[Kellhounds]

The only details the developers disclosed regarding flight controls is it would be a blend of Newtonian physics and atmospheric physics.

I'm assuming the physics would be similar to BTRL's. If this is to be the case there are a couple details in BTRL that

1- If there is to be a glide feature as in BTRL allow for up, down, left, and right when in glide. because when gliding in BTRL you are very easy to hit because you are flying perfectly straight and level. allowing up down left and right thrusters would allow you to evade incoming fire.

2- Allowing you to utilize, main thrusters in glide; yes this makes no sense, however having a glide function in space makes no sense either.   

3- In BTRL the mouse controls make you roll as you yaw. Personally I find this very annoying because at some point in time you find your self pitching up half way through instead of yawing right to the target at you 9 O'Clock 

4- Imply complete Newtonian physics. you constant thrust to maintain momentum. I understand if its to contribute to the aesthetic of the game however something i would like to see is reverse thrust as you decelerate

5- one problem regarding the physics in BTRLS glide function. when disengaging glide you will instantly loss all inertia and go what ever direction you are pointing and at you set velocity. this allows for game breaking maneuvers.
     

[karajorma]

The physics will be quite similar to BtRL since it was very popular and you're basically dealing with about 90% of that team here anyway. On of the major improvements though is that the AI is capable of doing a lot of those tricks now too.

4- Imply complete Newtonian physics. you constant thrust to maintain momentum. I understand if its to contribute to the aesthetic of the game however something i would like to see is reverse thrust as you decelerate

We've already covered this one in the FAQ. No you won't ever see full Newtonian in the game cause you don't see in the show. You probably won't see reverse thrust either cause you only see it once in the show (Hand of God and nowhere else. It's far too much trouble to add that in for just one effect which you will hardly ever actually see in the game.

[guitarfan01]

Kara, I know I look like a n00b from my post count, but I've actually followed the project ever since it started, and BTRL from some time before the demo release.  It seems to me that to be able to do a hard brake/reverse thrust, causing a pursuer to overshoot, would be very useful in combat - I believe we see that tactic in several dogfights throughout the RDM BSG series, as well.  Is it just too much a PITA to code that sort of action to a certain command?

Or did you mean that there wouldn't be an effect showing the brake/reverse thrust jets?

(I played the BTRL demo, but only singleplayer.)

[General Battuta]

Both reverse thrust and reverse thrust thruster effects are easily accomplished in FreeSpace Open, and some mods use them. If Diaspora doesn't it's (presumably) a design decision rather than a code one. It can produce some extremely irritating multiplayer gameplay.

[karajorma]

I meant there wouldn't be an effect. You won't see flaps open and retro thrusters fire.

[Kellhounds]

Both reverse thrust and reverse thrust thruster effects are easily accomplished in FreeSpace Open, and some mods use them. If Diaspora doesn't it's (presumably) a design decision rather than a code one. It can produce some extremely irritating multiplayer gameplay.

I'm just talking about an aesthetic detail. if you want to stop in BTRL you could hit glide set speed to 0 and disengage glide. that would be an instant stop.

and even more annoying than that, you could instantly reverse trajectory at max velocity by simply hitting glide spinning 180 and disengaging glide.

I guess my post was not entirely clear. many of the problems in BTRL have to do with the glide physics. simply adding inertia between glide and powered flight. would fix many of these problems.

the other point i was trying to make is that you could make the game look closer to the show by giving off the appeal of complete Newtonian physics. in Infinity Combat Prototype, you have a function called auto compensation. this mean that the computer with counteract you movements. the controls are in all essence similar to BTRLs however subtle details imply Newtonian physics exist in the game.

 



   

[Sushi]

Physics have improved since BtRL, especially the ones related to glide. We aren't terribly concerned with "true" Newtonian physics because the show obviously was not either. I think we can safely say, though, that ships move much the same way they do in the show, and all of your favorite maneuvers can be accomplished.

[guitarfan01]

I meant there wouldn't be an effect. You won't see flaps open and retro thrusters fire.

  Ah, okay then.  Thank you for your response.