follow mode, like you can in "orbit-freeze" mode? Maybe a toggle to map strafes to camera orbit centered on the ship and w/s to distance, then toggle back and save that as the player's preference for that view... I suppose this is bound for the suggestions crucible...
Is there, or could there be any way to adjust the static camera angle in follow mode, like you can in "orbit-freeze" mode? Maybe a toggle to map strafes to camera orbit centered on the ship and w/s to distance, then toggle back and save that as the player's preference for that view... I suppose this is bound for the suggestions crucible...
Yeah, that sounds like a good Suggestions topic. And more specifics will be helpful.
Incarnate, this update messes with my PVP ability.
I personally fly F/A mode at all times including pvp.
Is there a stopper when the FA mode thrust hits zero?
I love not flying backwards, this is why I use FA.
EDIT: I didn't really test this before I posted it. It doesn't actually give a set max reverse speed, it maintains a set speed of >=0 in the positive direction. You can just temporary thrust in reverse.
I personally fly F/A mode at all times including pvp.
Is there a stopper when the FA mode thrust hits zero?
I love not flying backwards, this is why I use FA.
EDIT: I didn't really test this before I posted it. It doesn't actually give a set max reverse speed, it maintains a set speed of >=0 in the positive direction. You can just temporary thrust in reverse.
In that case, well done! :)
Nice update, devs. Reading this brought back lots of memories of the types of changes we would see in alpha. I am excited to give these a try.
Very nice collection of improvements. Well done!
Edit: Please make the reverse in FA available for those of us who use the Accelerate option. kthxbia
Edit2: Botting in 3rd person is awesome! One question though. It's been an extremely long time since I did anything with the 3rd person view options. It looks like the only real change is the mouse look circle that is now out in front of the ship a bit and adjusts to your direction?
Edit: Please make the reverse in FA available for those of us who use the Accelerate option. kthxbia
Edit2: Botting in 3rd person is awesome! One question though. It's been an extremely long time since I did anything with the 3rd person view options. It looks like the only real change is the mouse look circle that is now out in front of the ship a bit and adjusts to your direction?
The 3rd person alternative mode is the same as the old 3rd person mode except the mouse-look reticle is what you say. The new 3rd person mode works a little differently in that the camera focuses on where the mouselook reticle would be (the mouselook and HUD crosshair are always at the same place so the mouselook reticle isn't drawn). The camera target is calculated to be at the distance to your target too, so your camera angle does shift a little as you move towards/away from your target. This is noticeable when you have a close-up target selected and then change to a far away target. The camera seems to slide to the new target.
The 3rd person mode is nice
LOL
"Touchscreen devices will still be hilariously crushed in PvP interactions"
Nice update Devs.
"Touchscreen devices will still be hilariously crushed in PvP interactions"
Nice update Devs.
Interesting stuff, thanks devs.
lol, Ecka))))
Aside from an odd quirky bug (reported already), the new border skirmish updates are sweet! Thanks!
The new 3rd person mode is cool too. Much easier to aim with it now!
I rather like how it's only temporary reverse thrust. Not all joysticks have a center notch on their throttle and being able to -stop- is one of the main reasons I use F/A mode. :)
The new 3rd person mode is cool too. Much easier to aim with it now!
I rather like how it's only temporary reverse thrust. Not all joysticks have a center notch on their throttle and being able to -stop- is one of the main reasons I use F/A mode. :)