Ok, I'm having trouble getting the hang of this...

I'm playing with the 'keyboard only' control setting, and I just can't figure out how the throttle system works, specifically, what I have to do if I want to fly at a certain fixed speed. When I press W, the ship just keeps accelerating faster and faster, until I release it, when it slows down toward 0 again. The way I read the manual, I thought pressing W is only supposed to accelerate me up to a certain point?

Pressing + and - on the numpad doesn't seem to have any effect whatsoever, wether I do it while holding W or not. Can anyone help me out?

EDIT
Further investigation revealed that the +/- keys -were- in fact what I was looking for, and the config file was just not set up properly -_-



Although I'd still like confirmation on wether flying backwards is only possible by using the manual thrusters, and it's thus seemingly impossible to have a set negative speed?

It's much better to avoid using the throttle and use the manual overrides instead.

Alright, thanks

I suggest using the throttle lever ONLY for manual LDS speed control. At all other times, you should be using the thrust overrides. It's easier and doesn't have an arbitrary speed limit.

Unless you're using some half-assed "arcade" mode in the first game, there are NO practical speed limits in conventional (not LDS) flight. Just keep inertia in mind when you're trying to attain those high speeds.

Oh, and I would highly advise going into the control .ini files and binding keys/joystick axes to vertical (Y-axis) thrust override, because for whatever reason, there aren't any by default. (Why the series has no in-game control panel for setting binds is beyond me, but at least the .ini files are easy to work with and provide lots of flexibility. It's just that having to restart the game to test control changes can be a pain.)

to fly backwards and set speed or pivot on your centre axis without effects on direction of travel, either toggle (N) or hold (num5) to turn the flight assist off, this will allow you to travel backwards at speed you set using the forward/reverse thrust (w/s). Good for dashing past ships and spinning for a shot to the drive, or turning to fly sideways past a cruiser or carrier to strafe its sides.

XD used to love my flights aboard the good ship "lamb chop"