Tracking Targets

[Wydraz]

Tracking targets is not easy. If you're escorting a ship or chasing an enemy, even if he's targetted, you can lose him. How do you find a target visually in the vastness of space? You'd think with technology this advanced there's be some HUD info pointing toward your target.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

well, there's a non=specific red dot on your radar if he's within sensor range.

[Wydraz]

That sucks.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

maybe a beta-tester knows more.

[Phoenix-D]

Press F8. Points the camera toward whatever you have targeted, otherwise it works like the default view.

[Alpha Kodiak]

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but if you have something targetted and press F8 your view will center on the targetted object. When I am in combat, I use a combination of F8 and F7 views to keep an eye on my target and to see where I am going. It takes a while to get used to, but then it becomes almost automatic. I also set my radar to 300 ls as I find that helpful in keeping an eye out for obstacles while dogfighting using the F8 view.

[Wydraz]

Cool. Thanks for the tips!

How do you set your radar?

[ September 23, 2003, 06:41: Message edited by: Wydraz ]

[narf poit chez BOOM]

r key. there's a list of control's in the readme.txt. you should print them out and then forget about them, even though there less than six inches from your right hand...and on the left side of your keyboard.

[Wydraz]

Actually, I do have a printout of that. I just wasn't sure what setting radar mode meant. I guess I should experiment more before posting! If only the readme file were a little more forthcoming....

[Ed Kolis]

There are also a few keyboard commands that target various types of things that are nearby; I don't remember them all but T targets the nearest enemy and O clears targetting; I think Y toggles between all visible ally targets and I toggles between all visible enemy targets, but I'm not sure. These commands can be handy for "scanning" the area for targets, though I do agree that things like fighters and satellites are very easy to ram into and take heavy damage or die from! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif I'll have to go and suggest more reticles in the beta forum...

[Wydraz]

Originally posted by Makinus:
Another good feature would be a pointer indicating in wich direction is the actual target.

Just my two cents.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hey, that was my two cents too! (in my original post). I was kind of surprised this was left out of the game. Every space sim has this kind of targeting HUD display nowadays, and for good reason.

[Makinus]

A suggestion about targetting: why not allow the player to assign hot-keys to targets? you target a ship and press CTRL-5, and when you wish to target that ship again you just click 5?

Another good feature would be a pointer indicating in wich direction is the actual target.

Just my two cents.