[Suggestion] Rotate ships while moving using shortest path

[Grabarz]

I would like a way to move ships while having them rotate using the shortest path to finish rotating, rather than the shortest path to turn their engines facing the target.

From my screenshot, I have two ways of moving this ship.

* Move it normally. It will turn clockwise because that's the shortest path to get engines facing the direction the ship needs to move in.
* Move it using "Slide ship". The ship will move to target without rotating, then rotate at target.

I would love to have a way to move the ship so that in this case it turns counter clockwise while moving because it is the shortest path to get the ship to the desired rotation. I would also like to point out that in cases like this, normal movement makes no sense, because the ship will make it to target fast enough without engines being used and it just makes the ship do lots of pointless rotation.

(I moved my post from here to a thread as suggested, but I can't remove it as the thread is locked)

[Kharnellius]

Yes, I was noticing this, too.  For shorter distances your ship will turn in the direction of travel get to full speed just before reaching the destination then spend a fair amount of time rotating again.  I feel like the game needs to do a quick calculation before it initiates moves to make sure it does so in the most efficient way possible.

If it is a short enough distance then it may not be faster to turn, move, then rotate again.  It may be better to begin to rotate to final heading (at the destination) immediately and just strafe its way to the destination.  Because the guns location on a ship matter and some ships have greater armor on certain sides this can be matter of life and death for your ships.


EDIT:  Also, I noticed that ships wait until they reach their destination before beginning to rotate to the final desired heading.  I think they should end they same way they begin....start rotating at the precise moment they are far enough that the ship will complete its heading adjustment at the same time it reaches its destination.  Let me know if that isn't making sense.

[Grabarz]

I feel like the game needs to do a quick calculation before it initiates moves to make sure it does so in the most efficient way possible.

If it is a short enough distance then it may not be faster to turn, move, then rotate again.

While this would work, it would still be annoying in situations where you have a large fleet of ships and you want to move a ship from the front to the back. You might want to rotate it a specific way right as it starts moving, but as of right now there is no way to do this - you either have the ship rotate depending on how it's initially rotated or you don't rotate it at all.

EDIT:  Also, I noticed that ships wait until they reach their destination before beginning to rotate to the final desired heading.  I think they should end they same way they begin....start rotating at the precise moment they are far enough that the ship will complete its heading adjustment at the same time it reaches its destination.  Let me know if that isn't making sense.

Honestly, I would prefer if they just started rotating immediately to the rotation set at target when using "Slide ship". This doesn't take away from the game, because if you don't want to rotate, just don't rotate the ship at target. If you do rotate the ship at target while holding the "Slide ship" key, the ship would rotate immediately. I think that's the best and cleanest solution, allowing most control.

[Relli]

I think that's the best and cleanest solution, allowing most control.

I agree completely. Just that change would be quite welcome. But if more direct control were given, I'd be all for it.

[Kharnellius]

Holy crap, talking about this is super confusing.  We need visual aids, lol.  I just typed almost a page response and now I don't even know if I understand what I typed, ugh.  This is exhausting, lol!  ;D

[Kharnellius]

I feel like the game needs to do a quick calculation before it initiates moves to make sure it does so in the most efficient way possible.

If it is a short enough distance then it may not be faster to turn, move, then rotate again.

While this would work, it would still be annoying in situations where you have a large fleet of ships and you want to move a ship from the front to the back. You might want to rotate it a specific way right as it starts moving, but as of right now there is no way to do this - you either have the ship rotate depending on how it's initially rotated or you don't rotate it at all.

I think you are misunderstanding what I am saying.  I am simply saying for a general move command (when click-dragging a new heading at destination) it doesn't always make sense how the ships move.  If a ship is moving a short distance, for some reason it still tries to turn the ship to the direction of travel even though it will never turn enough to gain the benefit of the extra speed.   The ship ends up getting to the destination before it ever speeds up, and now the ship has to spend MORE time to turn to the desired heading.

It would have been better if it just started turning to the desired heading immediately and just strafed (or slid) to the destination.  Does that make sense?


EDIT: That is what I meant by it should calculate this ahead of time.  If the calculation shows there is no benefit to rotating the ship to face the direction of travel, then don't.  Instead, begin turning to desired heading immediately (as indicated by the player when the click-dragged said new heading).

[Kharnellius]

EDIT:  Also, I noticed that ships wait until they reach their destination before beginning to rotate to the final desired heading.  I think they should end they same way they begin....start rotating at the precise moment they are far enough that the ship will complete its heading adjustment at the same time it reaches its destination.  Let me know if that isn't making sense.

Honestly, I would prefer if they just started rotating immediately to the rotation set at target when using "Slide ship". This doesn't take away from the game, because if you don't want to rotate, just don't rotate the ship at target. If you do rotate the ship at target while holding the "Slide ship" key, the ship would rotate immediately. I think that's the best and cleanest solution, allowing most control.

We are talking about two very different scenarios.  I am talking about a regular move using the click-drag heading adjustment at the end.

You are talking about using the "E" key.  I agree with what you are saying.  If using the "E" key and selecting a new heading, they should rotate immediately since there is no benefit to waiting.

I am talking about a regular move using the click-drag heading adjustment.  When I use this, it takes about 2-3 seconds for a ship to rotate to the desired heading at the end of a move command.  I would like to see the ships begin rotating 2-3 seconds before they reach their destination (the actual time should be based off of that particular ships rotation speed so that the ship finishes rotating precisely at the time it reaches its destination).

[Grabarz]

I don't think that's a good idea. The point of ships rotating immediately is so they can use their engines for a speed boost.

If the ship is moving short distance, it just shouldn't rotate. This already happens in the game - if you move really short distance, sometimes ships just slide on their own; however, this distance is not long enough, and should be calculated - if the ship, were it rotate, would use its engines then rotate, otherwise slide.

I'm assuming click and drag is the same as scrolling mouse wheel to rotate because I've never used the former.

[Kharnellius]

I don't think that's a good idea. The point of ships rotating immediately is so they can use their engines for a speed boost.

If the ship is moving short distance, it just shouldn't rotate. This already happens in the game - if you move really short distance, sometimes ships just slide on their own; however, this distance is not long enough, and should be calculated - if the ship, were it rotate, would use its engines then rotate, otherwise slide.

That is literally what I said two posts ago so I am not sure what you are disagreeing with.  The rotating at the very end before a ship arrives at its destination?

Perhaps the best compromise is the ship only begins to rotate just before reaching the destination.  I just did some testing and noticed a ship hits full speed a little before the ship is facing exactly in the direction of travel.  Why not use that same mechanic on the other end?

I'm assuming click and drag is the same as scrolling mouse wheel to rotate because I've never used the former.

Yes, give it a shot.  When you click to indicate where you want a ship to go you continue to hold down on the click then move the mouse to make the ship face the heading you desire.  (I have scroll set to zoom.)

[Grabarz]

Yeah I apologize, I didn't realize you were talking about the rotation at the end, I was thinking about the rotation at the beginning. I still don't think it's a good idea. If the ship rotated right before reaching its destination to face the desired rotation, the engine boost would shut off before the destination is reached, taking the ship longer to reach its target. I don't think this would be desired behavior most of the time.

This is a tough call, actually. If the ship's travel distance is so long that it will use the engine boost, you likely want to peace out from a dangerous situation into safety - that's where your idea would be good, but this takes away control from the players a bit, because what if you just want to get to the destination asap?

EDIT: Now that I think about it.. you'd just have to not rotate the ship at destination to achieve that. So maybe your idea has merit after all. Really, it would have to be implemented and tested to really get a feel for it and see if it's good for actual gameplay..

Perhaps the best compromise is the ship only begins to rotate just before reaching the destination.  I just did some testing and noticed a ship hits full speed a little before the ship is facing exactly in the direction of travel.  Why not use that same mechanic on the other end?

I definitely agree with this, but this might be too much work for too little gain for the dev, especially considering the sheer number of other important suggestions/bugs that have come up. I'd be happy if my ships  rotated immediately when sliding is all.