Speed shouldn't be linked to manuverability

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Speed shouldn't be linked to manuverability

Kel9509
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Post by Kel9509 » Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:27 pm

Hi all,

I don't know if this topic has ever been addressed before but given the Upgrade project's ability to really change things up in the game I was wondering if somehow this could be addressed as well. Simply put, I don't think that a ship's speed should be tied to its maneuverability at all. I've been playing Xwing Alliance since it came out and I recall that the concept of manuverability being linked to a ship's speed was introduced in X-wing vs. Tie Fighter. In in the original X-Wing and Tie Fighter games (which can still be played if you purchase them from like GOG games) there is no link of the speed or throttle of a ship to its maneuverability.

I recall playing XvT online and when fighting with others, often we'd end up in endless circling matches where we're flying at 1/3 the throttle, trying to circle each other in order to get a shot in. It was a very discouraging experience because the ship behavior was NOTHING like how it appeared in the movies or even the own game's cutscenes.

It was very disappointing that XwA incorporated this terrible feature into the game. I think the logic is all wrong, that the slower you are the faster you can turn. It makes no sense because it never happens anywhere else in the Star Wars movies. It also didn't happen in the earlier simulator games. If anything, I think the more speed you have, the more maneuverability you would have.

Is it possible to change this behavior with a hook or something? This is the one thing that I cannot get over about the game.

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AngeI
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Post by AngeI » Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:56 pm

This behaviour has been recently changed for TFTC Classic in our upcoming v1.2 patch, which allows the ship full maneuverability regardless of speed as it was in the original. Thanks to @Random Starfighter, he's created an EXE patch that can turn it off. Whether the XWAU team want to use this is up to them, but I doubt it would be the case until a hook is written to be able to toggle this on and off easily. That is something @JeremyaFr would have to do. Until then patching the EXE File directly is the only option to use this for now.

Code: Select all

  <Patch Name="Remove 1/3 throttle turn rate mechanic">
    <Item Offset="F9A60" From="663D555573098D" To="B9FFFF0000EB1E" />
  </Patch>
  <Patch Name="Remove LES turn rate mechanic">
    <Item Offset="F9B0E" From="BF04000000" To="BF00000000" />
    <Item Offset="F9B13" From="2BF8" To="9090" />
  </Patch>
You can add this patch to Jeremys XWA EXE Patcher by adding the code to the patcher.xml file.

Kel9509
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Post by Kel9509 » Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:29 pm

That is very interesting and good to know that at least for the TFTC it will be fixed (although I think it should be an option whether it's Classic or Reimagined). I really hope this can be done to XwA at some point also. I'm glad at least it is possible in some way, even if there are no current hooks for it.

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AngeI
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Post by AngeI » Tue Oct 26, 2021 5:39 am

Kel9509 wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 11:29 pm
That is very interesting and good to know that at least for the TFTC it will be fixed (although I think it should be an option whether it's Classic or Reimagined). I really hope this can be done to XwA at some point also. I'm glad at least it is possible in some way, even if there are no current hooks for it.
It will not be in Reimagined at this time, just Classic.

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Post by Forceflow » Tue Oct 26, 2021 10:51 am

I also do not see us implementing this for XWA as it would require extensive balance testing for all missions since it would dramatically alter the abilities of a player. Currently you have a tradeoff between speed and maneuverability. (At least somewhat) If you want to turn quickly you have to slow down making you more vulnerable. If you want to be fast you have to live with having to do slower wider turns. Changing this would throw off the balance for many missions.
So we'd have to offer two sets of missions, one with the original behavior and one with the new behavior.
With the above information you can implement this yourself however. Just be sure to keep a backup of your exe file somewhere safe.
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Kel9509
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Post by Kel9509 » Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:06 am

I would like to report back that I installed the EXE patch mentioned above in my current game and it is the best flying experience I've had since playing the original X-Wing game. It feels much more like a Star Wars flight simulator now than something fake that involves slowdown to turn, which never seemed to exist at all in the movies or any other version of Star Wars. I really don't know why that aspect of flight was ever implemented at all after XvT. I suspect it was an attempt to nerf the Tie Defender in some way, which would've become untouchable in multiplayer flight without a basic limit of slowing down to turn. However, all it ended up doing was hurting all lesser craft (and a Tie Defender wouldn't be impacted much by it anyway).

Anyway, so far I don't think that this would have any impact on the overall balance of the game itself. It is a marginal reduction in annoyance but it doesn't change too much of the overall game itself. I don't know if anyone plays multiplayer anymore but in singleplayer mode, flying as the Rebels, it provides a marginal improvement to the ability of a player using the Rebel ships as they are able to match their own against slightly more maneuverable Imperial ships. I'm not aware if the AI has to slow its throttle to 1/3 to gain better maneuverability, but I doubt it.

I understand that the XWA Upgrade will probably not implement it in the basic upgrade pack because it breaks the logic of merely enhancing an existing game. Then again, the Missile Boat is also included with a SLAM system and that wasn't in the original XwA either. If it matters, I'd vote to include it but I'm happy using this hack every time I need to. Thanks all.

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Post by Ace Antilles » Fri Dec 24, 2021 2:17 pm

Kel9509 wrote:
Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:06 am
I understand that the XWA Upgrade will probably not implement it in the basic upgrade pack because it breaks the logic of merely enhancing an existing game. Then again, the Missile Boat is also included with a SLAM system and that wasn't in the original XwA either. If it matters, I'd vote to include it but I'm happy using this hack every time I need to. Thanks all.
I've heard similar feedback on this from others.
I'll have to give it a try sometime. It's not something XWAU would make default but could be an option maybe.
No promises but something we can consider.
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AngeI
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Post by AngeI » Sun Dec 26, 2021 8:19 am

Kel9509 wrote:
Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:06 am
I understand that the XWA Upgrade will probably not implement it in the basic upgrade pack because it breaks the logic of merely enhancing an existing game. Then again, the Missile Boat is also included with a SLAM system and that wasn't in the original XwA either. If it matters, I'd vote to include it but I'm happy using this hack every time I need to. Thanks all.
This is true, but the Missile Boat is not used in the XWA campaign by the Player and the AI doesn't make use of it either so no balance is affected by adding this feature. It would only matter in Skirmish.

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