Outerra forum

Anteworld - Outerra Game => Tech demo, support, updates => Topic started by: zuluknob on March 01, 2012, 04:38:51 pm

Title: Flight
Post by: zuluknob on March 01, 2012, 04:38:51 pm
Using keyboard the plane constantly pulls to the left and pitches up no matter what the direction of travel.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Luishi5k0 on March 01, 2012, 06:11:56 pm
Yep, same with me. Like I said in the other thread, flight physics settings are messed up or they actually do that in real life, which I don't think is the case.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: PRiME on March 02, 2012, 01:00:11 am
Strong cross-winds maybe? LOL

Plane seems to work fine for me however the helicopter seems pretty hard to control, constantly spinning out so not sure what I'm doing wrong there.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: SpaceFlight on March 02, 2012, 03:13:07 am
Using keyboard the plane constantly pulls to the left and pitches up no matter what the direction of travel.

The plane pulling left should actually be correct, because the propeller spin on small single engine planes pulls it to the left. It has to do with the direction the propeller is turning in.

The pitching up, I don't know.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: zuluknob on March 02, 2012, 04:56:06 pm
well i kind of fixed it....i created a new airoplane with http://jsbsim.sourceforge.net/aeromatic2.html (http://jsbsim.sourceforge.net/aeromatic2.html) and gave it a rollsroyce jet engine. and replaced the xml for the cesna

Gain some altitude before spawning as it takes a while to get up to speed
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Luishi5k0 on March 02, 2012, 05:04:36 pm
Feel free to post that bad boy here. I want to try it too. Never mind, see you posted it. Thank you.

Those settings caused my airplane to fall like a brick.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: rubbish on March 03, 2012, 08:07:40 am
Yep I have the constant pitching up problem as well.  In both the cessna and apache.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: zuluknob on March 03, 2012, 09:00:58 am
not sure if it's the problem or not but some of the xml's for flight gear have a point mass for the pilot of 168kg. i suppose if it's missing it could cause the pitching up. will try moving the mass of the engine forward as outerra crashes with a point mass included in the xml for the plane.

i have tried to replace the cesna's xml with the spec of a f-22 but from the runway it forces itself into a right hand spiral. i wonder if both engines are being started when pressing e. it settles down once its up to speed but is practically impossible to take off from a runway
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: [deleted] on March 03, 2012, 09:10:14 am
Yep I have the constant pitching up problem as well.  In both the cessna and apache.

There is a button to trim them. Check in options.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: zuluknob on March 03, 2012, 09:32:33 am
trim dosen't work if your using keyboard
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: zuluknob on March 03, 2012, 08:13:25 pm
Feel free to post that bad boy here. I want to try it too. Never mind, see you posted it. Thank you.

Those settings caused my airplane to fall like a brick.
the sngine sounds like its running but its not so start it and pageup a few times to get full throtle. also spawn at a much higher altitude so it has chance to get up to speed. it was just messing about to find out what was causing the pitching up and the rolling left. have made a another one but it has some other problems.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: angrypig on March 04, 2012, 01:32:30 pm
Yep, same with me. Like I said in the other thread, flight physics settings are messed up or they actually do that in real life, which I don't think is the case.

The plane physics works perfectly normal. There is no support for trim on keyboard yet so the plane will always go up on full throttle. Solution is simple do not fly with full throttle. The constant pull to the left is caused by propeller and is usually corrected with trim too.

I will try to add some kind of automatic that will handle trim in keyboad mode.

trim dosen't work if your using keyboard

Trim currently work only if it is mapped to joystick's HAT button...

Plane seems to work fine for me however the helicopter seems pretty hard to control, constantly spinning out so not sure what I'm doing wrong there.

The helicopter has no automatic anti-torque control so it has to be corrected manually all the time in hover. In forward flight those forces are eliminated and the helicopter behave more like a plane.

Btw there is unfinished KBD support for the helicopter so don't try to fly without joystick.

Title: Re: Flight
Post by: zuluknob on March 04, 2012, 06:58:09 pm
ok, cool. I would guess that most people playing anteworld will do so with keyboard/mouse so some fly by mouse control would be nice. I have modded the xml to give the plane a f-22 spec(ish) with 2 engines. any idea why it spins off the runway when taking off? only thing i can see is that it has 2 engines. everything else is in balance, unless your code takes the actual model in to account. not that any of this should concern you while the game is this far along, just curious.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: SilentEagle on March 04, 2012, 07:37:14 pm
I don't believe it's possible to fly anything (successfully lol) with more than one engine.  The start engine button only seems to start engine 1.  I modified the flight gear f-22 model to work in Outerra and was thoroughly disappointed when i could control it :p
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: zuluknob on March 04, 2012, 08:12:13 pm
if you can get it airborne and up to speed it works.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Edding3000 on March 04, 2012, 08:27:25 pm
Look up cruise power settings for the cessna. Planes are made in that way that no rudder has to be applied (or rudder trim) in cruise.

It is correct that the p-factor (propwash) will give the movement to the left, and this is most prominent at high power settings with low airspeeds. A lot of airplanes dont have rudder trim, so the solution is to apply right rudder, and keep the ball of the turn coordinator centred. Wings level + ball centred, should make you go in a straight line through the air!
The pitch is indeed probably due to not trimming out the airplane with the stab-trim.

Trimming out an airplane is one of the most important things to ALWAYS do. Always fly a trimmed airplane.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: zuluknob on March 04, 2012, 09:56:40 pm
A few things come to mind... 1. Anteworld is set in the future so i doubt that they would be flying round in a Cessna. More like star trek shuttle-craft. 2. As i have said most people will play it with mouse/keyboard so I'm glad they are putting in a auto-trim. 3. Realism is one thing fun is another. For those of us without a joystick/yoke fighting real-world mechanics is a pain and takes away from the fun..As i understand it Anteworld isn't a flight sim. The solution i found was to mod the plane, lots more fun zooming about at 600kts (till i ran out of fuel) without fighting the plane
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: PRiME on March 04, 2012, 10:04:03 pm
There is a balance between simulation and gameplay. A game can have many realistic simulations while still being fun, the issue occurs when the player is forced to remember 100 key combinations and finicky things JUST to get a vehicle moving or in the air. Most flight mechanics in the future will be completely and utterly dominated by computer systems, having manual control systems simply as backup or more direct control for when the need comes.

I think Outerras mechanics should follow this, however in no way should it be turned into arcade fantasy/fiction were the player must only press forward button to WIN game. Simulation can be fun if done correctly.

For example I loved T34 Vs Tiger were you had to control rev of engine and change up and down gears, it was fun and felt cool having such fine control of the engine. Also a player may be able to choose between Arcade or Simulation realism options sometime?
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: mctash on March 04, 2012, 10:14:54 pm
I think the lines are blurred between Anteworld and the engine in general at the moment. Alot of the flight model stuff is being recommended by people who are obvious enthusiasts (like me :) ). If i recall one of the objectives of Anteworld was to get the engine ready for futher modding and so it is kind of relevant if only from a developement point of view.

I do think you are right though. Anteworld itself should have a more forgiving flight model due to the different audience it will attract.

Title: Re: Flight
Post by: SilentEagle on March 05, 2012, 12:41:37 am
Since you asked for it, here's an extremely simplified arcadish flight model of the Cessna (think Battlefield 3...kinda).

The use of rudder while flying is not as necessary with this flight model and the pitching effects due to build up of airspeed are not as drastic.

In case you're wondering what was changed, here's the list:

Side_force_due_to_aileron         (REMOVED)
Side_force_due_to_roll_rate       (REMOVED)
Roll_moment_due_to_beta         (REMOVED)
Roll_moment_due_to_yaw_rate   (REMOVED)
Roll_moment_due_to_rudder       (REMOVED)
Yaw_moment_due_to_aileron      (REMOVED)
P_factor                                 (Changed from 10.0 to 0.0)
Pitching_moment_at_zero_alpha  (Changed from a simple function to a complex function involving airspeed that attempts to level your pitching axis at all airspeeds - not perfect but much "better")
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Luishi5k0 on March 05, 2012, 12:50:34 am
Can you do anything about the helicopter SilentEagle? That would be fantastic!
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: SilentEagle on March 05, 2012, 12:55:57 am
I can't even fly that thing, so I don't know what to do about it.  I know how to fly a helicopter but that thing is definitely FUBAR.  I can't seem to get any significant yaw rate going in forward flight, so I have to resort to trying to roll the helicopter to turn it, which induces a large left sideslip that makes me fall out of the sky.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: ZeosPantera on March 05, 2012, 03:40:51 am
Anteworld is set in the future so i doubt that they would be flying round in a Cessna. More like star trek shuttle-craft.

Well actually if the original mission sent everyone into space there may not really have been any need for in-atmo flying. A star trek like shuttle craft would just have used gas thrusters to nudge itself around and weight in space wouldn't have even been an issue.

Not to say the landing crafts used to explore other worlds can't be in-game but I think they will run on much more traditional or near-future technology.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: angrypig on March 05, 2012, 04:39:05 am
I can't even fly that thing, so I don't know what to do about it.  I know how to fly a helicopter but that thing is definitely FUBAR.  I can't seem to get any significant yaw rate going in forward flight, so I have to resort to trying to roll the helicopter to turn it, which induces a large left sideslip that makes me fall out of the sky.

There is the "auto hover" feature which holds the heli in a stable position haven't you accidentally enabled it (default mapping is to Joystick/Btn0) ?
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: [deleted] on March 05, 2012, 11:07:49 am
Since you asked for it, here's an extremely simplified arcadish flight model of the Cessna (think Battlefield 3...kinda).

Battlefield 3 ??!?!?!? If you are going forward and you pull down, the jet keeps going forward for some seconds. Ahahaa, I really hope this won't happen with anteworld  ;D
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Luishi5k0 on March 05, 2012, 10:31:13 pm
Is there any way more information could be added to the HUD read-out, or another option to bring up more input info. I want to see what the mixture is, what the status of flaps are, what throttle % is. It feels like I don't know everything I wish to know about my flight or if everything is working. This is just an idea, not a big priority but would be nice for seeing if everything is working right.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Jagerbomber on March 05, 2012, 10:34:59 pm
NO! THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO WAY! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!  ;)
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: ZeosPantera on March 06, 2012, 12:07:35 am
NO! THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO WAY! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!  ;)


Down boy.. Down. The sarcasm. Your going to upset the internet noobs again!

But seriously. I will modify/delete your posts if you aren't adding to the conversations.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: RaikoRaufoss on March 06, 2012, 12:21:45 am
Luishi5k0, I imagine that what you want could be done.  As for Jager and Zeos... I'm not sure what to say. ???
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Jagerbomber on March 06, 2012, 12:45:07 am
 :(  IIIII'm soorryyyy...  ::)

What's wrong with being literal?  ;) hehe
[/sarcasm]
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: angrypig on March 06, 2012, 08:24:56 am
Hi guys, i have added the status window which shows plane/heli parameter changes and every status line will completely fade out after 4 seconds. This feature will be available in the next update.

fading status (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGhmzhw8WEM#ws)
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: mctash on March 06, 2012, 09:04:17 am
Hi AngryPig.

Would it be possible to get some input options to step the throttle up and down? I have a joy pad so when I press throttle up button it goes to 100% and I have to hold it down to maintain power. It would be nice to press a button to increase or decrease throttle value by 10%.

thanks

Title: Re: Flight
Post by: angrypig on March 06, 2012, 09:44:05 am
Would it be possible to get some input options to step the throttle up and down? I have a joy pad so when I press throttle up button it goes to 100% and I have to hold it down to maintain power. It would be nice to press a button to increase or decrease throttle value by 10%.

I just fix this issue. Joystick buttons should work in the same way as keyboard keys now.  It will be available in evening update.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: mctash on March 06, 2012, 10:33:11 am
Thanks! :)
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Jagerbomber on March 06, 2012, 12:27:44 pm
He's done the impossible!  ;D ;)

Can we get MPH on the HUD please?  :)
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: angrypig on March 06, 2012, 01:36:11 pm
MPH for plane? hmm
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: lonewulf47 on March 07, 2012, 03:07:45 pm
MPH for plane? hmm
Well, yes, not really for a Cessna though. MPH and KTS are commonly used although KTS is more or less standard nowadays - even in General Aviation planes. In the eastern world of course still km/h is used as well. To be honest: I would suggest to make the dimension tags on the HUD selectable through a menu. More important to me is that the indicated speed in the HUD is strictly Ground Speed. Everthing else is not really useful.
Title: Re: Flight
Post by: Edding3000 on March 09, 2012, 02:12:49 pm
MPH for plane? hmm
Well, yes, not really for a Cessna though. MPH and KTS are commonly used although KTS is more or less standard nowadays - even in General Aviation planes. In the eastern world of course still km/h is used as well. To be honest: I would suggest to make the dimension tags on the HUD selectable through a menu. More important to me is that the indicated speed in the HUD is strictly Ground Speed. Everthing else is not really useful.
Ground speed in a cessna?