Flying Basics
Master modes, flight assists, quantum travel, fuel and landing: everything to get from A to B.
1. Basic flight controls
On a keyboard and mouse, the mouse aims the ship (pitch and yaw). Then: W / S - forward/back thrust. A / D - strafe left/right. Space / Left Ctrl - strafe up/down. Q / E - roll. Left Shift - boost. X - space brake.
2. Master modes: SCM vs NAV
Ships have two master modes . Long-press B to switch. SCM (combat mode): lower top speed, but shields and weapons are active. Use it near other ships and for landing. NAV (navigation mode): much faster and enables quantum travel , but shields, weapons and countermeasures are offline.
3. Speed limiter, cruise and decoupled
A few flight helpers: Speed limiter - caps your speed. Adjust it with Left Alt + mouse wheel. Lower it for precise flying near stations. Cruise control - Left Alt + C holds your current speed. Decoupled mode - C lets you drift and turn without changing your direction of travel. Great for experts, confusing for beginners: if your ship "slides", turn it back off.
4. Leaving atmosphere
From a planet, point your nose up and climb. Atmosphere slows you and heats your ship, so a steady climb is best. Once the sky turns black you're in space. Switching to NAV lets you reach higher speeds once clear of the city, and you can often quantum travel out of the upper atmosphere.
5. Quantum travel with the starmap
Quantum travel (QT) is how you cross huge distances in seconds: Seated in your ship, press F2 to open the map. Pick a destination (planet, moon, station or mission marker) and choose Set Route . Switch to NAV (long-press B ). The quantum drive spools automatically. Turn toward the route marker on your HUD until you're aligned. Hold Left Mouse to engage.
6. Understand your two fuels
Ships use two fuels, both shown on your MFDs/HUD: Hydrogen powers your thrusters for normal flight. Quantum fuel powers the quantum drive for QT jumps. As of 4.10, hydrogen tanks are smaller across the fleet with lower consumption to compensate, and fuel prices went up. Long trips need planning.
7. Refuel, repair and restock
Land at a station or spaceport and stay in your landed ship. Open the Landing Services (vehicle services) screen in the mobiGlas to refuel , repair and restock ammo. You pay in aUEC. Rest stops at Lagrange points are handy refuelling stops between planets.
8. Request a landing
When close to a station or city (within a few kilometres), press Left Alt + N to request landing. ATC assigns you a hangar or pad and shows a marker. Switch to SCM and slow down. Lower your gear with N . Approach slowly and touch down gently; small ships can usually use the auto-land function once lined up over the pad.
9. Store your ship
Once landed in an assigned hangar or pad, simply walk away: the ship is stored at that location when you leave. You can also store it from an ASOP terminal. Remember: the ship is stored where you left it. Next time you want it, you must be at that location to retrieve it (or pay for delivery where available).