Manual Vehicle Control

[Dagger]

Hey folks, new to the forum but a long-time fan of Apoc. Just getting back into the game after finally getting it to work with XP.

 

Was reading some different strategy guides out on the net and noticed a lot of talk about manual vehicle control, saying it is more efficient when targeting structures and even UFOs. Anyone find any truth to this, and if so how does one engage manual control and operate the vehicle that way?

 

Any advantages, disadvantages, etc. of using it? Let me know.

[FullAuto]

Good point, actually, my copy of Apoc doesn't have a manual. Welcome to the forums BTW.

[Pete]

I seem to remember it was something as simple as selecting the vehicle and pressing M, or maybe Control, ALT or Shit and M, and then using the arrow keys to drive.

 

With a maneuverable enough craft you could dodge pretty much anything. Unfortunately, maneuverable enough means you have to pretty much have the Retaliator or better...

 

I'd test it, but it's a bit late here. Might check it out tomorrow.

 

And indeed, welcome to the site

[FullAuto]

I seem to remember it was something as simple as selecting the vehicle and pressing M, or maybe Control, ALT or Shit and M, and then using the arrow keys to drive.

 

Y'know, my keyboard is quite new, but I don't see a 'Shit' key anywhere...

[Pete]

Oh my god I just nearly wet myself (non alcohol-related). Must've missed the F when I was typing (definitely alcohol-related ).

 

You're just too quick off the mark

[FullAuto]

And they say old games are easy. I don't know of any modern games that require you to pinch off a length in order to gain manual control of a vehicle.

[Pete]

I dunno, I recall taking manual control of a vehicle in Apoc and almost "pinching off a length" as I almost forget there's a building in the way.

 

I really can't recall whether you can crash or not... I'd do a test, but I don't think I'll be able to get the CD into the drive in my current condition. Actually it's probably in the drive, but my mouse skills are quite poor right now given that all my attention is being directed solely to the keyboard and not making any more stupid typos

[NKF]

Well, manual control works mainly for controlling a single ship. Use the page cursor buttons to change speeds and change elevation. These controls can be used for lane control and turning for road vehicles. If you somehow manage to get control of an overspawn, it can be used to make it charge through a building instantly and out the other side with some damage - but this also tends to crash the game at times, as it is not something you're meant to be able to do!

 

One thing about manual control is that you can use it to push your selected ship to its maximum speed - most AI controlled ships appear to fly a few points just under their maximum speed limit.

 

Manual control has its uses. For example, flying your ship up to a strategic location, hovering and then firing continuously without the silly dance that the AI ships like to perform, and completely waste their firepower (i.e. fly towards target while shooting, get up close, stop shooting, turn around, fly away a bit, turn around then repeat). This can actually be achieved by having the ship park in mid air in the right facing, but with manual control, you can have it zip off at any time with one hand on the keyboard and not have to muddle with the go-to controls.

 

No, no crashes. Your ships are absolutely indestructable in that respect - until a building falls on them.

 

Now, for group control, this links up ALL your ship weapons and you can fire them all at the same target. Your leader ship, the more distinct selected unit in your group selection (ctrl+click can change the leader, if it wasn't ctrl, try experimenting with the alt key) , will be under manual control, and all the AI ships will fly around this ship and follow it wherever it goes. The weapon systems for all the ships will be linked to the leader unit and will attempt to fire wherever it fires. This has the potential for a massive amount of friendly fire if you have too many ships swarming around you (i.e. 16 hoverbikes...ugh), but it's fantastic for a small fleet of Hawks, Explorers, Retaliators or Annihilators - basically anything that can mount medium disrupters.

 

The last major use of manual control is to forcibly attack the city and destroy the exterior of the buildings.

 

- NKF

[Dagger]

The last major use of manual control is to forcibly attack the city and destroy the exterior of the buildings.

 

- NKF

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah I have heard that it is the most efficient way to destroy structures as you can purposely target support struts and attack the right sections to bring down the entire building quicker than the AI can. Any truth to this in anyone's experience?

[Pete]

Ah yes, it was collapsing buildings I was remembering...So much devastation...

 

And Dagger - I've tried levelling all Cult of Sirius buildings on the earlier settings just to try and keep them out of the game for a while whilst they rebuild. It's fun, but they usually have powerful allies elsewhere in the city on the harder settings.

 

If you can bring down the buildings in time, you can usually destroy any craft that are trying to come out and defend it as well in the ensuing collapse.

 

The one thing that is worth noting though is that usually if you have Retliators or Annihilators doing this job, they take a while to stop shooting after they've finished off the building. They never seem to be very good at precision shooting, so try and get them to stop if you think the building's coming down or you may end up taking out the senate or something else important

[Kret]

Not sure about air vehicles, but ground vehicles can crash. Just try playing chicken with a griffin against a civi ground hoverbike...