Flying sucks, what are some tips?

[BonWOLF]

Auto pilot helps some but then I just seem to float on by the planet............ weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....

[lieutenantkirtar]

Get a feel for piloting the ship by being reckless. It is more durable than you might expect, also death is meaningless in this game.

If you are having trouble getting to planets. Make sure to lock on to the planet and pay attention to the arrows pointing up/down and left/right. If there are no arrows you are on course with the planet, if there are arrows you are going to fly right past it.

[BonWOLF]

Is there a way to boost speed?

[Fear Ghoul]

The game uses realistic newtonian physics. You accelerate your ship in different directions, and the gravitational pull of planets will affect you as well. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, so firing the back thrusters will make you fly forward, accelerating the longer you fire them, then you can float along, and fire the forward thrusters to decelerate. Just play around with it and you should get the hang of it. Don't worry, I've crashed into stuff on accident by accelerating too much plenty of times.

[BonWOLF]

tks guys!

[Quillithe]

Using the match velocity with target button (forget what it is right now) can help a ton. You can land by just thrusting slightly toward the planet and using match velocity to brake until you touch down.

Also unless you crash really really badly you can fix up the ship.

[Bobywan]

Autopilot, match velocity and landing cam is all you need to fly from one planet to another.
Now if you're looking to get to the solar station on your ship that's something else ^^

[Hasefrexx]

Stop using the auto pilot. It's weird at first but once you got it it works just fine. I lock the planet to get the arrows to disapear (means I'm heading to the planet), then I thrust forward, but not too long (check the speed) otherwise I'll crash on the planet. Once I get close enough I start decelerating (thrusting in the opposite direction). Getting a smooth landing will take some practice.

Manual piloting practice will help in some places.

[Primordial_Ooze]

Ditto, baby!
I'm right there with you .
I just can't seem to get the hang of piloting this hot rod.

[Masquerade]

You do get used to it. I find it loads of fun after a bit of practice

[ElBarto56]

get good

[The_Forge_Master]

There is no flight assist, meaning nothing will slow down your approach without input or impact. You have to either hold "Match Velocity" or thrust against your movement to slow down.

[CerN]

Flying in this game is great. It's not a fighter jet. It's a space ship, there is no air resistance, and gravity from different planets affect you. The flying in this game is realistic, and it literally couldn't be very different from this without sacrificing realism. This is how flight works in space.

If you put energy into an axis, then you have to put an equal amount of energy in the opposite direction of that axis to cancel out the momentum. There is no air to naturally slow you.

[TugWax]

You might want to re-think your key bindings. Zthrust or up/down should be your usual jump/crouch. Most important is the match velocity key which you can keep tapping/holding to get a gentle landing on the target even if your ship is upside down.

[cf.barbossa]

A bit late for the OP, but others might read this:

1. Start small. A clean take-off is not difficult. Next step is NOT to go into space right away, but skim the planet's surface. Try to bring down your ship without damaging it (much).

2. Learn to control speed. Get into space, lock onto the big, green planet (Giant's Deep) and go backward. Try to keep the planet centered and keep accelerating. Observe your speed and distance. Then try to go back, again keeping Giant's Deep dead center. If you decelerate too late, it won't matter, as there are only two things that can happen and you will survive both (except you are very unlucky).

3. After that, experiment with the autopilot, watch what it does. Don't use the star, the Hourglass Twins, Hollow's Lantern or the interloper to practice, because you will likely be toasted (or jettisoned into space).

4. Keep in mind that if an object seems immobile, that does not mean you are standing still, but that your vector is the same (or shoud that be parallel? Someone with knowledge of math may correct me), meaning you move in the same direction and with the same speed. This is important when you go for another target.

5. Have an eye on the relative direction of your target. If you want to land, the speed is much easier to control if you "run up" from behind an object- instead of said object coming towards you.

I found a good order for training to land in specific locations: Attersmith - Timber Hearth - Interloper - Giant's Deep - Brittle Hollow. The Twins are tricky to approach, as they are close to the star and the autopilot ignores that.

[Tikka Qrow]

I suggest a GENTLE touch on your controller's sticks. Ship's very responsive to even minor inputs.

And remember Newton's third law, since there's no drag in space to slow you down when you let off the throttles..