Copter controls

[kono Dio da!]

About The Gyrocopter controls, all questions got answered.

[Khissi]

You do understand that it's NOT a helicopter, right? It's a GYROcopter... totally different, and much more closely related to a small plane. Try the controls using that brain set...

[westrud]

Spacebar tilts it up, C tilts it down, left click will switch off mouse turning which I find easier for the gyro, and yes, it is not a helicopter and does not fly like one, it flies like an airplane.

[seven]

I found the controls disappointing too. Then I tried with an xbox controller and it was so much easier flying. Try that if you have one. Oh, and I'd suggest starting a creative game and spawn one in to practice.

[kono Dio da!]

Originally posted by westrud:

Spacebar tilts it up, C tilts it down, left click will switch off mouse turning which I find easier for the gyro, and yes, it is not a helicopter and does not fly like one, it flies like an airplane.

thank you I will try it out.

[kono Dio da!]

Originally posted by Khissi:

You do understand that it's NOT a helicopter, right? It's a GYROcopter... totally different, and much more closely related to a small plane. Try the controls using that brain set...

yes yes yes sure sure sure... but....does it really justify bad controls? and with bad i mean in a way like.....just imagine the developers talking about making this thing and they all agree upon each other that "the controls should be made very hard and almost impossible to use properly so that most people will not want to touch this gyrocopter. Instead of having easy to use and especially fun to play controls it should be slow in responsive time, not really being able to turn or drive backwards and so on" ...always interesting to see in games when they make decisions like these.

Sure this way its a little bit more realistic (although what is realism in a game that revolves around zombies..)
And I support that developers of any game do with it what they want to do.
Still this way Im confident most people will just throw it away and dislike it so ..decisions have been made I guess.

Any way it doesnt matter.. I already reached end game again and will probably stop playing soon for some more years since the frame rate drops in t5 dungeons make this game almost unplayable. We will have to wait for the beta for enhancements.

[EdrickV]

The controls are a bit more sensitive then they ought to be I think, but it is usable with some practice. In order to get into the air you need to get up to speed first, just like a plane. And like a plane climbing will lower speed while diving will increase speed when using the same amount of engine power. Unlike a plane though it doesn't really glide very well, so even on landing it's a good idea to come down with power.

I flew one around quite a bit in A19.6, with my 4x4 stored in the cargo hold. I even made an elevated runway at my horde base as a last ditch escape method, though I never really tried it. One of the issues with keyboard controls for the gyrocopter is that things are usually all or nothing. Full cruise power or no power, or with shift full engine power, vs being able to raise/lower power settings bit by bit in a real plane. (A real plane that wants to maintain speed when going from level flight to a climb would increase power.)

I've actually flown a real R/C airplane that had worse controls then the gyrocopter. It wasn't even capable of straight and level flight, it was either climbing or diving, and could go straight, full right, or full left. No in-between.

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Deal with it:

Originally posted by Khissi:

You do understand that it's NOT a helicopter, right? It's a GYROcopter... totally different, and much more closely related to a small plane. Try the controls using that brain set...

yes yes yes sure sure sure... but....does it really justify bad controls? and with bad i mean in a way like.....just imagine the developers talking about making this thing and they all agree upon each other that "the controls should be made very hard and almost impossible to use properly so that most people will not want to touch this gyrocopter. Instead of having easy to use and especially fun to play controls it should be slow in responsive time, not really being able to turn or drive backwards and so on" ...always interesting to see in games when they make decisions like these.

Sure this way its a little bit more realistic (although what is realism in a game that revolves around zombies..)
And I support that developers of any game do with it what they want to do.
Still this way Im confident most people will just throw it away and dislike it so ..decisions have been made I guess.

Any way it doesnt matter.. I already reached end game again and will probably stop playing soon for some more years since the frame rate drops in t5 dungeons make this game almost unplayable. We will have to wait for the beta for enhancements.

The controls and handling weren't done 'Just to be difficult'; They were done the way they were done because a Gyrocopter is fundamentally different from a Helicopter. It flies like a gyrocopter, controls like a gyrocopter, and handles like a gyrocopter..

Because It is a Gyro-copter; Not a Heli-copter. It's basically a funny looking plane, and historically was the intermediary step between planes and helicopters.

When a Heli-copter spins it's blades, It's the action of the blades themselves that creates lift and lets it fly; This is why it can drive forward, or sideways, or backwards, Lift is ever pointing upwards, and tilting the vehicle in any direction creates acceleration in that direction at the cost of lifting power.

However, unlike a helicopter, In a Gyro-copter the rotors are not actively powered to the extent that they can lift the thing into the air; Functionally, the rotation of the rotor blades is to create a wingspan like a plane might have but that is significantly lighter. For a Gyrocopter, Lift is instead achieved by forward momentum that catches the 'wings' made by the rotation of the blades; So you can't just 'drive backwards'; Attempting to do so will kill your forward momentum, and your lift will drop to zero- And youll drop like a rock to the ground.

It doesn't turn easily because, again, It's far more like a plane than a helicopter; You need wide banking turns to keep your momentum and by extension, your lift, or you'll just plummet to the ground.

It's difficult to land because you need to land like a plane- Not like a helicopter. And so on, and so on.

The way the thing flies is just about as true to an actual gyrocopter as it gets in anything but a simulation game like Flight Simulator.

[JimmyIowa]

Originally posted by Deal with it:

-You cant really control your copter

It flies fine for me. Honestly it does. I can take off easily, fly smoothly, and land on a 3x3 square of wood frames at will. It just takes a few minutes of practice. You can't just jump in and expect to be flying around first try. If you play Flight Simulator for the first time you will take a few hours trying to get that right too.

Originally posted by Deal with it:

-You cant properly drive backwards with it

I agree this is annoying. At the very least we should be able to push it backwards with our legs, like on a motorcycle.

Originally posted by Deal with it:

-you cant fly upwards (all you can do is drive forwards and after 300-500m it will suddenly rise)

Taking off works fine for me, and I can get airbourne in 50m or less (try using turbo when taking off). About 1/10th of what you said. You can also make a ramp of about 6 wood frame "wedges" placed side by side, and take off by running over that. That actually allows you to take off in a very short space if you need to do that for some reason..

Originally posted by Deal with it:

-you can ONLY fly forwards while also flying upwards which basically slows it down again

I'm not even clear on what you expect here. Could you clarify? Do you want it fly sideways or backwards?

Originally posted by Deal with it:

-when you use the brake it will turn upwards in a 90degree arc resulting in chaos

Hold the brake button down for less than 30 seconds at a time. Small taps are good. You can nose up a small amount, which works well for landing. The only thing making it go vertical is you, quite frankly.

And, btw, increasing air resistance IS how aircraft "brake" (they don't have a road to brake against like cars do). It is functioning just fine and correctly, you just aren't getting it.

Originally posted by Deal with it:

Hope I am just not seing the obvious way to use this thing or change controls for it. Some clarification please?

Sounds like you need to just practice for 3 minutes during a time when you aren't actually trying to go some. Like really JUST practice (not go anywhere specific) for 3 minutes.

[[-=O=-]^FightinCock]

I think your also missing a key.... and that is just tap the controls. tap tap up.... tap tap down... tap tap left... tap tap right.
if you hold your fingers on a button you will crash.
oh other than the turbo button.. that is the only one you can hold.

[kono Dio da!]

I Appreciate all the answers and tips here, really do!

So to summ it up as I see it the devs wanted to make a proper "realistic" gyro copter for this game and it seems like they succeded 100%. Wonderful. I just dont like it. Not at all. Not fun to play that thing :) Not for me
(I will try some tips out tho and lets see if I can manage to land this thing on a skyscraper for example).
However let that gyrocopter be gyrocopter I think we all know now what comes next...

This game needs a helicopter !x) wouldnt that be awesome? Not that I think it will ever actually be a thing ..might be op.. but nonetheless it would be awesome.

Also cant wait for frame enhancements and stuff like that in the beta someday as the game right now content wise is really just great.

[seven]

There are helicopters in mods. The controls there aren't great either. It would be better if the game had joystick support and throttles and such, but then the game's not meant to be a flight simulator.