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{{Title|Steering your ship using Alleg physics}}
{{Title|Steering your ship}}
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One of the Allegiance's charms is its semi-realistic physics engine. While not truly Newtonian, it is "Newtonian enough" to capture some of the essence of flying in space, though new pilots can make mistakes as they fly. This brief article is intended to clear up misconceptions and recommend some strategies for proper steering in Allegiance. Unfortunately, this article can only recommend, as the best way of learning how to steer is to actually practice in game.
One of [[Allegiance|Allegiance's]] charms is its semi-realistic physics engine. It is not truly Newtonian space physics but is "Newtonian enough" to capture some of the essence of flying in space. This lesson is intended to clear up misconceptions, and recommend some strategies for proper steering in Allegiance.  


==Common flying problems==
===Over-steering===
[[File:Turning.gif|frame|right|The middle ship turns normally, the upper ship holds on forward thrust, and the lower ship oversteers.]]
When you turn, not only do your main engines start pushing you in the new direction, but your side thrusters automatically fire to cancel out your old movement. In many situations you want to decrease the time it takes to execute a turn, such as swinging around a base to dock. This can be done by turning farther than you intend then swinging back on course - aka, '''oversteering'''.


When you oversteer you use both your powerful forward thruster and your less efficient side thrusters to bleed off your old momentum. You can tell when your old momentum has been bled off by keeping an eye on your g-indicator, once it is pointing in the direction you want to go simply swing your nose back towards your intended target (otherwise you really <u>will</u> oversteer!).
{{Tip|Boosters are of great help while oversteering, since the additional thrust will let you almost-instantly cancel your old vector.}}


==Basic concepts==
Of course, the question of "how much to oversteer" is important. You don't want to oversteer your intended target off screen, because then you can't keep an eye on your g-indicator to know when it lines up. With experience you will learn how to oversteer at sharp angles.


===Overboosting===
If you are trying to get to a target quickly, then you want to use your booster to get there as quickly as possible. Be careful though! If you use the booster too long, you will gain too much speed and shoot past the target!


===Drag===
This is a very common rookie mistake, especially when trying to kill a bomber. You will overboost even more if the target is flying fast in the opposite direction than you (i.e. the bbr flys <u>towards</u> the base you are flying <u>from</u>). To avoid overboosting don't hold on the boost key too long. Release it when you are about 1.5k out from your target and just coast the rest of the way. After all, if you're too slow you can tap the boost key a few more times to speed up again, but it is a lot harder to lose speed.
{{Tip|As you coast in towards your target, reload fuel so you're ready and primed for action by the time you're in gun range!}}
 
 
===Intercepting a target===
[[File:Intercept.gif|frame|right|The ship on the left aims directly for the target, but takes longer to get in range. The ship on the right intercepts the target quickly, but overshoots. Ideally you want to compromise between the two extremes in order to get on your target's six.]]
There are many situations where you want to meet up with a target moving laterally across your screen, for example as a stealth fighter wanting to intercept a miner traveling across the sector, or an interceptor wanting to kill a scout before it reaches the aleph. Plotting an intercept course with a distant target is not a trivial task for a human. However, with a few easy tips, you can improve your chances of swinging in directly behind a distant target.


Allegiance space is not true Newtonian space. In Newtonian (ie. real) space, an object will keep traveling until a force causes it to stop. Allegiance space contains drag, which makes any moving object want to slow to a halt. When reading the rest of this article, keep this fact in mind. Ships have to constantly generate propulsion to keep moving forward, and any moving ship eventually reaches a maximum speed as its propulsion reaches a level of equilibrium with the drag in space.
Don't aim directly at your target because then you will end up constantly turning to track it. Turning is slower than flying in a straight line. If your target is a long way off you should be able to change to {{k|F3}} view, look at your position, look at their position and movement, and get a rough idea of where you can cross their path. Quickly give yourself a waypoint to that point then change back to cockpit view. If you don't have time to change to {{k|F3}} view, then your best bet is to lead the target. Its a good idea to keep your target on the edge of your screen and as you close the distance swing your nose around to get the target in the center of your screen.


Ideally you want to end up directly behind your target and moving at approximately the same speed. You know you've messed up if you fall far behind the target, overshoot the target and end up in his crosshairs, or zoom past trying to twist your ship to shoot the target while it flies across your screen.


===Understanding your thrusters and throttle===
This is a difficult skill to master, you have to be very aware of your own speed, direction, and your ship's ability to accelerate/decelerate. You also have to keep an eye on your target's position, speed, and whether they are trying to avoid you. What you are trying to do is aim your ship in an curve that will flow in nicely into the target's direction of travel. It becomes a compromise between intercepting them as quickly as possible and managing your approach to get on their six.
{{Tip|Keep an eye on their 3d ship at the bottom of the screen to see if they're trying to dodge you.}}


For propulsion, your ship generates a finite amount of thrust. By default, the amount of thrust generated is determined by your throttle, and all of that thrust is directed out of the ship's forward thruster. The forward thruster (aka main thruster) is the most powerful thruster on the ship, and responsible for producing most of your motion. At 50% throttle, your ship will generate 50% of its maximum thrust and direct it all out of the main thruster. Ditto for 100%, or any other setting you chose.


In addition to your main thruster, you have four side thrusters (up, down, left, right) and a rear thruster for going backwards. Unlike your main thruster, these thrusters have modifiers that can reduce the thrust output by a certain percent, reducing their maximum output to a fraction of the main thruster. The size of the modifiers depend on faction and ship. Many fighters have all side/rear thrust output chopped by 50%, while interceptors have no reductions at all. In addition to the modifiers, use of side/rear thrusters diverts power from your main thruster. Despite these issues, use of your side/rear thrusters is necessary as you play the game.
==Basic Physics==
===Drag===
[[Image:Logarithm.png|thumb|right|How "drag" affects your speed]]
In "true" Newtonian physics an object in space will drift forever after being pushed in some direction. To change direction an object must first "bleed off" some of the momentum it has gained in its original direction. An object under constant acceleration will constantly gain speed without ever reaching a maximum speed.


You can manually engage your thrusters by using your thruster keys (default setting is on numpad). Using thruster keys overrides your throttle setting, causing the ship to generate its maximum possible thrust. It also causes all of the ship's thrust to be directed out of the engaged thruster (instead of the main thruster). In the case of a side/rear thruster, this means that the drag in space will cause the ship to begin losing forward motion (main thruster not engaged), as the side thruster moves the ship sideways. If two or more thrusters are engaged, the thrust will be split between your thrusters in such a way that both thrusters are expelling the same amount of thrust. Side/rear thrust modifiers are taken into account, so engaging two thrusters will always move you in the same direction as a ship with different modifiers. The speed of travel for a ship with lower modifiers will be significantly less, however.
Allegiance physics has a constant "space-drag" which works against your acceleration. This drag means you need to leave your engines running to keep moving. If you turn your engines off then you will drift to a stop. You also have a top speed that is reached when the drag against the front of your ship equals the propulsion from your engine.
{{Note|One of the best analogies for how Allegiance ships work is that they are all flying underwater.}}


===Throttle vs thrusters===
Your throttle controls how much your thrust your ship generates, which is always vented out of your ship's rear engines (referred to as "forward thruster" from now on). At 50% throttle your ship will have half of its maximum acceleration and reach half of its maximum speed.


===Automatically engaged thrusters===
Your ship also has four side-thrusters that allow you to travel left, right, up, and down, and a rear thruster for traveling backwards. Depending on your ship and faction these side-thrusters can range from 25% to 100% as powerful as the main engine, but are normally closer to 25%. Side-thrusters automatically fire under a variety of conditions (see below). You can manually engage a thruster at any time by pressing the corresponding side-thruster key. When you do, your throttle is overridden to 100% and all thrust is diverted to the side thruster. If you engage two side-thrusters at the same time, thrust is split evenly (see note below).


While most pilots know how to manually engage thrusters, many pilots don't understand that a ship's side/rear thrusters will automatically engage in response to happens in game. There are a few key differences. When thrusters engage automatically, they don't override the throttle, nor do they rob the main thruster of all of its power. All generated thrust is equally split between the main and side/rear thrusters. Unlike manual engagement, there is no need to turn a thruster on or off. They will engage and turn off as the situation dictates, unless you are manually engaging a thruster (auto-thrusting is disabled with a thruster is manually engaged).
{{Tip|Overusing your side-thrusters constantly diverts power from your main engine, greatly reducing your speed and turning you into a sitting duck.}}
{{Note|If you engage a strong side-thruster at the same time as a weak one, the net thrust out of each will be even. However, the weaker side thruster will be absorbing more "power", and so your overall loss in speed will be greater than if you were using two powerful side thrusters.}}


One situation that automatically engages thrusters is vector lock. When you engage vector lock, your thrusters operate to maintain your current direction of motion despite the direction you are facing. This is why engaging vector lock and turning results in a loss of speed. Not only is power being taken from your forward thruster, but your direction of motion is being maintained by a less efficient side/rear thruster.
===Auto-engaging thrusters===
In some situations your side-thrusters will automatically engage to control your movement. Unlike manual side-thrusting it will not override your throttle, nor necessarily cut your forward thrust to zero.  


Changing throttle is another situation that engages thrusters. When you reduce throttle, not only does your forward thruster reduce output, but your rear thruster engages to help you slow more quickly. Cutting your throttle shunts all of your ship's power to its rear thruster, making you stop as fast as possible. Your rear thrusters engage whenever your speed is too high for your throttle setting. Incidentally, this means that a bomber's rear thrusters engage whenever it is rammed, working against the ram (see below).
For instance, Vector lock automatically uses your thrusters. Engaging vector lock causes your thrusters to maintain your current direction of motion, regardless of the direction you are facing. If you face the same direction as your vector lock, then it will use 100% of your forward thruster. If you face some other direction, your less efficient side-thrusters will maintain your direction of motion. As explained above, this means you will slow down.
{{tip|Many veterans avoid vector lock. While you can shoot in once direction while moving in another, vector lock ensures that you're moving ''slowly'' in a ''straight line'', making you an easy target. To achieve much the same effect without being easier to hit, most veterans side-thrust manually.}}


Changing your throttle setting will also auto-engage thrusters. When you reduce throttle to zero not only does your main engine cut power, but your rear thrusters will automatically engage to slow your ship at the maximum rate. Similarly your rear thrusters will auto-engage whenever your current forward speed exceeds your throttle setting. This is why bombers with good acceleration (such as tf) are difficult to ram: they are very good at slowing down to their normal speed!
{{tip|Manual thrusting overrides any automatic behavior, which is helpful in a variety of situations. For instance, if you are flying a bomber and want to maintain speed after a ram, then hold down your forward thrust. This will prevent your rear thruster from trying to slow you down.}}


===Turning and the G-indicator===
===Turning and the G-indicator===
A common operation that automatically engages thrusters is turning. Turning engages your side thrusters to cancel your old vector while your main thruster begins propelling you in a new direction. As a result your speed drops (less forward thrust) and your ship carves out a little arc in space.


A common operation that automatically engages thrusters is turning. Turning engages your side thrusters to cancel your old vector, while your main thruster begins propelling you in a new direction. As a result, your speed drops (less forward thrust), your ship carves out a little arc in space. The G-indicator (shown as ( ) on the screen) points in the direction your ship is traveling, so its location (on screen or off) can give you a clue as to how close you are to completing the turn. When your G-indicator is centered, the turn is finished and your side/rear thrusters will turn off. How long it takes totally cancel your old vector (and get your G-indicator in the center of the screen) is a function of your agility, your acceleration, and how drastic your turn was.
The G-indicator (also known as "momentum vector" and shown as [[File:Vectorbracks.PNG]] on the screen) always indicates the direction your ship is currently "drifting". The location of the G-indicator can give you a clue as to how close you are to completing a turn. When it is centered the turn is finished; if it's a long way off the screen then most of your thrust is working to cancel your old vector, and you'll probably lose a lot of speed!


There are some techniques that you can employ to turn more quickly, but first let's discuss acceleration and agility.
How fast you execute a turn is a function of your ship's agility, acceleration, side-thrust efficiency, and how drastic the turn was. 
{{Tip|Holding on forward thrust when you turn will override the side thrusters auto-engaging. This means you won't lose as much speed as you turn, although on the other hand your arc will be a lot wider. It can be useful if you're trying to loop around a sector while someone is chasing you. Just don't side-swipe a rock: you'll look silly!}}




===Acceleration vs agility===
===Acceleration vs agility===
Agility is a measure of how quickly your ship can change the direction it is ''facing''. Acceleration is a measure of how quickly your ship can change the direction it is ''moving''.


Acceleration is, among other things, a measure of how long it takes for your ship to change direction. Ships with high acceleration can stop on a dime, meaning that it takes their g-indicator very little time to align with the nose of their ship. Interceptors are a great example of a ship with high acceleration. As you know, what you pack in cargo greatly affects your ship's acceleration. Pick up LRM Aleph Resonator from space, and notice how hard it is to suddenly change your direction. The Expansion Complex provides two 10% increases to ship acceleration.
Ships with high acceleration can make tight turns, and start/stop on a dime. It doesn't take long for their G-indicator to align with their nose of their ships. Interceptors have very little mass and generate a relatively large amount of thrust which gives them great acceleration. Ships with high agility can whip around much faster than other ships, making it easier to keep the enemy in front of their crosshairs. However, an unwary pilot can find that they have turned their ship too far away from their G-indicator, automatically engaging their side thrusters and slowing themselves down.  
 
{{tip|Your cargo can add to your mass and decrease your acceleration. Try packing your scout full of large shields and launching from base - it's an experience not to be missed!}}
Agility is a measure of how quickly your ship changes its orientation in space (ie. turns). Ships with high agility can whip around much faster than their thrusters can change the ship's direction of motion. As a result, a ship with high agility can turn to attack a target before the negating effects of the ship's side thrusters makes it harder to aim. Agility upgrades can be found in the Supremacy Center.
 
For many ships, gentle turns allows the ship's acceleration to keep pace with its agility, allowing the g-indicator to stay consistently centered. With more drastic turns, a ship's agility outpaces its acceleration, causing your ship to move in an arc while the thrusters work to change your direction.




===Boosting===
===Boosting===
Your ship's booster (if it has one) provides additional forward thrust at the cost of fuel. It is an ''additional'' component, rather than an integrated part of your ship's thrusters. You can not divert booster-generated thrust through a side thruster.
{{Note|The retro-booster is an exception to this, it pushes thrust out of the rear thruster. In fact, you must hold on back-thrust (or have throttle set to zero) for the retro-booster to work at all.}}


Your ship's booster simply provides additional forward thrust at the cost of fuel. It is a "strap on" component, rather than an integrated part of your ship's thrust system. You can not divert booster-generated thrust through a side thruster, though DN core does provide a "retro-booster" for scouts that generates backward thrust. The main purpose of the retro-booster is to augment the stopping function of the rear thruster, allowing scouts to stop quickly.
Holding down the boost key will prevent your side-thrusters from automatically engaging (even if your current ship doesn't have a booster installed). If you try to turn while boosting it will take longer to execute because the side-thrusters are not engaging, unless you oversteer (see below). This is a common issue when you are trying to intercept an enemy or race for an aleph.
 
{{Tip|Imagine a rally car drifting around a corner for an idea of how to aim your ship to make turns while boosting.}}
Incidentally, like manually engaging thrusters, holding down the boost key will prevent your thrusters from automatically engaging. This is true, even if you don't have a booster installed. This is a common cause of overboosting, because pilots will hold down the key too long (preventing their ship from decelerating). It is also much harder to steer accurately while boosting (since you're relying solely on your boosters and drag to cancel your old direction of motion), so changing direction to intercept a target may become difficult.
You can use this behavior to your advantage.  
 
*Hold down the boost key just before you start to ripcord. Instead of spinning and slowing down, your ship will boost forward for most of the ripcord sequence.  
You can use this behavior to your advantage. A common trick is to hold down the boost key just before you start to ripcord. The ship will continue coasting forward for most of the ripcord sequence. If you are out of fuel (or reloading fuel), you can hold down the boost key to replicate vector lock. As long as you're not boosting, you can throw yourself in one direction and use the boost key to "slide" in that direction while you turn your ship to engage an enemy. This isn't quite like vector lock (the drag in space will cause you to stop), but it is a quick/handy trick for those who master it.
*If you are out of fuel, reloading fuel, or without a booster then holding down the boost key acts little like vector lock. This isn't quite vector lock (the drag in space will cause you to stop), but you can throw yourself in one direction and use the boost key to "slide" in that direction while you turn your ship to engage an enemy. It is a quick/handy trick for those who master it.
 
 
 
==Applications to common problems in flight==
 
 
===Oversteering===
 
As we discussed previously, turning engages your side thrusters to cancel your previous direction of motion, while your forward thruster propels you in a new direction. Yet, it is frequently helpful to you want to cancel your previous direction as fast a possible, trusting your main thruster to get your moving quickly in the new direction once you've stopped moving in the old one. A common scenario where this is the case is trying to dock/transfer as quickly as possible to meet some immanent threat.
 
You can increase the speed at which you turn by oversteering, or turning farther than you intend to go. When you oversteer, you use your ship's powerful main thruster cancel your previous vector, rather than your weaker side thrusters. While your main thrusters are working, watch for your g-indicator to appear, and track its motion. When the g-indicator is lined up with where you really want to go, immediately point your ship back towards the intended target (having good agility helps). As your g-indicator is now centered with the nose of your ship, your forward thrusters will fully engage and you'll gain speed very quickly. Boosters are of great help while oversteering, since the additional thrust will let you almost-instantly cancel your old vector.
 
Of course, the question of "how much to oversteer" to important. You typically don't want to oversteer so much that your intended target is off screen. It is important to know when the g-indicator is pointing in the right direction so that you can turn back. If you have a really good feel for your ship, you can get away with oversteering so much that your intended target is off screen. Don't try it when you're just starting out though.
 
I typically oversteer so that my target somewhere between the edge of the screen and half the distance from edge to middle. If I'm moving perpendicularly to an aleph, and want to boost through it, I'll turn so that the aleph is right on the edge, and boost until I see the g-indicator line up with it. I'll then stop boosting, turn back, and boost again.
 
 
===Intercepting a target===
 
Suppose you're a stealth fighter, wanting to intercept a miner traveling across a sector. Suppose you are an interceptor, wanting to unload on a bomber traveling across your screen. Suppose you want to chase down a scout that has been camping in your home. There are many situations where you want to meet up with a target moving laterally across your screen. Plotting an intercept course with a distant target is not a trivial task for a human. However, with a few easy tips, you can improve your chances of "crossing the t" of an enemy's target (to use naval jargon).
 
The biggest tip is to not aim directly for the target, unless you are moving very fast and are reasonably close (ie. almost in gun range). If you aim directly for a distant target, you'll end up always turning to keep the target in the center of your screen. Since turning engages side thrusters and reduces your speed, you'll consistently end up falling behind the target as you get closer to it. This is a decent strategy if you want to leisurely line up and take a shot at a bomber's nans, or settle in for the right moment to unload on a miner. In a time-crunch situation, however, falling behind the target means that you'll be playing catch-up just as a miner gets to safety or a bomber begins unloading abs missiles.
 
Instead, you want to lead the target. Precisely how much to lead is hard to say. What I typically do is put my target ship off of the edge of the screen and monitor its motion as range between us closes. As the range closes, the target ship should begin to work its way to the middle of my screen. If you're 1k from the target, and it is still off the edge of your screen, make an adjustment and turn a bit towards the target. If the ship is halfway to the middle of your screen and you're 3k away, make another adjustment and turn away from the target. You'll probably have to make little adjustments as the distance closes. That's fine. Minor, periodic adjustments won't hurt your overall speed that much. Peeking in f3 helps, if you can get away with it. Sometimes you can't, but it is a great help when you can.
 
 
===Exploiting the forward thruster===
 
It is frequently the case where you don't care exactly where you are going, so long as you are going fast. You might be a scout running away from a boosting interceptor, or a bomber wanting to travel vaguely in the direction of an enemy base. Either way, you can enjoy better results by manually engaging your forward thruster.
 
Recall that manually engaging any thruster causes the ship the maximize its thrust output, while also preventing any other thruster from auto-engaging. This feature can be exploited to make high speed turns without losing much speed. If you turn with your forward thruster engaged, your side thrusters will not try to cancel your old vector (and thus not divert any power from your forward thruster). The drag in space will allow you to still execute the turn, but it will take much longer. This is not something that I would try in the middle of an asteroid field: you stand a good chance of sideswiping a Helium rock (and entertaining the enemy). If you're at the edge of a sector and want to make a pursuer work harder to kill you, this the trick to use.
 
Your bomb/htt runs can also benefit from this technique. As mentioned above, your rear thrusters will automatically try to slow down a bomber/htt after it has been rammed. Holding down your forward thruster key will prevent this from happening, allowing you to maintain a higher speed for longer. It also prevents your side thrusters from trying to adjust from a wonky ram, letting you keep a higher speed at the cost of accuracy. The loss of accuracy is important to note, because even if you get really good rams, your bomber will be hard to steer with the forward thruster engaged. This is not a technique that I would use close to an enemy base, especially on an htt run. It also dangerous to use if the enemy has a skilled prox dropper. However, if you want to traverse an empty sector, or cover most of the distance to a base, this is a useful technique.

Latest revision as of 01:59, 9 March 2011

Cadet II · Week One Index · Edit

Week 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · Appx

Steering your ship


One of Allegiance's charms is its semi-realistic physics engine. It is not truly Newtonian space physics but is "Newtonian enough" to capture some of the essence of flying in space. This lesson is intended to clear up misconceptions, and recommend some strategies for proper steering in Allegiance.

Common flying problems

Over-steering

The middle ship turns normally, the upper ship holds on forward thrust, and the lower ship oversteers.

When you turn, not only do your main engines start pushing you in the new direction, but your side thrusters automatically fire to cancel out your old movement. In many situations you want to decrease the time it takes to execute a turn, such as swinging around a base to dock. This can be done by turning farther than you intend then swinging back on course - aka, oversteering.

When you oversteer you use both your powerful forward thruster and your less efficient side thrusters to bleed off your old momentum. You can tell when your old momentum has been bled off by keeping an eye on your g-indicator, once it is pointing in the direction you want to go simply swing your nose back towards your intended target (otherwise you really will oversteer!).

Idea.png
 Tip: Boosters are of great help while oversteering, since the additional thrust will let you almost-instantly cancel your old vector.

Of course, the question of "how much to oversteer" is important. You don't want to oversteer your intended target off screen, because then you can't keep an eye on your g-indicator to know when it lines up. With experience you will learn how to oversteer at sharp angles.

Overboosting

If you are trying to get to a target quickly, then you want to use your booster to get there as quickly as possible. Be careful though! If you use the booster too long, you will gain too much speed and shoot past the target!

This is a very common rookie mistake, especially when trying to kill a bomber. You will overboost even more if the target is flying fast in the opposite direction than you (i.e. the bbr flys towards the base you are flying from). To avoid overboosting don't hold on the boost key too long. Release it when you are about 1.5k out from your target and just coast the rest of the way. After all, if you're too slow you can tap the boost key a few more times to speed up again, but it is a lot harder to lose speed.

Idea.png
 Tip: As you coast in towards your target, reload fuel so you're ready and primed for action by the time you're in gun range!


Intercepting a target

The ship on the left aims directly for the target, but takes longer to get in range. The ship on the right intercepts the target quickly, but overshoots. Ideally you want to compromise between the two extremes in order to get on your target's six.

There are many situations where you want to meet up with a target moving laterally across your screen, for example as a stealth fighter wanting to intercept a miner traveling across the sector, or an interceptor wanting to kill a scout before it reaches the aleph. Plotting an intercept course with a distant target is not a trivial task for a human. However, with a few easy tips, you can improve your chances of swinging in directly behind a distant target.

Don't aim directly at your target because then you will end up constantly turning to track it. Turning is slower than flying in a straight line. If your target is a long way off you should be able to change to F3 view, look at your position, look at their position and movement, and get a rough idea of where you can cross their path. Quickly give yourself a waypoint to that point then change back to cockpit view. If you don't have time to change to F3 view, then your best bet is to lead the target. Its a good idea to keep your target on the edge of your screen and as you close the distance swing your nose around to get the target in the center of your screen.

Ideally you want to end up directly behind your target and moving at approximately the same speed. You know you've messed up if you fall far behind the target, overshoot the target and end up in his crosshairs, or zoom past trying to twist your ship to shoot the target while it flies across your screen.

This is a difficult skill to master, you have to be very aware of your own speed, direction, and your ship's ability to accelerate/decelerate. You also have to keep an eye on your target's position, speed, and whether they are trying to avoid you. What you are trying to do is aim your ship in an curve that will flow in nicely into the target's direction of travel. It becomes a compromise between intercepting them as quickly as possible and managing your approach to get on their six.

Idea.png
 Tip: Keep an eye on their 3d ship at the bottom of the screen to see if they're trying to dodge you.


Basic Physics

Drag

How "drag" affects your speed

In "true" Newtonian physics an object in space will drift forever after being pushed in some direction. To change direction an object must first "bleed off" some of the momentum it has gained in its original direction. An object under constant acceleration will constantly gain speed without ever reaching a maximum speed.

Allegiance physics has a constant "space-drag" which works against your acceleration. This drag means you need to leave your engines running to keep moving. If you turn your engines off then you will drift to a stop. You also have a top speed that is reached when the drag against the front of your ship equals the propulsion from your engine.


Info.png
 Note One of the best analogies for how Allegiance ships work is that they are all flying underwater.

Throttle vs thrusters

Your throttle controls how much your thrust your ship generates, which is always vented out of your ship's rear engines (referred to as "forward thruster" from now on). At 50% throttle your ship will have half of its maximum acceleration and reach half of its maximum speed.

Your ship also has four side-thrusters that allow you to travel left, right, up, and down, and a rear thruster for traveling backwards. Depending on your ship and faction these side-thrusters can range from 25% to 100% as powerful as the main engine, but are normally closer to 25%. Side-thrusters automatically fire under a variety of conditions (see below). You can manually engage a thruster at any time by pressing the corresponding side-thruster key. When you do, your throttle is overridden to 100% and all thrust is diverted to the side thruster. If you engage two side-thrusters at the same time, thrust is split evenly (see note below).


Idea.png
 Tip: Overusing your side-thrusters constantly diverts power from your main engine, greatly reducing your speed and turning you into a sitting duck.


Info.png
 Note If you engage a strong side-thruster at the same time as a weak one, the net thrust out of each will be even. However, the weaker side thruster will be absorbing more "power", and so your overall loss in speed will be greater than if you were using two powerful side thrusters.

Auto-engaging thrusters

In some situations your side-thrusters will automatically engage to control your movement. Unlike manual side-thrusting it will not override your throttle, nor necessarily cut your forward thrust to zero.

For instance, Vector lock automatically uses your thrusters. Engaging vector lock causes your thrusters to maintain your current direction of motion, regardless of the direction you are facing. If you face the same direction as your vector lock, then it will use 100% of your forward thruster. If you face some other direction, your less efficient side-thrusters will maintain your direction of motion. As explained above, this means you will slow down.

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 Tip: Many veterans avoid vector lock. While you can shoot in once direction while moving in another, vector lock ensures that you're moving slowly in a straight line, making you an easy target. To achieve much the same effect without being easier to hit, most veterans side-thrust manually.

Changing your throttle setting will also auto-engage thrusters. When you reduce throttle to zero not only does your main engine cut power, but your rear thrusters will automatically engage to slow your ship at the maximum rate. Similarly your rear thrusters will auto-engage whenever your current forward speed exceeds your throttle setting. This is why bombers with good acceleration (such as tf) are difficult to ram: they are very good at slowing down to their normal speed!

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 Tip: Manual thrusting overrides any automatic behavior, which is helpful in a variety of situations. For instance, if you are flying a bomber and want to maintain speed after a ram, then hold down your forward thrust. This will prevent your rear thruster from trying to slow you down.

Turning and the G-indicator

A common operation that automatically engages thrusters is turning. Turning engages your side thrusters to cancel your old vector while your main thruster begins propelling you in a new direction. As a result your speed drops (less forward thrust) and your ship carves out a little arc in space.

The G-indicator (also known as "momentum vector" and shown as Vectorbracks.PNG on the screen) always indicates the direction your ship is currently "drifting". The location of the G-indicator can give you a clue as to how close you are to completing a turn. When it is centered the turn is finished; if it's a long way off the screen then most of your thrust is working to cancel your old vector, and you'll probably lose a lot of speed!

How fast you execute a turn is a function of your ship's agility, acceleration, side-thrust efficiency, and how drastic the turn was.

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 Tip: Holding on forward thrust when you turn will override the side thrusters auto-engaging. This means you won't lose as much speed as you turn, although on the other hand your arc will be a lot wider. It can be useful if you're trying to loop around a sector while someone is chasing you. Just don't side-swipe a rock: you'll look silly!


Acceleration vs agility

Agility is a measure of how quickly your ship can change the direction it is facing. Acceleration is a measure of how quickly your ship can change the direction it is moving.

Ships with high acceleration can make tight turns, and start/stop on a dime. It doesn't take long for their G-indicator to align with their nose of their ships. Interceptors have very little mass and generate a relatively large amount of thrust which gives them great acceleration. Ships with high agility can whip around much faster than other ships, making it easier to keep the enemy in front of their crosshairs. However, an unwary pilot can find that they have turned their ship too far away from their G-indicator, automatically engaging their side thrusters and slowing themselves down.

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 Tip: Your cargo can add to your mass and decrease your acceleration. Try packing your scout full of large shields and launching from base - it's an experience not to be missed!


Boosting

Your ship's booster (if it has one) provides additional forward thrust at the cost of fuel. It is an additional component, rather than an integrated part of your ship's thrusters. You can not divert booster-generated thrust through a side thruster.


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 Note The retro-booster is an exception to this, it pushes thrust out of the rear thruster. In fact, you must hold on back-thrust (or have throttle set to zero) for the retro-booster to work at all.

Holding down the boost key will prevent your side-thrusters from automatically engaging (even if your current ship doesn't have a booster installed). If you try to turn while boosting it will take longer to execute because the side-thrusters are not engaging, unless you oversteer (see below). This is a common issue when you are trying to intercept an enemy or race for an aleph.

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 Tip: Imagine a rally car drifting around a corner for an idea of how to aim your ship to make turns while boosting.

You can use this behavior to your advantage.

  • Hold down the boost key just before you start to ripcord. Instead of spinning and slowing down, your ship will boost forward for most of the ripcord sequence.
  • If you are out of fuel, reloading fuel, or without a booster then holding down the boost key acts little like vector lock. This isn't quite vector lock (the drag in space will cause you to stop), but you can throw yourself in one direction and use the boost key to "slide" in that direction while you turn your ship to engage an enemy. It is a quick/handy trick for those who master it.
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