Howdy CIG and my fellow Citizens, This post is not merely gameplay feedback. it's to indicate that hovermode is in fact broken and needs some specific fixes. I'll explain why as best I can; First, addressing the GitGud™ crowd. I can land in a Lorville hangar, and have landed a Caterpillar at Area 18. I'm on HOTAM, and my throttle is a CH Products Pro Throttle, with custom configuration including strafe controls and thruster power limiter assigned to the ministick. I've been flying in-game since before the PU (Arena Commander), so I do know how to use Hover Mode. The trouble is that it's broken. Where it's not broken, it's poorly-conceived and badly-executed. 1. Although I have a method to land in a vertical hangar the first time, every time—it's still very non-ideal, overly-punishing, slow, tedious, and unfun gameplay. It's very stilted and looks bad to the outside observer. This is because I have to rely on spacebrake to stop me mid-flight and level me while I attempt to get eyes on the hangar in first-person mode. Then, I use the thrust limiter (which is erroneously called an acceleration limiter sometimes) to lower myself gently in to the hangar as I release the space brake to align myself further with the opening or landing zone (LZ). This is not ideal, and the ship fights me in a way where I can't just do a smooth, low-and-slow approach with nose down as was possible (and fun) in 3.5.1. As many have said, mastering hover mode is less the issue. It's the fact that even when mastered, it's tedious, punishing, not fun, and removes one's ability to land with fluidity and style. I spent a couple hours at Lorville yesterday just watching pilots try to land in vertical hangars. At least 3-4 of them exploded in the short time I was there, and one reported being sent back to P.O. Objectively, this is not good gameplay, and it's related primarily to hover mode (which is the number one feature-complaint people have here on Spectrum). Note, the hover mode complaints have hundreds of upvotes, collectively, far exceeding other complaints. 2. Egress from a vertical hangar is literally broken for many of us, but this problem does not manifest itself for everyone. Obviously, the procedure in theory is simple. Comms ATC to open hangar doors, power up ship (or use flight ready), set speed limiter, and strafe straight up. This does work for some people who wonder what all the fuss is about. Trouble is, it does not work for me at all this way. Here's my experience; I do all of this and when I use my throttle bind to strafe straight up, the ship hurtles forward at 20-30 m/s and in to a hangar wall which cannot be mitigated with strafe. The ship can then clip in to the wall, causing destruction of property and death if/when the ship explodes. This happens over and over in the same way, with different thrust-limiter settings. I've destroyed many ships this way because my 'strafe up' just doesn't work as expected. A kind user showed me how to lock out the right mouse using R SHIFT (with zero feedback that this is on) and to reset the ship's 'level' by using space brake. This sometimes results in a predictable strafing behavior. This proves that my strafe is not double bound to afterburner or forward movement, but this is inconsistent and when it doesn't work, my ship is in the hangar wall. The obvious fix here is that a strafe-up command should never send a player anywhere but straight up. Ideally, this should work regardless of ship attitude with hands on the mouse (pitch and yaw), since tilt-strafe is an abomination that needs to die. That said, this is a huge problem with hover mode and it's causing many of us no small amount of grief as we try to exit a vertical hangar at LOR or A18. Adding to that, IFCS (Intelligent Flight Control System) should never send us in to a hangar wall anyway, just as a Tesla Model 3 in 2019 knows to stop if a collision ahead is imminent. Nobody would tolerate this level of mayhem in 2949 where anyone with a job can buy a spaceship. Things would be easier in the future, not absurdly complex or working at cross-purposes with pilot commands. 3. There's really no reason to have a hover MODE in 2949. Ships are covered in thruster tech which can lift the very largest ships out of atmosphere (ships which can land anyway). We're talking 890 Jump and beyond. There shouldn't be a mode, just a transparent system in the background making use of technology from circa 2949, cameras, sensors, AI, machine-learning, GPS data, etc. This would be unimaginably good 930 years in the future. So, if a pilot wants to do a nose down low and slow approach to a hangar, the IFCS would make this possible insomuch as thrust-vectoring, physics, and fuel allow. My recommendation is to reward efficient flight with less fuel usage, but let pilots show their style and grace where the IFCS supports their reasonable inputs instead of forcing us to adapt to the absurdly strict level requirements that is hover mode. IFCS adapts to pilot, not the other way around. The pilot could be an elderly person or a kid who 'borrowed' mom's ship, but that's how good IFCS should be in 2949. Granted, some skill should be required for advanced maneuvers, but this is a game where many people are using different control schemes, and it has to be fun. The 'hover mode is realistic' defense is invalid, because the entire game is Handwavium™. It is 2019, and spaceships like we own in the 'Verse don't really exist. So, it's okay to veer from Michio Kaku-level physics to allow a pilot to see their LZ, especially if they want to stay in first-person view and in the absence of a HUD to show nearby hazards, pads, hangar walls, etc. Think of 'hover mode' as traction control. You don't have to think about it. It just works in the background to keep you and your car on the road. IFCS should be working in the background to execute the pilot's inputs. If a pilot needs to be nose down on approach to vert hangar, then the thrusters accommodate this. Rotating VTOL thrusters may make this easier, but it all happens in the background. Smaller ships may have thrust vectoring as we see in their animations. Fuel-usage is a variable, but players would be happy to use more fuel than to be sent 30 m/s in to a wall or landing on a light pole when lowering in to the general vicinity of a pad they can't see. The reliance on third-person view is a workaround or a 'cheat', and is immersion-breaking for many. This shows the weakness of hover mode and a lack of HUD, and is not valid gameplay for those who don't want to feel as if they're playing a third-person console game. 4. There may be something happening with control schemes that causes issues with hover mode; HOTAS, HOSAS, HOTAM (me), M-KBD, Gamepad, etc. Those who say there's no issue with hover mode must realize that for some, this is a replicable issue and needs to be addressed. For me (strafe controls on throttle), I get the same results every time, regardless of ship. I strafe up out of hangar, no hands on mouse, and BOOM my ship hurtles forward at 30 m/s in to the hangar wall. I understand that this isn't everyone's experience. My strafe works fine and predictably in space and is not double-bound. 5. The fact that a mouse lockout is needed is proof that hover mode is broken. Hover mode should at the very least respect throttle setting and speed limiter. This would allow the user to react to any 'drift' from hover mode based on tilt-strafe, but tilt-strafe should not be in the game at all. Let the user strafe on his or her own. These are spaceships, not helicopters. 6. Mining. I initially melted my Prospector because of hover mode, but it's mostly workable now IF you're landing on or near a level surface. The problem is, moons and planets are not tabletop level. Any kind of tilt causes the tilt-strafe abomination of hover mode to send your ship reeling in some random direction, can flip you over, make you spin on your canopy, or rolls you off your gear. This is even with engines on and zero throttle and zero thruster power. This is a huge problem, because it's hard to get close to rocks which are near too many angles or slopes, or where your best sightlines to the rocks are on an incline. Tilt-strafe is yet again a huge issue here. 7. Improving hover mode to make it fun again; if my ship is nose down 20 degrees and I strafe forward, then my ship maintains that attitude whilst I strafe in any cardinal direction. This allows sightlines for the pilot whilst respecting how strafe should work. Tilt-strafe (a function of hovermode) is an abomination, as it results in wild loss of control and isn't easy to control, nor is it easy to control with any visibility. Any ship which can hover should be able to hover with attitude with thrust-vectoring tech and IFCS 930 years hence. Keep all VTOL animations intact, same animation rigs, but let's remove the punishing barriers and overly-strict 'level' requirements, let's restore control and sightlines to pilots, and let's make flying fun again. All told, even once we 'master' hover mode, it's still bad and needs a serious overhaul. It should work transparently to the pilot, should not be a 'mode' at all, the IFCS should support pilot inputs (with fuel usage penalties for inefficient flight, granted), and all of this will be more fun whilst introducing a better sense of travel scope to the game and the ability for pilots to land or take off with style again. Not to mention, the easier people can move around, the more engaged they will be in all mission types, from cargo hauling to box missions to purchasing items from LOR, A18, etc. Hover mode as-is will repel people from areas which are beautiful and which CIG has worked hard on, because being unable to land means being sent back to P.O. or wherever one woke up. This works at cross-purposes to existing backers, and is an inelegant and harsh barrier to entry for new players. Thanks for reading.