Move facing: possible?

whatnames

Hello! I'm drivetesting the game and I think that I missed something on the tutorial. I want to know how to move my ship in a direction without changing the direction it is facing. Eg: moving backwards while firing forward guns. Is that possible?

As a sidenote, it may be a good idea to include an option to reactivate (or access) the tutorial in the options menu or on the main menu. There is a bit of info there and sometimes you forget some of it.

Thanks for the great game!

Lafiel

Pause the game. Klick on position to move to. Hold shift and "dial" the direction-arrow or click on the center again to fixate facing direction.

Go to Settings under "Gameplay" and hit "Reset Tutorials"

Edit:
To fly diagonally klick on "..." from the ship's info window and select "allow flying diagonally".
Since keeping a fixed direction isn't exactly a game feature you can ensure it better by having all-round thrusters.

Walt

I want to know how to move my ship in a direction without changing the direction it is facing. Eg: moving backwards while firing forward guns. Is that possible?

When you tell your ship to move long distances, it will reorient itself to fly in the fastest orientation. But if you tell your ship to move only short distances, it will generally keep its orientation. I'll try to think of a UI for telling a ship to keep its orientation even when moving long distances. (Maybe that should be how it works whenever you've given an explicit orientation?)

As a sidenote, it may be a good idea to include an option to reactivate (or access) the tutorial in the options menu or on the main menu.

Open the pause menu, and click "How to Play" in the lower-left corner of the screen. Admittedly, this menu has a wierd layout. Thanks for the reminder to fix it.

whatnames

Walt I'll try to think of a UI for telling a ship to keep its orientation even when moving long distances. (Maybe that should be how it works whenever you've given an explicit orientation?)

Thanks for the answer.
From my experience you usually have both options: setting a facing direction when arriving to destination (for formation purposes) or forcing the unit to move without turning. Strategic potential is important because with the second option you can have guns always pointing towards the enemy and still move, albeit limited to thrusting power in that direction (if it helps I've mainly seen it in tanks RTS where rear armor is much weaker so you are forced to to retreat in reverse because if you turned you would suffer heavy damage).

Walt

Is there another game that you think handles this especially well?

Lafiel

Walt
Except for vehicle, mecha and helicopter games the only space game that comes to mind is the Wing Commander series. You can only use drift or coast while facing the enemy, though, unless it's backward. Another game is I-War, Independence War 2. But it's a bit complicated due to job roles and featuring turrets here. But control and mobility wise the Mechwarrior series is a good example. I suppose same could be said for most mecha games like Amored Core, Armored Trooper Votoms, etc..

Edit: I think capital ships in Homeworld kept their facing when engaging but it's been too long I'm not so certain.
Nexus the Jupiter Incident, too, I think.