Manual:Insystem travel

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INSYSTEM TRAVEL

There are three potential ways to travel between locations within a system. These are via Combat and Flight Modes, or by using your ship’s SPEC drive. Attempting to travel between locations under the normal modes would require an exceedingly large amount of time; therefore, for fast insystem travel between planets, asteroids and artificial satellites you should use your SPEC drive.

The SPEC Drive

The SPEC drive (Spatial Partitioned Expansion Contraction) and its alien equivalents warp space around the vessel in such a way that the vessel moves at normal speed though compressed space, generating an effective movement rate magnitudes higher than Flight Mode.

The degree of spatial compression (and therefore the drive's effectiveness) is limited by the proximity of any nearby gravity wells (suns, planets or even stations). So, the nearer a gravity-well, the lower the magnitude of movement over normal velocity. You may have heard a metaphor for gravity that states "space is a big soft bed, planets are bowling balls, and smaller balls roll towards the indentations." Well, in SPEC travel, the planets are more like big hills that get steeper the closer you get to them.

The energy costs to use the SPEC drive are much higher than jumping. As such, SPEC drives are used for interstellar travel only when exploring outside the jump network or when launching a military expedition (as going through the "front door" (e.g. the jump network) is ill advised). All space worthy ships are fitted with a SPEC drive for insystem travel.

To use SPEC, make sure that your direction vector and your velocity vector are both aligned on your target. This means that you must point your ship at your destination and actually travel in the direction you are pointing. To activate, press the [a] or [A] key. A blue SPEC indicator light will appear on your HUD, and your velocity will increase. On final approach to your destination, press the same key again to deactivate the drive and return to your previous flight control. Please also note that your weapon systems are disabled while the SPEC drive is activated, to avoid collision with your own weaponry.

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