FTL Drive
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The FTL drive allows a spacecraft to travel faster than light (FTL). This is not required for interstellar travel, but it greatly reduces the travel time between solar systems. Without a FTL drive a spacecraft is forced to deadhead, which is limited by the speed of light.
The required size of the FTL drive depends on the size of the spacecraft. A smaller FTL drive than required will make it unable to engage, and a bigger FTL drive than required allow for redundancies in case the FTL drive is damaged. The FTL dive also require a great deal of power, so an adequately sized capacitor and power plant is also required.
An Engineer Station is required to be used in conjunction with a Navigator Station. Refer to the engineer console for instructions on how to use it.
FTL Drive Types
There are currently two different FTL drive types. A spacecraft can have more than one FTL drive, or the FTL drive can be upgraded or changed using FTL drive modules.
Wormhole Drive
A wormhole FTL drive allows the spacecraft to instantly travel to another solar system through wormholes. It is created using lumenite, which is very common in the universe, but only found on moons and planets in colder orbit zones.
The wormhole drive has three polarity settings:
- Positive
- Negative
- Neutral
When engaged, the drive goes through a 6 second warm up phase, then the drive is active for 50 seconds, then goes through a 6 second cool down phase. The polarity cannot be changed while the the drive is engaged.
The spacecraft will disintegrate upon entry into a wormhole if the drive polarity is set incorrectly!
Helm console shows an indicator with the polarity when the wormhole drive is engaged.
See the Engineer Station page for more information on how to operate the wormhole FTL drive.
Warp Drive
A warp FTL drive allows a spacecraft to accelerate past lightspeed instantly, allowing the spacecraft to travel directly between solar systems, at a fraction of the time it would take to deadhead. The speed of warp depends on the warp factor, 5x the speed of light per warp factor. I.e., warp 1 is 5x the speed of light, warp 2 is 10x the speed of light, and so on, until warp 9 at 45x the speed of light.
Warp FTL drives require antiflux particles, which can only be harvested with particle collector bays. The patent does not appear until you complete the wormhole FTL drive patent.
Warp drives can be set to warp factors 1 through 9. This is however limited by the warp FTL module installed on the spacecraft. Each warp factor requires more capacitor energy than the last, so extra large capacitor and power plant is required for higher warp factors.
When engaged, the warp drive goes through a 6 second warm up phase, then provides warp drive FTL speed for 50 seconds, then goes through a 6 second cool down phase. Warp drive is engaged at the currently selected warp factor. The warp factor cannot be changed once the drive is engaged.
The capacitor power consumed at warp factor 1 is the same as the capacitor power consumed by engaging a wormhole FTL drive. That way a spacecraft's FTL drive and capacitor are adequate no matter what FTL drive type is installed later.
Helm station shows a warp factor indicator when the warp drive is hot.
Engineer crewman will operate the warp drive at an appropriate warp factor when the destination is farther than .9 parsecs (?) away. Issue a Travel Direct order and the crew will do the rest, it doesn't matter how many parsecs away it is. The engineer will engage the warp drive repeatedly if necessary to get there.
Engineer crewman will operate the warp drive to follow another vessel. If the spacecraft being followed engages its warp drive, the engineer crewman will set the warp factor of his own spacecraft to match that of the spacecraft being followed and engage his own warp drive.
Design analysis shows the maximum warp factor achievable based on max capacitor power.
Warp Distance
When operating the warp drive yourself, a good rule of thumb for warp factor is twice the distance in parsecs rounded up. That way the amount of time the warp drive is operating is just about enough to get you to the destination. This is because light speed is 10 minutes per parsec. Warp factor 1 is 5x light speed, which means you travel one parsec in two minutes. The hot portion of the drive cycle lasts for almost a full minute (50 sec.). Therefore, the ship travels almost half of one parsec for each warp factor. You can of course choose any warp factor you like. Warp 9 to go 1.5p is a little much because you'll have to either circle around the destination system for a while after you get there, waiting for the warp drive to finish its cycle, or power off the warp drive prematurely.
Warp speed is directly proportional to the distance to the nearest star, up to the maximum established by the warp factor when the drive is engaged. There is no acceleration or deceleration. Speed changes are instantaneous. Observe the result of engaging the warp drive in deep space or the result of flying directly into the star with the warp drive engaged.
Warp speed near the star does not vary with warp factor; warp factor only affects the maximum speed achieved by a ship. Two ships that are the same distance from the star at different warp factors will travel exactly the same speed. At some distance from the star, one of the ships will stop going faster. The other ship will stop going faster when it is far enough away to reach it's maximum warp speed. Warp 1 full speed is achieved at 1/5 parsec from the center of the nearest star, which is right at the margin of deep space.
Turn Rate at Warp Speed
A spacecraft travelling at warp speed, or even at the speed of light using sublight engines will be unable to turn as quickly until it reduces its speed. This is because the faster a ship moves, the slower the turning is.