{"data":{"id":13951,"title":"Flight Model and Input Controls","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/engineering\/13951-Flight-Model-And-Input-Controls","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/13951","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/13951","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Design Post","images":[{"id":8,"name":"ChrisRobertsDirecting-300x201.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/1voadjmwj49znr\/source\/ChrisRobertsDirecting-300x201.jpg","alt":"","size":14938,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2013-07-19T05:30:42+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/8","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/8\/similar"},{"id":1866,"name":"Jp-4.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/b4b44au8872o9r\/source\/Jp-4.jpg","alt":"","size":1472963,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2014-06-16T21:32:10+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1866","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1866\/similar"},{"id":1867,"name":"Overview.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/sosmu0p35jwkbr\/source\/Overview.png","alt":"","size":30213,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2014-06-17T03:25:08+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1867","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1867\/similar"},{"id":1868,"name":"Subsystems.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/r7392pade8wckr\/source\/Subsystems.png","alt":"","size":144600,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2014-06-17T03:25:19+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1868","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1868\/similar"},{"id":1869,"name":"PIDOutput.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/xny0j3hfy0c2br\/source\/PIDOutput.png","alt":"","size":144316,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2014-06-17T03:25:23+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1869","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1869\/similar"},{"id":1870,"name":"HornetDiagram.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/6aq6iy7wni9arr\/source\/HornetDiagram.png","alt":"","size":132598,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2014-06-17T03:25:14+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1870","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1870\/similar"},{"id":1871,"name":"HornetDiagram2.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/z2kpdoz9fhh0mr\/source\/HornetDiagram2.png","alt":"","size":120842,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2014-06-17T03:25:14+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1871","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/1871\/similar"},{"id":26706,"name":"Hornetflyheader.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/t6kzb0nffx7ajr\/source\/Hornetflyheader.png","alt":"","size":233209,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2014-06-16T22:41:27+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26706","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26706\/similar"},{"id":26707,"name":"300iflyheader.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/rexwmh7ak5bb3r\/source\/300iflyheader.png","alt":"","size":143694,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2014-06-16T23:47:11+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26707","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26707\/similar"}],"images_count":9,"translations":{"en_EN":"Greetings Citizens,\nIt\u2019s really great to see so many of you taking to space to try out the first taste of what space combat will be in Star Citizen. I, like the rest of the team have been avidly watching the Twitch streams of backers playing and reading the forums for your feedback. Two of the hot topics of debate have been the Flight Model and the advantage or disadvantage of various input devices. So I thought I would take a moment of your time to share some insight on the two topics.\n\nFlight Model\nMost space games (including my past ones) greatly simplify the simulation, usually as an atmospheric flight model without gravity and air resistance \u2013 ships have predefined pitch, roll and yaw rates, linear acceleration (that is applied to a simplified point mass) and a capped top speed. When you want to turn, the joystick or mouse input is mapped directly to the specified turn rate irrelevant of the ship\u2019s moment of inertia. Damage is usually handled as a multiplier on the turn rates and linear acceleration.\n\nStar Citizen doesn\u2019t do that. We model what would be needed on an actual spaceship, including correct application of thrust at the places where the thrusters are attached to the hull of the ship \u2013 in our model moment of inertia, mass changes and counter thrust are VERY necessary. Star Citizen\u2019s physical simulation of spaceflight is based on what would actually happen in space.\n\nThere were a couple of reasons why we went this direction \u2013\n\n1. Because we were planning on modeling and simulating spaceships with a fidelity that hadn\u2019t been seen before I felt we needed a simulation that would let the player have different flight behavior if a thruster is damaged, a wing is blown off or a pilot overloads his ship with weapons and ammunition? I wanted a system that could feel distinct for a huge variety of ships, with wildly different sizes and roles because in Star Citizen you can go from a single seater ship 15 meters in length to a huge capital ship over 1km in size crewed by many players. I wanted these ships to come with their own identity and feel much like similar sized cars, even if equivalent in mass can feel radically different. I wanted ships to have their own personality \u2013 not just a slower of faster version of the base ship. 2. The second is that Star Citizen will have a significant amount of player vs. player combat. I don\u2019t know how many people played Wing Commander Armada (the first Wing Commander game to feature multiplayer) but it wasn\u2019t that much fun in battle mode (the head to head mode). When you design a single player game you can deliberately dumb down the AI to allow the player to get on the tail and shoot down multiple enemies, which gives the player a sense of achievement. There\u2019s nothing more fun than single handily clearing a wave of 10 enemy Kilrathi fighters. But let\u2019s be honest, in single player games the ability for the player to gun down waves of enemies has less to do with the skill of the player because the player is usually overpowered in respect to the base enemies he will fight. You can\u2019t do this in player vs player, and it\u2019s likely that multiple players will have the same ship. Without a sophisticated simulation and flight model, with lots of options for a pilot to fluidly try different tactics to get the upper hand the battles can end up as a frustrating stalemate when both pilots have the same ship as no one can get on the other\u2019s tail because you don\u2019t have the same forces that affect air combat (namely gravity and air resistance) to bleed energy from the maneuvers. These reasons are why we went out of our way to fully simulate the physics that would involve controlling and moving a ship in space with no short cuts.\n\nIn the very same way we also simulate the ship systems. Every function is tied to individual items that are \u201cplugged\u201d into the ship \u2013 the weapons, the thrusters, power plant, heat sinks, radar, fuel tank, batteries, targeting system, CPU, HUD and even the Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) are all items that tie into various \u201cpipes\u201d that connect the systems \u2013 there\u2019s a pipe for power, heat, fuel and CPU cycles. The targeting computer needs power from the Power Plant and CPU cycles from the Ship\u2019s Computer, positional information from the Radar to resolve targets. If there aren\u2019t enough CPU cycles to go around the targets will resolve slower, not enough power and the targeting computer may stop functioning all together. If you don\u2019t draw off enough heat from the weapons, they may overheat, malfunction or even become damaged. If one of your wings gets blown off with its attached heat sinks, you better scale back your heat output.\n\nBy fully simulating both the systems and physics of powered spaceflight we allow for a huge amount of emergent behavior and variety in the final game. Ship load out becomes very important not just for functionality but also for actual flight and responsiveness. Just like in real military aviation design, you could decide to have redundant systems for better battle survivability or you could maximize your hitting power at the expense of maneuverability.\n\nSounds pretty cool right? So why all the fuss?\n\nProper space flight simulation is inherently different than an atmospheric flight model. In space there is no aerodynamic force (lift or drag) and so both angular and linear inertia becomes much more important. Unless you apply a counter force to arrest the angular or linear momentum of an object in space it will continue unaltered. When a player pulls back on the stick the thrusters apply thrust to create rotation, which accelerates the ship\u2019s angular velocity. When you let the stick return to zero or move it the other way, the IFCS now has to apply counter thrust to first retrograde the current angular velocity and then move you towards the new desired angular velocity. Unless the ship has hugely overpowered thrusters, this will not happen instantly. As the IFCS isn\u2019t clairvoyant and doesn\u2019t know when you wish to change angular velocity it can\u2019t anticipate your actions, so unless the pilot himself eases into his desired orientation, it\u2019s likely he will overshoot it. Think of it as stopping in a car; you normally have a good feel for your stopping distance and so when approaching a stop sign you start to slow down. You don\u2019t expect to go from 50 mph to zero instantly. This behavior is quite different from an airplane which uses control surfaces that alter the airflow over the wings\/tail to maneuver. In this case the angular velocity change is normally directly proportional to the rudder\/flaps position.\n\nThis means that to a certain extent you need to anticipate where you want to be and ease into that position. If you\u2019re used to an atmospheric model when first flying in a model where momentum is much more important it is pretty easy to overshoot your desired heading. Then as the counter thrust isn\u2019t instant you can overcorrect the other way. This is why the ship can feel \u201ctwitchy\u201d when trying to line up a target.\n\nAs this is different than what people are used to, a portion of our community clearly feels the current flight model is \u201cwrong.\u201d\n\nBut if you think about what we are doing, we actually allow for a LOT more variation and nuance in flight and combat than a simplified Wing Commander\/X-Wing style flight model. Like learning to drive a car really well\u2026it requires some learning. You have to anticipate where you want to be and plan for it.\n\nDoes this mean I think the system is perfect?\n\nNo!\n\nThis is one of the big reasons we wanted to get it into all of your hands. It\u2019s been great seeing people play the game and provide their feedback. It\u2019s been really great to see quite a few people who first hated the flight model, come around to seeing its potential after some other members of the community have shared their insights. This doesn\u2019t mean everyone is sold but it\u2019s always heartening to see people being open to new possibilities.\n\nBut that doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m satisfied with where we are. My goal is to have all the nuance that I describe above for the players that want to go deep but also make it accessible in the way Wing Commander was for someone new to the game (and genre).\n\nThe key thing to remember is that the Intelligent Flight Control System is just the interface between the physical simulation of the ship\u2019s movement via its thrusters and the force they exert. It\u2019s not the model. I see a lot of posts talking about the desire for \u201cNewtonian\u201d mode. The physics simulation is already a full Newtonian rigid body simulation. For what we are trying to achieve there will always need to be a fly by wire interface between the players input and the actual physics as no human can simultaneously direct eight thrusters simultaneously, specifying their thrust and attitude to achieve desired movement. Within the confines of physical reality the IFCS can do pretty much anything we want. The key is determining what we want the player\u2019s input to map to.\n\nThe first pass of various modes \u2013 basic IFCS, De-Coupled, G-Safe and Comstab are all different modes that we felt would be useful at various times. It doesn\u2019t mean it is the end of the modes, or how they are implemented is the only way they will be. A lot of people have been asking for \u201ctrue\u201d 6DOF available all the time \u2013 basically having strafe available during normal IFCS flight mode and to make strafe additive to the ship\u2019s velocity in decoupled mode. These are all things that we will experiment with, along with quite a few other options e.g., an additional G-Safe mode that is turn limited rather than speed limited and we\u2019re also going to be playing with thruster power as currently the maneuvering thrusters are about a half to a third of the power of the main engines which is fairly overpowered Just be warned the weaker the maneuvering thrusters the more the ship will \u201cslide\u201d at speed before vectoring to the desired direction.\n\nTo give you even more insight into how the IFCS works, John Pritchett, the engineer who wrote the current implementation of the IFCS has written an in-depth piece that goes into the detail of how the system works. I hope you will all appreciate the level of detail we are aiming for in Star Citizen. Don\u2019t forget there is so much more to the game than just Arena Commander \u2013 and even in Arena Commander there is so much that cannot be appreciated yet as we are blocked by a work in progress HUD and lack of items to equip your ship with \u2013 both of which will open up new possibilities and tactics.\n\nControl Devices\nThere has been a lot of debate about mouse control vs. joystick control and the worry from some portion of the community that the mouse scheme makes the game too \u201carcadey\u201d and HOTAS users feeling that their control mechanism of choice has not been supported properly.\n\nFirstly let me state the goal for Star Citizen will be controller agnostic. No one control mechanism should have an advantage over the others. Personally I am a joystick pilot (either through HOTAS or Gamepad) as opposed to a mouse pilot. I just feel like I have more precise flight control with a joystick. In our various studios there is a huge variety of controller use \u2013 some prefer mouse, some joystick, some HOTAS and some gamepad. This is the best guarantee that any one control mode will not dominate.\n\nHaving said this we recognize that the control input schemes need work in flexibility\/customization to achieve this goal.\n\nOne of our top priorities for Arena Commander is to allow users to customize their key bindings form inside the game. We are actively working on this and hope to deliver something next month.\n\nWe also will be working on the various HOTAS profiles, as well as fine tuning the control filtering for joysticks to hopefully allow for crisper maneuvering during smaller movements of the stick. There are also some additional head look modes that haven\u2019t been implemented yet that will allow a joystick player to take advantage of the gimbaled weapons the way the mouse player can. And of course if you feel the mouse, with its greater precision allows for better aiming you could always fly the ship with a joystick and look with a mouse!\n\nYaw vs Roll\nThere has also been some discussion around the fact that yawing does not impact your pilot in terms of negative G effects (i.e. the black and red out of the vertical G forces). There are a few things to consider here. First, pure yawing turns, without any bank, are certainly possible in space, but that isn\u2019t the optimal way to turn. You can generate more thrust by combining your side and lower thrusters than you can with just your side thrusters. IFCS automatically banks a ship to optimize its turning thrust, and this is where vertical G forces come into play (note this is different from atmospheric flight where banking is necessary for turn stability). Second, the amount of bank in any yawing turn will depend on the amount of side thrust that your ship can provide, which means the amount of vertical G forces in a yawing turn will vary based on the situation. Third, black\/redout and loss of consciousness are consequences of vertical g-force exposure only, where blood is being either drained from or forced into the pilot\u2019s head. Properly constrained pilots can withstand very high levels of horizontal G forces without any significant loss of cognitive ability.\n\nFor horizontal g-forces, the limiting factor is structural. Unfortunately, that limitation has not yet been implemented in our model. Once it is, there will be consequences for extreme unbanked turns. Instead of blacking out, you might rip off a thruster or a wing from the sheer magnitude of the horizontal Gs. And if enabled, G-safe mode will guarantee the structural integrity of your ship by limiting the amount of thrust in any maneuver.\n\nTurreting\nA portion of the community has expressed concern about the ability for players to \u201cturret\u201d by going into decoupled mode and spin around to fire at their target, feeling this removes the skill level of dogfighting. I know people think this but I can assure you that in our internal multiplayer tests pretty no one exclusively decouples and \u201cturrets\u201d as they would get destroyed very quickly. The key to surviving a dogfight is about being constantly on the move and not being predicable with your movements \u2013 sitting still or moving in a constant vector (which is what happens when you decouple) will get you killed. Decoupled mode is best used by going into briefly for a quick orientation change then dropping back into coupled mode. As we tweak the power of the maneuvering thrusters to make the main engine more significant going into decoupled mode, making a quick orientation change and going back into normal flight will be a great way to maximize your available thrust for a quick vector change. I know that some people think that being able to change your orientation much quicker than you can in an atmospheric flight sim makes the game easy but this is a space combat simulation NOT an atmospheric flight simulation and the ability to decouple your orientation from your velocity vector is absolutely something that would be used \u2013 and don\u2019t forget a huge amount of the community demanded to be able to do the maneuvers you loved from Battle Star Galactica!\n\nGimbaled Weapons vs Fixed\nIn Arena Commander V1.0 (and Star Citizen as a whole) there will be both fixed weapons and gimbaled\/turreted weapons. The fixed weapons will have a slow auto convergence of perhaps -\/+ five degrees to allow them to focus at a point that is user definable (defaults to half maximum range) or will adjust to the distance of the current target. We didn\u2019t have time to finish this feature so for v0.8 we just made all fixed weapons gimbaled in order to not give the Hornet a huge advantage over the Aurora and 300i. This is not the long term plan.\n\nFixed weapons will have a lead indicator (just like in a real combat aircraft). We are also considering altering how the gimbaled guns look reticle operates. Right now you just have to place it over your target and the targeting computer gimbals the guns to achieve that firing solution, when the dotted lines collapse inside the reticle it means that all guns have achieved the solution. We are thinking about making it so you have to place the look reticle over the lead indicator in order to achieve the firing solution.\n\nThis will allow a pilot who is not using the full power of his gimbaled guns (it\u2019s not always easy to aim and fly into two different directions or if you\u2019re in a combined look and fly mode like the \u201cFreelancer\u201d mouse mode) to fly in a more optimal manner for leading the target (you want to heading at where the target is heading not where it is now)\n\nAs for people thinking that gimbaled weapons spoil the \u201cskill\u201d in the game, gimbaled \/ turreted weapons are a mainstay of current military equipment and will likely be even more so in the future. That doesn\u2019t mean a hit is automatic. The weapon still has to come to bear on the target and you have to be pointing your ship\u2019s nose in such a way as the firing solution can be met. And that\u2019s assuming the target doesn\u2019t start changing course or speed erratically!\n\n\u2014 Chris Roberts\n\nIn Star Citizen, IFCS is a flight control system that is designed to assist the pilot in operating a spacecraft. It translates a pilots control inputs into thruster operations to accomplish a designated command, even under a sub-optimal or failing propulsion system. It is an adaptive system that uses a combination of sensors and feedback control to drive the error between the goal state and the actual spacecraft state to zero. It is fault tolerant, in that it can adaptively utilize any combination of thrusters and its backup Control Moment Gyro to compensate for the failure or loss of one or more thrusters and keep the craft stabilized and, if possible, under pilot control. Even with a single thruster remaining, a pilot can, with some difficulty, actively control his or her spacecraft.\n\nIFCS Subsystems\nIFCS is comprised of many subsystems that work together to provide a pilot with spacecraft stability and control. These include:\n\nPropulsion and Attitude Control (PAC) \u2013 PAC includes, typically, the full set of thrusters, which provide both translational and rotational action, and a backup Control Moment Gyro (CMG) unit which provides supplemental attitude control. It also includes the circuitry and control software that drive these units.\n\nPrimary Control System (PCS) \u2013 The PCS provides an interface between the pilot and IFCS. It translates a pilot\u2019s commands into control actions that are applied to a virtual control frame which represents the ideal goal action of the pilot. The virtual control frame consists of a goal velocity along any combination of axes, goal rotation rates about any combination of axes, as well as a reference attitude. This virtual frame represents the ideal state of the craft under perfect control, and all pilot input is applied relative to this virtual frame, thereby limiting the effect of external error on pilot control.\n\nReaction Control System (RCS) \u2013 The physical state of the PCS virtual frame is controlled by the predicted thruster and CMG output in response to pilot control. Under ideal conditions, the PCS frame attitude will be perfectly synchronized with the actual attitude of the spacecraft. However, factors such as sub-optimal thruster response or failure, external forces such as weapons fire, missile explosions, etc., can cause the real attitude of the craft to deviate from the virtual attitude. When this happens, it is the job of the Reaction Control System to drive the error between the two attitudes to zero. It attempts to do so using both thrusters and the Control Moment Gyros. If it fails to synchronize the attitude of the real and virtual frames within a reasonable time, it may reset the virtual frame attitude to that of the real spacecraft in order to avoid pilot disorientation.\n\nAnti-gravity System (AGS) \u2013 The AGS detects and compensates for gravity, and, in general, any other continuous external force, allowing the spacecraft to maintain its position relative to the field\u2019s source.\n\nTurn Control System (TCS) \u2013 TCS assists the pilot in achieving stable turns. At high speed, a spacecraft\u2019s thrusters may not provide enough force to hold a stable turn, causing the ship to slide, often resulting in a collision. A pilot will normally decrease his or her speed when turning, but TCS can manage the throttle for you by automatically setting the forward velocity to match the desired turn rate given the level of turning thrust currently available. The system takes into account the optimal banking thrust in calculating the sustainable turning velocity.\n\nG-force Control Mode (GCM) \u2013 GCM is a safety mode that attempts to limit a pilot\u2019s exposure to potentially dangerous levels of g-force. The primary danger for a fully constrained pilot is prolonged exposure to vertical g-forces which can cause blackout, greyout, redout, disorientation, loss of consciousness, and, if not corrected, even death. Horizontal g-forces of an extreme nature are also avoided, as they can cause both physical harm to a pilot and structural damage to the spacecraft.\n\nIn addition to these standard subsystems, other functionality may be implemented for more advanced systems.\n\nIFCS Operation\nIFCS takes as input a pilot\u2019s commands, which may include a variety of operations, but are ultimately translated into 3 degrees of translation and 3 degrees of rotation. Additionally, other pilot inputs may be used as parameters in various phases of the IFCS control system.\n\nOnce the input values are modified by IFCS modes such as Turn Control and G-force Control, speed limits are imposed, etc., the modified inputs are passed into the Primary Control System, which includes both a linear and angular velocity PID controller. These control functions calculate the optimal force and torque which, if applied at the ship\u2019s center of mass, will provide the motion requested by the pilot.\n\nSimultaneously, attitude readings are passed into the Reaction Control System where a positional PID controller is used to drive the ship\u2019s real attitude toward a goal reference attitude provided by the PCS. The control function outputs a torque that will optimally decrease the attitude error over the next time step.\n\nFinally, a reading of persistent force fields, typically gravity, is passed into the Anti-gravity System which calculates the necessary counter-force.\n\nOnce the desired forces and torques have been calculated, propulsion resources are allocated to them in order from highest to lowest priority. AGS force is allocated first, as failure to generate sufficient counter-propulsion could be catastrophic. Next, RCS torque is allocated, drawn from primary propulsion first, then falling back on CMG torque if insufficient propulsion is available. Next, PCS rotation control is allocated, again drawing upon primary propulsion first, CMG torque next. And finally, at the lowest priority, translational control is allocated.\n\nAfter a short time, once the propulsion system has acted on the IFCS commands, sensors read the ship\u2019s actual state, which may vary from the expected state because of propulsion malfunctions, uncompensated external forces, etc., then feeds the results back in to the IFCS control loop and the process repeats.\n\nVelocity and Attitude Control\nBecause IFCS cannot rely on the propulsion system to deliver the requested control, it uses a PID feedback controller to minimize the error between the desired state and the measured state. Such controllers are used by the Primary Control System to calculate the optimal force and torque to carry out the pilot\u2019s control commands, as well as the Reaction Control System to maintain attitude stability.\n\nPID controllers can be tuned to provide a range of response characteristics. Using velocity control as an example, an overdamped controller will accelerate quickly toward the reference velocity, overshoot, then oscillate as it settles into the final velocity. An underdamped controller will accelerate more slowly, settling into the reference velocity without any overshoot. A critically damped controller will accelerate at the optimal rate to settle in minimum time without any overshoot. The Primary Control System controllers that provide linear and angular velocity control are dynamically tuned. Based on pilot input magnitude, they can range from a subtle to aggressive acceleration response. In addition, individual pilots may prefer a more or less stiff acceleration response.\n\nThe actual response time of IFCS controllers is dependent not only on the tuning parameters, but also on the response time of its propulsion system components.\n\nPropulsion System\nThrusters\nThe primary component of propulsion on most ships will be the thruster. The Star Citizen flight model provides a 100% accurate thruster model that takes into account the location of each thruster relative to the ship\u2019s true center of mass, and the maximum thrust capacity and response time of each thruster. Under ideal conditions, the thrusters will generally be balanced about the ship\u2019s intended center of mass. This allows the ship optimal thruster control. In this sample image, the top rear thrusters are balanced about the center of mass and will generate a zero sum torque about the z axis.\n\nAfter suffering damage, the center of mass may shift, destabilizing the thruster system. In the following image, the thrusters are no longer balanced about the center of mass. When firing the thrusters, the ship is subjected to non-zero torque, resulting in an unintended yaw. IFCS will attempt to compensate for this torque error by using other thruster pairs to generate counter torque, and if unable to do so, will attempt to limit the error by decreasing the amount of thrust generated by the thrusters.\n\nDamage and other conditions can also change the available thrust capacity, response time and even accuracy of each thruster, or a thruster may become completely non-functional or be lost altogether. Any of these changes will have an effect on the thruster balance and therefore how the ship behaves under pilot control.\n\nControl Moment Gyro\nEach ship has a small amount of backup torque available to it even if every thruster has been lost. This torque is provided by a set of internal Control Moment Gyros. As long as the CMGs are functional, the pilot will always have minimal torque available on each axis of rotation. This torque is sufficient to stabilize the ship\u2019s attitude, and can be used to slowly spin up or down under direct pilot control.\n\nFinal Notes\nThis document is not an in-fiction description of the Star Citizen IFCS, it is an accurate description of the true flight control model implemented for the game. This level of realism was necessary in order to deliver a flight control system that could be fully integrated with and influenced by the environment, damage states, changing mass distribution, power allocation, thruster placement, etc. IFCS is an emergent system, and therefore may be imperfect at times. But this mimics reality.\n\nAnd finally, great effort has been made to limit spacecraft control to only the command pathways provided by IFCS. No player, AI or even IFCS itself will ever modify the position, velocity, rotation or rotational velocity of a ship directly, with the exception of initialization and network correction. This guarantees that all spacecraft control is consistent and the game will never have an unfair advantage over a player.\n\nI look forward to your feedback as we work to refine and polish this system. After all, this is only the beginning. We\u2019re just getting started!\n\nJohn Pritchett\nPhysics Programmer at CIG","de_DE":"Gr\u00fc\u00dfe B\u00fcrger,\nEs ist wirklich gro\u00dfartig zu sehen, wie viele von euch ins All gehen, um den ersten Vorgeschmack darauf zu bekommen, was f\u00fcr ein Weltraumkampf in Star Citizen stattfinden wird. Ich, wie der Rest des Teams, habe eifrig die Twitch-Streams von Geldgebern beobachtet, die spielen und die Foren f\u00fcr Ihr Feedback lesen. Zwei der hei\u00dfesten Diskussionsthemen waren das Flugmodell und der Vor- oder Nachteil verschiedener Eingabeger\u00e4te. Also dachte ich, ich w\u00fcrde mir einen Moment Zeit nehmen, um einige Einblicke in die beiden Themen zu teilen.\n\nFlugmodell\nDie meisten Weltraumspiele (einschlie\u00dflich meiner fr\u00fcheren) vereinfachen die Simulation erheblich, in der Regel als atmosph\u00e4risches Flugmodell ohne Schwerkraft und Luftwiderstand - Schiffe haben vordefinierte Neigungs-, Roll- und Gierraten, lineare Beschleunigung (die auf eine vereinfachte Punktmasse angewendet wird) und eine gedeckelte H\u00f6chstgeschwindigkeit. Wenn Sie drehen m\u00f6chten, wird der Joystick- oder Maus-Eingang direkt auf die angegebene Drehgeschwindigkeit abgebildet, unabh\u00e4ngig vom Tr\u00e4gheitsmoment des Schiffes. Sch\u00e4den werden in der Regel als Multiplikator f\u00fcr die Wendezahlen und die lineare Beschleunigung behandelt.\n\nStar Citizen macht das nicht. Wir modellieren, was an einem realen Raumschiff ben\u00f6tigt wird, einschlie\u00dflich der korrekten Anwendung von Schub an den Stellen, an denen die Schubd\u00fcsen am Rumpf des Schiffes befestigt sind - in unserem Modell sind Tr\u00e4gheitsmoment, Massen\u00e4nderungen und Gegenschub SEHR notwendig. Star Citizens physikalische Simulation der Raumfahrt basiert auf dem, was tats\u00e4chlich im Weltraum passieren w\u00fcrde.\n\nEs gab eine Reihe von Gr\u00fcnden, warum wir diese Richtung eingeschlagen haben -\n\n1. Weil wir planten, Raumschiffe mit einer Treue zu modellieren und zu simulieren, die noch nie zuvor gesehen worden war, brauchten wir eine Simulation, die dem Spieler ein anderes Flugverhalten erm\u00f6glicht, wenn ein Triebwerk besch\u00e4digt ist, ein Fl\u00fcgel weggeblasen wird oder ein Pilot sein Schiff mit Waffen und Munition \u00fcberlastet? Ich wollte ein System, das sich f\u00fcr eine gro\u00dfe Vielfalt von Schiffen unterschiedlich anf\u00fchlen k\u00f6nnte, mit wild unterschiedlichen Gr\u00f6\u00dfen und Rollen, denn in Star Citizen kann man von einem einsitzigen Schiff mit einer L\u00e4nge von 15 Metern zu einem riesigen Hauptschiff mit einer Gr\u00f6\u00dfe von \u00fcber 1 km wechseln, das von vielen Spielern besetzt ist. Ich wollte, dass diese Schiffe mit ihrer eigenen Identit\u00e4t kommen und sich wie Autos \u00e4hnlicher Gr\u00f6\u00dfe anf\u00fchlen, auch wenn sich ein \u00c4quivalent an Masse radikal anders anf\u00fchlen kann. Ich wollte, dass Schiffe ihre eigene Pers\u00f6nlichkeit haben - nicht nur eine langsamere oder schnellere Version des Basisschiffes. 2. Die zweite ist, dass Star Citizen eine betr\u00e4chtliche Anzahl von Spieler-gegen-Spieler-K\u00e4mpfen haben wird. Ich wei\u00df nicht, wie viele Leute Wing Commander Armada gespielt haben (das erste Wing Commander Spiel mit Multiplayer-Funktion), aber es war nicht so lustig im Kampfmodus (der Head-to-Head-Modus). Wenn du ein Einzelspielerspiel entwirfst, kannst du die KI absichtlich d\u00e4mpfen, damit der Spieler auf den Schwanz steigen und mehrere Feinde abschie\u00dfen kann, was dem Spieler ein Gef\u00fchl der Leistung vermittelt. Es gibt nichts Sch\u00f6neres, als eine Welle von 10 gegnerischen Kilrathi-K\u00e4mpfern mit einer Hand zu r\u00e4umen. Aber seien wir ehrlich, in Einzelspielerspielen hat die F\u00e4higkeit des Spielers, Wellen von Feinden abzuschiessen, weniger mit der F\u00e4higkeit des Spielers zu tun, da der Spieler normalerweise in Bezug auf die Basisgegner, die er bek\u00e4mpfen wird, \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigt ist. Sie k\u00f6nnen dies nicht in Spieler gegen Spieler tun, und es ist wahrscheinlich, dass mehrere Spieler das gleiche Schiff haben werden. Ohne ein ausgekl\u00fcgeltes Simulations- und Flugmodell, mit vielen M\u00f6glichkeiten f\u00fcr einen Piloten, verschiedene Taktiken flie\u00dfend auszuprobieren, um die Oberhand zu gewinnen, k\u00f6nnen die K\u00e4mpfe als frustrierende Pattsituation enden, wenn beide Piloten das gleiche Schiff haben, da niemand auf den anderen aufsteigen kann, weil man nicht die gleichen Kr\u00e4fte hat, die den Luftkampf beeinflussen (n\u00e4mlich Schwerkraft und Luftwiderstand), um Energie aus den Man\u00f6vern zu entnehmen. Aus diesen Gr\u00fcnden haben wir uns bem\u00fcht, die Physik vollst\u00e4ndig zu simulieren, wozu auch die Steuerung und Bewegung eines Schiffes im Weltraum ohne Abk\u00fcrzungen geh\u00f6rt.\n\nEbenso simulieren wir auch die Schiffssysteme. Jede Funktion ist an einzelne Elemente gebunden, die an das Schiff \"angeschlossen\" sind - die Waffen, die Triebwerke, das Kraftwerk, die K\u00fchlk\u00f6rper, das Radar, der Kraftstofftank, die Batterien, das Zielsystem, die CPU, das HUD und sogar das Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) sind alles Elemente, die an verschiedene \"Rohre\" ankn\u00fcpfen, die die Systeme verbinden - es gibt ein Rohr f\u00fcr Strom-, W\u00e4rme-, Kraftstoff- und CPU-Zyklen. Der Zielrechner ben\u00f6tigt Strom aus dem Kraftwerk und CPU-Zyklen aus dem Schiffscomputer, Positionsinformationen aus dem Radar, um Ziele aufzul\u00f6sen. Wenn nicht gen\u00fcgend CPU-Zyklen vorhanden sind, um die Ziele zu umgehen, werden die Ziele langsamer aufgel\u00f6st, nicht gen\u00fcgend Leistung und der Zielrechner kann zusammen nicht mehr funktionieren. Wenn Sie den Waffen nicht gen\u00fcgend W\u00e4rme entziehen, k\u00f6nnen sie \u00fcberhitzen, versagen oder sogar besch\u00e4digt werden. Wenn einer Ihrer Fl\u00fcgel mit den dazugeh\u00f6rigen K\u00fchlk\u00f6rpern weggeblasen wird, sollten Sie Ihre W\u00e4rmeleistung besser reduzieren.\n\nDurch die vollst\u00e4ndige Simulation sowohl der Systeme als auch der Physik der motorisierten Raumfahrt erm\u00f6glichen wir eine gro\u00dfe Menge an aufkommendem Verhalten und Vielfalt im Endspiel. Die Auslastung von Schiffen wird nicht nur f\u00fcr die Funktionalit\u00e4t, sondern auch f\u00fcr den tats\u00e4chlichen Flug und die Reaktionsf\u00e4higkeit sehr wichtig. Genau wie im realen milit\u00e4rischen Luftfahrtdesign k\u00f6nnen Sie sich entscheiden, redundante Systeme f\u00fcr eine bessere \u00dcberlebensf\u00e4higkeit im Kampf zu haben, oder Sie k\u00f6nnen Ihre Schlagkraft auf Kosten der Man\u00f6vrierf\u00e4higkeit maximieren.\n\nKlingt ziemlich cool, oder? Also, warum der ganze Aufruhr?\n\nDie richtige Raumfahrtsimulation unterscheidet sich von Natur aus von einem atmosph\u00e4rischen Flugmodell. Im Weltraum gibt es keine aerodynamische Kraft (Auftrieb oder Widerstand), so dass sowohl die winklige als auch die lineare Tr\u00e4gheit viel wichtiger wird. Wenn Sie nicht mit einer Gegenkraft den Winkel- oder Linearmoment eines Objekts im Raum arretieren, bleibt er unver\u00e4ndert. Wenn ein Spieler am Stick zur\u00fcckzieht, erzeugen die Triebwerke eine Drehung, die die Winkelgeschwindigkeit des Schiffes beschleunigt. Wenn Sie den Stick auf Null zur\u00fcckgehen lassen oder ihn andersherum bewegen, muss das IFCS nun einen Gegenschub anwenden, um zuerst die aktuelle Winkelgeschwindigkeit r\u00fcckg\u00e4ngig zu machen und Sie dann auf die neue gew\u00fcnschte Winkelgeschwindigkeit zu bewegen. Wenn das Schiff keine stark \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigten Triebwerke hat, wird dies nicht sofort geschehen. Da das IFCS nicht hellseherisch ist und nicht wei\u00df, wann Sie die Winkelgeschwindigkeit \u00e4ndern wollen, kann es Ihre Aktionen nicht vorwegnehmen. Wenn der Pilot also nicht selbst in seine gew\u00fcnschte Ausrichtung nachl\u00e4sst, ist es wahrscheinlich, dass er sie \u00fcberschreitet. Betrachten Sie es als ein Anhalten in einem Auto; Sie haben normalerweise ein gutes Gef\u00fchl f\u00fcr Ihren Bremsweg und wenn Sie sich einem Stoppschild n\u00e4hern, beginnen Sie zu verlangsamen. Du erwartest nicht, sofort von 50 mph auf Null zu gehen. Dieses Verhalten unterscheidet sich deutlich von einem Flugzeug, das Steuerfl\u00e4chen verwendet, die den Luftstrom \u00fcber die Fl\u00fcgel\/Heck zum Man\u00f6ver ver\u00e4ndern. In diesem Fall ist die Winkelgeschwindigkeits\u00e4nderung in der Regel direkt proportional zur Ruder-\/Klappenposition.\n\nDas bedeutet, dass du bis zu einem gewissen Grad voraussehen musst, wo du sein willst und dich in diese Position zur\u00fcckziehen musst. Wenn Sie an ein atmosph\u00e4risches Modell gew\u00f6hnt sind, wenn Sie zum ersten Mal in einem Modell fliegen, bei dem das Momentum viel wichtiger ist, ist es ziemlich einfach, Ihren gew\u00fcnschten Kurs zu \u00fcberschreiten. Da der Gegenschub nicht sofort erfolgt, k\u00f6nnen Sie ihn andersherum \u00fcberkorrigieren. Deshalb kann sich das Schiff beim Versuch, ein Ziel aufzustellen, \"zuckend\" f\u00fchlen.\n\nDa dies anders ist als die Gewohnheiten der Menschen, empfindet ein Teil unserer Community das aktuelle Flugmodell eindeutig als \"falsch\".\n\nAber wenn Sie dar\u00fcber nachdenken, was wir tun, lassen wir tats\u00e4chlich viel mehr Variation und Nuancen in Flug und Kampf zu als ein vereinfachtes Flugmodell im Wing Commander\/X-Wing-Stil. Wie das Lernen, ein Auto wirklich gut zu fahren.... es erfordert etwas Lernen. Man muss voraussehen, wo man sein will, und daf\u00fcr planen.\n\nHei\u00dft das, ich denke, das System ist perfekt?\n\nNein!\n\nDies ist einer der wichtigsten Gr\u00fcnde, warum wir es in alle Ihre H\u00e4nde bekommen wollten. Es war toll, dass die Leute das Spiel spielen und ihr Feedback geben konnten. Es war wirklich toll zu sehen, dass einige Leute, die das Flugmodell zuerst gehasst haben, sein Potenzial erkannt haben, nachdem einige andere Mitglieder der Community ihre Erkenntnisse ausgetauscht haben. Das bedeutet nicht, dass jeder verkauft wird, aber es ist immer ermutigend zu sehen, dass die Menschen offen f\u00fcr neue M\u00f6glichkeiten sind.\n\nAber das bedeutet nicht, dass ich mit dem, was wir sind, zufrieden bin. Mein Ziel ist es, alle Nuancen, die ich oben beschrieben habe, f\u00fcr die Spieler zu haben, die tief gehen wollen, aber es auch so zug\u00e4nglich machen wollen, wie es der Wing Commander f\u00fcr jemanden war, der neu in diesem Spiel (und Genre) ist.\n\nDas Wichtigste ist, dass das intelligente Flugsteuerungssystem nur die Schnittstelle zwischen der physikalischen Simulation der Schiffsbewegung \u00fcber die Triebwerke und der von ihnen ausge\u00fcbten Kraft ist. Es ist nicht das Modell. Ich sehe viele Beitr\u00e4ge, die \u00fcber den Wunsch nach dem \"Newtonschen\" Modus sprechen. Die physikalische Simulation ist bereits eine vollst\u00e4ndige newtonsche Starrk\u00f6rpersimulation. F\u00fcr das, was wir versuchen zu erreichen, wird es immer eine Fly-by-Wire-Schnittstelle zwischen dem Input des Spielers und der tats\u00e4chlichen Physik geben m\u00fcssen, da kein Mensch gleichzeitig acht Triebwerke gleichzeitig steuern kann, die seinen Schub und seine Einstellung angeben, um die gew\u00fcnschte Bewegung zu erreichen. Innerhalb der Grenzen der physischen Realit\u00e4t kann das IFCS so ziemlich alles tun, was wir wollen. Der Schl\u00fcssel ist die Bestimmung, worauf der Input des Spielers abgebildet werden soll.\n\nDer erste Durchlauf verschiedener Modi - Basic IFCS, De-Coupled, G-Safe und Comstab - sind alle verschiedene Modi, die wir zu verschiedenen Zeiten f\u00fcr n\u00fctzlich hielten. Es bedeutet nicht, dass es das Ende der Modi ist, oder wie sie implementiert werden, ist der einzige Weg, wie sie sein werden. Viele Leute haben nach \"echten\" 6DOF gefragt, die st\u00e4ndig verf\u00fcgbar sind - im Grunde genommen mit Strafe, die im normalen IFCS-Flugmodus verf\u00fcgbar ist, und um Strafe-Additiv zur Schiffsgeschwindigkeit im entkoppelten Modus zu machen. Das sind alles Dinge, mit denen wir experimentieren werden, zusammen mit einigen anderen Optionen, z.B. einem zus\u00e4tzlichen G-Safe-Modus, der eher begrenzt als geschwindigkeitsbegrenzt ist, und wir werden auch mit Schubkraft spielen, da die Man\u00f6vriertriebwerke derzeit etwa ein halbes bis ein Drittel der Leistung der Hauptmaschinen sind, die ziemlich \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigt sind. Seien Sie einfach gewarnt, je schw\u00e4cher die Man\u00f6vriertriebwerke sind, desto mehr wird das Schiff mit Geschwindigkeit \"rutschen\", bevor es in die gew\u00fcnschte Richtung f\u00e4hrt.\n\nUm Ihnen noch mehr Einblick in die Funktionsweise des IFCS zu geben, hat John Pritchett, der Ingenieur, der die aktuelle Implementierung des IFCS geschrieben hat, einen ausf\u00fchrlichen Artikel geschrieben, der im Detail auf die Funktionsweise des Systems eingeht. Ich hoffe, Sie alle werden den Detailreichtum zu sch\u00e4tzen wissen, den wir bei Star Citizen anstreben. Vergiss nicht, dass das Spiel so viel mehr umfasst als nur Arena Commander - und selbst in Arena Commander gibt es so viel, das noch nicht gew\u00fcrdigt werden kann, da wir durch ein in Arbeit befindliches HUD und den Mangel an Gegenst\u00e4nden, mit denen du dein Schiff ausr\u00fcsten kannst, blockiert werden - beides wird neue M\u00f6glichkeiten und Taktiken er\u00f6ffnen.\n\nSteuerger\u00e4te\nEs gab eine Menge Diskussionen \u00fcber Maussteuerung vs. Joysticksteuerung und die Sorge eines Teils der Community, dass das Mausschema das Spiel zu \"arcadey\" macht und HOTAS-Anwender das Gef\u00fchl haben, dass ihr bevorzugter Kontrollmechanismus nicht richtig unterst\u00fctzt wurde.\n\nZuerst m\u00f6chte ich sagen, dass das Ziel f\u00fcr Star Citizen darin besteht, dass die Steuerung ignorant ist. Keiner der Kontrollmechanismen sollte einen Vorteil gegen\u00fcber den anderen haben. Ich pers\u00f6nlich bin ein Joystick-Pilot (entweder \u00fcber HOTAS oder Gamepad) im Gegensatz zu einem Mauspiloten. Ich habe einfach das Gef\u00fchl, dass ich eine pr\u00e4zisere Flugkontrolle mit einem Joystick habe. In unseren verschiedenen Studios gibt es eine gro\u00dfe Vielfalt an Controller-Anwendungen - einige bevorzugen Maus, Joystick, HOTAS und Gamepad. Dies ist die beste Garantie daf\u00fcr, dass kein einziger Kontrollmodus dominiert.\n\nAllerdings erkennen wir an, dass die Kontrolleingabesysteme in Flexibilit\u00e4t\/Anpassung arbeiten m\u00fcssen, um dieses Ziel zu erreichen.\n\nEine unserer obersten Priorit\u00e4ten f\u00fcr Arena Commander ist es, den Benutzern zu erm\u00f6glichen, ihre Form der Schl\u00fcsselbindungen innerhalb des Spiels anzupassen. Wir arbeiten aktiv daran und hoffen, im n\u00e4chsten Monat etwas liefern zu k\u00f6nnen.\n\nWir werden auch an den verschiedenen HOTAS-Profilen arbeiten, sowie an der Feinabstimmung der Steuerfilterung f\u00fcr Joysticks, um hoffentlich ein knapperes Man\u00f6vrieren bei kleineren Bewegungen des Stockes zu erm\u00f6glichen. Es gibt auch einige zus\u00e4tzliche Head-Look-Modi, die noch nicht implementiert wurden, die es einem Joystick-Spieler erm\u00f6glichen, die Vorteile der kardanischen Waffen so zu nutzen, wie es der Maus-Spieler kann. Und nat\u00fcrlich, wenn Sie das Gef\u00fchl haben, dass die Maus mit ihrer h\u00f6heren Pr\u00e4zision ein besseres Zielen erm\u00f6glicht, k\u00f6nnen Sie das Schiff jederzeit mit einem Joystick fliegen und mit einer Maus aussehen!\n\nGieren vs. Rollen\nEs gab auch einige Diskussionen dar\u00fcber, dass das Gieren Ihren Piloten nicht in Bezug auf negative G-Effekte (d.h. das Schwarz-Rot aus den vertikalen G-Kr\u00e4ften) beeinflusst. Es gibt hier ein paar Dinge zu beachten. Erstens sind reine Gierkurven, ohne jegliche Bank, im Weltraum durchaus m\u00f6glich, aber das ist nicht die optimale Art zu drehen. Sie k\u00f6nnen mehr Schub erzeugen, indem Sie Ihre Seiten- und unteren Triebwerke kombinieren, als Sie es mit nur Ihren Seitentriebwerken k\u00f6nnen. IFCS \u00fcberbr\u00fcckt automatisch ein Schiff, um seinen Drehschub zu optimieren, und hier kommen vertikale G-Kr\u00e4fte ins Spiel (beachten Sie, dass dies anders ist als bei Atmosph\u00e4renfl\u00fcgen, bei denen eine \u00dcberh\u00f6hung f\u00fcr die Kurvenstabilit\u00e4t erforderlich ist). Zweitens h\u00e4ngt die H\u00f6he der Bank in jeder Gierdrehung von der H\u00f6he des Seitenschubs ab, den Ihr Schiff liefern kann, was bedeutet, dass die H\u00f6he der vertikalen G-Kr\u00e4fte in einer Gierdrehung je nach Situation variiert. Drittens sind Schwarz\/Redout und Bewusstseinsverlust die Folgen einer vertikalen g-Kraft-Exposition, bei der das Blut entweder aus dem Kopf des Piloten abgelassen oder in den Kopf gedr\u00fcckt wird. Richtig eingeschr\u00e4nkte Piloten k\u00f6nnen sehr hohe horizontale G-Kr\u00e4fte ohne signifikanten Verlust der kognitiven F\u00e4higkeiten aushalten.\n\nBei horizontalen g-Kr\u00e4ften ist der begrenzende Faktor die Struktur. Leider ist diese Einschr\u00e4nkung in unserem Modell noch nicht umgesetzt. Sobald dies der Fall ist, wird es Konsequenzen f\u00fcr extreme unbestrahlte Wendungen geben. Anstatt ohnm\u00e4chtig zu werden, kannst du ein Triebwerk oder einen Fl\u00fcgel aus der schieren Gr\u00f6\u00dfe der horizontalen Gs herausrei\u00dfen. Und wenn aktiviert, garantiert der G-Safe-Modus die strukturelle Integrit\u00e4t Ihres Schiffes, indem er die Schubkraft bei jedem Man\u00f6ver begrenzt.\n\nRevolverkopf\nEin Teil der Community hat seine Besorgnis \u00fcber die F\u00e4higkeit der Spieler zum \"Turm\" ge\u00e4u\u00dfert, indem sie in den entkoppelten Modus wechseln und sich drehen, um auf ihr Ziel zu schie\u00dfen, was das Gef\u00fchl vermittelt, dass dadurch das Qualifikationsniveau des Luftkampfes beeintr\u00e4chtigt wird. Ich wei\u00df, dass die Leute das denken, aber ich kann dir versichern, dass in unseren internen Multiplayer-Tests so ziemlich niemand ausschlie\u00dflich entkoppelt und \"Gesch\u00fctzt\u00fcrme\", da sie sehr schnell zerst\u00f6rt w\u00fcrden. Der Schl\u00fcssel zum \u00dcberleben eines Luftkampfes liegt darin, st\u00e4ndig in Bewegung zu sein und nicht mit seinen Bewegungen vorhersehbar zu sein - stillzusitzen oder sich in einem konstanten Vektor zu bewegen (was passiert, wenn man sich entkoppelt), bringt einen um. Der entkoppelte Modus wird am besten verwendet, indem man kurz in einen schnellen Orientierungswechsel geht und dann wieder in den gekoppelten Modus zur\u00fcckf\u00e4llt. W\u00e4hrend wir die Leistung der Man\u00f6vriertriebwerke optimieren, um die Bedeutung des Hauptmotors zu erh\u00f6hen, indem wir in den entkoppelten Modus wechseln, ist eine schnelle Orientierungs\u00e4nderung und die R\u00fcckkehr in den Normalflug eine gro\u00dfartige M\u00f6glichkeit, Ihren verf\u00fcgbaren Schub f\u00fcr einen schnellen Vektorwechsel zu maximieren. Ich wei\u00df, dass einige Leute denken, dass die M\u00f6glichkeit, ihre Orientierung viel schneller zu \u00e4ndern, als man es in einer atmosph\u00e4rischen Flugsimulation kann, das Spiel einfach macht, aber dies ist eine Weltraumkampfsimulation NICHT eine atmosph\u00e4rische Flugsimulation und die F\u00e4higkeit, ihre Orientierung von ihrem Geschwindigkeitsvektor zu entkoppeln, ist absolut etwas, das verwendet werden w\u00fcrde - und vergiss nicht, dass eine riesige Menge der Gemeinschaft verlangt hat, um die Man\u00f6ver durchf\u00fchren zu k\u00f6nnen, die du von Battle Star Galactica geliebt hast!\n\nKardanische Waffen vs. Fixierte Waffen\nIn Arena Commander V1.0 (und Star Citizen als Ganzes) wird es sowohl feste Waffen als auch kardanische und turmgesch\u00fctzte Waffen geben. Die festen Waffen haben eine langsame Autokonvergenz von vielleicht -\/+ f\u00fcnf Grad, damit sie sich auf einen Punkt konzentrieren k\u00f6nnen, der vom Benutzer definierbar ist (Standard ist die halbe maximale Reichweite) oder sich an die Entfernung des aktuellen Ziels anpasst. Wir hatten keine Zeit, dieses Feature zu beenden, also haben wir f\u00fcr v0.8 nur alle festen Waffen kardanisch aufgeh\u00e4ngt, um der Hornet keinen gro\u00dfen Vorteil gegen\u00fcber der Aurora und 300i zu verschaffen. Dies ist nicht der langfristige Plan.\n\nFeste Waffen haben einen Lead-Indikator (genau wie in einem echten Kampfflugzeug). Wir \u00fcberlegen auch, wie das Absehen der kardanischen Pistolen funktioniert. Im Moment m\u00fcssen Sie es nur \u00fcber Ihrem Ziel platzieren und der Zielcomputer kardanisch mit den Waffen, um diese Schussl\u00f6sung zu erreichen, wenn die gestrichelten Linien innerhalb des Fadenkreuzes zusammenbrechen, bedeutet das, dass alle Waffen die L\u00f6sung erreicht haben. Wir denken dar\u00fcber nach, es so zu gestalten, dass Sie das Look-Absehen \u00fcber den Lead-Indikator legen m\u00fcssen, um die Brennl\u00f6sung zu erhalten.\n\nDies wird es einem Piloten, der nicht die volle Kraft seiner kardanischen Gesch\u00fctze nutzt (es ist nicht immer einfach, zu zielen und in zwei verschiedene Richtungen zu fliegen oder wenn Sie sich in einem kombinierten Look-and-Fly-Modus wie dem \"Freelancer\"-Mausmodus befinden), erm\u00f6glichen, optimaler zu fliegen, um das Ziel zu f\u00fchren (Sie wollen, wo das Ziel hinfliegt, nicht wo es sich gerade befindet).\n\nWas die Menschen betrifft, die denken, dass kardanische Aufh\u00e4ngungswaffen die \"F\u00e4higkeit\" im Spiel verderben, so sind kardanische Aufh\u00e4ngungswaffen eine tragende S\u00e4ule der aktuellen milit\u00e4rischen Ausr\u00fcstung und werden dies in Zukunft wahrscheinlich noch mehr sein. Das bedeutet nicht, dass ein Treffer automatisch erfolgt. Die Waffe muss noch auf das Ziel wirken und Sie m\u00fcssen die Nase Ihres Schiffes so richten, dass die Schussl\u00f6sung erreicht werden kann. Und das unter der Voraussetzung, dass das Ziel nicht anf\u00e4ngt, den Kurs oder die Geschwindigkeit unregelm\u00e4\u00dfig zu \u00e4ndern!\n\n- Chris Roberts\n\nIn Star Citizen ist IFCS ein Flugsteuerungssystem, das den Piloten beim Betrieb eines Raumfahrzeugs unterst\u00fctzen soll. Es \u00fcbersetzt die Steuereingaben eines Piloten in Triebwerksoperationen, um einen bestimmten Befehl auszuf\u00fchren, selbst bei einem suboptimalen oder ausgefallenen Antriebssystem. Es ist ein adaptives System, das eine Kombination aus Sensoren und R\u00fcckkopplungssteuerung verwendet, um den Fehler zwischen dem Zielzustand und dem tats\u00e4chlichen Zustand des Raumfahrzeugs auf Null zu bringen. Es ist fehlertolerant, da es jede beliebige Kombination von Triebwerken und seinem Backup Control Moment Gyro adaptiv nutzen kann, um den Ausfall oder Verlust eines oder mehrerer Triebwerke auszugleichen und das Schiff stabilisiert und, wenn m\u00f6glich, unter Pilotenkontrolle zu halten. Selbst wenn nur noch ein einziges Triebwerk vorhanden ist, kann ein Pilot sein Raumschiff mit einigen Schwierigkeiten aktiv steuern.\n\nIFCS-Subsysteme\nIFCS besteht aus vielen Subsystemen, die zusammenwirken, um einem Piloten Stabilit\u00e4t und Kontrolle \u00fcber Raumfahrzeuge zu geben. Dazu geh\u00f6ren:\n\nAntrieb und Lageregelung (PAC) - PAC beinhaltet typischerweise den kompletten Satz von Triebwerken, die sowohl Translations- als auch Drehbewegungen erm\u00f6glichen, und eine Backup Control Moment Gyro (CMG) Einheit, die eine zus\u00e4tzliche Lageregelung erm\u00f6glicht. Es beinhaltet auch die Schaltungs- und Steuerungssoftware, die diese Einheiten antreibt. Primary Control System (PCS) - Das PCS stellt eine Schnittstelle zwischen Pilot und IFCS zur Verf\u00fcgung. Es \u00fcbersetzt die Befehle eines Piloten in Steueraktionen, die auf einen virtuellen Steuerrahmen angewendet werden, der die ideale Zielaktion des Piloten darstellt. Der virtuelle Steuerrahmen besteht aus einer Sollgeschwindigkeit entlang einer beliebigen Kombination von Achsen, Solldrehzahlen um eine beliebige Kombination von Achsen sowie einer Referenzhaltung. Dieser virtuelle Rahmen stellt den idealen Zustand des Schiffes unter perfekter Kontrolle dar, und alle Piloteingaben werden in Bezug auf diesen virtuellen Rahmen angewendet, wodurch der Einfluss externer Fehler auf die Pilotenkontrolle begrenzt wird. Reaction Control System (RCS) - Der physikalische Zustand des virtuellen PCS-Rahmens wird durch das vorhergesagte Thruster und den CMG-Ausgang als Reaktion auf die Pilotsteuerung gesteuert. Unter idealen Bedingungen wird die PCS-Rahmenlage perfekt mit der tats\u00e4chlichen Lage des Raumfahrzeugs synchronisiert. Faktoren wie suboptimale Reaktion oder Versagen des Triebwerks, externe Kr\u00e4fte wie Waffenfeuer, Raketenexplosionen usw. k\u00f6nnen jedoch dazu f\u00fchren, dass die reale Einstellung des Fahrzeugs von der virtuellen Einstellung abweicht. In diesem Fall ist es Aufgabe des Reaction Control Systems, den Fehler zwischen den beiden Einstellungen auf Null zu bringen. Es versucht dies mit beiden Triebwerken und dem Kontrollmoment Gyros zu tun. Wenn es nicht gelingt, die Lage des realen und des virtuellen Rahmens innerhalb einer angemessenen Zeit zu synchronisieren, kann es die Lage des virtuellen Rahmens auf die Lage des realen Raumfahrzeugs zur\u00fccksetzen, um eine Desorientierung des Piloten zu vermeiden. Anti-Schwerkraft-System (AGS) - Das AGS erkennt und kompensiert die Schwerkraft und im Allgemeinen jede andere kontinuierliche \u00e4u\u00dfere Kraft, so dass das Raumschiff seine Position in Bezug auf die Feldquelle beibehalten kann. Turn Control System (TCS) - TCS unterst\u00fctzt den Piloten dabei, stabile Kurven zu erreichen. Bei hohen Geschwindigkeiten bieten die Triebwerke eines Raumschiffes m\u00f6glicherweise nicht gen\u00fcgend Kraft, um eine stabile Drehung aufrechtzuerhalten, wodurch das Schiff gleitet, was oft zu einer Kollision f\u00fchrt. Ein Pilot verringert normalerweise seine Geschwindigkeit beim Drehen, aber TCS kann das Gaspedal f\u00fcr Sie steuern, indem es die Vorw\u00e4rtsgeschwindigkeit automatisch so einstellt, dass sie der gew\u00fcnschten Drehgeschwindigkeit entspricht, wenn der aktuell verf\u00fcgbare Drehschub erreicht wird. Das System ber\u00fccksichtigt den optimalen Bankschub bei der Berechnung der nachhaltigen Drehgeschwindigkeit. G-force Control Mode (GCM) - GCM ist ein Sicherheitsmodus, der versucht, die Belastung des Piloten durch potenziell gef\u00e4hrliche g-Force-Werte zu begrenzen. Die gr\u00f6\u00dfte Gefahr f\u00fcr einen vollst\u00e4ndig eingeschr\u00e4nkten Piloten ist die l\u00e4ngere Exposition gegen\u00fcber vertikalen g-Kr\u00e4ften, die zu Blackout, Greyout, Redout, Orientierungslosigkeit, Bewusstseinsverlust und, wenn nicht korrigiert, sogar zum Tod f\u00fchren kann. Horizontale G-Kr\u00e4fte extremer Natur werden ebenfalls vermieden, da sie sowohl physischen Schaden f\u00fcr einen Piloten als auch strukturelle Sch\u00e4den an den Raumfahrzeugen verursachen k\u00f6nnen. Zus\u00e4tzlich zu diesen Standard-Subsystemen k\u00f6nnen f\u00fcr fortgeschrittenere Systeme weitere Funktionen implementiert werden.\n\nIFCS-Betrieb\nIFCS nimmt die Befehle des Piloten als Eingabe, die eine Vielzahl von Operationen beinhalten k\u00f6nnen, aber letztlich in 3 Translations- und 3 Rotationsgrade \u00fcbersetzt werden. Zus\u00e4tzlich k\u00f6nnen andere Piloteing\u00e4nge als Parameter in verschiedenen Phasen des IFCS-Steuerungssystems verwendet werden.\n\nSobald die Eingabewerte durch IFCS-Modi wie Turn Control und G-force Control ge\u00e4ndert wurden, werden Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen usw. festgelegt, die ge\u00e4nderten Eingaben werden an das Primary Control System weitergeleitet, das sowohl einen Linear- als auch einen Winkelgeschwindigkeits-PID-Regler beinhaltet. Diese Steuerfunktionen berechnen die optimale Kraft und das optimale Drehmoment, die, wenn sie im Schwerpunkt des Schiffes angewendet werden, die vom Lotsen gew\u00fcnschte Bewegung liefern.\n\nGleichzeitig werden die Lagemessungen an das Reaktionsregelsystem weitergeleitet, wo ein Positions-PID-Regler verwendet wird, um die tats\u00e4chliche Lage des Schiffes in Richtung einer vom PCS vorgegebenen Zielreferenzlage zu steuern. Die Steuerungsfunktion gibt ein Drehmoment aus, das den Einstellfehler im n\u00e4chsten Zeitschritt optimal verringert.\n\nSchlie\u00dflich wird ein Messwert von persistenten Kraftfeldern, typischerweise der Schwerkraft, an das Anti-Schwerkraft-System \u00fcbergeben, das die notwendige Gegenkraft berechnet.\n\nNach der Berechnung der gew\u00fcnschten Kr\u00e4fte und Momente werden ihnen Antriebsressourcen zugewiesen, um von h\u00f6chster bis niedrigster Priorit\u00e4t zu gelangen. Die AGS-Kraft wird zuerst zugewiesen, da ein unzureichender Gegenantrieb katastrophal sein k\u00f6nnte. Anschlie\u00dfend wird das RCS-Drehmoment zugewiesen, das zuerst vom Prim\u00e4rantrieb bezogen wird und dann auf das CMG-Drehmoment zur\u00fcckf\u00e4llt, wenn kein ausreichender Antrieb vorhanden ist. Anschlie\u00dfend wird die PCS-Drehzahlsteuerung zugewiesen, wobei wiederum zuerst der Prim\u00e4rantrieb und dann das CMG-Drehmoment verwendet werden. Und schlie\u00dflich wird bei der niedrigsten Priorit\u00e4t die translationale Kontrolle zugewiesen.\n\nNach kurzer Zeit, nachdem das Antriebssystem auf die IFCS-Befehle reagiert hat, lesen Sensoren den Ist-Zustand des Schiffes aus, der aufgrund von Antriebsst\u00f6rungen, unkompensierten \u00e4u\u00dferen Kr\u00e4ften usw. vom erwarteten Zustand abweichen kann, leiten die Ergebnisse dann wieder in den IFCS-Regelkreis ein und der Prozess wiederholt sich.\n\nGeschwindigkeits- und Lageregelung\nDa sich das IFCS nicht darauf verlassen kann, dass das Antriebssystem die gew\u00fcnschte Steuerung liefert, verwendet es einen PID-Regler, um den Fehler zwischen dem gew\u00fcnschten Zustand und dem gemessenen Zustand zu minimieren. Solche Steuerungen werden vom Primary Control System verwendet, um die optimale Kraft und das optimale Drehmoment f\u00fcr die Ausf\u00fchrung der Steuerbefehle des Piloten zu berechnen, sowie vom Reaction Control System, um die Stabilit\u00e4t der Haltung aufrechtzuerhalten.\n\nPID-Regler k\u00f6nnen so eingestellt werden, dass sie eine Reihe von Reaktionseigenschaften bieten. Am Beispiel der Geschwindigkeitssteuerung beschleunigt ein \u00fcberd\u00e4mpfter Regler schnell auf die Referenzgeschwindigkeit zu, \u00fcberschwingt sie und schwingt dann, w\u00e4hrend er sich in die Endgeschwindigkeit setzt. Ein unterd\u00e4mpfter Regler beschleunigt langsamer und setzt sich ohne \u00dcberschwingen in die Referenzgeschwindigkeit ein. Eine kritisch ged\u00e4mpfte Steuerung beschleunigt mit der optimalen Geschwindigkeit, um sich in k\u00fcrzester Zeit ohne \u00dcberschwingen zu setzen. Die Steuerungen des Primary Control System, die eine lineare und Winkelgeschwindigkeitsregelung erm\u00f6glichen, sind dynamisch abgestimmt. Basierend auf der Gr\u00f6\u00dfe der Piloteingaben k\u00f6nnen sie von einem subtilen bis hin zu einem aggressiven Beschleunigungsverhalten reichen. Dar\u00fcber hinaus k\u00f6nnen einzelne Piloten ein mehr oder weniger steifes Beschleunigungsverhalten bevorzugen.\n\nDie tats\u00e4chliche Ansprechzeit der IFCS-Steuerungen ist nicht nur von den Abstimmparametern, sondern auch von der Ansprechzeit der Antriebskomponenten abh\u00e4ngig.\n\nAntriebssystem\nTriebwerke\nDie Hauptkomponente des Antriebs auf den meisten Schiffen wird das Triebwerk sein. Das Star Citizen-Flugmodell bietet ein 100% genaues Thruster-Modell, das die Position jedes Thrusters in Bezug auf den wahren Massenschwerpunkt des Schiffes sowie die maximale Schubkapazit\u00e4t und Reaktionszeit jedes Thrusters ber\u00fccksichtigt. Unter idealen Bedingungen werden die Triebwerke im Allgemeinen um den vom Schiff vorgesehenen Massenschwerpunkt ausgewuchtet. Dies erm\u00f6glicht dem Schiff eine optimale Steuerung des Triebwerks. In diesem Beispielbild sind die oberen hinteren Triebwerke um den Massenschwerpunkt ausgewuchtet und erzeugen ein Nullsummenmoment um die z-Achse.\n\nNach einem Schaden kann sich der Massenschwerpunkt verschieben und das Triebwerkssystem destabilisieren. Im folgenden Bild sind die Triebwerke nicht mehr um den Massenschwerpunkt herum ausgewuchtet. Beim Z\u00fcnden der Triebwerke wird das Schiff einem Drehmoment ungleich Null ausgesetzt, was zu einem unbeabsichtigten Gieren f\u00fchrt. IFCS wird versuchen, diesen Drehmomentfehler zu kompensieren, indem es andere Triebwerkspaare verwendet, um Gegenmoment zu erzeugen, und wenn dies nicht m\u00f6glich ist, wird es versuchen, den Fehler zu begrenzen, indem es die von den Triebwerken erzeugte Schubmenge verringert.\n\nBesch\u00e4digungen und andere Bedingungen k\u00f6nnen auch die verf\u00fcgbare Schubkraft, die Reaktionszeit und sogar die Genauigkeit jedes einzelnen Triebwerks ver\u00e4ndern, oder ein Triebwerk kann v\u00f6llig au\u00dfer Funktion geraten oder ganz verloren gehen. Jede dieser \u00c4nderungen hat Auswirkungen auf das Gleichgewicht des Thrusters und damit auf das Verhalten des Schiffes unter Pilotenkontrolle.\n\nKontrollmoment Kreisel\nJedes Schiff verf\u00fcgt \u00fcber ein kleines Backup-Drehmoment, auch wenn jedes Triebwerk verloren gegangen ist. Dieses Drehmoment wird durch einen Satz interner Steuerungsmomente Gyros bereitgestellt. Solange die CMGs funktionsf\u00e4hig sind, hat der Pilot immer ein minimales Drehmoment auf jeder Drehachse zur Verf\u00fcgung. Dieses Drehmoment reicht aus, um die Schiffslage zu stabilisieren, und kann verwendet werden, um unter direkter Pilotenkontrolle langsam auf oder ab zu drehen.\n\nSchlussbemerkungen\nDieses Dokument ist keine fiktive Beschreibung des Star Citizen IFCS, es ist eine genaue Beschreibung des echten Flugsteuerungsmodells, das f\u00fcr das Spiel implementiert wurde. Dieses Ma\u00df an Realismus war notwendig, um ein Flugsteuerungssystem zu liefern, das vollst\u00e4ndig in die Umgebung integriert und von der Umgebung, den Schadenszust\u00e4nden, der sich \u00e4ndernden Massenverteilung, der Leistungszuteilung, der Triebwerksposition usw. beeinflusst werden kann. IFCS ist ein emergentes System und kann daher manchmal unvollkommen sein. Aber das imitiert die Realit\u00e4t.\n\nUnd schlie\u00dflich wurden gro\u00dfe Anstrengungen unternommen, um die Steuerung von Raumfahrzeugen auf die vom IFCS bereitgestellten Befehlswege zu beschr\u00e4nken. Kein Spieler, keine KI oder gar das IFCS selbst wird jemals die Position, Geschwindigkeit, Drehung oder Rotationsgeschwindigkeit eines Schiffes direkt \u00e4ndern, mit Ausnahme von Initialisierung und Netzwerkkorrektur. Dies garantiert, dass die gesamte Steuerung der Raumfahrzeuge einheitlich ist und das Spiel nie einen unfairen Vorteil gegen\u00fcber einem Spieler hat.\n\nIch freue mich auf Ihr Feedback, da wir an der Weiterentwicklung und Verfeinerung dieses Systems arbeiten. Schlie\u00dflich ist dies nur der Anfang. Wir fangen gerade erst an!\n\nJohn Pritchett\nPhysik-Programmierer bei CIG","zh_CN":"Greetings Citizens,\nIt\u2019s really great to see so many of you taking to space to try out the first taste of what space combat will be in Star Citizen. I, like the rest of the team have been avidly watching the Twitch streams of backers playing and reading the forums for your feedback. Two of the hot topics of debate have been the Flight Model and the advantage or disadvantage of various input devices. So I thought I would take a moment of your time to share some insight on the two topics.\n\nFlight Model\nMost space games (including my past ones) greatly simplify the simulation, usually as an atmospheric flight model without gravity and air resistance \u2013 ships have predefined pitch, roll and yaw rates, linear acceleration (that is applied to a simplified point mass) and a capped top speed. When you want to turn, the joystick or mouse input is mapped directly to the specified turn rate irrelevant of the ship\u2019s moment of inertia. Damage is usually handled as a multiplier on the turn rates and linear acceleration.\n\nStar Citizen doesn\u2019t do that. We model what would be needed on an actual spaceship, including correct application of thrust at the places where the thrusters are attached to the hull of the ship \u2013 in our model moment of inertia, mass changes and counter thrust are VERY necessary. Star Citizen\u2019s physical simulation of spaceflight is based on what would actually happen in space.\n\nThere were a couple of reasons why we went this direction \u2013\n\n1. Because we were planning on modeling and simulating spaceships with a fidelity that hadn\u2019t been seen before I felt we needed a simulation that would let the player have different flight behavior if a thruster is damaged, a wing is blown off or a pilot overloads his ship with weapons and ammunition? I wanted a system that could feel distinct for a huge variety of ships, with wildly different sizes and roles because in Star Citizen you can go from a single seater ship 15 meters in length to a huge capital ship over 1km in size crewed by many players. I wanted these ships to come with their own identity and feel much like similar sized cars, even if equivalent in mass can feel radically different. I wanted ships to have their own personality \u2013 not just a slower of faster version of the base ship. 2. The second is that Star Citizen will have a significant amount of player vs. player combat. I don\u2019t know how many people played Wing Commander Armada (the first Wing Commander game to feature multiplayer) but it wasn\u2019t that much fun in battle mode (the head to head mode). When you design a single player game you can deliberately dumb down the AI to allow the player to get on the tail and shoot down multiple enemies, which gives the player a sense of achievement. There\u2019s nothing more fun than single handily clearing a wave of 10 enemy Kilrathi fighters. But let\u2019s be honest, in single player games the ability for the player to gun down waves of enemies has less to do with the skill of the player because the player is usually overpowered in respect to the base enemies he will fight. You can\u2019t do this in player vs player, and it\u2019s likely that multiple players will have the same ship. Without a sophisticated simulation and flight model, with lots of options for a pilot to fluidly try different tactics to get the upper hand the battles can end up as a frustrating stalemate when both pilots have the same ship as no one can get on the other\u2019s tail because you don\u2019t have the same forces that affect air combat (namely gravity and air resistance) to bleed energy from the maneuvers. These reasons are why we went out of our way to fully simulate the physics that would involve controlling and moving a ship in space with no short cuts.\n\nIn the very same way we also simulate the ship systems. Every function is tied to individual items that are \u201cplugged\u201d into the ship \u2013 the weapons, the thrusters, power plant, heat sinks, radar, fuel tank, batteries, targeting system, CPU, HUD and even the Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) are all items that tie into various \u201cpipes\u201d that connect the systems \u2013 there\u2019s a pipe for power, heat, fuel and CPU cycles. The targeting computer needs power from the Power Plant and CPU cycles from the Ship\u2019s Computer, positional information from the Radar to resolve targets. If there aren\u2019t enough CPU cycles to go around the targets will resolve slower, not enough power and the targeting computer may stop functioning all together. If you don\u2019t draw off enough heat from the weapons, they may overheat, malfunction or even become damaged. If one of your wings gets blown off with its attached heat sinks, you better scale back your heat output.\n\nBy fully simulating both the systems and physics of powered spaceflight we allow for a huge amount of emergent behavior and variety in the final game. Ship load out becomes very important not just for functionality but also for actual flight and responsiveness. Just like in real military aviation design, you could decide to have redundant systems for better battle survivability or you could maximize your hitting power at the expense of maneuverability.\n\nSounds pretty cool right? So why all the fuss?\n\nProper space flight simulation is inherently different than an atmospheric flight model. In space there is no aerodynamic force (lift or drag) and so both angular and linear inertia becomes much more important. Unless you apply a counter force to arrest the angular or linear momentum of an object in space it will continue unaltered. When a player pulls back on the stick the thrusters apply thrust to create rotation, which accelerates the ship\u2019s angular velocity. When you let the stick return to zero or move it the other way, the IFCS now has to apply counter thrust to first retrograde the current angular velocity and then move you towards the new desired angular velocity. Unless the ship has hugely overpowered thrusters, this will not happen instantly. As the IFCS isn\u2019t clairvoyant and doesn\u2019t know when you wish to change angular velocity it can\u2019t anticipate your actions, so unless the pilot himself eases into his desired orientation, it\u2019s likely he will overshoot it. Think of it as stopping in a car; you normally have a good feel for your stopping distance and so when approaching a stop sign you start to slow down. You don\u2019t expect to go from 50 mph to zero instantly. This behavior is quite different from an airplane which uses control surfaces that alter the airflow over the wings\/tail to maneuver. In this case the angular velocity change is normally directly proportional to the rudder\/flaps position.\n\nThis means that to a certain extent you need to anticipate where you want to be and ease into that position. If you\u2019re used to an atmospheric model when first flying in a model where momentum is much more important it is pretty easy to overshoot your desired heading. Then as the counter thrust isn\u2019t instant you can overcorrect the other way. This is why the ship can feel \u201ctwitchy\u201d when trying to line up a target.\n\nAs this is different than what people are used to, a portion of our community clearly feels the current flight model is \u201cwrong.\u201d\n\nBut if you think about what we are doing, we actually allow for a LOT more variation and nuance in flight and combat than a simplified Wing Commander\/X-Wing style flight model. Like learning to drive a car really well\u2026it requires some learning. You have to anticipate where you want to be and plan for it.\n\nDoes this mean I think the system is perfect?\n\nNo!\n\nThis is one of the big reasons we wanted to get it into all of your hands. It\u2019s been great seeing people play the game and provide their feedback. It\u2019s been really great to see quite a few people who first hated the flight model, come around to seeing its potential after some other members of the community have shared their insights. This doesn\u2019t mean everyone is sold but it\u2019s always heartening to see people being open to new possibilities.\n\nBut that doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m satisfied with where we are. My goal is to have all the nuance that I describe above for the players that want to go deep but also make it accessible in the way Wing Commander was for someone new to the game (and genre).\n\nThe key thing to remember is that the Intelligent Flight Control System is just the interface between the physical simulation of the ship\u2019s movement via its thrusters and the force they exert. It\u2019s not the model. I see a lot of posts talking about the desire for \u201cNewtonian\u201d mode. The physics simulation is already a full Newtonian rigid body simulation. For what we are trying to achieve there will always need to be a fly by wire interface between the players input and the actual physics as no human can simultaneously direct eight thrusters simultaneously, specifying their thrust and attitude to achieve desired movement. Within the confines of physical reality the IFCS can do pretty much anything we want. The key is determining what we want the player\u2019s input to map to.\n\nThe first pass of various modes \u2013 basic IFCS, De-Coupled, G-Safe and Comstab are all different modes that we felt would be useful at various times. It doesn\u2019t mean it is the end of the modes, or how they are implemented is the only way they will be. A lot of people have been asking for \u201ctrue\u201d 6DOF available all the time \u2013 basically having strafe available during normal IFCS flight mode and to make strafe additive to the ship\u2019s velocity in decoupled mode. These are all things that we will experiment with, along with quite a few other options e.g., an additional G-Safe mode that is turn limited rather than speed limited and we\u2019re also going to be playing with thruster power as currently the maneuvering thrusters are about a half to a third of the power of the main engines which is fairly overpowered Just be warned the weaker the maneuvering thrusters the more the ship will \u201cslide\u201d at speed before vectoring to the desired direction.\n\nTo give you even more insight into how the IFCS works, John Pritchett, the engineer who wrote the current implementation of the IFCS has written an in-depth piece that goes into the detail of how the system works. I hope you will all appreciate the level of detail we are aiming for in Star Citizen. Don\u2019t forget there is so much more to the game than just Arena Commander \u2013 and even in Arena Commander there is so much that cannot be appreciated yet as we are blocked by a work in progress HUD and lack of items to equip your ship with \u2013 both of which will open up new possibilities and tactics.\n\nControl Devices\nThere has been a lot of debate about mouse control vs. joystick control and the worry from some portion of the community that the mouse scheme makes the game too \u201carcadey\u201d and HOTAS users feeling that their control mechanism of choice has not been supported properly.\n\nFirstly let me state the goal for Star Citizen will be controller agnostic. No one control mechanism should have an advantage over the others. Personally I am a joystick pilot (either through HOTAS or Gamepad) as opposed to a mouse pilot. I just feel like I have more precise flight control with a joystick. In our various studios there is a huge variety of controller use \u2013 some prefer mouse, some joystick, some HOTAS and some gamepad. This is the best guarantee that any one control mode will not dominate.\n\nHaving said this we recognize that the control input schemes need work in flexibility\/customization to achieve this goal.\n\nOne of our top priorities for Arena Commander is to allow users to customize their key bindings form inside the game. We are actively working on this and hope to deliver something next month.\n\nWe also will be working on the various HOTAS profiles, as well as fine tuning the control filtering for joysticks to hopefully allow for crisper maneuvering during smaller movements of the stick. There are also some additional head look modes that haven\u2019t been implemented yet that will allow a joystick player to take advantage of the gimbaled weapons the way the mouse player can. And of course if you feel the mouse, with its greater precision allows for better aiming you could always fly the ship with a joystick and look with a mouse!\n\nYaw vs Roll\nThere has also been some discussion around the fact that yawing does not impact your pilot in terms of negative G effects (i.e. the black and red out of the vertical G forces). There are a few things to consider here. First, pure yawing turns, without any bank, are certainly possible in space, but that isn\u2019t the optimal way to turn. You can generate more thrust by combining your side and lower thrusters than you can with just your side thrusters. IFCS automatically banks a ship to optimize its turning thrust, and this is where vertical G forces come into play (note this is different from atmospheric flight where banking is necessary for turn stability). Second, the amount of bank in any yawing turn will depend on the amount of side thrust that your ship can provide, which means the amount of vertical G forces in a yawing turn will vary based on the situation. Third, black\/redout and loss of consciousness are consequences of vertical g-force exposure only, where blood is being either drained from or forced into the pilot\u2019s head. Properly constrained pilots can withstand very high levels of horizontal G forces without any significant loss of cognitive ability.\n\nFor horizontal g-forces, the limiting factor is structural. Unfortunately, that limitation has not yet been implemented in our model. Once it is, there will be consequences for extreme unbanked turns. Instead of blacking out, you might rip off a thruster or a wing from the sheer magnitude of the horizontal Gs. And if enabled, G-safe mode will guarantee the structural integrity of your ship by limiting the amount of thrust in any maneuver.\n\nTurreting\nA portion of the community has expressed concern about the ability for players to \u201cturret\u201d by going into decoupled mode and spin around to fire at their target, feeling this removes the skill level of dogfighting. I know people think this but I can assure you that in our internal multiplayer tests pretty no one exclusively decouples and \u201cturrets\u201d as they would get destroyed very quickly. The key to surviving a dogfight is about being constantly on the move and not being predicable with your movements \u2013 sitting still or moving in a constant vector (which is what happens when you decouple) will get you killed. Decoupled mode is best used by going into briefly for a quick orientation change then dropping back into coupled mode. As we tweak the power of the maneuvering thrusters to make the main engine more significant going into decoupled mode, making a quick orientation change and going back into normal flight will be a great way to maximize your available thrust for a quick vector change. I know that some people think that being able to change your orientation much quicker than you can in an atmospheric flight sim makes the game easy but this is a space combat simulation NOT an atmospheric flight simulation and the ability to decouple your orientation from your velocity vector is absolutely something that would be used \u2013 and don\u2019t forget a huge amount of the community demanded to be able to do the maneuvers you loved from Battle Star Galactica!\n\nGimbaled Weapons vs Fixed\nIn Arena Commander V1.0 (and Star Citizen as a whole) there will be both fixed weapons and gimbaled\/turreted weapons. The fixed weapons will have a slow auto convergence of perhaps -\/+ five degrees to allow them to focus at a point that is user definable (defaults to half maximum range) or will adjust to the distance of the current target. We didn\u2019t have time to finish this feature so for v0.8 we just made all fixed weapons gimbaled in order to not give the Hornet a huge advantage over the Aurora and 300i. This is not the long term plan.\n\nFixed weapons will have a lead indicator (just like in a real combat aircraft). We are also considering altering how the gimbaled guns look reticle operates. Right now you just have to place it over your target and the targeting computer gimbals the guns to achieve that firing solution, when the dotted lines collapse inside the reticle it means that all guns have achieved the solution. We are thinking about making it so you have to place the look reticle over the lead indicator in order to achieve the firing solution.\n\nThis will allow a pilot who is not using the full power of his gimbaled guns (it\u2019s not always easy to aim and fly into two different directions or if you\u2019re in a combined look and fly mode like the \u201cFreelancer\u201d mouse mode) to fly in a more optimal manner for leading the target (you want to heading at where the target is heading not where it is now)\n\nAs for people thinking that gimbaled weapons spoil the \u201cskill\u201d in the game, gimbaled \/ turreted weapons are a mainstay of current military equipment and will likely be even more so in the future. That doesn\u2019t mean a hit is automatic. The weapon still has to come to bear on the target and you have to be pointing your ship\u2019s nose in such a way as the firing solution can be met. And that\u2019s assuming the target doesn\u2019t start changing course or speed erratically!\n\n\u2014 Chris Roberts\n\nIn Star Citizen, IFCS is a flight control system that is designed to assist the pilot in operating a spacecraft. It translates a pilots control inputs into thruster operations to accomplish a designated command, even under a sub-optimal or failing propulsion system. It is an adaptive system that uses a combination of sensors and feedback control to drive the error between the goal state and the actual spacecraft state to zero. It is fault tolerant, in that it can adaptively utilize any combination of thrusters and its backup Control Moment Gyro to compensate for the failure or loss of one or more thrusters and keep the craft stabilized and, if possible, under pilot control. Even with a single thruster remaining, a pilot can, with some difficulty, actively control his or her spacecraft.\n\nIFCS Subsystems\nIFCS is comprised of many subsystems that work together to provide a pilot with spacecraft stability and control. These include:\n\nPropulsion and Attitude Control (PAC) \u2013 PAC includes, typically, the full set of thrusters, which provide both translational and rotational action, and a backup Control Moment Gyro (CMG) unit which provides supplemental attitude control. It also includes the circuitry and control software that drive these units.\n\nPrimary Control System (PCS) \u2013 The PCS provides an interface between the pilot and IFCS. It translates a pilot\u2019s commands into control actions that are applied to a virtual control frame which represents the ideal goal action of the pilot. The virtual control frame consists of a goal velocity along any combination of axes, goal rotation rates about any combination of axes, as well as a reference attitude. This virtual frame represents the ideal state of the craft under perfect control, and all pilot input is applied relative to this virtual frame, thereby limiting the effect of external error on pilot control.\n\nReaction Control System (RCS) \u2013 The physical state of the PCS virtual frame is controlled by the predicted thruster and CMG output in response to pilot control. Under ideal conditions, the PCS frame attitude will be perfectly synchronized with the actual attitude of the spacecraft. However, factors such as sub-optimal thruster response or failure, external forces such as weapons fire, missile explosions, etc., can cause the real attitude of the craft to deviate from the virtual attitude. When this happens, it is the job of the Reaction Control System to drive the error between the two attitudes to zero. It attempts to do so using both thrusters and the Control Moment Gyros. If it fails to synchronize the attitude of the real and virtual frames within a reasonable time, it may reset the virtual frame attitude to that of the real spacecraft in order to avoid pilot disorientation.\n\nAnti-gravity System (AGS) \u2013 The AGS detects and compensates for gravity, and, in general, any other continuous external force, allowing the spacecraft to maintain its position relative to the field\u2019s source.\n\nTurn Control System (TCS) \u2013 TCS assists the pilot in achieving stable turns. At high speed, a spacecraft\u2019s thrusters may not provide enough force to hold a stable turn, causing the ship to slide, often resulting in a collision. A pilot will normally decrease his or her speed when turning, but TCS can manage the throttle for you by automatically setting the forward velocity to match the desired turn rate given the level of turning thrust currently available. The system takes into account the optimal banking thrust in calculating the sustainable turning velocity.\n\nG-force Control Mode (GCM) \u2013 GCM is a safety mode that attempts to limit a pilot\u2019s exposure to potentially dangerous levels of g-force. The primary danger for a fully constrained pilot is prolonged exposure to vertical g-forces which can cause blackout, greyout, redout, disorientation, loss of consciousness, and, if not corrected, even death. Horizontal g-forces of an extreme nature are also avoided, as they can cause both physical harm to a pilot and structural damage to the spacecraft.\n\nIn addition to these standard subsystems, other functionality may be implemented for more advanced systems.\n\nIFCS Operation\nIFCS takes as input a pilot\u2019s commands, which may include a variety of operations, but are ultimately translated into 3 degrees of translation and 3 degrees of rotation. Additionally, other pilot inputs may be used as parameters in various phases of the IFCS control system.\n\nOnce the input values are modified by IFCS modes such as Turn Control and G-force Control, speed limits are imposed, etc., the modified inputs are passed into the Primary Control System, which includes both a linear and angular velocity PID controller. These control functions calculate the optimal force and torque which, if applied at the ship\u2019s center of mass, will provide the motion requested by the pilot.\n\nSimultaneously, attitude readings are passed into the Reaction Control System where a positional PID controller is used to drive the ship\u2019s real attitude toward a goal reference attitude provided by the PCS. The control function outputs a torque that will optimally decrease the attitude error over the next time step.\n\nFinally, a reading of persistent force fields, typically gravity, is passed into the Anti-gravity System which calculates the necessary counter-force.\n\nOnce the desired forces and torques have been calculated, propulsion resources are allocated to them in order from highest to lowest priority. AGS force is allocated first, as failure to generate sufficient counter-propulsion could be catastrophic. Next, RCS torque is allocated, drawn from primary propulsion first, then falling back on CMG torque if insufficient propulsion is available. Next, PCS rotation control is allocated, again drawing upon primary propulsion first, CMG torque next. And finally, at the lowest priority, translational control is allocated.\n\nAfter a short time, once the propulsion system has acted on the IFCS commands, sensors read the ship\u2019s actual state, which may vary from the expected state because of propulsion malfunctions, uncompensated external forces, etc., then feeds the results back in to the IFCS control loop and the process repeats.\n\nVelocity and Attitude Control\nBecause IFCS cannot rely on the propulsion system to deliver the requested control, it uses a PID feedback controller to minimize the error between the desired state and the measured state. Such controllers are used by the Primary Control System to calculate the optimal force and torque to carry out the pilot\u2019s control commands, as well as the Reaction Control System to maintain attitude stability.\n\nPID controllers can be tuned to provide a range of response characteristics. Using velocity control as an example, an overdamped controller will accelerate quickly toward the reference velocity, overshoot, then oscillate as it settles into the final velocity. An underdamped controller will accelerate more slowly, settling into the reference velocity without any overshoot. A critically damped controller will accelerate at the optimal rate to settle in minimum time without any overshoot. The Primary Control System controllers that provide linear and angular velocity control are dynamically tuned. Based on pilot input magnitude, they can range from a subtle to aggressive acceleration response. In addition, individual pilots may prefer a more or less stiff acceleration response.\n\nThe actual response time of IFCS controllers is dependent not only on the tuning parameters, but also on the response time of its propulsion system components.\n\nPropulsion System\nThrusters\nThe primary component of propulsion on most ships will be the thruster. The Star Citizen flight model provides a 100% accurate thruster model that takes into account the location of each thruster relative to the ship\u2019s true center of mass, and the maximum thrust capacity and response time of each thruster. Under ideal conditions, the thrusters will generally be balanced about the ship\u2019s intended center of mass. This allows the ship optimal thruster control. In this sample image, the top rear thrusters are balanced about the center of mass and will generate a zero sum torque about the z axis.\n\nAfter suffering damage, the center of mass may shift, destabilizing the thruster system. In the following image, the thrusters are no longer balanced about the center of mass. When firing the thrusters, the ship is subjected to non-zero torque, resulting in an unintended yaw. IFCS will attempt to compensate for this torque error by using other thruster pairs to generate counter torque, and if unable to do so, will attempt to limit the error by decreasing the amount of thrust generated by the thrusters.\n\nDamage and other conditions can also change the available thrust capacity, response time and even accuracy of each thruster, or a thruster may become completely non-functional or be lost altogether. Any of these changes will have an effect on the thruster balance and therefore how the ship behaves under pilot control.\n\nControl Moment Gyro\nEach ship has a small amount of backup torque available to it even if every thruster has been lost. This torque is provided by a set of internal Control Moment Gyros. As long as the CMGs are functional, the pilot will always have minimal torque available on each axis of rotation. This torque is sufficient to stabilize the ship\u2019s attitude, and can be used to slowly spin up or down under direct pilot control.\n\nFinal Notes\nThis document is not an in-fiction description of the Star Citizen IFCS, it is an accurate description of the true flight control model implemented for the game. This level of realism was necessary in order to deliver a flight control system that could be fully integrated with and influenced by the environment, damage states, changing mass distribution, power allocation, thruster placement, etc. IFCS is an emergent system, and therefore may be imperfect at times. But this mimics reality.\n\nAnd finally, great effort has been made to limit spacecraft control to only the command pathways provided by IFCS. No player, AI or even IFCS itself will ever modify the position, velocity, rotation or rotational velocity of a ship directly, with the exception of initialization and network correction. This guarantees that all spacecraft control is consistent and the game will never have an unfair advantage over a player.\n\nI look forward to your feedback as we work to refine and polish this system. After all, this is only the beginning. We\u2019re just getting started!\n\nJohn Pritchett\nPhysics Programmer at CIG"},"links_count":0,"comment_count":770,"created_at":"2014-06-16T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"11 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-08 05:03:07","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":13950,"next_id":13952}}