Ru:Manual:Basic flight

Basic flight instructions by Major Dwight Somlen

... In training with Major Dwight Somlen (ret) of the Confederation of Inhabited Worlds military...

(background, low volume) "What makes you think that these wet behind the ears can learn anything? Do you really think they have the b-" (sounds of interference erupt from your PAD) "to be able to pilot a craft ... what? We're live?"

(full volume speech) "Greetings pilots! I've been requested by the control authority to provide some pointers for newbie pilots on how to fly their brand spanking new spacecraft. The good thing is that no matter what craft you're flying - whether a Llama, Goddard, Ox, Mule or whatever - your interaction with the flight controls is the same. Now, many newbies love to jump in, start moving, and figure out the controls as they go. That's fine, and I'll listen to your space debris hitting my shields when I pass you by. The smarter pilots learn their controls beforehand, as that half-second difference in flight control manipulation could mean becoming a smear on the side of a station, or a twisted hulk after tangling with an Areus.

"Now, first things first. How do you move. If you want to change your direction of movement, you need some sort of flight instrument to relay your commands. Let's refer to your instrument documentation -" (low volume mutter, as though to someone beside him) "they DID get that didn't they?" (full volume) "There are three forms of control: joystick, mouse and keyboard. The joystick is pretty self explanatory. Push the joystick forward, and your ship's nose points 'down'. Pull back and you point up. What? Yes, yes you can invert the controls if you want. Push the joystick from side to side, and your craft will turn on the vertical axis. Some advanced joysticks will even let you roll if you configure your ship correctly. Now your mouse does the same job in two ways. First, we have mouse warping. That's where moving your mouse in a direction, moves your ship in that direction. Keep moving your mouse - yep, that's right - and your ship keeps turning. Mouse gliding, on the other hand, means that moving your mouse pointer away from the center moves your ship in the direction of the pointer." (low mutter) "Me, if I don't have my joystick in my hand, I prefer to glide." (full voice) "Lastly, you have the keyboard. Both the joystick and mouse imitate the keyboard. Use your cursor keys to move up, down, and sideways, and keys to roll left and right. You can also use the keypad to do the same thing: , , , and , to roll.

"OK, so now we're spinning around, going nowhere. What we need is thrust - can the laughter you lot up the back! To move anywhere, we need to have velocity. Velocity is determined in relation to the current system's sun. In Combat Mode (the other modes will be discussed in a later lecture) use the equal or and minus or keys to alter your velocity. Notice that you can have forward and reverse velocity. To obtain maximum combat velocity, use the backslash key. Use the key to reduce your velocity to zero. Essentially, what these commands provide is a Requested Velocity Vector, otherwise called a 'set' velocity. A Requested Velocity Vector is the speed that your craft will always try to move at. At times, like when turning, your velocity may vary up or down; but your craft will always try to return to this Requested Velocity Vector.

In Combat Mode your maximum set-velocity is limited to a predefined value. There are a few ways that let us get around the set-velocity limit though. For those of us lucky enough" (sotto voice) "- rich enough -" (full voice) "to have Overdrive capability on our craft, you can use the key to activate it. Overdrive capability gives your craft a greater velocity than your maximum combat velocity alone. The downside is that you have to hold the key down to maintain overdrive, and you only have a fuel limited time for Overdrive use. Where you don't have an Overdrive, you can still use the key to accelerate to your maximum set velocity, just like the key. In this case, though, releasing the key will then reduce your velocity back to the 'set' original. The other modes will be discussed in a later lecture.

"That's enough for now. You've probably heard enough of this old f- I know, I know, no swearing. Have a think about what I've just said - it just might mean that I'm NOT hearing your space dust on my shields."