X-Force Dokumentation - XForceTutorial.ArcadeKampf

Just as some added info that was posted only in german until now: The Arcade Mode is scheduled to be removed after we got a better simulation or several simulation modes.

There are many reasons for this decision, but the two most important ones are problems with game balance (a good arcade player could destroy UFOs which are three times as powerfull as his fighter, while a bad arcade player would loose with good fighters to the weakest UFOs) and the fact that most players (at least on the german forums) would prefer a simulation with a few buttons for tectics to an arcade style battle.

Arcade Mode can be a bit overwhelming at first, but after a few rounds through it can be much more effective than the Auto-Combat option, generally taking less time and resulting in less damage to your ship. You might want to start a game just to practice, ignoring everything else except ship-to-ship combat.

The controls are relatively simple. The ship always faces the targeting crosshairs, which are controlled by the mouse. The left mouse button activates the forward thrust, and the right mouse button fires the weapons. Additionally, if you have a manuevering thrusters (which are highly recommended), the Z and X will slide your ship to the left and right, respectively.

An effective strategy against most, if not all ships, is to equip weapons with a good firing range, and constantly slide (either left or right, it doesn't really matter), keeping the crosshairs on the alien craft with the mouse. This causes you to circle the enemy ship, and once you are in range, fire away.

Combat usually moves too fast to worry about them, but the top of the screen shows the status of the two ships (yours on the left, alien on the right), both in terms of hull (the top bar) and shields (the bottom bar). The bottom of the screen shows the status of your weapons.