Does it get better..err easier

[Sagimore]

I'm just coming back to the game, never got past level 35 first time. No real fault of the game. But I thought now would be a good time to come back.

 

I love dog fighting, and am pretty good at War Thunder etc. At this game I totally blow, I mean really bad. I cant seem to figure out how to get on someone for more than a couple of rounds. And then they are on me. Is there a good guide on this game yet? I don't have time to master it, I just want to be ok and have fun.

 

My oldest friend who flew f18s for 15 years is doing just as bad, so I don't feel too bad. But I feel like I'm flying around in american flyer with cardboard wings attached while everyone else is flying a space craft.

 

In other games I can get an idea on what I s*ck at, I can get a grasp of what I'm doing wrong and what I need to do better. In this game i'm just lost 100% of the time. When the game ends i'm left having no idea what just happened. I walk about from the screen in defeat and a mild case of motion sickness.

[Itkovian]

I'm just coming back to the game, never got past level 35 first time. No real fault of the game. But I thought now would be a good time to come back.

 

I love dog fighting, and am pretty good at War Thunder etc. At this game I totally blow, I mean really bad. I cant seem to figure out how to get on someone for more than a couple of rounds. And then they are on me. Is there a good guide on this game yet? I don't have time to master it, I just want to be ok and have fun.

 

My oldest friend who flew f18s for 15 years is doing just as bad, so I don't feel too bad. But I feel like I'm flying around in american flyer with cardboard wings attached while everyone else is flying a space craft.

 

In other games I can get an idea on what I s*ck at, I can get a grasp of what I'm doing wrong and what I need to do better. In this game i'm just lost 100% of the time. When the game ends i'm left having no idea what just happened. I walk about from the screen in defeat and a mild case of motion sickness.

 

It does get better, yes, and what is really needed is practice practice practice.

 

But there are a few things you can do:

 

- Use the tutorial. A lot. Forget its objectives, use it to learn to fly. Do stunts, get better a threading the needle, to aerobatics while trying to shoot the drones, anything you can think of. Ignore the objectives and treat it as your own private sandbox.

 

- Lower mouse sensitivity. It really, really, really helps.

 

- Learn to shoot your lasers AND lock missiles at the same time. Don't just focus on one or the other.

 

- Fix your HUD. Find the layout that allows you to keep your eyes on what's going on while still seeing your readouts. I slapped everything in the middle lower part of the screen for me, aside from the map, and it works great.

 

- Hang out whit the pack. so you don't get singled out.

 

That's it for now, beyond that it's a matter of trying, and trying again.

 

Itkovian

[Altheran]

It does get better, yes, and what is really needed is practice practice practice.

 

But there are a few things you can do:

 

- Use the tutorial. A lot. Forget its objectives, use it to learn to fly. Do stunts, get better a threading the needle, to aerobatics while trying to shoot the drones, anything you can think of. Ignore the objectives and treat it as your own private sandbox.

 

- Lower mouse sensitivity. It really, really, really helps.

 

- Learn to shoot your lasers AND lock missiles at the same time. Don't just focus on one or the other.

 

- Fix your HUD. Find the layout that allows you to keep your eyes on what's going on while still seeing your readouts. I slapped everything in the middle lower part of the screen for me, aside from the map, and it works great.

 

- Hang out whit the pack. so you don't get singled out.

 

That's it for now, beyond that it's a matter of trying, and trying again.

 

Itkovian

 

I'd add this :

 

- test the power management controls. Knowing to use energy efficiently changes the gaming experience so much it's like day and night.

 

- If you have a mouse with additionnal keys that you can use for gaming, put some of the controls on them. Having distributed controls on both hands seem more intuitive for me, more than just shooting with one hand and anything else with the other one... I put all the "abilities" on my mouse, as well as manual targeting on the "scroll click", and put the energy management controls on 1-4 keys so that my right hand is "actions" and my left hand "secondary controls"

Edited February 11, 2014 by Altheran

[Kaivers]

I felt the exact same way during subscriber early access. Everything and everyone seemed as if they moving at light speed and the players from Beta were dominating...but that is no longer the case.

 

Keep playing and you will adjust, it takes time and it won't all come at once. Before learning how to use my weapons effectively I had to adjust to the speed and learn how to maneuver. After that I had to learn how to survive and from there I learned how to kill. It took about ten days for me to finally become competitive, playing no less than five back to back matches a day.

 

Edit: Bottom line...I refused to give up and it paid off.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Kaivers

[Itkovian]

I'd add this :

 

- test the power management controls. Knowing to use energy efficiently changes the gaming experience so much it's like day and night.

 

- If you have a mouse with additionnal keys that you can use for gaming, put some of the controls on them. Having distributed controls on both hands seem more intuitive for me, more than just shooting with one hand and anything else with the other one... I put all the "abilities" on my mouse, as well as manual targeting on the "scroll click", and put the energy management controls on 1-4 keys so that my right hand is "actions" and my left hand "secondary controls"

 

Well said! Totally forgot about power management. It really IS completely vital. Remember that those control more than just power regeneration (weapons get more powerful, shields as well, and you move faster).

[Nethgilne]

I'd also like to point out that your performance is heavily influenced by your team and losing tends to start a downward spiral of more more losses. A prime example of this is when the enemy team has a strong hold on the node. Members of a typical pug will get shot down, respawn and fly back ONE AT A TIME to start the process all over again.

 

An ace pilot will have a hard time flying alone into a fortified position, let alone a rookie. I find, that this can be a huge source of frustration for a new player, as it is easy to lose positional awareness, get singled out and blasted from all directions.

 

So to repeat what Itkovian recommended. Find the largest group and/or find one player and follow them/him. Hang back and wait until someone attacks them first. You might not get a kill but at the very least you'll get an assist and help your team mate out

[Ramalina]

Well first off, keep in mind that this is not a flight sim. If a flight sim were a bird, then GSF would be, oh I don't know, maybe a lamprey or a hagfish. Some similarities, yes, but if you expected a flight sim like product you will be very disappointed.

 

It's sort of a Frankenstein of a game. Old style first person shooter aim style, that unfortunately also controls movement. Arcadey intertia and drag free flight model.

And, of course MMORPG combat mechanics,

"What? I hit him dead center why didn't anything happen!"

"No you didn't, you rolled a 2, you missed."

 

Once you get over the bizarre illogical design, and the incredibly bad input and user interface, it can become a lot of fun and to a limited extent combat flight sim skills relating to situational awareness and maneuvering will have some payoff.

 

Also figuring out good starship builds and getting them upgraded does make a large difference. Some basics are covered in a few threads somewhere I think.

[Armonddd]

It does get better, yes, and what is really needed is practice practice practice.

 

If I could quote this five times in a row without being annoying I would.

 

Remember when you were first learning to drive and everything was oh god oh god oh god oh god

 

GSF adds a third dimension and tells you you need to shoot things and do fancy stunts. You probably feel kinda like this.

 

But driving's easy! Super easy. You do it almost every day. Hell, it's probably boring most of the time.

 

GSF is the same way. Give it some time and some practice, and you'll turn from Elmo to yellow ranger.

[-Streven-]

I felt the exact same way during subscriber early access. Everything and everyone seemed as if they moving at light speed and the players from Beta were dominating...but that is no longer the case.

 

Keep playing and you will adjust, it takes time and it won't all come at once. Before learning how to use my weapons effectively I had to adjust to the speed and learn how to maneuver. After that I had to learn how to survive and from there I learned how to kill. It took about ten days for me to finally become competitive, playing no less than five back to back matches a day.

 

Edit: Bottom line...I refused to give up and it paid off.

 

My story exactly. I thought I'd never get it and was surprised aftet about two weeks when it all clicked.

[Sagimore]

Great tips/suggestions, thanks a ton.

[mighty_joe]

stick with it.

 

a little more than a week ago, i did not know how to load abilities into my ship:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=719633

 

now i do ok, get objectives, a couple of kills, even more assists and only die 2-3 times in a deathmatch.

[Onodrain]

It is more difficult the older you are. Your reflexes diminish, making it more difficult to twitch.

 

To add on:

 

F1: power to blaster increases direct fire weapon damage and weapon power pool at the expense of shields and engine

F2: power to shields increases shield power and regen at the expense of weapons and engines

F3: power to engines increases engine power and regen at the expense of weapons and shields

F4: normal power to all systems

 

C: quick check at your target. This changes your view to look at your target while the "C" key is pressed.

R: target the last enemy that fired at you

<tab>: cycle thru the closest targets

E: target what is close to reticle

 

When starting out, learn to fly in 3D space by circling the satellites. You need to hug them in order to capture them. Sensor focus range seems to increase the range with which you interact with them. When you are comfortable zooming all around the satellites, then learn to kill their turrets; Stationary targets are much easier to hit than moving.

 

Try lots of ships. Play the ones you like the most.

[Sagimore]

Thanks guys, it has gotten much better, eventually everything started clicking. Still not very good, but now I feel like I am getting better and getting some kills and not dying as often.