Some more love to keaboard steering and Strategy Mode

[Sir Charles]

Hi there,

I have been using Keyboard steering a lot recently and I really like it and prefer it over the Arcade Style in most cases. I have also made use of the strategy mode more and more and now I finally decided to make some suggestions here, because certain things have been annoying me for a while now. Please add the following features:

 

-allow me to steer in other directions than to the front when using keyboard steering, e.g. when I hold Ctrl. I can navigate as usual with WSAD plus Q and E keys. Docking is so easy when you can regulate your ships speed, but why can’t I make little corrections with my thrusters? It’s a necessary feature and I don’t understand why it is not in the game already.

 

-Allow giving orders to the ship you are in when in strategy mode and allow interactions in strategy mode (with stations, Exodus satellites and so on).

 

-PLEASE GIVE US A WAY TO ROTATE THE CAMERA IN STRATEGY MODE OR JUST FIX IT TO ONE ANGLE! It would also be great to allow us to move the grid up and down (e.g. by holding Alt or just by the option to move the axis to the height of a selected object) to adjust the height of our ships movement routes (like when I want my ship next to a station and click next to it it will fly like 10km below it because the grid was there...

 

[SneakyTacts]

Haha, I agree with your post here. By the way, don't forget the magic word "please"!

[Sir Charles]

Another thing i forgot last time:

 

In keyboard steering mode the Y-Axis is atomatically inverted and there is no way to change that in the games settings. Add that option as well please!

The button to invert it is already given, but will only work for the "normal" steering. When you just add the function to this button, please make it consistant so i dont have to check or  uncheck that box whenever I change steering mode, so eithere both are inverted or both are normal. The best solution would be 2 different buttons for both modes tho.

 

The numpad or arrow keys would make good options for the up-down-left-right-steering as well btw.

[XTRMNTR2K]

Those are some very useful suggestions, Sir Charles! Only gave keyboard steering a serious try two days ago, and it's a great concept that just needs a little bit more love to shine (particularly for bigger, less maneuverable ships where it is really useful, IMHO). So basically +1 to all your points. :)

 

Two more things I would like to see:

 

1. Add an option to toggle fixed camera facing (as opposed to being linked to the ship itself). Pretty much what a gyroscopically stabilized tank turrets does. This would make aiming and keeping track of more distant targets while maneuvering easier.

 

2. Add some visual cues to make aiming in this mode a little easier. In mouse steering mode you are more or less always aiming towards the center of the screen - where the ship's front is pointing. For most ship designs that are longer than they are wide or tall, this means the forward-facing weapons will be aligned more closely. In KB steering mode it feels unnatural to have the mouse cursor show up, and aiming to the sides can be problematic when the guns are spread out wide between bow and stern of the ship; hence I propose adding optional visual targetting indicators (lines) drawn from each turret towards its target as well as changing the mouse cursor to a targetting reticle in this mode (unless the key bound for mouse interaction is pressed).

[FuryoftheStars]

Definitely think both key sets could use a bit more love/options.  I've been finding myself wishing to be able to use functions from both sides of the house at the same time. :)