Basic Ship Information

Ships in XLR differ from your normal Freelancer ships in many ways, the most drastic being the ability
to now swap out engines which then in turn will normally change your cruise speed and other engine controlled dynamics like overall shipdrag and needed power to cruise. Other additions are the modular power/shield systems setup on every ship, these are used to counter flaws in the stock powerplants and shields.. encouraging exploration and experimentation was the goal here.. and besides.. its fun

Ships are classed into category's and that category determines what you can mount, this is not to say i nuttered the lower classes.. flying a starflier is still fun and able to mount some big weapons and decent addons.. but its still a starflier.. and can be swatted away in a bigger ship easy enough.. It'll never be a Anubis, even with all the "special" upgrades.. Classes are as follows

SHIP CLASSES

LF = Light
SC = Scout
INT = Interceptor
MF = Medium
MR = Multirole
HF = Heavy
VHF = Very Heavy
BMR = Bomber
LTR = Light Trader
HTR = Heavy Trader
GB = Gunboat
ARM = Armored Trans
LTN = Light Trans
HTN = Heavy Trans
STN = Very Large Trans
FRG = Frigate
CR = Cruiser
DS = Destroyer
BS = Battleship
DR = Dreadnought
SDR = Super Dreadnought
BSE = Base

One final note.. It's entirely possible to cripple your ship with a bad setup.. but that's kinda like life really.. put the wrong fuel injector in your car.. & you'll do much the same thing.

XLR introduces a new way to fly, something that should have been apart of the game from the start really

Roll + 8 way strafe ~ Courtesy of Adoxa

This will take a while to get used to and in most cases.. force you to use a better mouse than a 3 button cheapo, I for one went and blew $140 AU on a MX just to use it all from the mouse.. but you can get good results from setting your keybindings as well (think old school Freespace/X-series schema) by the time of release i'll hex edit the Autolevel out as well.. as it plays havok with the roll at times.

Now some pointers as to how to get the most out of this new way to fly

1. Map your controls to something you'll naturally feel at game time, the last thing you want is to be looking for controls during a firefight.. sit for more than a second in XLR.. and your toast (most days)

2. A good friend once told me this gem "think of a sword and your ship as the blades edge/tip" this is most relevant now with 8 way axis strafe.. anyone who's ever studied martial arts knows about the Octagon, if you haven't.. you should look it up, I practice the "Octagon" frequently now in my GSX the same way i used to go outside and swing a sword (stick really lol) you'll find your getting hit ALOT less and feeling the kill ALOT more.. stick to 4 way and no roll if you like but come server time.. you'll regret it when faced with an opponent that has become one with the new controls.

3. Roll works best from inside the cockpit at this time and is always on in this mode, you'll have to switch it on in exterior mode and the game engine sometimes forgets you have it on.. hopefully there will be a hack/fix for this soon.

That about covers the basics of the new flight dynamics, a simple addition that adds alot of feel and style to what you can do.. and yes.. you too can now turn on a dime like the NPC's have for years.. time to give some back to them pesky pilots and there fancy moves.