Archwing Mechanics

[ManFromMars]

So let me start by saying I do enjoy the archwing mode and am looking forward to more content for it, new mission and enemy types and so on. However there are two mechanics issues that I feel make the archwing mode feel very 'clumsy' and really need to be addressed. I have waited quite awhile to post this to see if I would get used to them, and I have adjusted to an extent, but they still bug me enough that I do not want to play archwing as much as I otherwise might, so here goes.

 

 

1: Lack of true 3D rotation.

Archwing rapidly betrays the fact that it is an ad-on to a 3rd person shooter by the fact that as you look around you hit a 'wall' at the point where you are looking straight 'up' or 'down' concepts that should be pretty meaningless in space. This is a lot more noticeable in the open Grineer levels than it is in the corpus ship levels where it is easier to stay oriented, but even in the corpus levels I will often have an enemy fly directly above me and become very awkward to aim at without moving out from under him first. In archwing mode you should be able to rotate your view and aim a full 360° around any axis. I realize engine limitations might make this a lot of work to implement, but it would make everything feel sooo much smoother that I think it would be worth it if you intend to continue expanding on archwing.

 

 

2: Minimap poorly suited to open space.

This one is also much more of an issue in the open space grineer maps, I do not have much trouble with it on the corpus maps. In open space it can be very hard to locate the enemy until they are quite close to you, often not until they are shooting at you and you can follow their tracers back to them. I have no trouble spotting them from a great distance if I am pointed at them, but knowing where to point is a wild guessing game. The minimap indicates whether a contact is above or below you, but gives no indication of how much, they may only be 3 pixels above you, or they may be way up at the very 'top' of the map. Also the 'above' and 'below' (and the other directions for that matter) are fixed to the level rather than relative to your current point of view, so you can easily be in a situation where you need to look further down to see an enemy registering as above you. I would really like to see a separate minimap for archwing missions that works more like the globe in Independence War 2(1), or B5IFH(2). If changes to the minimap would be too much work, an alternate fix that would solve at least 80% of the awkwardness here would be to make it so that enemies always have objective markers on them that show up in your main view, the way that they do at the end of a round of interception, or maybe make an archwing enemy radar mod that gives this affect.

 

 

What does everyone else think? Have you found these issues to be awkward as well? I may just have unrealistically high expectations from playing too many space dog-fighting games.

 

 

 

(1) See

for gameplay video, the minimap globe is in the upper right

 

(2) http://ifhgame.ru/main/shots.php this one is free, so check it out if you like. Though I'll warn you it can be kinda hard.

[DoomsDayDan]

I'm fine with a lack of 3D rotation because that could get real dizzying and disorienting, but the space minimap could definitely be improved

[Phatose]

Giant +1 from me.  I've been saying this for months.

 

The lack of true 3D is a pretty big practical problem, primarily because enemies nearly directly above or below you are much harder to track then ones in any other position.  You end up locked and having to rotate a full 180 to track when something when it goes from mostly below but slightly in front to slightly in back, when you should really just have to push up or down a little more.

 

And yeah, the minimap is totally inappropriate for a 3d flight sim.  Something equivalent to the globe from IW2 would certainly be nice, but I'd settle for a 2d radar representation like in Freespace or X-wing, as long as it was designed for use in a 3d space. 

 

(side note:  Does IWar2 run on modern OSes?  Almost feel like digging out my discs, going on a patcom cutting beam rampage)

[Kasarian]

While 3d movement doesn't really bother me (if there is enemy directly above or below you, you should just change position, from my experience staying in place is suicide, or at least that's what Uranus Interception beat into my subconscious) the lack of a proper tracking enemies with both map and hud marks is very problematic in my opinion.

[Stratego89]

The problem with true 3D rotation is there is no way to rotate left or right (in other words imagine your character from your view turning clockwise or counter-clockwise), This could be implemented and would require new keys to be used. I believe DE intentionally designed it the way it was to retain normal movement mechanics that players are familiar to, and that are as simplified as possible. Anyone can control Archwing as it is now, but there are a lot of people that can't fly in games for a reason. Being a person that loves piloting in games I'd love to see 3D rotation in Archwing happen, it would also free up more possibilities for the game type. I suppose it's really up to whether DE thinks it is worth the time, effort, and possible confusion among players to add it in, or if the plus sides outweigh those.

[ManFromMars]

 

 

(side note:  Does IWar2 run on modern OSes?  Almost feel like digging out my discs, going on a patcom cutting beam rampage)

 

Iwar and Iwar2 are available on good old games for cheap. I haven't tried them yet but I assume they work since the reviews are not full of people complaining that they have trouble making them run.