Author Topic: Help a newbie out  (Read 5115 times)

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First, let me say thanks to the development team for such a great game - and for free, too!

Anyway, I'm finding this game really hard. I'm adequate at Freespace, but I find it really difficult even in the training mission to shoot down anything. Even with speed matching, the enemy ships seem to seesaw across my screen as I try to line them up - I only get a split second or two to get a shot off. I see people mention IL-2 Sturmovik etc. a lot; is this game only for hardcore flightsim fans or are there some tips that will give me a chance? Thanks!

PS I already read the Nugget's guide on the first page of the forums - it was helpful but not sufficiently so!

 

Offline jg18

  • A very happy zod
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Sounds like you might be getting a low framerate.

What kind of machine do you have, as in what OS and OS version, CPU, graphics card, and amount of RAM?

Also, in the launcher's advanced settings tab, scroll down on the list of checkboxes until you find "Show frames per second on HUD" under "Dev Tool". Check it, then play again. You'll see a number near the upper-left corner of the screen that tells you what FPS you're getting while you play.

 
Did you change the difficulty to advanced?

 
If the problem isnt fps or hardware or even difficulty setting, Then I have personally found that increasing your sensitivity setting helps when turning with a mouse and still allows for accurate aiming by moving the mouse a tiny bit fire your guns in short burst to conserved ammo and try to be less than 800 in distance at a push  fire from 1100 but it will be luck if u hit or not, mostly I try to glide and shoot the enemy side on if possible when chasing the enemy match speed and try to stay in it's tail if it's really tricky boost past it and about 250 distance fire a anti-fighter missile and boost to get out of the missiles aoe, mostly it's just about practice keep at it and those toasters will be garbage in no time

 

Offline Aether

  • 27
Rogue's right. Use glide and stay on its tail!

If this doesn't work then maybe use glide to get a bit of distance from the target and avoid using match-speed. Otherwise you're caught in an eternal loop of "almost had him". If you ever find yourself in a pattern like that, it's up to you to break it because the AI won't.

So, to clarify... If you're going in an eternal loop. And you find yourself in a situation where you can squeeze a few rounds off, flip around, squeeze another few rounds off, flip around again, squeeze another few rounds off, etc. Then use glide to break the pattern. You'll keep going in one direction but you can face the enemy and fire while keeping your distance (which stops the enemy running circles around you). The enemy AI usually stops the eternal loop maneuver and decides to go for you.
I know this was a problem for me in Tutorial 2.

Might add this to the guide later ;) (although I thought I had  :nervous:)

Hope this helps! :)
So say we all!

 

Offline Al-Rik

  • 27
Yeah, Tutorial 2 is a good example. If you get to close to the target, it will pass by without any chance to hit it.
Break of and get some distance - or some friendlies for help.

Have you also noticed the lead indicator ? A green octagon, it will only appear if you have the ship targeted.

 
Thanks everyone! I'll check my computer specs next time I get a chance to play. Aether, I guess you did address this situation in "Maneuvers," Tip 6.

 

Offline Aether

  • 27
I didn't ;) I only added it after reading your comment and realised it was something I should have mentioned so thanks for bringing it to my attention :)
So say we all!

 

Offline Aether

  • 27
Also, I'm going to add the lead indicator thing that Al-Rik mentioned there to the guide. (Honestly, even I didn't know that's what the thing was for!) :lol:
So say we all!

 

Offline newman

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Also, I'm going to add the lead indicator thing that Al-Rik mentioned there to the guide. (Honestly, even I didn't know that's what the thing was for!) :lol:

It's the gunsight, not the lead indicator. With a lead indicator, you need to put your crosshairs over it to hit your target. In Diaspora, you need to place the gunsight itself over your target to hit it. This is explained in the documentation that comes with the game, along with other HUD elements. Check inside <Diaspora install folder>\Data\Info\HUD reference chart.pdf

(Gunsight not to be confused with the flight path indicator)

See, this is why it's a good idea to stop being a nugget yourself before starting to write guides for nuggets  :p
« Last Edit: September 21, 2012, 06:01:14 am by newman »
You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here! - Jayne Cobb

 

Offline Aether

  • 27
Also, I'm going to add the lead indicator thing that Al-Rik mentioned there to the guide. (Honestly, even I didn't know that's what the thing was for!) :lol:

It's the gunsight, not the lead indicator. With a lead indicator, you need to put your crosshairs over it to hit your target. In Diaspora, you need to place the gunsight itself over your target to hit it. This is explained in the documentation that comes with the game, along with other HUD elements. Check inside <Diaspora install folder>\Data\Info\HUD reference chart.pdf

(Gunsight not to be confused with the flight path indicator)

See, this is why it's a good idea to stop being a nugget yourself before starting to write guides for nuggets  :p

I think gunsight and lead indicator are probably interchangeable words (kinda). When I think of gunsight I would generally think of the crosshairs themselves and lead indicator sounds like it's stating where the bullets will land which (if you call the gunsight the lead indicator) it does. This is just my opinion though (and being a Nugget myself, I think it might be better to use the definitions posted by Al-Rik to make it a bit clearer for the other nuggets :lol:)
So say we all!

 

Offline newman

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I think gunsight and lead indicator are probably interchangeable words (kinda).

They're really not. Both are used for targeting, but operate on different principles, which I explained above. If you try to treat a gunsight as a lead indicator all you'll hit is vacuum. So it's kind of a big mistake to make :)
You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here! - Jayne Cobb

 

Offline MatthTheGeek

  • Captain Obvious
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Just to clear stuff up, Lead indicator = the stuff used in regular FS2, Lead Sight = the stuff used in Diaspora. The tables are always right.
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Offline Aether

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Lead sight it is! ;)

The only issue I had was the fact that "gunsight" can be pretty confusing when putting down on paper. (Like I said, I always refer to the crosshairs as the gunsight.) Lead indicator made sense because it shows where the bullets end up, Lead sight makes even more sense though.

Editing as we speak :lol:
So say we all!

 

Offline Aether

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If you try to treat a gunsight as a lead indicator all you'll hit is vacuum.

So, just to sum up what I've been saying and clarify, it wasn't my intention to treat a gunsight as a lead indicator but to call the gunsight the lead indicator. :)
So say we all!

 

Offline newman

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That just leads to confusion, since they're two different things.. And we officially call it the gunsight - that's what it's called in the documentation you get with the game. You don't really need a fixed crosshair you can then refer to as the "gunsight" when you have an indicator that shows you where the bullets will go. If you're just flying straight the gunsight will indicate that, if not a fixed crosshair doesn't mean much.
« Last Edit: September 21, 2012, 07:57:41 am by newman »
You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here! - Jayne Cobb

 

Offline Aether

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Well I think MattTheGeek clarified everything anyway with the tables. Lead Sight works for me and that way it avoids the whole gunsight/lead indicator confusion.  :)
So say we all!

 

Offline newman

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Because calling things by several different names totally avoids confusion :P Anyway, I give up, call it what you like. Not like it's an official guide anyway.
You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with 'til ya understand who's in ruttin' command here! - Jayne Cobb

 

Offline Aether

  • 27
Calling it by one thing now ;) Lead Sight :)
So say we all!

 

Offline torc

  • 210
  • Diaspora SFX engineer
Please try to use the names we gave in the release....Correct or not.
Changing names creates only confusion: A nugget really don't need it.

Thanks :)
indossare una divisa può avere un prezzo alto...ma a volte...è troppo alto!!! Bill Adama