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Cheating?

Apr 30, 2014 Surbius link
Flight Assist (FA) assists in simplifying ship movement by allow the pilot to apply a constant forward thrust and only temporary measures of movement in any other direction. This is a mechanic aimed at newer players? I'm not sure, but more experienced players will operate mostly without FA and others toggle FA on and off while in combat to suit their strategy.

Auto Aim (AA) helps in assisting the pilots munitions to focus on the lead targeting reticle based upon each weapon's own targeting, e.g. Plasma/Phase/Ion/Neutron/Positron cannons/blasters all have a similar targeting assist when the reticle turns to the color yellow (default HUD color) and will fire at the reticle. There are different degrees to the targeting of each weapon as it is some times stated in its description, Gatling Turrets having a much wider targeting angle, rails having a near minimum targeting angle, and rockets/missiles having absolutely zero targeting angle, however guided missiles with a target lock (just target before firing to lock) will follow the target and are limited by their speed and maneuverability.

Now, even with all of the advantages of AA there are still experienced pilots that will some times fly without AA or switch AA on/off to meet their needs since AA isn't the most perfect provider of information to hit your moving target that uses six directions and 3 axes and your moving ship that uses the same directions and axes.

If you were mentioning the HUD as some form of targeting system, you can turn that parts of that off too, just don't expect the best results in combat without the main ship reticle and target box. And, I'll stress this again if it wasn't apparent, there are skilled players that can perform very well without FA or AA and they all use the lead targeting reticle as a type of signal which way to fire, rockets and missiles are another story entirely.

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Apr 30, 2014 Phaserlight link
You're over-thinking it.

To compete at the very top, you need to use both flight assist-on and flight assist-off in combination with autoaim-on and autoaim-off. Experience will teach you when to use each.

That being stated, when on a phone I normally fly with flight assist off, autoaim on when engaging targets, switching to flight assist on when picking up cargo, closing to "knife fight" range, docking and navigating. If there is a utility for switching to autoaim off when on a phone, I don't yet have the skill (or attachments) for it.

On my laptop / Macintosh PC, autoaim-off is very useful for hitting players that are strafing in a predictable pattern.
Apr 30, 2014 incarnate link
"Physics mode" is the actual flight model of the game. "Flight assist" sits on top of it, and allows a bit of a "fly by wire" simplification of the control scheme, but it does not confer any advantage, as it's still just actuating impulses the same way that a player could by using physics mode directly.
Apr 30, 2014 draugath link
Phaserlight, you can use DroidButtons to create a button for that.
Apr 30, 2014 TheRedSpy link
Yes, It's cheating. We are all cheaters and we should be spanked. Hard.
Apr 30, 2014 abortretryfail link
TheRedSpy just likes to think everyone cheats as much as he does. It makes him feel better about wanting to be spanked.
Apr 30, 2014 idd link
RABII you are overthinking this waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much. Just simply experiment with the combos and fly with the one that suits you best. I, for one, very rarely go without F/A and A/A on :)
Apr 30, 2014 Shadowhawke link
/me Spanks TRS
Apr 30, 2014 Conflict Diamond link
did someone say "spanking"?
Apr 30, 2014 TheRedSpy link
Oh yeah Ari! Harder!
May 02, 2014 Roda Slane link
I never use Flight Assist, but I do not consider it cheating. Physics mode allows greater versatility, while Flight Assist can provide smoother flying.

AutoAim, in concert with the targeting reticule can be helpful, or hurtful, depending on the situation. The targeting reticule tells you where the target will be, IF the target maintains its current velocity. Autoaim can provide very precise hits when used with high velocity weapons at extreme close range, or when employed against targets that are moving at a constant velocity. Highly skilled pilots, in highly maneuverable ships, make an effort to never be where the targeting reticule thinks they are going to be. They will change directions, speed, and/or distance, in order to fool the targeting computer. In these cases, autoaim will provide very precise misses, with the shots landing at exactly where they where aimed, despite the fact that there is no target there when the shot actually arrives. Expert fighters will turn autoaim off when firing at a dodging opponent, and fire with some intentional offset to the targeting reticule, in hopes that the target will dodge into the line of fire.

A highly skilled pilot operating a ship that can dodge, at a range determined by your weapon and his ship, can manipulate your autoaim into producing extremely accurate and precision misses. Learn how to toggle autoaim on/off during a dogfight.