Two personal requests :)

[Siege]

One, can we please have those groovy contrails (I think is the name) from Arvoch Alliance, that follow the greens and reds. They look amazing, and I think add to the whole HUD experience. Also, perosnally, they help me track what I'm fighting.

Which brings me to part two.

Can someone please, in simple easy steps for the idiot, namely me, explain this intertial combat thing. A nice step by step walkthrough would really help me. I'm currently teaching myself in Arvoch as it happens, but I think it would help me in Evochron just as much. I'm not generally able at the moment, (for next couple of days) able to get online properly for a multiplayer game, so in text is best at the mo.

I'm a miner, born and bred to be a miner, and I Am Useless at combat apparently, it took me about 10 minutes to kill a red the other day, possibly 15. That's not good so I need some help

I also think a nice walkthrough would be useful for the newer members of our community as well.

Thanks,

Me

[SeeJay]

Hi Siege.

Here are a few pointers:
Use Inertia mode.
Boost shields to front.
Always point nose at enemy.
Never fly directly at him, set course slightly off center and strafe.
Use Lasers to bring shields down and then switch to guns.
Use missiles if necessary in close range. (Less respond time).
Use the afterburner if needed to quickly get on their six when passing them.

Hope this helps a bit.

About the walkthrough.
Me and Dingo is working on a "Evochron Flight School" and I'm building a website for it.
It's purpose is to get people up to speed and learn the basics of all the aspects of the game.

/SeeJay

[Maarschalk]

Looking forward reading it SeeJay.

The basic principle of inertia is that in Space there is no friction to stop or slow down a moving object.
So once your ship is in motion in space it will stay in motion unless you aply an opposite force using thrusters to slow you down or change direction.
Combat comes down to managing your speed, drift and direction to control your distance and approach angle to your target and there is not one way since it depends on what your target is using for strategies!
So to give a step by step for each situation would be nearly impossible.

The thing to keep in mind is that when your drifting in a certain direction at a speed of 1900 that no missile will be able to hit you since the fastest missile the Excalibur speed is 1800! So you have to know the speeds of your missiles and the speed of your target to know if a missile is going to be effective and shoot the missile at close range so that the enemy does not have a chance to deploy counter measures. So the basic steps are:
1. You set a course for your target if your Target is an AI at a velocity of 1500 or more for faster approach(because AI do not use Excaliburs)
2. Once you have your approach angle set switch to inertia at the desired speed once you get in the desired targetting range for missiles or weapons fire the desired weapons.
3. Some times a target uses a spiral evasive manuever. The fastest way to take this one down is to get as close as you can on its six, with IDS on and using after burner, to 50 to 300 units and maintain this distance while firing your missiles and or your weapons with energy to all weapons!


[Edited on 11-30-2011 by Maarschalk]

[Marvin]

Sometimes we who have been playing computer games since the 1970s forget how long it takes to get used to the realism of inertia. Probably the easiest way to train yourself in using it is to concentrate exclusively on forward thruster and afterburner.

• Engage Inertial mode.
• Pick out an object in space that's stationary.
• Turn your ship and point at the object.
• Fire your afterburners until you reach about 1000 kts.
• Try to keep your nose pointed at the object.
• After you pass it, fire your afterburners again until your speed is zero.
• Now repeat, only this time watch the drift readouts displayed directly above your radar screen.
• Turn your ship until those drift readouts approach zero.

To change direction, you first need to apply thrust against your current direction. Then your ship will begin moving in the new direction. Until then, you will continue to drift in the original direction, at the speed you were at when disengaging afterburner.

[Marvin]

Okay, this really isn't fair. By the time I finished writing the above post, all the lights went out for the rest of the posts I hadn't read yet!

Edit: Btw, there is a Strategy Guide for an earlier game that explains how Inertial works in greater detail. And it's applicable to just about every Starwraith game. But I'm on a new computer without the link ... and can't find it via Search (every link I find is a dead one). Maybe somebody else can provide one that's still active.


[Edited on 11-29-2011 by Marvin]

[Siege]

Thanks peeps, that at least gives me a starting point and some excellent pointers on how to do this.

Thanks

[Galaxian]

Imagine if you will, driving a car on ice, in three dimensions.

You are sliding nearly all the time, so basically steer with the throttle by turning in the direction you want to go and applying power.

Practice being smooth on the controls and getting mentally 'ahead' of where your ship is flight-wise. These are key skills to learn and practice.

Getting good at these skills will help in preventing you ending up "behind the curve" during combat maneuvers. If you get behind the curve, your basically a sitting duck in combat since your ship is essentially out of control. If you are ahead of the curve, you can apply your piloting skills toward maneuvering into an advantageous firing position on the opponent.

Doing laps around a stationary object, such as a station, with IDS off is a useful drill to work on these skills. In no time, you'll be able to do controlled, 3D orbits of the station inside an imaginary sphere.





[Edited on 12-1-2011 by Galaxian]

[Maarschalk]

Galaxians Idea of exercising doing laps around a Stationary Object with IDS off is the best way to learn.
I did this excersize with setting a Nav Point and turning around the Nav point in circles trying to keep a very short constant distance between me and the Nav Point with my nose Pointing at the Nav Point and firing My Weapons at the Nav Point....

[countjimula]

I find flying around a navigation point to be just as good as a stationary object for this kind of practice.