Questions...

OvermindDL1 · March 12, 2003

Let me start off saying that I am sorry I havn't posted anything in this forum since I initially signed up about a half year ago. Nevertheless, I have just a few questions that I havn't either been able to figure out myself or that I can't recall or find by searching the boards that have been answered already.

1) I barely even started playing BC3K right before BCM came out so I am still slightly confused, who exactly are the Galaxians and what is known about them thus far (excluding the crashed probe on the rather hostle planet)?

2) I host multiplayer parties with usually about 2-5 of my friends and I am not quite sure how multiplayer would be setup at it, they all have bcm and most have already preordered bcmg since they found out no multi-patch for bcm. I would set up a dedicated server with a spare computer for it, but we have no internet connection (only at my work do I have that, nearest town is 118 miles away and I do not want to pay long distance for INet like my boss's do). Sometimes we will call up each other's computers in a star type network (but slow) formation bridging the connections, it works with pretty much every DirectX game we have but I want to know if it will work on this as well since it doesn't on all games, we only have each other to lan since no net. Enough of us have 2 phone lines just for this purpose. I read somewhere about a person hosting a lan needing to contact to the inet server first which kind of defeats the purpose of the lan in my eyes (especially since no net) so how would this be done. Sorry this is probobly a couple questions in one...

3) The fleets pages that I have attempted to goto so far have not existed, have they closed and are here in spirit only now or what?

4) The mouse control scheme, I am not sure if this is what was trying to be asked but this is something I am curious about... When you move the mouse left (for example) does the whole ship turn left while the crosshair remains in the center of the screen, or, when you move the mouse left does the crosshair (or indicator) actually move left on the screen and the ship turns left with the turn speed depending on how far the crosshair was moved from the origin up to and including the max turn speed of the vessal?

Just in my view the former seems perfect for FPS games that require quick manuvering but keeping the mouse moving in BCMG could easily cause it to go off its area causing it to be picked up and moved over to coninue with moving. The latter method seems more applicable to the fact that a moving ship could be continued in motion just by moving it to a specific area which would be perfect for slow turning bc's, cruisers, and the like, but it would be harder to get used to AND for fast turning ships like fighters it would be more of an irritant where the former method seems to be easier.

and finally...

5) When I preorder BCMG from the Website you mentioned recently, how do I get the $10 discount or should I even care considering how good this game is, anyways, I would be willing to pay ANOTHER $45 for BCMG just for note.

Thank you for taking the time to respond, some of these I have been wondering about for some time and some (like 5) I just thought about which caused this to be created finally.

[ 03-12-2003, 06:17 AM: Message edited by: Overmind ]

Supreme Cmdr · March 12, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by Overmind:

1) I barely even started playing BC3K right before BCM came out so I am still slightly confused, who exactly are the Galaxians and what is known about them thus far (excluding the crashed probe on the rather hostle planet)?

Read the appendix or search the website using the race name for discussions on this race.

quote:

2) I read somewhere about a person hosting a lan needing to contact to the inet server first which kind of defeats the purpose of the lan in my eyes (especially since no net) so how would this be done. Sorry this is probobly a couple questions in one...

Each user on the LAN requires a unique copy of the game. Only Internet servers report to the master server using the game's CDKEY.

quote:

3) The fleets pages that I have attempted to goto so far have not existed, have they closed and are here in spirit only now or what?

They are being re-designed and will be online when completed.

quote:

4) The mouse control scheme, I am not sure if this is what was trying to be asked but this is something I am curious about... When you move the mouse left (for example) does the whole ship turn left while the crosshair remains in the center of the screen, or, when you move the mouse left does the crosshair (or indicator) actually move left on the screen and the ship turns left with the turn speed depending on how far the crosshair was moved from the origin up to and including the max turn speed of the vessal?

When you move the mouse L/R, the ship will continue to yaw in that direction until you center the mouse cursor with the ship's FPV. At which point the ship will now continue moving in the current direction. The farther L/R you move the mouse, the tighter the yaw/roll angle. To roll the ship you hold down the SHIFT key and release it to return to yaw movement. The action of this key is governed by the roll/yaw setting already in CONFIG (and used for keyboard flight).

When mouse flight mode is active, the mouse pointer is hidden and replaced with a small cross/circle symbol. A symbol similar to the fp mode mouse look indicator appears at the centre of the display pointing at the position of the mouse. The length of the pointer indicates the distance of the mouse from the centre of the display (i.e. the degree of turn). If the mouse position is within the indicator radius (dead zone) the direction pointer and cross are hidden.

Its quite simple really and conforms to the ships dynamics i.e. you can't turn any faster or slower than you could with a keyboard or joystick; and it conforms to three independent axis of movement, unlike, say, Freelancer.

The biggest upside to using a mouse is that the firing rate is not subject to delay evident in the keyboard auto-repeat. i.e. you can fire much, much faster (as per the craft's specs) with the LEFT mouse button, than you can with the keyboard ENTER key. Which is why you need to set your keyboard auto-repeat rate as high as possible, in the BIOS. But this has always been the case anyway.

quote:

but it would be harder to get used to AND for fast turning ships like fighters it would be more of an irritant where the former method seems to be easier.

...heh, which is why there are three methods of flight control. Pick one.

quote:

5) When I preorder BCMG from the Website you mentioned recently, how do I get the $10 discount or should I even care considering how good this game is, anyways, I would be willing to pay ANOTHER $45 for BCMG just for note.

The rebate coupon is on the sleeve of the box, with instructions on how to reclaim it. This is no different from how other rebates work. Just tear it off and mail it in with a copy of your BCMG receipt and BCM proof-of-purchase listed on the coupon.

Epsilon 5 · March 12, 2003

quote:

When you move the mouse L/R, the ship will continue to yaw in that direction until you center the mouse cursor with the ship's FPV. At which point the ship will now continue moving in the current direction. The farther L/R you move the mouse, the tighter the yaw/roll angle. To roll the ship you hold down the SHIFT key and release it to return to yaw movement. The action of this key is governed by the roll/yaw setting already in CONFIG (and used for keyboard flight).

Thank you, you finally answered my question.

OvermindDL1 · March 12, 2003

I take it that was what you were trying to ask in the other thread as well, Epsilon 5. That had been stuck in my mind as well and as for Supreme Cmdr's choice, it could not have been better, but then again what else is there to expect from him. Nevertheless, thanks for your expedient reply, coud not have asked for better and thank you again for clearing those up for me, mabye it helped some other people as well.

Supreme Cmdr · March 12, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by Epsilon 5:

quote:

When you move the mouse L/R, the ship will continue to yaw in that direction until you center the mouse cursor with the ship's FPV. At which point the ship will now continue moving in the current direction. The farther L/R you move the mouse, the tighter the yaw/roll angle. To roll the ship you hold down the SHIFT key and release it to return to yaw movement. The action of this key is governed by the roll/yaw setting already in CONFIG (and used for keyboard flight).

Thank you, you finally answered my question.

I wasn't answering your question. What I posted above is no different in context from what I already said in the other thread. Difference being that Overmind asked as specific question and I gave a specific answer.

You, on the other hand, don't know what you're talking about or asking, most of the time. Coupled with your irritating nature and posting, what did you expect from me and others here?

quote:

Originally posted by Overmind:

I take it that was what you were trying to ask in the other thread as well, Epsilon 5. That had been stuck in my mind as well and as for Supreme Cmdr's choice, it could not have been better, but then again what else is there to expect from him. Nevertheless, thanks for your expedient reply, coud not have asked for better and thank you again for clearing those up for me, mabye it helped some other people as well.

Not to worry. In fact, here it is straight from Section 7 of the BCM Gold manual

quote:

You can also use the mouse to control a craft. By default, the mouse is in selection mode.

To switch to flight control, press and release the ALT button.

Mouse flight control works like first person mouse look, in that you just turn the

ship in the direction that you want to fly in. Move the mouse forward/backward to

pitch up/down and left/right to yaw left/right.

The default Y axis pitches up when the mouse moves forward (up the screen)

and pitches down when the mouse moves downwards (down the screen) i.e. the craft

tries to follow the mouse. This Y axis behavior can be changed in CONFIG.

To switch the current state of the yaw/roll X axis, press and hold down the SHIFT key.

This X axis behavior can be changed in CONFIG. It is the same setting as the keyboard.

When mouse flight control is active, the mouse pointer is hidden and replaced with a

small cross/circle reticule. A direction pointer similar to the first person mouse look

indicator also appears at the centre of the display and pointing at the position of the mouse.

The length of the direction pointer indicates the distance of the mouse from the centre of

the display (i.e. the degree of turn). If the mouse position is within the indicator radius

(dead zone) the direction pointer and cross are hidden.

While using mouse flight control, the following mouse buttons are re-mapped

LEFT fire main guns

RIGHT fire missiles

MIDDLE selects 'closest attacker' if none, selects 'closest enemy target'

WHEEL cycles missiles

Supreme Cmdr · March 12, 2003

quote:

Originally posted by Epsilon 5:

quote:

When you move the mouse L/R, the ship will continue to yaw in that direction until you center the mouse cursor with the ship's FPV. At which point the ship will now continue moving in the current direction. The farther L/R you move the mouse, the tighter the yaw/roll angle. To roll the ship you hold down the SHIFT key and release it to return to yaw movement. The action of this key is governed by the roll/yaw setting already in CONFIG (and used for keyboard flight).

Thank you, you finally answered my question.

I wasn't answering your question. What I posted above is no different in context from what I already said in the other thread. Difference being that Overmind asked as specific question and I gave a specific answer.

Read his post again - you might learn something.

As I said before, the mouse flight control has NOTHING to do with dynamics (it is just another control scheme which, like keyboard/joystick, adheres to the ships flight dynamics/characteristics) - which is what you were alluding to in your post.

quote:

Originally posted by Overmind:

I take it that was what you were trying to ask in the other thread as well, Epsilon 5. That had been stuck in my mind as well and as for Supreme Cmdr's choice, it could not have been better, but then again what else is there to expect from him. Nevertheless, thanks for your expedient reply, coud not have asked for better and thank you again for clearing those up for me, mabye it helped some other people as well.

You're welcome. In fact, here it is straight from Section 7 of the BCM Gold manual