MERCENARY 2 - VELOCITY GAUGES | |||
Your spacecraft is
equipped with six velocity gauges to help you monitor your ship's
movement.
The set velocity and
relative forward/reverse velocity gauges keep track of your ship's
applied velocity level relative to other factors that may apply. For
example, if you are in a planet atmosphere and set your velocity to 500,
your IDS will apply enough engine thrust to achieve that level of
velocity subject to the rotation and gravity forces of the planet. Your
indicated forward velocity will read 500 to match the 500 'set' velocity
you selected, but your actual velocity relative to the universe will
obviously be different because you are above a planet that is rotating,
which is carrying you along with it. So depending on your ship's
orientation, your actual overall velocity relative to the universal
constant (ie your position in the universe) might be slightly above or
below your local indicated velocity due to the rotation of the planet.
If you fly against the direction of the planet's rotation, your overall
total velocity will be lower than your local velocity. If you fly with
the direction of the planet's rotation, your overall total velocity will
be higher than your local velocity. Your ship provides a gauge to help
you monitor this velocity level as well. Next to the relative/local
velocity indicator after the '/' is the 'total velocity' indicator. It
provides your ship's velocity relative to your position in the universe,
rather than relative to any local gravitational/atmospheric conditions.
Most of the time in open space, this indicator will remain pretty close
to the local velocity indicator. However, once you enter a gravity field,
you may see these two values differ significantly. For example, if you
are flying directly toward a star with the IDS on, your ship will work
to match your local velocity with the set velocity you select. Both your
set velocity and the local velocity indicators might read something like
700, but as you approach the star and the star's gravity increases its
pull on your ship, you'll see your total velocity indicator increase to
a value above 700 as you are gradually pulled in by the star's gravity
to a faster overall velocity. If you disengage the IDS, then your ship's
computer will stop trying to maintain your ship's relative velocity and
your local forward velocity will also start to increase as the force of
gravity is then allowed to accelerate your ship unrestricted by computer
offset control, resulting in even faster velocity acceleration. If your
ship is being pulled at an indirect angle by gravity, you'll see your
horizontal and/or vertical velocity gauges change value as well. If you
turn directly away from the star and engage the IDS, your ship's
computer will work to return your local velocity to the selected 'set'
level, but your overall total velocity will then be slower since gravity
will continue to pull you toward the star. To escape the star's gravity
hold, you'll need to accelerate to a velocity that is higher than the
force of gravity is pulling you in by.
The gravity velocity gauge
will help you determine how much of an effect gravity is having on your
ship's trajectory. The gravity gauge displays the level of velocity your
ship is being pulled in by, it is not a force factor indicator. So if
your gravity gauge reads 500, you can maintain a fixed location by
turning away from the object generating the gravity and setting your
local velocity to 500. Select a faster velocity to pull away from the
object generating the gravity.
Using all of these
velocity indicators will help you maintain situational awareness of how
your ship is being effected by environmental conditions around you,
giving you the ability to formulate flight paths to perform maneuvers
and stay safe in dangerous high gravity environments.
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