I realize Star Citizen's all about the machine I'm driving, currently... but that's because Star Citizen is still suffering from the legacy of its narrative-game military-cousin, Squadron 42.
In S42, as it's abbreviated, the player flies the status-relative ship and shoots the shit that the game throws at him. The story-machine knows where you are and can offer you timer'd events to deal with. It's all basically scripted, even getting into and out of the cockpit of your various vehicles is cinematically rendered, barring a little A.I. to add flavoursome richness to any generally vanilla gaming curve.
Star Citizen is a SANDBOX of opportunity for the plucky freelancer i.e. a very different beast.
And why not push the player through that very different beast in a very different, and unified, way. Whether you're walking along in your panties or flying the biggest ship in the 'verse, it shouldn't feel any different. It should feel instinctive, "I want to be over there," and the options (based on your approach speed) should offer the sandbox's goodies. We all know the Star Citizen engine has a certain amount of ray-tracing into the scene, where a series of options can be chosen from within the camera frustrum, but this is about unificaiton of control methed across all modes of transport.
Let's anagramise it TBMHO or TheBlindMansHandsOut control prototype.
In this TBMHO mode, a player is non-descript. His 'eyes are shut' though. At rest he has 'arms of length l' and these arms are out in front of him, or her.As he moves his arms get longer, feeling out into the world for oppoprtunities.
Situational feedback is essential for the TBMHO player.
Doors know when to open, this happens already. But additionally, if that door or canopy is attached to a ship it can flip open for you. Hell, the speed you're running at, you'll probably be here by the time the ship's unloaded its ladder. Gunfire can be heard, and your heart rate is through the roof. Ship should Flight Prep while it's waiting for you to jump in. And you could jump in, you could launch yourself onto the ladder and 'the fastest animation associated with that ladder' can be played. And it will know when/where you hit the animation curve for this ladder so that it can seemlessly blend you to the point in the canned anim for that vehicle's ladder. You should be able to break out of any canned anim at any time, too. I mean what if there's a snake in your seat? Or an enemy with a Glock.
But TBMHO is more fundamental than this. You're TBMHOing after you've mouseroll'd i.e. moving forward. You are stopped in your tracks. F-look up = feedback noise of vibration. Press the up key. Now, where does this UP key come from? It's the same verticle/horizontal STRAFE key you'll use whether you're in-suit or in-ship. It's all contextual, dependent upon your approach speed or ray-traced vector, and your vehicle. In fact, if you're walking or running up to the wall, you should be notified later or earlier, respectively. Up-strafe in this context means you climb up a ladder.
