Auto levelling & planar systems

Sun Mar 23, 2003 11:39 am by krayzkrok

I really don't like the auto levelling system in Freelancer. It detracts from the immersion of being in a three-dimensional environment when the ship rotates back to the horizontal every time you switch mouse flight on and off.

Hitting "L" to turn of auto levelling is great... except for the fact it resets every time you go through a system jump gate or dock at a station. Extremely annoying!

Is there any way of turning of auto levelling permanently? Perhaps this is a patch issue.

Secondly, each system is rather planar - everything is aligned on a level plane and while you can fly outside that plane you're forced to return to it. Navigating a truly 3D environment can be more confusing to some people, and it harder to map, but it would be nice to see systems with a bit more "depth" to them.

Incidentally, this are minor quibbles in an excellent game.

Sun Mar 23, 2003 12:46 pm by Easy Rhino

While part of me realized that a horizontal universe is kind of, um, two-dimensional, another, bigger, part of me realizes that it makes navigation a whole lot easier.

ER

Sun Mar 23, 2003 12:50 pm by mustang

Is there any way of turning of auto levelling permanently?

In short, no. I really don't understand why this bothers people so much. I like getting put the right way up, otherwise I tend to loose my bearings. Each to thier own though I suppose.

As for the systems being on a flat plain, all systems are on a flat plain, it's the way they occur naturally.

Edited by - Mustang on 23-03-2003 13:22:48

Sun Mar 23, 2003 2:08 pm by kimk

hey, now that u come to mention it, it is, isn't it ? games like homeworld allows u to go out of hte horizontal plane... well, it makes it easier to orientate... so y r we complaining?

presently, my world is upside down, so if u do not mind, u'll have to tok to my a$$

Mon Mar 24, 2003 12:13 am by krayzkrok

Perhaps it's because I'm an old school Descent player, and auto levelling produces a knee-**** irritation.

But seriously, I just find that it detracts from the freedom when my ship takes control away from me. More seriously, the choice of the player to turn auto levelling off should not be overridden when you dock / jump.

Natural systems tend to exist in a reduced plane, yes, but not to the extent that Freelancer does. Pluto is not in the same plane of orbit as the rest of the planets in this solar system, for example, so having a planet at a slightly different "height" within the system isn't unreasonable. But this is just an observation, not a criticism, otherwise it's akin to criticising an FPS for not showing sweat running down the bodies of characters.

Mon Mar 24, 2003 12:19 am by NukeIt

Auto-level is annoying in combat. It throws off your aim every time it happens(otherwise I would always fly by keyboard and aim by mouse). I would like to see some bases placed above/below the current plane(maybe a docking ring at the pole of a planet, a rotating station like in 2001 that would make your ship spin ont he way in, or a base hidden at the bottom of the map...). I also want to see a roll control. It would make flight a heck of a lot easier, and wouldn't make it look like you're just panning a camera around.

Reaper: $200,000,000.
Rockets: $100,000
The look on that pilot's face when you launch a full pod of screamers up his tailpipe: priceless

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