could you perhaps put a drop down menu in the top corner of the UI, so its easy to switch between the differnt camreas!
its frelling annoying when the game randomly switches to free camrea in the middle of a fight! I like to see what I'm shooting at, or a least see what I'm about to crash into!
Always face forward would be half of the fix if the damnable ground controls would stay relevant to your actual character. They managed it for space where left is always left for your ship. Why ground combat suddenly decide it's going to use a compeltely different directional scheme is a great mystery that none of the Devs seems to want to answer despite this very topic being created time and time again, and signed by a lot of people since closed beta started.
In addition to the camera sucking, it is also inconsistent. Sometimes I can look around with left or right mouse key pressed on ground or in space, then in another encounter pressing either makes my toon / ship follow. Sometimes in space it's just bloody wonky.
The whole camera experience is like trying to learn how to drive a car only looking at the side mirror.
Has anybody seen any Dev comment about the camera?
I understand wanting a chase cam for ground combat, but why in the world would you want one for space combat? You have to be able to look around your ship 360 degrees to face the proper shield to your target. Space combat isn't an arcade shooter. You have to worry about your weapon's firing arcs too. What does a chase cam do for you in space combat?
I understand wanting a chase cam for ground combat, but why in the world would you want one for space combat? You have to be able to look around your ship 360 degrees to face the proper shield to your target. Space combat isn't an arcade shooter. You have to worry about your weapon's firing arcs too. What does a chase cam do for you in space combat?
I hope you take no offense here but it doesnt sound like you have ever flown any flight simulators or I think you might more clearly understand why this is something we are asking for.
Be it on the ground or in space it doesnt matter a whole lot, facing for movement is always prevalent, but especially in a flight sim, and for all practical purposes that is what we have here, a flight sim.
It is far easier to control your craft in the thick of things when your perception is to the front of your cockpit. In ground combat in this game arc plays almost no part as you can move in any direction while still firing your weapons in any direction you choose. On space everything isnt just arc, but its the arc based on the direction of your craft be it fore or aft. We can still look 360 degrees if need be as you can always swing your camera around, then let go and it will come back in a chase cam. In a flight sim, without the chase cam makes flying a little confusing trying to bank left or right, AND change the pitch of your craft up or down at the same time when your looking at your craft from some oddball angle.
Most of the guys I talk to (including me) use both mouse buttons, 1 and 2, pushed down silmotaneously when driving the ship as this keeps the cam looking from behind us as we drive, if we need to swing the cam around to get a quick look at something, we simply swing the camera around real quick, then go back to what we were doing originally. This is the same as a pilot in the cockpit turning his head around to quickly look at rear angles, then back once he determines what he needs to do.
Now take Klingon ships into account and it REALLY becomes more like modern flight as most of a klingons fire power is in his foreword arc...just like a modern jet. Its a perspective advantage for the pilot.
A good example I guess would be if you have some sort of flight sim (especially a combat orientated one) change the cam so it looks at you from the side or oblique and front and try flying around, especially in combat. It will illustrate what we are talking about and our desire for a chase cam.
I hope this helps and I havent made too much of a mess of the explanation.
...
A good example I guess would be if you have some sort of flight sim (especially a combat orientated one) change the cam so it looks at you from the side or oblique and front and try flying around, especially in combat. It will illustrate what we are talking about and our desire for a chase cam.
I hope this helps and I havent made too much of a mess of the explanation.
I am a pilot IRL and I use Xplane occasionally. The camera and perspective of a flight sim is nothing I ever thought about. Instead of turning my head to look around like in my evector sportstar, I just use the left mouse button and move the mouse around to get a quick glance or the arrow keys to lock left, right, up and forward. I never had to think about the camera, it just works.
The camera controls for both ground and space of STO make playing a slog instead of a joy. There are a slew of confusing options and all of them suck. It's like trying to fly my plane without cockpit windows or instruments, just a viewscreen from somebody else's viewpoint.
I did, however, dock my escort and bought a cruiser. Low and bloody behold, the follow target option with a cruiser works...ish as long as you target an enemy, let go of trying to fly actively and just mash the 'all weapons' key like a maniac and as long as the 'follow target' option stays selected (it kept randomly switching to 'free camera' at the worst possible moments) . I don't even have to look at the action, just the shields on my paper doll.
So in defence of the Devs, they did a really great job of designing the spacecam for the use of cruisers flown by TRIBBLE fish-squirrels on red bull IF the follow target doesn't switch to free target.
I like many asked for this in CB and OB. I too have a friend that wont play because there is no camera follow for space combat. Again like others have said it seems like a very basic feature and even if i might not use it the option should be there for those who want it.
Is anybody else having the problem of the camera switching randomly between follow target and free look in the middle of a battle so that you are left staring past your ship into deep space while all around you enemies are pounding you an d your ship is facing somewhere offscreen but you have no idea what it's actually pointing at?
The camera in the Earth Station is great. I can run and look around with the left mouse button and the camera snaps back to chase when I let go. If I want to turn with the mouse I press right mouse and it works.
Why is it then that as soon as I go into ground combat left and right buttons turn the character. I can't look around while running. As soon as I target something the controls go all useless and I can't look around properly at all.
If the ground and space combat cameras worked more like the camera in the station, everybody would be happier. I'm not saying that you need to take away all of the useless buttons and toggles that make the cameras go from really bad to super TRIBBLE... some people seem to like them. Just give the rest of us who would like to enjoy the movement and combat parts of the game the option to do what is already possible.
I did a better search through the forums for camera options. I found scads of pages from as far back as 2008 of 'pro' testers begging for a chase cam but not a single Dev comment about it.:mad:
Well... somebody must be reading this thread. I logged back in after the 'Scheduled Maintenance' and the station camera no longer works as before. Now either mouse button drives while walking and there is no more free cam look around.
I've been debating my willingness to play without a way to either control the view of the camera with a keyboard or a chase camera that actually works in a fight. Using a mouse isn't even an option for me and I'd prefer not to be forced to use some backdoor workaround to get halfway to what should be a simple five minute patch.
I'm betting this will still be an issues on STO's deathbed one day. Typical Cryptic.
definitely need that option. I also use a touch pad and trying to find out who is shooting me is a nightmare if I aint looking at him! pity the 'Nearest Target' button doesnt actually target anything off screen :-(
As a escort vessel it is imperative that my camera sticks on my six to view my 45* firing arc. This is a basic option, one that everyone is screaming to have. Patch it and lets move on.
No matter how many times I post this I just get ignored, so this will be my last one!
Map "camera turn to face" to right button. Triple click turns it on, double click turns it off.
with mouse look on, you can steer your ship with your mouse without pressing any buttons.
Hey Maraculus,
Thanks for the mapping advice you posted. I still use it and it makes the game bearable in my cruiser. (For those who missed it, it's on page 5 of this Thread.)
You did a great service figuring that stuff out and it's not your fault that the camera still sux badly.
Am I the only person that when I target a ship, my ship goes nose down and my camera raises way above my ship? My ship still kind of follows the target as long as I don't try to maneuver but as soon as I touch the direction keys I just see my ship wobbling about and have no clue where it's actually pointing.
I also have the problem with it resetting back and froth between free and follow seemingly at random but at least with Maraculus's mapping and can get it back with less difficulty.
When are we going to get a Dev to comment on this? Is it a gamestopping Bug or an intended P.O.S. that will stop my subscription after the free 30 days?
If you look on the UI Forum for most viewed threads, this is #6. That should tell you that a large chunk of players desperately want a simple chase cam. Do it. It's already in the game, I get the chase cam working (inconsistently and with great difficulty) until I target an enemy and then it all just goes to hell with the ship diving and the camera no longer following.
/signed ....this is as irritating as Grand Theft Auto III and IV when they did away with the chase view ....so as your whipping your car around a corner you end up looking at the passenger door, trying to change you camera to behind your vehicle so you can see where your driving, all the while trying to avoid hitting 2 cop cars, while going 100 mph.....
Thanks for the mapping advice you posted. I still use it and it makes the game bearable in my cruiser. (For those who missed it, it's on page 5 of this Thread.)
You did a great service figuring that stuff out and it's not your fault that the camera still sux badly.
Thanks JILogan for the acknowledgement. I think the most annoying is that the camera acts like it's all there, just ...not cohesive enough. It works perfectly for follow camera (IE: Ship follows where you point the camera) but the camera follow (camera follows your ship) is slow to respond and definitely needs a set toggle and better implementation. I still suspect all the settings are there, just haven't figured them out yet and no one in the inside is talking.
I cancelled my subscription after the 30 day 'free' period.
I will still lurk here on this thread to see if they actually fix the cameras but I'm not paying a penny more until they do. Here is my comment about canceling the subscription. Please keep this thread up. Let's hope they listen:
Fix the cameras.
When you have a proper chase cam I will come back.
The cameras for both ground and space combat are confusing and bad. They make the game pointlessly difficult to play. Neither 'follow target' nor 'free camera' actually do either.
All of the toggles and hotkeys for the cameras are mostly useless and just complicate the worst game camera system I have ever seen.
One of the most popular forum threads In 'Controls and User Interface' forum (always in the top 10 most viewed) is specifically about having a proper chase cam option. Read it and make it so.
I have a new reason for wanting a proper chase cam so i don't have to use the mouse... I can't use the mouse. Yesterday I went over the handlebars and smack onto my wrists. Now I have my left arm in a cast and my right in a sling.
Now I have 8 weeks of sick leave and really need this game to work with a proper chase cam so that I don't die of frustration (with the controls) or boredom (from not being able to play because the controls are so frustrating).
Is Cryptic ever going to respond to this? During CB and OB they communicated much more readily with the community and its concerns. Now it seems they have fallen silent on all fronts; customer service, half the patches, bugs and GMs.
I would really like to see a camara followinng option that just follows the player. Not the target, not a free camara, but one that follows me. When I turn left, it turns left to stay behind me and etc.
I haven't read the entire thread here, but I like this idea a LOT!
The two camera options we have now I find to cause a great deal of confusion because the directional controls seem to be tied to the camea not to the toon.
I've notice way too often that I am stuck on an object or have just jumped off a cliff because I am trying to figure out which directional key to press. The directional controls are relative to camera position - left becomes the up, or back become strafe...
it is way too confusing.
Credit due - The devs have fixed a great number of little buggy things since launch and in a resonably short time. I vote for the camera options to be fixed next!!
You people are smoking Tribbles.. There is nothing wrong with the camera. Haven't you seen Star Trek? It's always zooming off into unknown territory, boldly going where no player wished to view combat from...
Honestly I don't know how you Fed escort pilots do it. 3-4 enemy's shooting at you, beams glowing all over, your ship going one way, camera annother, try to fix one, and you nose dive... Most frustrating thing in STO, and horrid for klingon pvp space area's. Trying to keep an enemy in front of your ship, while Tribbles sabatoge your viewscreen interface.
Comments
could you perhaps put a drop down menu in the top corner of the UI, so its easy to switch between the differnt camreas!
its frelling annoying when the game randomly switches to free camrea in the middle of a fight! I like to see what I'm shooting at, or a least see what I'm about to crash into!
The whole camera experience is like trying to learn how to drive a car only looking at the side mirror.
Has anybody seen any Dev comment about the camera?
I hope you take no offense here but it doesnt sound like you have ever flown any flight simulators or I think you might more clearly understand why this is something we are asking for.
Be it on the ground or in space it doesnt matter a whole lot, facing for movement is always prevalent, but especially in a flight sim, and for all practical purposes that is what we have here, a flight sim.
It is far easier to control your craft in the thick of things when your perception is to the front of your cockpit. In ground combat in this game arc plays almost no part as you can move in any direction while still firing your weapons in any direction you choose. On space everything isnt just arc, but its the arc based on the direction of your craft be it fore or aft. We can still look 360 degrees if need be as you can always swing your camera around, then let go and it will come back in a chase cam. In a flight sim, without the chase cam makes flying a little confusing trying to bank left or right, AND change the pitch of your craft up or down at the same time when your looking at your craft from some oddball angle.
Most of the guys I talk to (including me) use both mouse buttons, 1 and 2, pushed down silmotaneously when driving the ship as this keeps the cam looking from behind us as we drive, if we need to swing the cam around to get a quick look at something, we simply swing the camera around real quick, then go back to what we were doing originally. This is the same as a pilot in the cockpit turning his head around to quickly look at rear angles, then back once he determines what he needs to do.
Now take Klingon ships into account and it REALLY becomes more like modern flight as most of a klingons fire power is in his foreword arc...just like a modern jet. Its a perspective advantage for the pilot.
A good example I guess would be if you have some sort of flight sim (especially a combat orientated one) change the cam so it looks at you from the side or oblique and front and try flying around, especially in combat. It will illustrate what we are talking about and our desire for a chase cam.
I hope this helps and I havent made too much of a mess of the explanation.
I am a pilot IRL and I use Xplane occasionally. The camera and perspective of a flight sim is nothing I ever thought about. Instead of turning my head to look around like in my evector sportstar, I just use the left mouse button and move the mouse around to get a quick glance or the arrow keys to lock left, right, up and forward. I never had to think about the camera, it just works.
The camera controls for both ground and space of STO make playing a slog instead of a joy. There are a slew of confusing options and all of them suck. It's like trying to fly my plane without cockpit windows or instruments, just a viewscreen from somebody else's viewpoint.
I did, however, dock my escort and bought a cruiser. Low and bloody behold, the follow target option with a cruiser works...ish as long as you target an enemy, let go of trying to fly actively and just mash the 'all weapons' key like a maniac and as long as the 'follow target' option stays selected (it kept randomly switching to 'free camera' at the worst possible moments) . I don't even have to look at the action, just the shields on my paper doll.
So in defence of the Devs, they did a really great job of designing the spacecam for the use of cruisers flown by TRIBBLE fish-squirrels on red bull IF the follow target doesn't switch to free target.
Why is it then that as soon as I go into ground combat left and right buttons turn the character. I can't look around while running. As soon as I target something the controls go all useless and I can't look around properly at all.
If the ground and space combat cameras worked more like the camera in the station, everybody would be happier. I'm not saying that you need to take away all of the useless buttons and toggles that make the cameras go from really bad to super TRIBBLE... some people seem to like them. Just give the rest of us who would like to enjoy the movement and combat parts of the game the option to do what is already possible.
I'm betting this will still be an issues on STO's deathbed one day. Typical Cryptic.
And please fix the camera controls, I'm stuck with the "free camera", every time I select the "target camera" it resets to "free camera"
how are you supposed to keep your target inside the firing arcs of cannons if the target keeps flying out of camera range.
Map "camera turn to face" to right button. Triple click turns it on, double click turns it off.
with mouse look on, you can steer your ship with your mouse without pressing any buttons.
Hey Self Important Guy, some people do like using the keyboard to steer with. But thanks for the tip.
As a escort vessel it is imperative that my camera sticks on my six to view my 45* firing arc. This is a basic option, one that everyone is screaming to have. Patch it and lets move on.
Hey Maraculus,
Thanks for the mapping advice you posted. I still use it and it makes the game bearable in my cruiser. (For those who missed it, it's on page 5 of this Thread.)
You did a great service figuring that stuff out and it's not your fault that the camera still sux badly.
Am I the only person that when I target a ship, my ship goes nose down and my camera raises way above my ship? My ship still kind of follows the target as long as I don't try to maneuver but as soon as I touch the direction keys I just see my ship wobbling about and have no clue where it's actually pointing.
I also have the problem with it resetting back and froth between free and follow seemingly at random but at least with Maraculus's mapping and can get it back with less difficulty.
When are we going to get a Dev to comment on this? Is it a gamestopping Bug or an intended P.O.S. that will stop my subscription after the free 30 days?
Devs, please speak up about this.
Speak.
Thanks JILogan for the acknowledgement. I think the most annoying is that the camera acts like it's all there, just ...not cohesive enough. It works perfectly for follow camera (IE: Ship follows where you point the camera) but the camera follow (camera follows your ship) is slow to respond and definitely needs a set toggle and better implementation. I still suspect all the settings are there, just haven't figured them out yet and no one in the inside is talking.
I will still lurk here on this thread to see if they actually fix the cameras but I'm not paying a penny more until they do. Here is my comment about canceling the subscription. Please keep this thread up. Let's hope they listen:
Fix the cameras.
When you have a proper chase cam I will come back.
The cameras for both ground and space combat are confusing and bad. They make the game pointlessly difficult to play. Neither 'follow target' nor 'free camera' actually do either.
All of the toggles and hotkeys for the cameras are mostly useless and just complicate the worst game camera system I have ever seen.
One of the most popular forum threads In 'Controls and User Interface' forum (always in the top 10 most viewed) is specifically about having a proper chase cam option. Read it and make it so.
Now I have 8 weeks of sick leave and really need this game to work with a proper chase cam so that I don't die of frustration (with the controls) or boredom (from not being able to play because the controls are so frustrating).
I haven't read the entire thread here, but I like this idea a LOT!
The two camera options we have now I find to cause a great deal of confusion because the directional controls seem to be tied to the camea not to the toon.
I've notice way too often that I am stuck on an object or have just jumped off a cliff because I am trying to figure out which directional key to press. The directional controls are relative to camera position - left becomes the up, or back become strafe...
it is way too confusing.
Credit due - The devs have fixed a great number of little buggy things since launch and in a resonably short time. I vote for the camera options to be fixed next!!
Honestly I don't know how you Fed escort pilots do it. 3-4 enemy's shooting at you, beams glowing all over, your ship going one way, camera annother, try to fix one, and you nose dive... Most frustrating thing in STO, and horrid for klingon pvp space area's. Trying to keep an enemy in front of your ship, while Tribbles sabatoge your viewscreen interface.