targeting and aiming

[Simba]

Top down space adventure/shooter, great. How is aiming and targeting, is combat real time? Is aiming down with a mouse? Does it auto aim or auto target like an RPG? Is there an AI based accuracy stat?

[Mandrid]

Yes, combat is real-time. There are a few ways to pause, but not for combat tactics (eg, opening the game menu, or the pilot log).

Aiming is with the mouse. There is no auto-aim for your primary weapon. Some weapons DO have auto-aim via target lock (missiles, lasers, drones). With your primary weapons fire, the aim gets easier the more guns you have and the more you research, since it increases bullet speed and rate of fire, and having more guns kinda turns your weapons fire into a plasma stream of death instead of individual shots.

The AI's shots CAN be dodged, but only if you are far enough away (last 1/3 of their range). You can shoot down enemy missiles and drones manually, or with researched flak defense modules. When you get shields, you won't even have to bother dodging anymore - you'll just tank the shots.

[Simba]

tehre should be a _limited_ auto-aim based on proximity and the level of your AI module in the ship.

I haven't looked at it at all yet, but i want to. If I were building a top down or isometric space shooter like this I'd really want modular ship designs, customizability, and some kind of realistic auto aim because a space ship would have that, we already have that on helicopters. an apache can track a human person with robotic precision its scary. So a space ship would _at least_ have that, I'm not saying making it easy-mode, it can have a variable accuracy based on upgrades, that'd be a fun loot grind if any are

[Simba]

ive been playing them for years and i am sort of hoping to find one that fits that perfect kind of sit back mario zen but without having to spend years practicing mario that I know the video game world can give us.... *breathes* an _accurate_ space shooter sim ,like, star citizen accurate, but further away from the protagonist visually, and with cheaper graphics capability would really be amazing. There's a lot of untaken territory in space yet.

my space station and home planet will be guarded by robotic minefields I reckon

[SecondHarmonica]

You kind of don't want an auto-aim for this game, since most ships you encounter have certain weak spots that you can aim for to make taking them down a lot easier. Keep in mind, each individual module in this game can be destroyed, so if you destroy the right one you can destroy all the other modules which were connected to the main body of the ship through that module will also be destroyed.Think of it like cutting a branch off of a tree at the base as opposed to cutting the leaves off individually.

In my playthroughs on some of the harder difficulties, this tactic was quite valuable. Especially if you're outmatched, using a few hit and runs to take down some guns or shields, then blasting through a section of support and watching a huge chunk of a ship or station fly off is easier (and much more satisfying) than just sitting next to it holding down the fire button.

While of course, in reality you would likely program the ship to target those known weaknesses when you run into each specific enemy, I don't think it would add much to the experience of this game.