PioneerWiki - User contributions [en]

Talk:Interacting with the game: Event-based programming

2016-02-09T08:00:03Z

Diederick: Created page with "The code examples seem to be outdated. I got this working: local Event = import("Event") local Comms = import("Comms") local welcome = function() Comms.Message ("..."

The code examples seem to be outdated. I got this working:

local Event = import("Event")
local Comms = import("Comms")

local welcome = function()
Comms.Message ("welcome to Pioneer!")
end

Event.Register("onEnterSystem", welcome)

Manual

2016-02-09T05:59:25Z

Diederick: /* Sector Map (F5) */

Pioneer is a space adventure game set in the Milky-way galaxy at the turn of the 31st century. The game is open-ended, and you are free to explore the millions of star systems in the game. You can land on planets, slingshot past gas giants, and burn yourself to a crisp flying between binary star systems.

This reference manual provides a brief overview of the game.

== Main menu ==
[[File:00_main_menu.png|right|600px]]
* '''Quick Load''': Loads the game you saved using quick save (ctrl+F9)
* '''Start at Earth''': You start the game in the Solar system, on Earth, at London Spaceport with an outfitted [[Sinonatrix]]. It can be considered an easy start. Sol is the capital of the Solar Federation
* '''Start at New Hope''': You start in Epsilon Eridani, the capital of the Commonwealth of Independend Worlds. Your [[Pumpkinseed]] stands on Itzalean Spaceport on New Hope. This is a bit more difficult starting point than Earth. Itzalean is in an area of frequent solar eclipses.
* '''Start at Barnard's Star''': You start on the dock of High Security Prison Tranquility, orbiting Barnard's Star, not far from Sol. You have a poorly outfitted [[Xylophis]], so you can consider it a difficult start.
* '''Load Game''': You can load previously saved games here. Saves created with older versions of Pioneer might not load. This usually happens when some major thing changes in the game.
* '''Options''': you can access Pioneer's [[Settings Menu]]. You can set up graphics, controls, volumes or language for example.
* '''Quit''': Exit the game.
* '''Build''': this number is the build of the game you are running. Basically a version number, useful for reporting bugs for example.

==Flight==
Flight physics in Pioneer is Newtonian, which means there's no arbitrary limit to speed, orientation or position. The ships don't slow down in space, until it actively thrusts in the opposite direction it's flying. Or hits something. Ship acceleration depends on ship mass and engine thrust.
Speed only have a meaning relative to something, so you have to pick a point of reference. This is automatic, based on the distance to the bodies. You can reach very high speeds compared to what we are used to here on the face of a planet. On the magnitude of thousands of km/s.

There's an aided flight mode which compensates for the drifting in the vacuum of space, called Set Speed mode. It tries to maintain a set speed to the direction the ship is facing, using the maneuvering thrusters. The performance of this aid varies ship to ship, and the cargo load could also have an impact on it.

Ships in the game are quite powerful in terms of acceleration, cargo and delta-v capacity compared to real spacecrafts. It's entirely possible to travel to the edge of a star system even with the smallest shuttle. It will just take significantly more time.

Gravity is simulated on a two-body level. You can orbit any planet or moon, but only the closest body's gravity affects your ship. This is the same body you measure your speed to. This also means that you have to take the planets gravity into account when you are flying close to it, landing, or taking off. You can also use this to your advantage to alter your course using less fuel for example.
Distances are realistic, so space travel can take several days or even weeks in a large system. Time could be accelerated up to 10000 times to shorten travel for the player. This doesn't correspond with any device or technology in the game universe though. It's just a UI/Gameplay feature.

===Flight UI===
Beginners are strongly recommended a look at the [http://pioneerwiki.com/wiki/Basic_flight Basic flight] article, to learn how to control the ship.

When you pick your starting point, you will get behind the controls of your ship.
[[File:Manual_flight_ui_01.png|right|600px]]
There are several things on the flight UI:
*'''Prograde marker:''' The direction you are flying relative to the point of reference,
*'''Speed relative to reference body''': The speed of the ship relative to the point of reference (''"System"'' in this example).
*'''Prograde marker & speed (target)''': Direction and speed of the ship relative to the target (which itself moves around a star for example)
*'''Heading''': Only shown, top centre of screen, when close to planet (not shown in screen shot here). Can switch reference system by clicking it to be either in planetary coordinates, heading 0 = north, 90 = east, 180 = south, 270 = west; or in system-wide coordinates, heading is on the celestial sphere (defined by the ecliptic)
*'''Pitch''': Only shown, at right centre of screen, when close to planet (not shown in screen shot here). Shows elevation of ship direction over horizon.
*'''Target''': The navigation target, selectable by using the Left Mouse Button. You can set any body or ship as the point of reference with Ctrl+Left Mouse
**'''Distance to target''': Shows the distance to the selected object. The unit is km for shorter distances and AU for large.
*'''Speed lines''': A visual aid showing the direction and speed of motion.
*'''Fuel reserve''': The % amount of fuel (propellant really) the tanks contain. You can refill it during flight using the Info View screen (F3). Spaceports refill it automatically if you have enough money ($6 or less, depending on station). Note that it only shows %, but your actual deltaV can be more since you continuously expel propellant, so your craft becomes lighter.
*'''Scanner''': Scanner display which shows nearby contacts. Only works if the ship has a Scanner equipped. This area also shows any messages you receive, like completion or failure of a mission for example.
*'''Dashboard:'''
**'''Date, Time and time acceleration controls''': [[File:Manual_flight_ui_02_time.png]]
***Shows the current date and time.
***The Pause, Play, and Fast Forward buttons can be used to speed up time to shorten long trips. Or to wait for better missions or ships on a station. Maximum level of time acceleration might be restricted, especially in the vicinity of stations or planets. Pressing the pause again while paused brings up the settings.
***This restriction could be overridden by holding ctrl when activating it. Use this with caution, because it could easily wreck your ship.
**'''Screens''': [[File:Manual_flight_ui_03_screens.png]]
***These buttons provide access to certain screens like Info View or Maps. You can also use the corresponding F-keys to access them. From left to right:
*** '''View''' (F1): Switches between internal and external views. You can switch back to these views from any other screen using this button or key.
*** '''Maps''' (F2): Sector and System Map and System information screens. You can plan your trip here.
*** '''Info''' (F3): Information screens, about the ship, the player, missions, cargo and crew.
*** '''Comms, Station screen''' (F4): Opens communications and autopilot controls during flight or Station Screen while docked to a spaceport.
**** There are six attitude (ship facing) options meant for orbital operations:
***** Prograde/retrograde: faces the ship in/opposite the direction that you are traveling (changes the height of the orbit)
***** Normal/anti-normal: faces the ship in the direction [anti-]normal to your orbital plane (changes the orbit inclination)
***** Radially in/radially out: faces the ship toward/away from the orbited body
**** If the ship has an autopilot installed, it there are also options for automatically flying the ship into a low/medium/high orbit, flying to the vicinity of the navigation target, and flying to the navigation target and docking.
**'''Controls''': [[File:Manual_flight_ui_04_controls.png]]
***These are flight related controls, corresponding F-keys could be used also.
*** '''Flight Mode''' (F5): Switches between ''Set Speed'' and ''Manual'' flight mode. Also switches off the autopilot or could be used to undock or take off.
*** '''Landing gear''' (F6): Rises or lowers the landing gear (undercarriage).
*** '''Hyperdrive''' (F7): Engages hyperdrive. Needs a reachable hyperspace target selected on the Sector Map, and enough fuel for the trip.
*** '''Low Thrust''' (F8): Sets the percentage of low thrust (Thrusting while holding Left Shift)
*** It also displays the desired speed in Set Speed flight mode. On this image it shows the flight mode, which is set to manual.
*** The small '''circular button''' next to the flight mode display show the status of the rotation damping.
*** The '''[!]''' next to the rotation damping indicator shows your alert status.
***[[File:Manual_flight_ui_05_controls.png]] These are controls for Scanner mode, Missiles and equipment (ECM) and Messages respectively.

===Combat===
Combat in Pioneer is quite straightforward right now. You can buy Pulse cannons or Plasma accelerators of different power and fire rate, if your ship has mount for them. Some ships have a rear mount too. Cannons generate heat when fired, and they need some time to cool down. They can not be fired if they are overheating.

You can also buy several types of missiles, which can be fired using the '''M''' key, if you have a combat target. An ECM can provide protection against missiles by overloading their guidance.

You can target any ship as combat target, using your '''Left Mouse Button'''(which doesn't change the Navigation target). The ship's computer displays the speed of the ship relative to your vessel, and it's distance. There's also a lead indicator, a little cross which shows the predicted location of the target. This is the spot where the ship will be in theory based on it's speed and direction, when the projectiles reach that distance. It's harder than that though, since no sane enemy will fly in a straight line at a constant speed. You shouldn't do that either, and this is where your maneuvering thrusters can be very useful.

Ship durability is determined by it's hull's mass. Lighter ships can take less damage, but they are more maneuverable generally, then a behemoth transport, which might withstand sever punishing before giving in. You can repair any damage you suffer on spaceports, but it will cost you.

There are several additional equipment that can increase your chances in a firefight (and make your life harder if your opponent has them):
* '''ECM''': Electronic countermeasure against missiles. The Advanced ECM provides protection against more sophisticated missiles.
* '''Hull Auto-repair system''': As the name implies, it slowly repairs any damage your ship took. It weights 40t, so smaller ships can not have it.
* '''Hypercloud Analyzer''': You can get readings from a hyperspace cloud remnant, like destination and arrival date. It's useful if you need to follow somebody.
* '''Laser Cooling Booster''': Speeds up the cooling of cannons, so continuous firing can be maintained longer.
* '''Scanner''': A sensor system that shows the ships and objects around you. A form of radar basically.
* '''Radar Mapper''': Provides additional information about the combat target, like the type of ship, mass, condition among others.
* '''Shield Generator''': Projects a protective screen around your ship, which can take a certain amount of damage before collapsing. It recharges slowly over time. You can mount several Shield Generator to increase its power.
* '''Shield Energy Booster''': Increases the effectiveness of the shields.

===Flight controls ===
A brief summary of flight controls. A more detailed list can be found at [[Keyboard and mouse controls]].

*'''Orientation''':
** '''W, S''': Pitch
** '''A, D''': Yaw
** '''Q, E''': Roll
** '''P''': Kill rotation
** '''R''': toggle rotation damping
** '''Right mouse button''': hold to activate mouse control
*'''Movement''':
** '''I, K''': Forward and backward thrust
** '''J, L''': Side thrust
** '''U, O''': Up and down thrust
* '''Left Shift''': use lower thrust
* '''F8''' : Set low thrust percetangle

*'''F5''': change flight mode, or undock, takeoff
** '''Manual flight''': everything is manual
** '''Set Speed Mode''': the ship tries to maintain the set speed in the direction the ship is looking. Using the thrusters override it temporarily
***'''Return''': Increase speed
*** '''Right Shift''': Decrease speed
*'''F6''': toggle landing gear
*'''F7''': Engage hyperdrive
*'''Weapons''':
** '''Space''': Fire cannon
** '''M''': Fire missile
*'''View''':
**'''F1''': Cycles trough internal, external and sideral views. External rotates with your ship, sideral doesn't.
**'''Numpad 2 4 6 8 and 1 3''': Rotate the the external views.
**'''Numapad + -''': Zoom external views.
**'''Numpad /''': Reset view.
**'''Internal views''':
***'''8 2''': Front and rear view. You can shot backwards in rear view if you have a weapon installed on that mount.
***'''4 6''': Left and right view.
***'''9 3''': Top and bottom view.

==Map (F2)==
This is where navigation takes place. You can open the Map view with the F2 key or the button on the dashboard.
[[File:Manual_map_buttons.png|left]]
There are several maps you can use. You can reach them by using their F-key, or the button on the right side of the dashboard. If you come back to the map view you will return to the map screen you were at when you switched to another view. Orbital Map and System info shows the information of the system which is selected on the Sector map.
===Sector Map (F5)===
[[File:Manual_map_sector_01.png|right|600px]]
[[File:Manual_map_sector_02.png|right|600px]]

The sector map shows the star systems in the galaxy, and you can plot your hyperspace route here, or you can just hunt for interesting systems for later visits. Every system is indicated by a sphere. Its colour indicates the primary star type. You can select a system by clicking on it. If it's a system with multiple stars, you can cycle trough them by clicking on the system again, or you can select it on the System Info screen.

The map is divided to 8 light year cubes called sectors. Each sector has a coordinate on each axis; the origin (0,0,0) is Sol. The galaxy is not a flat disk, you can travel quite far on all three axes before you reach the edge of it.
'''Map view UI:'''
*'''Current system''': The system you are currently in, with sector coordinates and a brief info about it. The button next to it centers the view on it.
*'''Hyperspace target''': The system selected as hyperspace target. Shows the coordinates, distance, fuel and travel time needed to reach it, and a brief info about it. It can be locked with Space bar, that way it stays as target even if another system is selected.
*'''Selected system''': Shows the same info as Hyperspace target if that's not locked. If locked, it shows the same info for the selected system. Useful for system comparison or travel planning.
*'''Map view settings''':
**'''Draw vertical lines''': draws a vertical line from the stars in range to the plane of the map to show the height relative to that plane. Clarifies system positions a bit.
**'''Label out-of-range systems''': Toggles label display for systems that are out of range. The map only shows labels for systems in range by default, so it's a useful option if you look for a specific system for example.
**'''Label uninhabited systems''': Toggles label display for systems that are uninhabited (no settlements, spaceports).
*'''Hyperspace range''': the map draws a transparent sphere to show which systems are in jump range. Jump range depends on hyperdrive class, fuel on board and the total mass of the ship.
*'''View position''': On the lower left corner, distance and coordinate data are displayed regarding to the current view.

'''Map controls:'''
*'''Translation''': You can move around on the sector map using the '''arrow keys''' and '''Page Up''' and '''Page Down''' for vertical (forward/backward) movement. Movement is based on the view rotation.
*'''Rotation''': The view can be rotated with the '''W A S D''' keys, or with holding the '''Right Mouse button'''.
*'''Zoom''': You can zoom with the '''+''' and '''-''' keys, or with the '''Mouse wheel''', or using the two buttons on the top right.
*'''Faster controls''': Holding '''Shift''' speeds up movement and zoom. Use '''Right Shift''' for smaller speedup and '''Left Shift''' for quite fast movement.
*'''Selecting system''': Moving around on the map will automatically select the system closest to the center of the view. You can also select any system with the mouse.
**'''Selecting another star''' In a system with multiple stars (Binary or tertiary systems), you can cycle trough each star by clicking on the system again until you find the one you want to travel to.
**'''Lock selection''': You can lock your selection as the hyperspace target with the '''Space bar'''. This allows for selecting another system to plan a route, or could be useful for comparing systems.
**'''Center''': Pressing '''C''' centers the view on the system you are in. '''G''' centers on Selected system and '''H''' centers on the Hyperspace target.
*'''Reset view''': '''R''' resets view rotation, and zoom.
*'''Search''': You can type in the name of the system to the Search field on the lower right and it will select the system if it can be found. Note that it doesn't search the entire galaxy, only in a few tens of sectors range. You can also enter coordinates to move the map to any area.
*'''Tab''': Switches the left side info panel to faction filter.
'''Zooming out far'''

Zooming out far switches to an overview that only shows color-coded dots for systems based on faction, and brings up the faction filter to the right where you can hide any faction. Map controls are the same as before.

===Orbital map (F6)===
[[File:Manual_map_orbit_01.png|right|600px]]

You can switch to the Orbital map using F6. It shows the to-scale orbital map of the star system selected on the Sector map. It is useful for in-system navigation. It shows your current position and your course of movement, and the orbit of every body (star, planet, moon, space-station) in the system.

'''Controls''':
Controls of the orbital map are a bit different from the Sector map.
*'''Selection''': You can select any orbital body using your '''Left Mouse button'''.
*'''Targeting''': Any body can be targeted by holding '''Shift''' while selecting the body.
*'''Translation''':The view is always centered on the body selected. You can't move the view.
*'''Rotation''': You can only rotate the view by holding the '''Right Mouse button'''.
*'''Zoom''': You can use the '''Mouse Wheel''' or the buttons on the top right for zooming. Shift accelerates zoom similar to the sector view.
*'''Time controls''': You can use these buttons to check the position of the bodies in the system (including your ship) in any given time. The button in the center resets it to the current time. This is useful for planning a flight. The set time is shown above the current time on the left.

The Orbital Map shows your position and course in the system, relative to your reference body, be it a stable orbit or an escape trajectory. You can use this to fine-tune your path while you are traveling to your destination for example. Or you can just check if you managed to achieve a stable orbit.

Time controls work on this too, you can check where you will be at any given time. Note that this course display might change when you switch reference bodies, for instance when you get close to a planet.

===System info (F7)===
[[File:Manual_map_info.gif|right|600px]]
This screen shows detailed info on the system. If the system has multiple stars, you can select which one you want to be the hyperspace destination, by clicking on it.

F7 switches between these views:

*'''Planetary info''': Shows a general system description. Hovering over any body with the mouse displays more detailed information, like orbital parameters, temperature, atmosphere composition. It also shows the star-ports on the surface of the body. Bodies that have settlement are circled for easier spotting. In systems with multiple stars, the one currently selected as hyper jump target is indicated with a square centered on it.

*'''Economics info''': Shows exports, imports of the system, and the illegal goods. Exported items are cheap, imported items are expensive, so this is a crucial screen for trading. Illegal goods can only be bought or sold at black market retailers found on the star-port BBS. Be careful though, some retailers are undercover cops who will fine you if you attempt to make business with them. Illegal items are based on factions. If you have selected a system other than the one you are currently in, it will compare imports/exports between them and mark commodities of special interest with Green (best, e.g. major export in system A is a major import in B), or white (Major/Minor export in A is a Minor/Major import in B). For Illegal goods only gray or red is used to show if it is legal in one of the systems but illegal in the other.

*'''Demographics''': Shows information on the system, like population, government type and faction.

===Galaxy map (F8)===
The galaxy map shows an overview of the whole galaxy, highlighting your current position. Brighter areas generally have more stars than darker areas.

==Info View (F3)==
You can access various information by pressing F3, or the Info View button on the dashboard.
===Ship Information===
[[File:Manual_infoview_01_ship.png|600px|right]]
[[File:Manual_infoview_02_commander.png|600px|right]]
[[File:Manual_infoview_03_cargo.png|600px|right]]

Shows information regarding your spaceship
*'''Hyperdrive & Hyperspace range'''
The class of hyperdrive installed on the ship. Higher class hyperdrives are heavier, but can jump to greater distances. Common hyperdrives consume Hydrogen, which can be bought on stations, or could be scooped from the atmosphere of gas giants, if the ship has a Fuel Scoop installed.

Military Drives are generally faster, but they use Military fuel, which is more expensive and harder to obtain. Military drives turn fuel into Radioactives that you need to get rid of.

Current Hyperspace range is displayed based on current ship mass and the amount of fuel in the cargo hold. You can see the theoretical maximum range shown in brackets. This changes as you fill your ship with cargo or fuel.

*'''Mass data'''
** Weight empty: Dry mass of the ship, without any cargo or propellant.
** Capacity used: Used and available cargo and equipment capacity of the ship.
** Fuel weight: Amount of propellant, and the maximum capacity of the tanks. Propellant is Hydrogen. Tanks are refilled upon docking or landing on a station, if the player has enough money ($1-6 usually). It's possible to buy extra Hydrogen in the Commodity Market for manual in-flight refill.
** All-up weight: Sum of hull, cargo and propellant mass.
*'''Weapons'''
Cannons installed on front and rear facing hard-point.
*'''Fuel & Delta-v'''
Propellant and delta-v reserves.
Delta-v shows, how much speed change can be done using the propellant in the tanks. Generally, more delta-v means faster in-system travel.

For a brachistochrone transfer (accelerating halfway, then decelerating) you can use up half of the delta-v. If you exceed that, then you will be unable to stop your ship. It's useful to save a good amount of delta-v (about 500-1000 km/s) for course corrections and landing.

Delta-v display doesn't take additional Hydrogen in the cargo hold into account, so refueling with Hydrogen can increase it. Ship mass can also change delta-v capability dramatically.

You can [[Hydrogen_scoop|scoop Hydrogen]] from the atmosphere of a gas giant, if you have Fuel Scoop installed.

You can mine water in the field, if you have a Mining Blaster and Cargo scoop. You need to find a planet that has water (a smaller moon or dwarf planet is easier to mine), shoot the surface and collect any water that's blasted out from it.
*'''Accelerations'''
Shows the acceleration the ship is capable of with it's current load. Displayed both in m/s^2 and Gee. A ship with higher acceleration will feel faster, especially around station. It affects travel times less then delta-v.

If Up acceleration is higher then the gravity of the planet, then the ship might not be able to take off or land, especially using the autopilot.

Acceleration increases while the ship uses its propellant, and can be further increased by jettisoning cargo. Selling cargo or equipment can help too.

*'''Crew'''
Minimum crew shows the needed head count to fly the ship (currently ignored). Crew cabin shows the crew capacity of the craft. Crew are useful in multiple ways, but you have to pay them weekly.

Crew can control the ship, engage the enemy or repair damages. Each crew member has strengths and weaknesses, their abilities improve by time.
*'''Equipment'''
Shows the list of installed equipment. These equipments enhance your ship's capabilities, and can even add functions to it.

===Personal Information===

Shows information about your character.
Currently you see your combat rating, reputation standing, and rank (however, the rank can not be changed in the game yet, and doesn't influence the game either).

Reputation affects mission availability, and can be increased by completing missions or donating to charities. Failed missions decrease your reputation.

You can also change your name, gender and face.

===Economy & Trade===

Shows the contents of the cargo hold in detail, and allows in-flight refueling.
You can find the list of cargo in your hold, and you can jettison any of them here while in flight. If you have Cargo Scoop installed, you can even retrieve the jettisoned cargo.

Refueling transfers 1t of Hydrogen, if available, to the propellant tanks.
Available and occupied passenger cabin space can be checked here too.

===Missions===
[[File:Manual_infoview_04_missions.gif|600px|right]]
Shows information about accepted missions. You can check the destination and deadline here, and you can see additional information about each mission, using the More info... button on the right.

You can find and take all kinds of missions on any star-port's BBS, but be sure to check if you and your ship is capable of completing it. Failing missions decrease your reputation, which makes it harder to find lucrative offers, so it will be harder to regain your reputation, so be cautious.

===Crew Roster===
[[File:Manual_infoview_06_crew.gif|600px|right]]
You can access information about your crew. It shows the salary which you need to pay them weekly. If you can't pay for a while, they will get off on the next port, with some of your reputation.

Some ships need multiple crew members on board even to fly it (this is ignored right now though), and they can perform several tasks, like piloting, engaging in combat or repairing the hull or failed equipment.

== Station view (F4)==
[[File:Manual_station_bbs.png|600px|right]]
[[File:Manual_station_market.png|600px|right]]
Access this screen with F4 or the comms icon on the dash board, while you are docked to a space-port, be it a surface base or an orbital station.
All screens show the cargo and passenger capacity of your ship, your money and legal status in the footer.

=== Lobby ===
It's a good idea to request launching clearance before taking off. The station dispatcher will stare at you until you get embarrassed and go about your business.

=== Bulletin Board ===

You will find missions of all sorts here on the BBS. Keep in mind that some might not be suited for your ship in terms of distance and deadline. Some missions are in-system, and will not require any hyperdrive, but will in turn pay less. You should check the system map even in this case, because planets might be in opposition on their courses and you end up traveling across the whole system which can take a while even with a high delta-v ship.

Some missions are riskier, so it's always a good idea to ask if there will be any danger, so you can prepare properly, or avoid the mission altogether until you are better rigged for combat for example.

Local hyperdrive maintenance companies offer their services here too. Old drives may start to misbehave, so if you don't want to strand yourself in the interstellar void, don't forget regular maintenance.

Charities can also turn up from time to time, asking for money for their cases. Donating to them could increase your reputation.

When you start a new game, you will not have any reputation, which must be earned by taking on missions (or donating to charities). You can see your current reputation standing in your personal Info view. Reputation affects what kind of missions you can take on. Completing a mission will increase your reputation, and opens up more job opportunities, and failure decreases it, narrowing the available mission after a while.

Some stations have private black market goods dealers who trade in illegal goods, although some might be undercover police.

You can also hire new crew members if you are in need. Make sure to have good candidates on the BBS before buying a new ship. You can make them sit a test to show their abilities (though those doesn't affect the game right now), and you can negotiate their pay too.

If no mission suits you, then something new might pop up over time. Missions that require better reputation are grayed out, and the advertiser won't talk with you much.

=== Commodity Market ===

You can buy and sell commodities here. Keep in mind, that a heavy ship will have shorter hyperspace range. You can also buy Hydrogen or Military fuel for your hyperdrive here.
You just need to click on the name of the commodity on the left side to buy 1t of it. The contents of your cargo hold are on the right side, clicking on any item will sell 1t of it. Buy and sell prices are the same right now.

Prices depend on the type of the system. Agricultural systems will pay a lot for farm machinery for example, and you can buy cheap foodstuff. An industrial system on the other hand sells cheap machinery, and pays good money for food. You need to scout out lucrative routes for yourself if you want to turn profit.

Illegal goods can't be found on the market, you need to look for a black market retailer on the BBS. Note that one item can be completely legal in one system, but illegal in another.

=== Shipyard ===
[[File:Manual_station_shipmarket.png|600px|right]]
You can buy ships here, trading in your current ship with all of its additional equipment or cargo.
You can check out the capabilities and stats of the ships offered for purchase, much like the information you have on the Info view screen. The ''After Trade-in'' is the final price you need to pay, and if it's negative, it means your current ship worths more then the one you are looking at. Trade-in value is about the half of the list value of any ship.

Ships are traded continuously, so you just need to wait a few hours if there's nothing interesting there, and new vessels will turn up.

=== Equipment Market ===
Buy/sell equipment for your ship. Equipment market works similar to the commodities market. Left side shows what's available on the station, right side shows, what's installed on your ship.
Each equipment has a certain mass, so they occupy space on the ship much like cargo. heavier ships are harder to maneuver, and their delta-v and hyperspace range also decreases. You can't remove any equipment while you are flying, except for using missiles.
Equipments add extra capabilities to your ship, like radar and targeting information, autopilot, cargo and fuel scooping ability. You can buy weapons, shields and some upgrades to these too.

=== Ship Repairs ===
Maintaining your ship is important, unless you want to be stranded in an uninhabited system or interstellar space due yo your hyperdrive failing.
You can repair your hull here too, if needed.

=== Police ===
If you have any fines you need to pay them or else risk getting shot down by some restless police officer.
You can get in trouble for trading with illegal goods, or even if you accidentally fire your weapon near any settlement. In the later case it's better to run, then pay the fine later.

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3

2013-09-17T18:44:57Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Vertical roll (yaw)

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face the station and assume relative position. Request docking clearance.

Use your side thrusters to yaw left ('''A''') until your ship is pointing at space left of the station. Now accelerate. Keep going for a second or two, then decelerate again, assuming relative position to the station again.

Use the opposite side thrusters to yaw right ('''D''') until your ship is pointing at space just right of the station. Accelerate, go forward and decelerate until you have once again assumed relative position to the station, exactly on a line extending from the station's center through the middle of the entrance into space.

Extend your landing gear. Now yaw left and see if you can dock. If you can't, repeat the last step but with a really low speed until you're aligned perfectly. This is useful exercise, so try and get this really perfect.

----

[[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|< Last: Lesson 2]] | [[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Next: Lesson 4 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2

2013-09-17T18:39:42Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Landing gear
* Longitudinal roll
* Radar

Take off again. Retract your landing gear ('''F6'''). The landing gear is a surprisingly fragile part of your ship. It can easily be damaged by micrometeorites, which is why all ships have retractable landing gear. From now on, always retract your landing gear after take off, and only extend it just before you make you final approach to dock or land.

Make a lateral roll to face the station and assume relative position to the station. Request docking clearance.

Use your top and bottom thrusters to make a longitudinal roll ('''Q''', '''E'''), keeping the station in your cross-hair. Don't overdo it, your ship will drift a little and you won't be able to get back home.

[[File:axes.png|center]]

Look at the green elliptical disc in the middle of your console. The radar's disc represents the horizontal plane extending from your ship, with your ship in the center. The vertical line represents your longitudinal axis, the horizontal line your lateral axis. Vertical distance is indicated by vertical lines extending from the markers to the disc. Make a lateral roll to see how it displays the station circling around you.

The disc is exponential. The further from the center, the more distance each centimeter on the disc represents.

Face the station. Extend your landing gear (F6). Accelerate toward the station until you have a speed of about 300 m/s. Now when you're at about 1.5 km from the station, don't slow down, but align the ship with the station entrance using longitudinal rolls to enter safely.

----

[[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|< Last: Lesson 1]] | [[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Next: Lesson 3 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1

2013-09-17T18:34:46Z

Diederick: Added instruction to switch back to front view to align with the station.

In this lesson:

* Communication
* Takeoff
* Lateral roll (pitch)
* Acceleration
* Landing

You are placed in the Tranquility High Security Prison in the Barnard's star system.
First call the communication panel by pressing '''F4'''. It will look like that:

[[File:Tranquility_services.png|center|500px]]

Ask for permission to take off by selecting "Request Launch".
After you're cleared for take off, your ship will automatically start moving and leave the station. You are now in space.

You are flying in a straight line from the exit/entrance of Tranquility station into space, with a speed of about 325 meters per second relative to the station. That speed is indicated in the top left of the middle console.

Change your camera view to outside view with '''F1''' so you see what happens next. The view can be adjusted with the '''numpad''' keys.
Fire your front bottom thrusters simultaneously with your rear top thrusters '''(S)''' This is called making a lateral roll or adjusting your pitch.

[[File:Pitch.png|center|500px]]

Change your camera view to front (inside) view again. Continue the lateral roll until you see the station in the middle of the screen.

You should have the center of the station centered in your white cross-hair. If you overshoot, use your front top thrusters together with your rear bottom thrusters '''(W)''' to correct (the opposite ones of the ones you used before). As long as you hold down these buttons, you will keep rolling, but when you let go, your ship will fire the opposite thrusters to stop rolling. You just rolled around your lateral axis without actually changing direction or speed, so you are still going in a straight line away from the station.

Fire up the in-space communications console with '''F4''', select Tranquility and request docking clearance.

Fire your main thrusters until your speed relative to the station reached zero '''(I)'''. You are now holding relative position to the station.

Start firing the same thrusters again to start accelerating toward the station. Accelerate to about 300 m/s. You will notice a green cross-hair overlapping over the white one. The green one indicates what direction you're going in. When you're about 4 km from the station, fire the forward thrusters '''(K)''' to lower your speed to about 100 m/s . Then adjust your speed so that you enter with the ship aligned with the station's entrance.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Next: Lesson 2 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Tutorials

2013-09-17T18:28:31Z

Diederick: /* Basic flying tutorial */

==[[Basic flying tutorial]]==
*'''[[ Basics_Tutorial_Part_1|Chapter One: Manual Flying]]'''
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration - Landing
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go
*'''[[ Basics_Tutorial_Part_2|Chapter Two: Orbits]]'''
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Lesson 1]]: getting close to a tonne of rubbish - getting back to the station

Talk:Basics Tutorial Part 1

2013-09-17T07:22:04Z

Diederick:

Chronotan: some commenters on the forum were concerned that the entire text was somewhat long, so I moved your bit to the main page of this series: [[Basic flying tutorial]]. Hope you're okay with that!

Diederick: of course I'm okay with that. These texts are nothing more than a simple contribution in the hopes that someone might like it. Do with them whatever you feel improves them.

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3

2013-09-16T07:54:26Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Vertical roll (yaw)

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave station and assume relative position. Ask for docking clearance.

Use your side thrusters to yaw left (A) until your ship is pointing at space left of the station. Now accelerate. Keep going for a second or two, then decelerate again, assuming relative position to Lave Station.

Use the opposite side thrusters to yaw right (D) until your ship is pointing at space just right of the station. Accelerate, go forward and decelerate until you have assumed relative position to the station, exactly on a line extending from the station's center through the middle of the entrance into space.

Extend your landing gear. Now yaw left and see if you can dock. If you can't, repeat the last step but with a really low speed until you're aligned perfectly. This is useful exercise, so try and get this really perfect.

----

[[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|< Last: Lesson 2]] | [[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Next: Lesson 4 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2

2013-09-16T07:43:52Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Landing gear
* Longitudinal roll
* Radar

Take off again. Retract your landing gear (F6). The landing gear is a surprisingly fragile part of your ship. It can easily be damaged by micrometeorites, which is why all ships have retractable landing gear. From now on, always retract your landing gear after take off, and only extend it just before you make you final approach to dock or land.

Make a lateral roll to face the station and assume relative position to the station. Ask for landing permission.

Use your top and bottom thrusters to make a longitudinal roll (Q, E), keeping the station in your cross-hair. Don't overdo it, your ship will drift a little and you won't be able to get back home.

[[File:axes.png|center]]

Look at the green elliptical disc in the middle of your console. The radar's disc represents the horizontal plane extending from your ship, with your ship in the center. The vertical line represents your longitudinal axis, the horizontal line your lateral axis. Vertical distance is indicated by vertical lines extending from the markers to the disc. Make a lateral roll to see how it displays the station circling around you.

The disc is exponential. The further from the center, the more distance each centimeter on the disc represents.

Face the station. Extend your landing gear (F6). Accelerate toward the station until you have a speed of about 300 m/s. Now when you're at about 1.5 km from the station, don't slow down, but align the ship with the station entrance using longitudinal rolls to enter safely.

----

[[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|< Last: Lesson 1]] | [[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Next: Lesson 3 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1

2013-09-16T07:37:27Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Lateral roll (pitch)
* Acceleration
* Landing

Ask for permission to take off. After you're cleared for take off, your ship will automatically start moving and leave the station. You are now in space.

You are flying in a straight line from the exit/entrance of Eagles Nest into space, with a speed of 300 to 400 meters per second relative to the station. That speed is indicated in the top left of the middle console.

Fire your front bottom thrusters simultaneously with your rear top thrusters (S) until you see the station in the middle of the screen. This is called making a lateral roll or adjusting your pitch.

[[File:Pic01.png|center]]

You should have the center of the station centered in your white cross-hair. If you overshoot, use your front top thrusters together with your rear bottom thrusters (W) to correct (the opposite ones of the ones you used before). As long as you hold down these buttons, you will keep rolling, but when you let go, your ship will fire the opposite thrusters to stop rolling. You just rolled around your lateral axis without actually changing direction or speed, so you are still going in a straight line away from the station.

Fire up the in-space communications console, select Eagles Nest and request docking clearance.

Fire your main thrusters until your speed relative to the station reached zero (I). You are now holding relative position to the station.

Start firing the same thrusters again to start accelerating toward the station. Accelerate to about 300 m/s. You will notice a green cross-hair overlapping over the white one. The green one indicates what direction you're going in. When you're about 4 km from the station, fire the forward thrusters to lower your speed to about 100 m/s (K). Then adjust your speed so that you enter with the ship aligned with the station's entrance.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Next: Lesson 2 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

File:Services lave.png

2013-09-16T07:25:58Z

Diederick: Diederick uploaded a new version of "File:Services lave.png": Changed from Lave to Itzalean

Services screen on Lave station

Tutorials

2013-09-16T07:23:01Z

Diederick: /* Basic flying tutorial */

==[[Basic flying tutorial]]==
*'''[[ Basics_Tutorial_Part_1|Chapter One: Manual Flying]]'''
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.0|Lesson 0]]: Getting to Eagles Nest
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration - Landing
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go
*'''[[ Basics_Tutorial_Part_2|Chapter Two: Orbits]]'''
** [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Lesson 1]]: getting close to a tonne of rubbish - getting back to the station

Basics Tutorial Part 1

2013-09-16T07:22:18Z

Diederick: /* Lessons */

== Introduction ==

It is funny how most people who want to become a trader pilot are born and raised planetside, while most people born and raised in space expect that the ideal living environment is within the atmosphere and gravity field of a planet. Rather than living there where their bodies are at their best, people always assume the other people have it better.

Which gives everybody a disadvantage. If you are like me, you were born on a planet and tend to think of motion as something relative to the surface and the atmosphere of a planet. To keep going you need to keep adding forward velocity, otherwise atmospheric drag will slow you down and make you halt. You can say things like 'That car is doing ninety.' Ninety? Relative to what? Well, the road, obviously. You don't even think about that.

In these lessons you will manually control your ship to fly around in the vicinity of Eridani Commercial Center. Rather than explain to you that things like speed and motion have no meaning in space, unless you relate them to something else, I'll let you experience it for yourself.

Just a few conventions:
# When I tell you to assume relative position to something, I need you to have zero speed in relation to that object, i.e. you're not getting closer or farther away.
# When I say things like left, right, forward, backward, up or down, I mean that in relation to your ship.
# When I tell you to fly 'over' an object, I define 'over' as near the side of said object that points in the same direction as the top of your ship (or 'up').
# To accelerate forward means to add velocity to your ship in the direction the front of your ship is pointing.

== Lessons ==

* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.0|Lesson 0]]: Getting to Eagles Nest
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration - Landing
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go

----

[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2

2013-09-15T18:31:58Z

Diederick: Changed Cobra to neutral ship.

In this lesson:

* Landing gear
* Longitudinal roll
* Radar

Take off again. Retract your landing gear (F6). The landing gear is a surprisingly fragile part of your ship. It can easily be damaged by micrometeorites, which is why all ships have retractable landing gear. From now on, always retract your landing gear after take off, and only extend it just before you make you final approach to dock or land.

Make a lateral roll to face Lave Station and assume relative position to the station. Ask for landing permission.

Use your top and bottom thrusters to make a longitudinal roll (Q, E), keeping the station in your cross-hair. Don't overdo it, your ship will drift a little and you won't be able to get back home.

[[File:axes.png|center]]

Look at the blue elliptical disc in the middle of your console. You see a yellow marker, indicating the bulk ship near the station. The radar's disc represents the horizontal plane extending from your ship, with your ship in the center. The vertical line represents your longitudinal axis, the horizontal line your lateral axis. Vertical distance is indicated by vertical lines extending from the markers to the disc. Make a lateral roll to see how it displays the station circling around you.

The disc is exponential. The further from the center, the more distance eache centimeter on the disc represents.

Face the station. Extend your landing gear (F6). Accelerate toward the station until you have a speed of about 300 m/s. Now when you're at about 1.5 km from the station, don't slow down, but align the ship with the station entrance using longitudinal rolls to enter safely.

----

[[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|< Last: Lesson 1]] | [[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Next: Lesson 3 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1

2013-09-15T18:30:47Z

Diederick: Changed Lave Station to Eagles Nest

In this lesson:

* Lateral roll (pitch)
* Acceleration
* Landing

Ask for permission to take off. After you're cleared for take off, your ship will automatically start moving and leave the station. You are now in space.

You are flying in a straight line from the exit/entrance of Eagles Nest into space, with a speed of 300 to 400 meters per second relative to the station.

Fire your front bottom thrusters simultaneously with your rear top thrusters (S) until you see the station in the middle of the screen. This is called making a lateral roll or adjusting your pitch.

[[File:Pic01.png|center]]

You should have the center of the station centered in your white cross-hair. If you overshoot, use your front top thrusters together with your rear bottom thrusters (W) to correct (the opposite ones of the ones you used before). As long as you hold down these buttons, you will keep rolling, but when you let go, your ship will fire the opposite thrusters to stop rolling. You just rolled around your lateral axis without actually changing direction or speed, so you are still going in a straight line away from the station.

Fire up the in-space communications console, select Lave Station and ask for permission to dock now.

Fire your main thrusters until your speed relative to the station reached zero (I). You are now holding relative position to the station.

Start firing the same thrusters again to start accelerating toward the station. Accelerate to about 300 m/s. You will notice a green cross-hair overlapping over the white one. The green one indicates what direction you're going in. When you're about 4 km from the station, fire the forward thrusters to lower your speed to about 100 m/s (K). Then adjust your speed so that you enter with the ship aligned with the station's entrance.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Next: Lesson 2 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.0

2013-09-15T18:27:47Z

Diederick: Created page with "In this lesson: * Communications * Taking off * Landing gear * Autopilot You start out at New Hope in the Eridani System. Since our lessons will take place in space, we will..."

In this lesson:

* Communications
* Taking off
* Landing gear
* Autopilot

You start out at New Hope in the Eridani System. Since our lessons will take place in space, we will first have to get to a space station. You cannot yet fly your ship, so pay attention. I will guide you to the station.

Ask for permission to take off by bringing up the communications console (F4) and clicking on the top most button.
[[File:Services_lave.png|center]]
After you're cleared for take off, your ship will automatically start moving upward. Press s until your ship points upward. Then press i until you are in space. Meanwhile, retract your landing gear by pressing F6.

Once in space, bring up the communications console again. From the Navigation Targets, select Eagles Nest. We are not going to the Eridani Commercial Center, because it is a very busy port and port authorities will have little patience with rookies taking lessons. Under Autopilot, select Autopilot: Dock with space station. Sit back, your autopilot will do the the rest.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 1| Index]] | [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Next: Lesson 1 >]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basics Tutorial Part 1

2013-09-15T18:15:22Z

Diederick: /* Lessons */

== Introduction ==

It is funny how most people who want to become a trader pilot are born and raised planetside, while most people born and raised in space expect that the ideal living environment is within the atmosphere and gravity field of a planet. Rather than living there where their bodies are at their best, people always assume the other people have it better.

Which gives everybody a disadvantage. If you are like me, you were born on a planet and tend to think of motion as something relative to the surface and the atmosphere of a planet. To keep going you need to keep adding forward velocity, otherwise atmospheric drag will slow you down and make you halt. You can say things like 'That car is doing ninety.' Ninety? Relative to what? Well, the road, obviously. You don't even think about that.

In these lessons you will manually control your ship to fly around in the vicinity of Eridani Commercial Center. Rather than explain to you that things like speed and motion have no meaning in space, unless you relate them to something else, I'll let you experience it for yourself.

Just a few conventions:
# When I tell you to assume relative position to something, I need you to have zero speed in relation to that object, i.e. you're not getting closer or farther away.
# When I say things like left, right, forward, backward, up or down, I mean that in relation to your ship.
# When I tell you to fly 'over' an object, I define 'over' as near the side of said object that points in the same direction as the top of your ship (or 'up').
# To accelerate forward means to add velocity to your ship in the direction the front of your ship is pointing.

== Lessons ==

* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.0|Lesson 0]]: Getting to Eridani Commercial Center
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration - Landing
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
* [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go

----

[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basics Tutorial Part 1

2013-09-15T18:14:25Z

Diederick: /* Lessons */

== Introduction ==

It is funny how most people who want to become a trader pilot are born and raised planetside, while most people born and raised in space expect that the ideal living environment is within the atmosphere and gravity field of a planet. Rather than living there where their bodies are at their best, people always assume the other people have it better.

Which gives everybody a disadvantage. If you are like me, you were born on a planet and tend to think of motion as something relative to the surface and the atmosphere of a planet. To keep going you need to keep adding forward velocity, otherwise atmospheric drag will slow you down and make you halt. You can say things like 'That car is doing ninety.' Ninety? Relative to what? Well, the road, obviously. You don't even think about that.

In these lessons you will manually control your ship to fly around in the vicinity of Eridani Commercial Center. Rather than explain to you that things like speed and motion have no meaning in space, unless you relate them to something else, I'll let you experience it for yourself.

Just a few conventions:
# When I tell you to assume relative position to something, I need you to have zero speed in relation to that object, i.e. you're not getting closer or farther away.
# When I say things like left, right, forward, backward, up or down, I mean that in relation to your ship.
# When I tell you to fly 'over' an object, I define 'over' as near the side of said object that points in the same direction as the top of your ship (or 'up').
# To accelerate forward means to add velocity to your ship in the direction the front of your ship is pointing.

== Lessons ==

# <li value="0"> [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.0|Lesson 0]]: Getting to Eridani Commercial Center
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration - Landing
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go

----

[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basics Tutorial Part 1

2013-09-15T18:12:44Z

Diederick: /* Introduction */

== Introduction ==

It is funny how most people who want to become a trader pilot are born and raised planetside, while most people born and raised in space expect that the ideal living environment is within the atmosphere and gravity field of a planet. Rather than living there where their bodies are at their best, people always assume the other people have it better.

Which gives everybody a disadvantage. If you are like me, you were born on a planet and tend to think of motion as something relative to the surface and the atmosphere of a planet. To keep going you need to keep adding forward velocity, otherwise atmospheric drag will slow you down and make you halt. You can say things like 'That car is doing ninety.' Ninety? Relative to what? Well, the road, obviously. You don't even think about that.

In these lessons you will manually control your ship to fly around in the vicinity of Eridani Commercial Center. Rather than explain to you that things like speed and motion have no meaning in space, unless you relate them to something else, I'll let you experience it for yourself.

Just a few conventions:
# When I tell you to assume relative position to something, I need you to have zero speed in relation to that object, i.e. you're not getting closer or farther away.
# When I say things like left, right, forward, backward, up or down, I mean that in relation to your ship.
# When I tell you to fly 'over' an object, I define 'over' as near the side of said object that points in the same direction as the top of your ship (or 'up').
# To accelerate forward means to add velocity to your ship in the direction the front of your ship is pointing.

== Lessons ==

# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration - Landing
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go

----

[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basics Tutorial Part 1

2013-09-15T18:12:25Z

Diederick: /* Introduction */

== Introduction ==

It is funny how most people who want to become a trader pilot are born and raised planetside, while most people born and raised in space expect that the ideal living environment is within the atmosphere and gravity field of a planet. Rather than living there where their bodies are at their best, people always assume the other people have it better.

Which gives everybody a disadvantage. If you are like me, you were born on a planet and tend to think of motion as something relative to the surface and the atmosphere of a planet. To keep going you need to keep adding forward velocity, otherwise atmospheric drag will slow you down and make you halt. You can say things like 'That car is doing ninety.' Ninety? Relative to what? Well, the road, obviously. You don't even think about that.

In these lessons you will manually control your ship to fly around in the vicinity of Eridani Commercial Center Rather than explain to you that things like speed and motion have no meaning in space, unless you relate them to something else, I'll let you experience it for yourself.

Just a few conventions:
# When I tell you to assume relative position to something, I need you to have zero speed in relation to that object, i.e. you're not getting closer or farther away.
# When I say things like left, right, forward, backward, up or down, I mean that in relation to your ship.
# When I tell you to fly 'over' an object, I define 'over' as near the side of said object that points in the same direction as the top of your ship (or 'up').
# To accelerate forward means to add velocity to your ship in the direction the front of your ship is pointing.

== Lessons ==

# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration - Landing
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go

----

[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

[[Category:Tutorials]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1

2013-01-22T19:45:06Z

Diederick: /* Objective 1 */

Lesson objectives:
# get close to a tonne of rubbish
# get back to the station

Bring up de communications console and head to the market to buy some rubbish. It's about the only thing that they will actually pay you to take from them, so it won't matter if you don't have any money. One tonne will suffice. Then take off. Remember to retract your landing gear.

Increase your speed to a hefty 10 km/s relative to the station. Wait until you're a few hundred kilometers from Lave Station (use your external camera, pan around and select the station to find out). Then select the ship's inventory (F3, shopping cart). Dump 1 tonne of rubbish into space.

Looking through your wind shield, roll, pitch and yaw around until you see the rubbish flying away from you. When you see it, select it (use your mouse).

[[File:Rubbish00.png|center]]

=== Objective 1 ===

To get close to something in space, you have to assume the same direction and velocity. When you're trailing it perfectly with only a minor difference in speed, you can get really close.

Remember how you lined up to the station's bay entrance. Watch if the rubbish is getting closer or going away from you. If the distance between you and the rubbish is increasing, you'll have to accelerate in its direction.

The rubbish will almost certainly drift toward the edge of your wind shield. Watch to which edge it is drifting, and add velocity in that same direction. Don't roll, pitch or yaw, but add velocity.

If the rubbish is getting closer too fast for you to react, it will disappear from your view. If that happens, change your ship's orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) to get it back into view, then repeat the above to try and assume the same direction and speed. To prevent this from happening, decrease your velocity toward it, to decrease the difference in speed between you and the rubbish. If you decrease your velocity too much, you will start increasing your distance. You will notice this from that the direction cross-hair has disappeared from your screen.

Practice this. If you find your thrusters aren't subtle enough for what you want to do, press shift while firing for more subtlety. You can also press select a lower thrust on all your thrusters (F8, 1-6).

Try and get as close as you can for as long as you can.

[[File:Rubbish02.png|center]]

=== Objective 2 ===

Change orientation to get Lave Station back in your wind shield. When you've found it, select it.

[[File:Rubbish03.png|center]]

Now you basically have to do the exact same thing as with the rubbish, but Lave Station is a whole lot bigger than the rubbish, so its easier.

Remember, the rubbish and you are still hurling away from the station with about 10 km/s. So you have to add a lot of velocity to turn around, i.e. get back to the station. Change orientation so that the station is exactly inside the orientation cross-hair, and accelerate toward it. You will notice that the increase in distance between you and the station will grow less. As soon as the distance itself starts falling the direction cross-hair will enter the view.

Don't let your velocity relative to the station climb too high, or you won't be able to get it down in time for your final approach. About 3.5 km/s should give you enough time. Also, your forward thrusters aren't as powerful as your rear thrusters, so to decrease forward velocity you need more time than to increase forward velocity. Then try to align yourself with the station by adding velocity up, down, left and right.

[[File:Rubbish04.png|center]]

During your flight home, decrease forward velocity relative to Lave Station for a few seconds to find out how much time you'll need to get that velocity to zero. Also, keep correcting your direction every time the navigation cross-hair drifts away.

Bring down forward velocity to about 300 m/s when you get within 100 km. from the station. Then dock.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 2]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.2|Next: Lesson 2]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1

2013-01-21T11:38:21Z

Diederick:

Lesson objectives:
# get close to a tonne of rubbish
# get back to the station

Bring up de communications console and head to the market to buy some rubbish. It's about the only thing that they will actually pay you to take from them, so it won't matter if you don't have any money. One tonne will suffice. Then take off. Remember to retract your landing gear.

Increase your speed to a hefty 10 km/s relative to the station. Wait until you're a few hundred kilometers from Lave Station (use your external camera, pan around and select the station to find out). Then select the ship's inventory (F3, shopping cart). Dump 1 tonne of rubbish into space.

Looking through your wind shield, roll, pitch and yaw around until you see the rubbish flying away from you. When you see it, select it (use your mouse).

[[File:Rubbish00.png|center]]

=== Objective 1 ===

To get close to something in space, you have to assume the same direction and velocity. When you're trailing it perfectly with only a minor difference in speed, you can get really close.

Remember how you lined up to the station's bay entrance. Watch if the rubbish is getting closer or going away from you. If the distance between you and the rubbish is increasing, you'll have to accelerate in its direction.

The rubbish will almost certainly drift toward the edge of your wind shield. Watch to which edge it is drifting, and add velocity in that same direction. Don't roll, pitch or yaw, but add velocity.

If the rubbish is getting closer too fast for you to react, it will disappear from your view. If that happens, change your ship's orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) to get it back into view, then repeat the above to try and assume the same direction and speed. To prevent this from happening, decrease your velocity toward it, to decrease the difference in speed between you and the rubbish. If you decrease your velocity too much, you will start increasing your distance. You will notice this from that the direction cross-hair has disappeared from your screen.

Practice this. If you find your thrusters aren't subtle enough for what you want to do, press shift while firing for more subtlety. Try and get as close as you can for as long as you can.

[[File:Rubbish02.png|center]]

=== Objective 2 ===

Change orientation to get Lave Station back in your wind shield. When you've found it, select it.

[[File:Rubbish03.png|center]]

Now you basically have to do the exact same thing as with the rubbish, but Lave Station is a whole lot bigger than the rubbish, so its easier.

Remember, the rubbish and you are still hurling away from the station with about 10 km/s. So you have to add a lot of velocity to turn around, i.e. get back to the station. Change orientation so that the station is exactly inside the orientation cross-hair, and accelerate toward it. You will notice that the increase in distance between you and the station will grow less. As soon as the distance itself starts falling the direction cross-hair will enter the view.

Don't let your velocity relative to the station climb too high, or you won't be able to get it down in time for your final approach. About 3.5 km/s should give you enough time. Also, your forward thrusters aren't as powerful as your rear thrusters, so to decrease forward velocity you need more time than to increase forward velocity. Then try to align yourself with the station by adding velocity up, down, left and right.

[[File:Rubbish04.png|center]]

During your flight home, decrease forward velocity relative to Lave Station for a few seconds to find out how much time you'll need to get that velocity to zero. Also, keep correcting your direction every time the navigation cross-hair drifts away.

Bring down forward velocity to about 300 m/s when you get within 100 km. from the station. Then dock.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 2]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.2|Next: Lesson 2]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7

2013-01-21T11:35:33Z

Diederick: /* Recap */

Do the following without assuming position anywhere.

Take off. Retract your landing gear.

After two seconds make a lateral roll to point your ship's nose just above Lave Station. Accellerate forward to fly over it while keeping close to the station by adding some downward motion (no rolling, just top thrusters).

As soon as the distance to the station starts to climb again, roll downward until you see the station again. Point your ship's nose to space above the station. Again accellerate forward and add downward thrust.

Repeat the above until you see the station's entrance again. Ask for landing permission. Extend your landing gear. Line up with the station's entrance by mainly applying upward and downward thrust and only adjusting your pitch for small corrections.

Dock at Lave station.

Repeat the exercise, but instead of going over it, circumvent it by passing it on the left.

=== Recap ===

When you've successfully gone through all the previous exercises, you are now aware that there are two kinds of movement for a space ship:
* Yaw, pitch and roll: these control only the orientation of your ship. As far as flying is concerned, this is only useful when you want to see something in your windshield.
* Accelerate and decelerate in any direction: these control the direction that your ship is flying. To get somewhere, these are the controls you need.
The above is the most important lesson you learned so far. It is vital that you can fly around a space station and dock with it without thinking which button to press, before you go on with part 2.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basics Tutorial Part 2|Next: part 2]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6

2013-01-21T11:35:09Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* External camera.

The following is trickier than it sounds, so keep your speeds low.

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave Station and assume relative position. Ask for landing permission.

Fire your bottom thrusters to accelerate upwards, without adjusting pitch. Keep going until you're directly behind the station (its front being the side with the entrance).

Fire your rear thrusters to fly over the station. Switch to external view (F1) to witness your Cobra clearing the station. When it has, assume relative position again.

Switch to internal view again (F1). Make a 180 degrees lateral roll until you are looking back over the station again.

Fire your top thrusters to accelerate downward until you've again cleared the station. Assume relative position.

Fire your rear thrusters to pass under the station until you've again cleared the station. Assume relative position.

Make a 180 degrees roll again to look back in your original direction.

Fire your bottom thrusters to go upward until you're level with the landing bay entrance. The trick is to use the direction cross-hair to guide the orientation cross-hair into the navigation target cross-hair without making a roll in any direction.

[[File:Approach.png|center]]

Extend your landing gear. Dock at Lave Station.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Next: Lesson 7]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4

2013-01-21T11:12:12Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Left/right thrusters
* Selecting ships in the wind shield.

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave station and assume relative position. Make a longitudinal roll so that the bulk ship and Lave Station appear on a horizontal line, with the bulk ship left of the station. Ask for landing permission.

Fire your right side thrusters (J) to accelerate to the left, without yawing. Keep it slow, about 150 m/s. Keep going until you're directly behind the bulk ship. To stop, fire the left side thrusters to assume relative position to the bulk ship and Lave station again.

Select the ship (using mouse). You see a red cross-hair marking the ship with numbers indicating your distance (should be constant) and speed (should be approx. 0). The cross-hair is red because you selected it as a firing target. Other ships can only be selected as firing targets. Don't fire at it.

Select the station again. You'll notice that the ships selection persists. The square green marker indicates a navigation target. It only has a distance indicator, because you directional target is a green cross-hair, which has only a speed indicator.

[[File:Selection.png|center]]

<center>
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Cross-hairs
|-
! Shape !! Colour !! Function !! Change by
|-
| X || white or green || Direction || adding velocity in any direction.
|-
| + || white || Orientation || pitch, yaw or roll.
|-
| + || red || Firing target || clicking objects.
|-
| square || green || Navigation target || clicking objects, communications console.
|}
</center>

Accelerate toward the ship, to about 150 m/s. When you're about 1.5 km from the ship, fire your left thrusters to avoid collision.

Extend your landing gear. Decelerate so that you can dock at Lave station.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Next: Lesson 5]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4

2013-01-21T11:00:34Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Left/right thrusters
* Selecting ships in the wind shield.

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave station and assume relative position. Make a longitudinal roll so that the bulk ship and Lave Station appear on a horizontal line, with the bulk ship left of the station. Ask for landing permission.

Fire your right side thrusters (J) to accelerate to the left, without yawing. Keep it slow, about 150 m/s. Keep going until you're directly behind the bulk ship. To stop, fire the left side thrusters to assume relative position to the bulk ship and Lave station again.

Select the ship (using mouse). You see a red cross-hair marking the ship with numbers indicating your distance (should be constant) and speed (should be approx. 0). The cross-hair is red because you selected it as a firing target. Other ships can only be selected as firing targets. Don't fire at it.

Select the station again. You'll notice that the ships selection persists. The square green marker indicates a navigation target. It only has a distance indicator, because you directional target is a green cross-hair, which has only a speed indicator.

[[File:Selection.png|center]]

<center>
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Cross-hairs
|-
! Shape !! Colour !! Function !! Adjust by
|-
| square || green || Navigation target || Clicking objects, Communications console
|-
| X || green || Direction || Adding velocity in any direction
|-
| + || white || Orientation || Pitch, yaw or roll
|-
| + || red || Firing target || Clicking objects
|}
</center>

Accelerate toward the ship, to about 150 m/s. When you're about 1.5 km from the ship, fire your left thrusters to avoid collision.

Extend your landing gear. Decelerate so that you can dock at Lave station.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Next: Lesson 5]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1

2013-01-20T18:10:53Z

Diederick: /* Objective 1 */

Lesson objectives:
# get close to a tonne of rubbish
# get back to the station

Bring up de communications console and head to the market to buy some rubbish. It's about the only thing that they will actually pay you to take from them, so it won't matter if you don't have any money. One tonne will suffice. Then take off. Remember to retract your landing gear.

Increase your speed to a hefty 10 km/s relative to the station. Wait until you're a few hundred kilometers from Lave Station (use your external camera, pan around and select the station to find out). Then select the ship's inventory (F3, shopping cart). Dump 1 tonne of rubbish into space.

Looking through your wind shield, roll, pitch and yaw around until you see the rubbish flying away from you. When you see it, select it (use your mouse).

[[File:Rubbish00.png|center]]

=== Objective 1 ===

To get close to something in space, you have to assume the same direction and velocity. When you're trailing it perfectly with only a minor difference in speed, you can get really close.

Remember how you lined up to the station's bay entrance. Watch if the rubbish is getting closer or going away from you. If the distance between you and the rubbish is increasing, you'll have to accelerate in its direction.

The rubbish will almost certainly drift toward the edge of your wind shield. Watch to which edge it is drifting, and add velocity in that same direction. Don't roll, pitch or yaw, but add velocity.

If the rubbish is getting closer too fast for you to react, it will disappear from your view. If that happens, change your ship's orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) to get it back into view, then repeat the above to try and assume the same direction and speed. To prevent this from happening, decrease your velocity toward it, to decrease the difference in speed between you and the rubbish. If you decrease your velocity too much, you will start increasing your distance. You will notice this from that the green x shaped cross-hair has disappeared from your screen.

Practice this. If you find your thrusters aren't subtle enough for what you want to do, press shift while firing for more subtlety. Try and get as close as you can for as long as you can.

[[File:Rubbish02.png|center]]

=== Objective 2 ===

Change orientation to get Lave Station back in your wind shield. When you've found it, select it.

[[File:Rubbish03.png|center]]

Now you basically have to do the exact same thing as with the rubbish, but Lave Station is a whole lot bigger than the rubbish, so its easier.

Remember, the rubbish and you are still hurling away from the station with about 10 km/s. So you have to add a lot of velocity to turn around, i.e. get back to the station. Change orientation so that the station is exactly inside the white cross-hair, and accelerate toward it. You will notice that the increase in distance between you and the station will grow less. As soon as the distance itself starts falling the directional cross-hair will enter the view.

Don't let your velocity relative to the station climb too high, or you won't be able to get it down in time for your final approach. About 3.5 km/s should give you enough time. Also, your forward thrusters aren't as powerful as your rear thrusters, so to decrease forward velocity you need more time than to increase forward velocity. Then try to align yourself with the station by adding velocity up, down, left and right.

[[File:Rubbish04.png|center]]

During your flight home, decrease forward velocity relative to Lave Station for a few seconds to find out how much time you'll need to get that velocity to zero. Also, keep correcting your direction every time the square shaped cross-hair drifts away.

Bring down forward velocity to about 300 m/s when you get within 100 km. from the station. Then dock.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 2]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.2|Next: Lesson 2]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7

2013-01-20T17:09:38Z

Diederick:

Basics Tutorial Part 2

2013-01-20T15:23:08Z

Diederick: /* Weightlessness */

== Introduction ==

An orbit around a planet like Lave is a fall toward that planet with enough horizontal speed so that the point where you will come down is always beyond the horizon.

When you stand on a planet and you throw a stone in a horizontal direction, it will quite quickly curve toward the surface of the planet and hit the ground. The harder you throw the stone, i.e. the more horizontal speed you give it, the further away the stone will hit the ground. But a planet's surface is curved, so that if the stone goes fast enough, the curve it describes in its fall could match the curve of the surface of the planet. This way it can keep falling without ever hitting the ground. This is called an orbit.

If you are standing on top of a tower when you throw your stone, your stone will travel further before it hits the ground, because the curve of its fall will carry it further. So the higher up something is, the less horizontal speed it needs to achieve an orbit. In fact, if it has too much horizontal speed, it will ascend. Given enough speed, it will break free of the planet's gravity and escape into space. Don't throw stones from towers.

If the planet has an atmosphere, a stone thrown from the ground or a tower will be slowed down by drag so that it wil hit the ground eventually. When you are outside an atmosphere, your stone, or space station, doesn't have this problem, so that it can go indefinitely.

=== Weightlessness ===

When you fall unobstructed toward a planet, like when you're orbit, you are weightless. This is why things in orbit, and everybody inside, are weightless, and not because they are merely in space. If Lave Station would stop moving relative to the planet, it would weigh almost exactly as much as it would on Lave's surface, and it would fall toward the planet.

Lave station has the exact horizontal velocity needed to orbit Lave at the altitude where it is. If you leave the station with your Cobra and keep your speed low, relative to Lave Station, you will remain in orbit around the planet together with the station. If your speed gets too high, you will either move to a higher or a lower orbit, depending of whether you are going in the same direction as the station, or the other way. In the first case, your speed relative to Lave Station is added to the station's speed, in the latter case your speed is subtracted from it.

== Lessons ==

# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Lesson 1]]: getting close to a tonne of rubbish - getting back to the station
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.2|Lesson 2]]

----

[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

Basics Tutorial Part 2

2013-01-20T15:21:22Z

Diederick: /* Lessons */

== Introduction ==

An orbit around a planet like Lave is a fall toward that planet with enough horizontal speed so that the point where you will come down is always beyond the horizon.

When you stand on a planet and you throw a stone in a horizontal direction, it will quite quickly curve toward the surface of the planet and hit the ground. The harder you throw the stone, i.e. the more horizontal speed you give it, the further away the stone will hit the ground. But a planet's surface is curved, so that if the stone goes fast enough, the curve it describes in its fall could match the curve of the surface of the planet. This way it can keep falling without ever hitting the ground. This is called an orbit.

If you are standing on top of a tower when you throw your stone, your stone will travel further before it hits the ground, because the curve of its fall will carry it further. So the higher up something is, the less horizontal speed it needs to achieve an orbit. In fact, if it has too much horizontal speed, it will ascend. Given enough speed, it will break free of the planet's gravity and escape into space. Don't throw stones from towers.

If the planet has an atmosphere, a stone thrown from the ground or a tower will be slowed down by drag so that it wil hit the ground eventually. When you are outside an atmosphere, your stone, or space station, doesn't have this problem, so that it can go indefinitely.

=== Weightlessness ===

When you fall unobstructed toward a planet, you are weightless, regardless whether you are in orbit or not. This is why things in orbit, and everybody inside, are weightless, not because they are merely in space. If Lave Station would stop moving relative to the planet, it would weigh almost exactly as much as it would on Lave's surface, and it would fall toward the planet.

Lave station has the exact horizontal velocity needed to orbit Lave at the altitude where it is. If you leave the station with your Cobra and keep your speed low, relative to Lave Station, you will remain in orbit around the planet together with the station. If your speed gets too high, you will either move to a higher or a lower orbit, depending of whether you are going in the same direction as the station, or the other way. In the first case, your speed relative to Lave Station is added to the station's speed, in the latter case your speed is subtracted from it.

== Lessons ==

# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Lesson 1]]: getting close to a tonne of rubbish - getting back to the station
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.2|Lesson 2]]

----

[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1

2013-01-20T15:20:33Z

Diederick: Created page with "Lesson objectives: # get close to a tonne of rubbish # get back to the station Bring up de communications console and head to the market to buy some rubbish. It's about the onl..."

Lesson objectives:
# get close to a tonne of rubbish
# get back to the station

Bring up de communications console and head to the market to buy some rubbish. It's about the only thing that they will actually pay you to take from them, so it won't matter if you don't have any money. One tonne will suffice. Then take off. Remember to retract your landing gear.

Increase your speed to a hefty 10 km/s relative to the station. Wait until you're a few hundred kilometers from Lave Station (use your external camera, pan around and select the station to find out). Then select the ship's inventory (F3, shopping cart). Dump 1 tonne of rubbish into space.

Looking through your wind shield, roll, pitch and yaw around until you see the rubbish flying away from you. When you see it, select it (use your mouse).

[[File:Rubbish00.png|center]]

=== Objective 1 ===

To get close to something in space, you have to assume the same direction and velocity. When you're trailing it perfectly with only a minor difference in speed, you can get really close.

Remember how you lined up to the station's bay entrance. Watch if the rubbish is getting closer or going away from you. If the distance between you and the rubbish is increasing, you'll have to accelerate in its direction.

The rubbish will almost certainly drift toward the edge of your wind shield. Watch to which edge it is drifting, and add velocity in that same direction. Don't roll, pitch or yaw, but add velocity.

If the rubbish is getting closer too fast for you to react, it will disappear from your view. If that happens, change your ship's orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) to get it back into view, then repeat the above to try and assume the same direction and speed. To prevent this from happening, decrease your velocity toward it, to decrease the difference in speed between you and the rubbish. If you decrease your velocity too much, you will start increasing your distance. You will notice this from that the green x shaped cross-hair has disappeared from your screen.

Practice this. Your thrusters aren't subtle enough for you to actually be able to assume position for a long time, but try and get as close as you can for as long as you can.

[[File:Rubbish02.png|center]]

=== Objective 2 ===

Change orientation to get Lave Station back in your wind shield. When you've found it, select it.

[[File:Rubbish03.png|center]]

Now you basically have to do the exact same thing as with the rubbish, but Lave Station is a whole lot bigger than the rubbish, so its easier.

Remember, the rubbish and you are still hurling away from the station with about 10 km/s. So you have to add a lot of velocity to turn around, i.e. get back to the station. Change orientation so that the station is exactly inside the white cross-hair, and accelerate toward it. You will notice that the increase in distance between you and the station will grow less. As soon as the distance itself starts falling the directional cross-hair will enter the view.

Don't let your velocity relative to the station climb too high, or you won't be able to get it down in time for your final approach. About 3.5 km/s should give you enough time. Also, your forward thrusters aren't as powerful as your rear thrusters, so to decrease forward velocity you need more time than to increase forward velocity. Then try to align yourself with the station by adding velocity up, down, left and right.

[[File:Rubbish04.png|center]]

During your flight home, decrease forward velocity relative to Lave Station for a few seconds to find out how much time you'll need to get that velocity to zero. Also, keep correcting your direction every time the square shaped cross-hair drifts away.

Bring down forward velocity to about 300 m/s when you get within 100 km. from the station. Then dock.

----

[[Basics Tutorial Part 2]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.2|Next: Lesson 2]]

File:Rubbish04.png

2013-01-20T15:19:31Z

Diederick:

File:Rubbish03.png

2013-01-20T15:19:13Z

Diederick:

File:Rubbish02.png

2013-01-20T15:18:47Z

Diederick:

File:Rubbish01.png

2013-01-20T15:18:33Z

Diederick:

File:Rubbish00.png

2013-01-20T15:17:58Z

Diederick:

Basics Tutorial Part 2

2013-01-20T15:14:34Z

Diederick:

== Introduction ==

An orbit around a planet like Lave is a fall toward that planet with enough horizontal speed so that the point where you will come down is always beyond the horizon.

When you stand on a planet and you throw a stone in a horizontal direction, it will quite quickly curve toward the surface of the planet and hit the ground. The harder you throw the stone, i.e. the more horizontal speed you give it, the further away the stone will hit the ground. But a planet's surface is curved, so that if the stone goes fast enough, the curve it describes in its fall could match the curve of the surface of the planet. This way it can keep falling without ever hitting the ground. This is called an orbit.

If you are standing on top of a tower when you throw your stone, your stone will travel further before it hits the ground, because the curve of its fall will carry it further. So the higher up something is, the less horizontal speed it needs to achieve an orbit. In fact, if it has too much horizontal speed, it will ascend. Given enough speed, it will break free of the planet's gravity and escape into space. Don't throw stones from towers.

If the planet has an atmosphere, a stone thrown from the ground or a tower will be slowed down by drag so that it wil hit the ground eventually. When you are outside an atmosphere, your stone, or space station, doesn't have this problem, so that it can go indefinitely.

=== Weightlessness ===

When you fall unobstructed toward a planet, you are weightless, regardless whether you are in orbit or not. This is why things in orbit, and everybody inside, are weightless, not because they are merely in space. If Lave Station would stop moving relative to the planet, it would weigh almost exactly as much as it would on Lave's surface, and it would fall toward the planet.

Lave station has the exact horizontal velocity needed to orbit Lave at the altitude where it is. If you leave the station with your Cobra and keep your speed low, relative to Lave Station, you will remain in orbit around the planet together with the station. If your speed gets too high, you will either move to a higher or a lower orbit, depending of whether you are going in the same direction as the station, or the other way. In the first case, your speed relative to Lave Station is added to the station's speed, in the latter case your speed is subtracted from it.

== Lessons ==

# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Lesson 1]]

----

[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

Basics Tutorial Part 1

2013-01-19T11:10:29Z

Diederick:

== Introduction ==

It is funny how most people who want to become a trader pilot are born and raised planetside, while most people born and raised in space expect that the ideal living environment is within the atmosphere and gravity field of a planet. Rather than living there where their bodies are at their best, people always assume the other people have it better.

Which gives everybody a disadvantage. If you are like me, you were born on a planet and tend to think of motion as something relative to the surface and the atmosphere of a planet. To keep going you need to keep adding forward velocity, otherwise atmospheric drag will slow you down and make you halt. You can say things like 'That car is doing ninety.' Ninety? Relative to what? Well, the road, obviously. You don't even think about that.

In these lessons you will manually control your ship to fly around in the vicinity of Lave Station. Rather than explain to you that things like speed and motion have no meaning in space, unless you relate them to something else, I'll let you experience it for yourself.

Just a few conventions:
# When I tell you to assume relative position to something, I need you to have zero speed in relation to that object, i.e. you're not getting closer or farther away.
# When I say things like left, right, forward, backward, up or down, I mean that in relation to your ship.
# When I tell you to fly 'over' an object, I define 'over' as near the side of said object that points in the same direction as the top of your ship (or 'up').
# To accelerate forward means to add velocity to your ship in the direction the front of your ship is pointing.

== Lessons ==

# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration - Landing
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go

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[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

Basics Tutorial Part 2

2013-01-18T16:57:56Z

Diederick: Created page with "== Introduction == An orbit around a planet like Lave is a fall toward that planet with enough horizontal speed so that the point where you will come down is always beyond the h..."

== Introduction ==

An orbit around a planet like Lave is a fall toward that planet with enough horizontal speed so that the point where you will come down is always beyond the horizon.

When you stand on a planet and you throw a stone in a horizontal direction, it will quite quickly curve toward the surface of the planet and hit the ground. The harder you throw the stone, i.e. the more horizontal speed you give it, the further away the stone will hit the ground. But a planet's surface is curved, so that if the stone goes fast enough, the curve it describes in its fall could match the curve of the surface of the planet. This way it can keep falling without ever hitting the ground. This is called an orbit.

If you are standing on top of a tower when you throw your stone, your stone will travel further before it hits the ground, because the curve of its fall will carry it further. So the higher up something is, the less horizontal speed it needs to achieve an orbit. In fact, if it has too much horizontal speed, it will ascend. Given enough speed, it will break free of the planet's gravity and escape into space. Don't throw stones from towers.

If the planet has an atmosphere, a stone thrown from the ground or a tower will be slowed down by drag so that it wil hit the ground eventually. When you are outside an atmosphere, your stone, or space station, doesn't have this problem, so that it can go indefinitely.

When you fall unobstructed toward a planet, you are weightless, regardless whether you are in orbit or not. This is why things in orbit, and everybody inside, are weightless, not because they are merely in space. If Lave Station would stop moving relative to the planet, it would weigh almost exactly as much as it would on Lave's surface, and it would fall toward the planet.

Lave station has the exact horizontal velocity needed to orbit Lave at the altitude where it is. If you leave the station with your Cobra and keep your speed low, relative to Lave Station, you will remain in orbit around the planet together with the station. If your speed gets too high, you will either move to a higher or a lower orbit, depending of whether you are going in the same direction as the station, or the other way. In the first case, your speed relative to Lave Station is added to the station's speed, in the latter case your speed is subtracted from it.

== Lessons ==

# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Lesson 1]]

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[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 2.1|Next: Lesson 1]]

Basic flying tutorial

2013-01-18T16:56:00Z

Diederick:

== Pioneer and Classical Mechanics ==

Pioneer is part of a small subset of space-simulator games that are based on Classical Mechanics. Because of this, Pioneer, and it's predecessors, Frontier and FFE, are considered to be realistic space simulators, to an extent. To those who are not familiar with it, learning to pilot this way can be a daunting task as it is very different from the, "WW2 dog-fighting in space" that is seen in the majority of space simulators. Here are two key differences between Pioneer and more traditional space games:

* Speed is relative. Your spacecrafts speed is determined by how fast it is going compared to a body (planet, space station, system, etc.). Speed is impossible to determine without a reference object. When landed on earth, your speed is shown as 0m/s rel-to:Earth. However,you are traveling approximately 30.3km/s rel-to:Sol, because the earth is orbiting Sol. Similarly, if your speed is shown as 0m/s rel-to:System, you aren't moving in reference to the system (typically the sun or other central reference point), however, you are effectively traveling (rather, the earth is traveling) at approximately 30km/s rel-to:Earth.

* Inertia: A body in motion will stay in motion, unless acted upon by an external force. In Pioneer, there is nothing to slow you down, aside from gravity from local bodies, however, this is negligible at speed. This means that when you accelerate to 10000km/s, you will continue to go that speed until you expend the same amount of energy to bring your speed down to 0km/s. Because of this, when planning a journey you must take into account the amount of time it will take you to speed up and slow down. Also, once en route to a destination, it can be time-consuming to change direction, as you need to expend almost the same amount of energy as when accelerating.

There is much more to learn about these concepts, and they will be covered in more depth in the rest of the tutorial. This is simply an overview of the basic principles involved in Pioneer space-flight.

* [[Basics Tutorial Part 1|Part 1 - Manual control]]
* [[Basics Tutorial Part 2|Part 2 - Orbits]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7

2013-01-18T16:49:57Z

Diederick:

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6

2013-01-18T16:49:23Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* External camera.

The following is trickier than it sounds, so keep your speeds low.

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave Station and assume relative position. Ask for landing permission.

Fire your bottom thrusters to accelerate upwards, without adjusting pitch. Keep going until you're directly behind the station (its front being the side with the entrance).

Fire your rear thrusters to fly over the station. Switch to external view (F1) to witness your Cobra clearing the station. When it has, assume relative position again.

Switch to internal view again (F1). Make a 180 degrees lateral roll until you are looking back over the station again.

Fire your top thrusters to accelerate downward until you've again cleared the station. Assume relative position.

Fire your rear thrusters to pass under the station until you've again cleared the station. Assume relative position.

Make a 180 degrees roll again to look back in your original direction.

Fire your bottom thrusters to go upward until you're level with the landing bay entrance. The trick is to use the green X shaped cross-hair to guide the white plus shaped cross-hair into the green square without making a roll in any direction.

[[File:Approach.png|center]]

Extend your landing gear. Dock at Lave Station.

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[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Next: Lesson 7]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5

2013-01-18T16:48:53Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Up/down thrusters

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave station and assume relative position. Make a longitudinal roll so that the bulk ship and Lave Station appear on a vertical line, with the bulk ship above the station. Ask for landing permission.

Fire your bottom thrusters (U) to accelerate upwards, without rolling. Keep going until you're directly behind the bulk ship. To stop, fire the top side thrusters (O) to assume relative position to the bulk ship and Lave station again.

Select the ship and the station. Accelerate toward the ship, to about 150 m/s. When you're about 1.5 km from the ship, fire your top side thrusters to avoid collision.

Extend your landing gear. Dock at Lave Station.

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[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Next: Lesson 6]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4

2013-01-18T16:48:20Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Left/right thrusters
* Selecting ships in the wind shield.

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave station and assume relative position. Make a longitudinal roll so that the bulk ship and Lave Station appear on a horizontal line, with the bulk ship left of the station. Ask for landing permission.

Fire your right side thrusters (J) to accelerate to the left, without yawing. Keep it slow, about 150 m/s. Keep going until you're directly behind the bulk ship. To stop, fire the left side thrusters to assume relative position to the bulk ship and Lave station again.

Select the ship (using mouse). You see a red cross-hair marking the ship with numbers indicating your distance (should be constant) and speed (should be approx. 0). The cross-hair is red because you selected it as a firing target. Other ships can only be selected as firing targets. Don't fire at it.

Select the station again. You'll notice that the ships selection persists. The square green marker indicates a navigation target. It only has a distance indicator, because you directional target is a green cross-hair, which has only a speed indicator.

[[File:Selection.png|center]]

Accelerate toward the ship, to about 150 m/s. When you're about 1.5 km from the ship, fire your left thrusters to avoid collision.

Extend your landing gear. Decelerate so that you can dock at Lave station.

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[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Next: Lesson 5]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4

2013-01-18T16:47:45Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Left/right trusters
* Selecting ships in the wind shield.

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave station and assume relative position. Make a longitudinal roll so that the bulk ship and Lave Station appear on a horizontal line, with the bulk ship left of the station. Ask for landing permission.

Fire your right side thrusters (J) to accellerate to the left, without yawing. Keep it slow, about 150 m/s. Keep going until you're directly behind the bulk ship. To stop, fire the left side thrusters to assume relative position to the bulk ship and Lave station again.

Select the ship (using mouse). You see a red crosshair marking the ship with numbers indicating your distance (should be constant) and speed (should be approx. 0). The crosshair is red because you selected it as a firing target. Other ships can only be selected as firing targets. Don't fire at it.

Select the station again. You'll notice that the ships selection persists. The square green marker indicates a navigation target. It only has a distance indicator, because you directional target is a green crosshair, which has only a speed indicator.

[[File:Selection.png|center]]

Accelerate toward the ship, to about 150 m/s. When you're about 1.5 km from the ship, fire your left trusters to avoid collision.

Extend your landing gear. Decellerate so that you can dock at Lave station.

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[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Next: Lesson 5]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3

2013-01-18T16:47:21Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Vertical roll (yaw)

Take off. Retract your landing gear. Make a lateral roll to face Lave station and assume relative position. Make a longitudinal roll so that the bulk ship and Lave Station appear on a horizontal line, with the bulk ship left of the station. Ask for landing permission.

Use your side thrusters to yaw left (A) until your ship is pointing at space just left of the bulk ship. Now accelerate to about 200 m/s. Keep going until the bulk ship in your radar is just below the lateral axis. Decelerate again, assuming relative position to Lave Station.

Use the opposite side thrusters to yaw right (D) until your ship is pointing at space just left of the station. Accelerate, go forward and decelerate until you have assumed relative position to the station, exactly on a line extending from the station's center through the middle of the entrance into space.

Extend your landing gear. Now yaw left and see if you can dock. If you can't, repeat the last step but with a really low speed until you're aligned perfectly. This is useful exercise, so try and get this really perfect.

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[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Next: Lesson 4]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3

2013-01-18T16:46:55Z

Diederick:

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2

2013-01-18T16:46:27Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Landing gear
* Longitudinal roll
* Radar

Take off again. Retract your landing gear (F6). The landing gear is a surprisingly fragile part of your ship. It can easily be damaged by micrometeorites, which is why all ships have retractable landing gear. From now on, always retract your landing gear after take off, and only extend it just before you make you final approach to dock or land.

Make a lateral roll to face Lave Station and assume relative position to the station. Ask for landing permission.

Use your top and bottom thrusters to make a longitudinal roll (Q, E), keeping the station in your cross-hair. Don't overdo it, your ship will drift a little and you won't be able to get back home.

[[File:axes.png|center]]

Look at the blue elliptical disc in the middle of your console. You see a yellow marker, indicating the bulk ship near the station. The radar's disc represents the horizontal plane extending from your ship, with your ship in the center. The vertical line represents your longitudinal axis, the horizontal line your lateral axis. Vertical distance is indicated by vertical lines extending from the markers to the disc. Make a lateral roll to see how it displays the station circling around you.

The disc is exponential. The further from the center, the more distance eache centimeter on the disc represents.

Face the station. Extend your landing gear (F6). Accelerate toward the station until you have a speed of about 300 m/s. Now when you're at about 1.5 km from the station, don't slow down, but align the Cobra with the station entrance using longitudinal rolls to enter safely.

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[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Next: Lesson 3]]

Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1

2013-01-18T16:45:43Z

Diederick:

In this lesson:

* Communications
* Taking off
* Lateral roll (pitch)
* Acceleration
* Landing

Ask for permission to take off by bringing up the communications console (F4) and clicking the top most button. After you're cleared for take off, the Cobra will automatically start moving and leave the station. You are now in space.

You are flying in a straight line from the exit/entrance of Lave Station into space, with a speed of 375 meters per second relative to the station.

Fire your front bottom thrusters simultaneously with your rear top thrusters (S) until you see Lave station in the middle of the screen. This is called making a lateral roll or adjusting your pitch.

[[File:Pic01.png|center]]

You should have the center of the station centered in your white cross-hair. If you overshoot, use your front top thrusters together with your rear bottom thrusters (W) to correct (the opposite ones of the ones you used before). As long as you hold down these buttons, you will keep rolling, but when you let go, your ship will fire the opposite thrusters to stop rolling. You just rolled around your lateral axis without actually changing direction or speed, so you are still going in a straight line away from the station.

Fire up the in-space communications console, select Lave Station and ask for permission to dock now.

Fire your main thrusters until your speed relative to the station reached zero (I). You are now holding relative position to Lave station.

Start firing the same thrusters again to start accelerating toward the station. Accelerate to about 300 m/s. You will notice a green cross-hair overlapping over the white one. The green one indicates what direction you're going in. When you're about 4 km from the station, fire the forward thrusters to lower your speed to about 100 m/s (K). Then adjust your speed so that you enter with the ship aligned with the station's entrance.

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[[Basics Tutorial Part 1]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Next: Lesson 2]]

Basics Tutorial Part 1

2013-01-18T16:44:48Z

Diederick:

== Introduction ==

It is funny how most people who want to become a trader pilot are born and raised planetside, while most people born and raised in space expect that the ideal living environment is within the atmosphere and gravity field of a planet. Rather than living there where their bodies are at their best, people always assume the other people have it better.

Which gives everybody a disadvantage. If you are like me, you were born on a planet and tend to think of motion as something relative to the surface and the atmosphere of a planet. To keep going you need to keep adding forward velocity, otherwise atmospheric drag will slow you down and make you halt. You can say things like 'That car is doing ninety.' Ninety? Relative to what? Well, the road, obviously. You don't even think about that.

In these lessons you will manually control your ship to fly around in the vicinity of Lave Station. Rather than explain to you that things like speed and motion have no meaning in space, unless you relate them to something else, I'll let you experience it for yourself.

Just a few conventions:
# When I tell you to assume relative position to something, I need you to have zero speed in relation to that object, i.e. you're not getting closer or farther away.
# When I say things like left, right, forward, backward, up or down, I mean that in relation to your ship.
# When I tell you to fly 'over' an object, I define 'over' as near the side of said object that points in the same direction as the top of your ship (or 'up').
# To accelerate forward means to add velocity to your ship in the direction the front of your ship is pointing.

== Lessons ==

# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Lesson 1]]: Communications - Taking off - Lateral roll (pitch) - Acceleration- Landing
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.2|Lesson 2]]: Landing gear - Longitudinal roll - Radar
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.3|Lesson 3]]: Vertical roll
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.4|Lesson 4]]: Left/right trusters - Selecting ships in the wind shield
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.5|Lesson 5]]: Up/down thrusters
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.6|Lesson 6]]: External camera
# [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.7|Lesson 7]]: Letting go

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[[Basic flying tutorial|Basic flying tutorial main page]] - [[Basic Tutorial Lesson 1.1|Next: Lesson 1]]