Turret steering is a script that came with the latest version of the Discovery mod that allows you to map left, right, up, and down flight control keys. These keys can be used in normal view to turn and maneuver but that doesn't really help you much in combat. The most important thing you can do with these keys is maneuver the ship while you are in turret view mode. This allows freighters, transports, and capital ships to actually turn and move around while keeping their guns trained on the attacker. How do you do it?
By default the keys are not mapped, you will have to hit F1 and go to the options menu and find the steering commands under the control tab. I found that it is best to assign them to JKIL (this will not override any useful controls, I think the trade invite key and the 'Fire Forward' keys are all that get overridden), J being left, L being right, and you can pick what key you want to pitch up and down with the K or I (I have K as pitch up, because I play too many airplane games). This next part I have to credit Veygaar for. Now with your JKIL keys mapped, you will not be able to hit your thruster and fire unless you have three hands, so map your Thruster On command to ; and set your secondary Thruster (do not remap TAB) key to ' and your Reverse Thrust command to . (period). In addition, in turret view you can hold down control [CRTL] and scroll the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Note: Freeflight mode must be enabled at this time in order to turn the ship without turning the camera. What good does this do?
Now the main thing is it allows you to rapidly change vector while keeping your guns on a target. It might not sound like much but the ability to fire while dodging really mixes up the normal tactics. Ships used to either have to fire or evade, not counting strafing... usually you would have to be in normal view to pull off evasive maneuvers. Now you can while firing back. The days of the transport guns suddenly going silent (as they attempt to dodge) as your bomber fires a SNAC are gone. Same with cruisers stopping their attacks as they dodge your mortars.
Strafing will not be easily available to you unless you have three hands, but here are some basic maneuvering ideas. Use your thruster on and your reverse thrust command to keep your speed up and rapidly slow down, this can allow you to dodge SNACs and mortars in a similar way that strafing normally allows. Rapidly pitch up and down, "dolphining" is a good way to avoid fire without having to strafe. Orbit your target to keep moving while keeping the fire on them, this makes evasive action a lot harder for the target if they are a big ship. Consider using the 'Go To' command and turning cruise off, that way you can maneuver for a few moments and let your ship automatically start heading towards your destination again. Turret steering can be disorienting, and having a place to go or just a thing to orient yourself to is going to help you out. Finally be sure to keep your turret arcs in mind now, as you will not be worrying about what points forward as much anymore with this feature, you may want to consider spreading out your weapons so one type doesn't have a blind spot. In addition you can zoom out in order to make it so your ship model is not occupying as much space on your screen, allowing you a clearer field of view.
LOL Fine sir, well what makes you think that turret steering is a game changer?
More advanced tactics are likely to be discovered in the future as more and more people start using the feature. This is just a starter guide so you guys can learn how to use it in the first place.
Keyboard steering was in the game before 86 (might even have been in vanilla). I used it with transports and caps for a long time.
Turret steering is new. Also zooming in turret view is new. These two together allow you to move the camera around so you can see your target at all times, whereas normal and cockpit views only let you see space directly in front of you.
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