Racers & Losing Control

korxysn · Post by **korxysn** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:21 pm

ok, first thing i wanna comment on is the fact i keep losing control of my ship for no apparent reason... i can turn it, i can use the afterburners to speed up, but i cannot stop or change by base speed rate :| it happens seemingly at random and i cant figure out any way to fix it... anyone know whats up? had similar issues and fixed em? etc :|

the other thing is more of a balance issue or rant, take your pick... each role is supposed to have things their better at than the others, what is racer good at? they get a class 7 engine sure, and 20k credit... which they cant buy much with, they dont have the cargo to earn more money off mining, when it comes to races their ships are set up for drag racing... the maneuvering thrusters seem to flat out suck... im no better at taking corners than any other ship, worse in fact because im faster, and i get nothing else of worth on my ship... and if its straightline performance, combat pilots start off even better than the racers, overall. they get a chassis that is capable of handling better equipment, a class 10 engine, and a class 10 shield... i could actually start off as a better 'racer' by going combat than racer :| and all i would have to do is trade in my nice shiny class 10 shield for some decent wings, and my chassis for one of the speed chassis which would probably net me a pretty big overall credit start point.

not really sure i could do so, but even if i cant the combat pilot is still better set up than the racer is, in what is supposed to be the racers strong suit. I dont much care if the racer is faster, but would it be possible to give racers say... decent wings so they can actually fly better than the other ships?

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:49 pm

Once your speed goes above 1000 units the inertial drift gets worse and it becomes much much harder to control your direction in racing. For racing stay around or below 1000 speed and fly with IDS mode on!

The Game uses newtonion style physics so in Space there is no friction to help you control speed and direction so you have to use your thrusters to move and control your speed and direction. You can use Reverse afterburners to quickly slow down and stop or keep reversing your direction. And you can come to a complete stop with IDS on and thrusters of set to 0. Your IDS(Inertial Dampening System) will dampen your drift it may take a while if your where going very fast to come to a complete halt you can use afterburners to speed up the process of slowing down!.....

As far as the different options Racer, Combat Pilot...etc...these are just to give you a taste of the different options of the game! I would start as a mercenary and from there you can go any direction you want....

49rTbird · Post by **49rTbird** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:39 pm

Hello korxysn, at one time we all started with the same basic ship and a little equipment. The game changed to include different startups with a little different equipment. You can change what you have to anything you want as you gain money and rank (if you want Military craft) so don't feel locked into any one role. Welcome to the forum and the Sim. Have fun and hope to see you in "Multi-Player" sometime.

[Edited on 1-18-2012 by thetiebers]

Post by **DaveK** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:29 am

When you get rich you can own more than one frame - you store the one(s) you're not flying in a station hangar.

If you problem is the dead space or sensitivity of your stick you can set it in the options screen. If it's just not being able to keep in the pipe (I lost my first 20 races because of this) then the best advice is:

no afterburn on the straights
maintain around 900 - 1000 (using afterburn in bursts)

. . . and most important . . .

totally ignore you opponent - just concentrate on staying in the tube

I went from losing every race to winning 95% of them after being given this advice!

Viper · Post by **Viper** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:36 am

What I can add to this is: try to anticipate. Because of the Newtonian physics, it takes a bit of time for your ship to make a course correction. As has been said, this depends on the speed in which you're moving. So if you have a long straight and have used the afterburner to increase your speed up to let's say 1500, make sure you release the afterburner, or reverse it, in time before the turn. Also, turn your ship just before the turn. The higher your speed, the sooner you should change your vector. Also, take turns in a 'outside-inside-outside' fashion (along the apex), just like Formula-1 racers do. This way you make the turn as 'straight' as possible. Be careful that you donÂ´t overdo it and go outside the track, though.

Flying a ship under Newtonian physics requires a lot of practice and a certain level of finesse especially during races; you need to get a feel for it. In time you will find yourself being able to race at ever higher speeds and obliterate your opponent.

[Edited on 1-19-2012 by Viper]

korxysn · Post by **korxysn** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:13 am

not really complaining about the physics, im used to space sims and flight sims... my point about balancing is simply put the racer chassis starts out maxed, so you cant upgrade it, and it starts out with nothing but a rank 7 engine... soldier starts with rank 10 and better overall gear, including the chassis... yes for 15k less starting cash, but you can clear that easily with one or two missions :|

problem is i started as a racer, and ended up re-rolling because its not really cost effective... i realize its an open ended game and the end point is whatever you want it to be, but it doesnt change the fact theres no real point to start off as a racer :| it gets no benefits that the soldier doesnt get and then some...

as to the losing control, thats a totally seperate issue... at random times in the game i'll be stuck at a preset speed (ignoring afterburn) and can only turn and burn to control my ship- i cant speed up or slow down using the normal controls...

another question i suppose would be what exactly do wings do? :| because if it improves your mobility, such as braking and altering trajectory, it would make sense for the racer to have a decent set of wings rather than just the engine :|

[Edited on 1-20-2012 by korxysn]

Post by **Vice** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 2:35 am

as to the losing control, thats a totally seperate issue... at random times in the game i'll be stuck at a preset speed (ignoring afterburn) and can only turn and burn to control my ship- i cant speed up or slow down using the normal controls...

When that happens, check for the letter 'M' next to your Set Speed indicator. If it's there, it means you accidently pushed the key or button for that control and you won't be able to change your velocity as it will be locked in to the same as the ship you are currently targeting.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:36 am

Yes, you might have advertently Match target speed enabled!.....

elcman · Post by **elcman** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:20 pm

There's a directional movement cursor that indicates your current trajectory. I found that mixing afterburners with keeping that cursor in the middle of the tube, it's like "drifting" in a car.

And, as everyone already mentioned, keep it around 1000... and if you don't feel that the IDS system is doing a good job, increase the multiplier for the IDS system. (It usually says IDS x1, you can increase that to "dampen faster".) Also, using reverse thrust to "brake" for turns is helpful.

Brand new myself... just bought the game last night and that's what I learned with my first IMG racing mission.

Post by **Marvin** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:56 pm

From post: 124460, Topic: tid=8357, author=korxysn wrote:im used to space sims and flight sims...

Due to its use of inertial flight, the only program I've found that helped "train" me for EM was Orbiter. Give it a try.