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Not familiar with Star Sector. For me, it's mostly coming from the Escape Velocity series that draws the desire for such controls out. Like I said, I find it difficult to maneuver to the degree I enjoy and aim at the same time. Even the most basic degree of target tracking (or fixed weapons with fire spread) would free up my concentration towards maneuvering.

I've already made this suggestion quite a while ago, but I figured I would reiterate what I had already said.

To put it simply, if I had to choose between fine control of my ship's maneuvering, or fine control of my ship's weapons, I would choose maneuvering every time. As it is, I often find myself loosing track of what direction my ship is facing because I'm too busy trying to keep my cursor pointed at the enemy. Much like we have 'follow the cursor' mode for flight control, I'd like to see a mode that detaches the cursor and has turrets automatically try to follow whatever ship is targeted. In this mode, the fire buttons would be put somewhere on the keyboard, and clicking would instead target the ship you've clicked on. If I don't have to worry about pointing my guns the right direction, I can instead worry about pointing my SHIP in the right direction. Again, this would probably be best as a simple additional mode (And, of course, would be limited by the targeting radius).

This is the feature that I feel would most bring me into the game. Piloting my ship right now feels like a mess, because I often lose track of where I'm pointed, where my guns are pointed, and where the enemy ship is

An alternative fix for this might also be more options for fixed weapons, or to lock my turrets into a forward firing arc.

The Trade Lanes were the method of travel within a star system. Cruise engines could carry you along, but it was quite a ways by cruise engines alone. Trade Lanes could carry you from one end of a system to the other in mere minutes (compared to tens of minutes for the cruise engine).

Which makes me wonder . . .

Might there ever be, say, unmarked 'jump holes'? Naturally forming jump gates, effectively? They'd certainly add a nice element of exploration.

And speaking of exploration, will you ever be 'hiding' the galaxy map at any point? Requiring players to explore it on their own or to buy maps from stations and (maybe later) planets?

You know what just dawned on me about the mention of 'acceleration gates'?

There's another game universe with an inscrutible alien enemy, jump gates, RPG elements, cruise engines, and fast travel gateways for in-system travel.


Freelancer.


And I'm VERY Okay with this.

1: I can understand that. It may very well be a bit of my personal experience with the Escape Velocity games that colors my opinions on momentum in such games. I do somewhat wonder if that is something that could be modified to personal preference? Or if it's something a bit more set within the code.

2: The ability to have gimballed/turreted weapons tracking on a target, while the player determines when they fire, is mainly what I mean, just to be totally clear. As I said, I like to have far more direct control of my ship and it's manuevers, so anything that frees up my attention from my weapon arcs is a boon.

3: I was referring to an inter-system jump drive. I don't know if the game engine would be compatible with such an idea, but I thought I'd throw the thought out there.

And thanks for replying to my suggestions! It always improves my trust in a game when the devs look at stuff like this, weather or not they implement any of it.

First off, I'd just like to say that this game is exactly the sort of thing I've been hoping to see made, and I love it already and the direction it's headed in. Weather or not any of the things I suggest here are added, I feel I'll enjoy this game a great deal.


That said, here are some things that I think would help draw me and other players in all the more.

• More Momentum: Specifically, I'm referring to the way ships coast along when you aren't providing thrust. I feel like my ship slows down much too quickly for me when I stop thrusting. Not only is Newtonian flight just a lot more fun (IMO), but it also would present new challenges. When a ship's destroyed and a cargo container dropped, it might drift quite a ways before it can be grabbed. You'd have to chase down these containers, making proper use of the grapple actually a bit more fun. It also makes certain maneuvers more viable.
• Auto-Tracking Turrets: To put it simply, if I had to choose between fine control of my ship's maneuvering, or fine control of my ship's weapons, I would choose maneuvering every time. As it is, I often find myself loosing track of what direction my ship is facing because I'm too busy trying to keep my cursor pointed at the enemy. Much like we have 'follow the cursor' mode for flight control, I'd like to see a mode that detaches the cursor and has turrets automatically try to follow whatever ship is targeted. In this mode, the fire buttons would be put somewhere on the keyboard, and clicking would instead target the ship you've clicked on. If I don't have to worry about pointing my guns the right direction, I can instead worry about pointing my SHIP in the right direction. Again, this would probably be best as a simple additional mode (And, of course, would be limited by the targeting radius).
• Jump Drives: I've seen this suggested elsewhere, but I thought I'd present a slightly different take on the idea. In my mind, while the Gates provide travel over any distance between any two linked gates, the Jump Drive would provide only a limited jump distance, but anywhere within that radius. Additionally, it should be super power hungry, leaving the ship vulnerable while it's charging, and eating a fair amount of fuel in the process, regardless of whatever other resources it might need. Something like this might be fun for multilayer if/when crafting and player stations are implemented, with the odd system being completely unreachable by gate, and requiring a jump drive to reach, until players build a gate themselves.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts on the matter. Like I said, either way, this game looks fantastic, and I've had a blast playing it. Keep up the great work, guys.