Important info for novice Pioneer pilots

[Baobobafet]

One of the things I'm noticing when people start playing Pioneer for the first time is, they usually have no idea what sorts of speeds and momentum they are at the mercy of :)

I compiled some info as best I could into a text format (which might need some vetting for accuracy as well as omissions) The VASIMR stuff was just interesting for reference - even though there's a long acceleration time required for them. Startrek impulse and warp definitions are included for reference purposes only.

I wasn't sure what sorts of speeds Pioneers different engines could do relative to the above speeds - so I left those out. (It might be nice to include if available, but isn't really necessary at this time)

I was thinking some chart of this type could be posted on the web page &/or the text file could be included with the game. Titled: Caution or IMPORTANT - Relative speed and time advance functions.

Of course the real question is, will people actually read it before launching?

(All speeds are approximate) RELATIVE SPEED COMPARISON CHART

SPEED m/s km/s km/h VEHICLE TYPE
Subsonic 3. 0.003 10.9 [Wright Flyer] Orville & Wilber First controlled powered flight (Dec. 17, 1903) Subsonic 51.3 0.05 185. [Folker Dr.1] Baron Von Richthofen (1918) Subsonic 61.1 0.06 220. [Spirit of St. Louis] Charles Lindbergh (May 20-21, 1927) Subsonic 168. 0.168 605. Spitfire Mk Vb Subsonic 292.6 0.29 1,053.5 [Me-262] First operational jet fighter (mid 1944) Subsonic 311.9 0.31 1,123. [Me-163 Komet] First Rocket-power fighter aircraft (mid 1944) Mach 1 340.2 0.34 1,225. [Bell X-1] Chuck Yeager breaks sound barrier (Oct.14, 1947) @ Alt. 13.7 km Mach 3.2 1,088.8 1. 3,920. [SR-71 Blackbird] Turbofan with Afterburner (1960) Mach 4.7 1,600. 1.6 5,760. [V-2] Rocket single stage ballistic missile (mid 1944) Mach 5. 2,021. 2. 7,275. [X-15A-2] aircraft speed in 1964 - Ramjet propulsion
Mach 7.8 2,666.6 2.6 9,600. Standard orbit speed for 'M' class planets * Mach 9.1 3,100. 3.1 11,160. Earth Geo Orbit: Cntr to Cntr Distance = 42,000 km, Alt.= 35,786 km Mach 9.8 3,373.3 3.37 12,144. [NASA X-43A] - Scramjet propulsion (Nov 2004) Mach 20.2 6,900. 6.9 24,840. Earth Lowest Orbit: Cntr to Cntr Distance = 6,600 km, Alt. = 200 km ** Mach 23 7,826.3 7.8 28,175. [Shuttle] Earth re-entry & Low Orbit: Cntr to Cntr Dist.= 8,400 km, Alt.= 2000 km Mach 24 8,166.6 8.1 29,400. (Theoretical limit of Scramjet speeds) Mach 33 11,229. 11.2 40,425. Earth Escape velocity

SPEED m/s km/s km/h VEHICLE TYPE Mach 36.2 12,330. 12.3 44,388. [Saturn V] optimal speed - Chemical Rocket propulsion (mid 1960) Mach 40 13,611.6 13.6 49,000. Mach 50 17,013.8 17. 61,250. [Voyager 2] - Gravity assist Propulsion , Hydazine orientation thrusters Mach 80 27,223.2 27.2 98,000. Mach 100 34,027.7 34. 122,500. Mach 881.6 300,000. 300. 108,0000. [Theoretical limit for (VASIMR) Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket] Mach 1000 340,277.8 340.2 1,225,000.

• StarTrek Unit Measure : Earth to Moon Across Sol system To Nearby Star

SPEED m/s km/s km/h x Lightspeed 400,000 km 12,000,000 km 5 Light years Standard orbit* 2,666.6 2.6 9,600. 0.00001 42 hours 142 years 558,335 years Full Impulse* 75,000,000. 75,000. 270 million 0.25 5.38 seconds 44 hours 20 years Warp Factor 1* (light Speed) 299,790. 1079 million 1.0 1.34 seconds 11 hours 5 years

\ Geosynchronous Orbit: Time = 23 hours 56 min. ***Low Earth Orbit: Center to Center Distance = 6,600 to 8,400 km, Alt. above Earth = 200 to 2000 km, Circular Orbit speed = 6.9 to 7.8 km/s, Elliptic orbit 6.5 to 8.2 km/s Orbit time = 89 to 128 min. Apollo 11 Average speed of = 1500-2000 mph (2414 -3218.6 km/h) or Mach 1.9 - 2.6 Round trip duration = 59-84 hrs (July 21,1969)

STARDREAMER The time advance (Stardreamer) feature in Pioneer is used when covering great distances. (This is the pause, forward, fast forward etc. arrows on the bottom left of the screen.) In manual flight mode, it is especially helpful when your ship is closing on targets. It's far safer to approach spaceports at reduced speed but increased time advance, rather than the reverse. Once near your destination, reduce your time advance back to normal After that it will depend on many factors including pilot skills, ship's mass, engine power and any onboard weight (cargo) for a rendezvous to be successful.

[Baobobafet]

guess I'll have to supply a link :)

[Baobobafet]

http://www.mediafire.com/?bimm72l8rfees5x

[Brianetta]

The theoretical speed limit for a VASIMR engine is completely arbitrary. Even in a relativistic universe, the objective top speed is light speed. Subjectively, it's still arbitrary.

A far more useful measure of engine performance in Pioneer and in the real world is delta-V, the amount of change of velocity available to a given engine configuration with a given propellant load. It is measured in the same units as speed, but it isn't the same thing.

Imagine you have a ship with 6m/s delta-V. Its theoretical top speed, relative to its start location, is 6m/s, which it would reach if it just fired the engine until it ran out of propellant. Its practical limit, assuming we want to stop, is 3m/s, because half delta-V will be used to reach 3m/s, and the other half will later be used to bring it back to 0. If you're planning a return trip, you're going to have to plan for 1.5m/s top speed.

The neat thing is, range is unlimited.

So, all in all, while it's nice to present the novice player with a bunch of guideline speeds, it's much better to somehow have them understand the difference between speed and velocity, and that the main limitations aren't how fast you can go, but by how much you can change that.

[Baobobafet]

Some interesting points,

So does anyone have any clear ideas on how to display this type of info to a new player that is easy to understand? I don't mind working on a chart to get this concept across better, But I guess I need some sort of example.

[Baobobafet]

One possible idea might be to have tip screens option-w- an on off in the config. Pretty common in many games. Or their might be some tip screens running on the title screen (if idle to long) Anyways this is just an idea. But there could be a number of such screens that educate the player.

Here is a quick possible mockup of a format that might be used:

[Baobobafet]

updated

[Baobobafet]

[Baobobafet]

[Brianetta]

I believe that @robn is including a basic layout engine in the new UI design. That should make a basic online manual like this possible, in principle. It would need to be translatable, so it might not be a good idea to embed too much text within diagrams.

[Baobobafet]

No prob, I can make the photoshop files available, so all that can be removed anytime, but will keep that in mind :)

Anyways, just some slight updates to my grammer - and a few possible omissions of import.

[Baobobafet]

Okay, so here's one without the text on the diagram. Let me know if the photoshop stuff is useful.

[robn]

They would be done as text, not images, but that's not particularly important at this point.

It does occur to me that this is actually the beginnings of a flight manual. It may not belong in the game at all.

[Baobobafet]

Hey however you guys want to use this stuff - just making it available. Anyways these are the basics most new pilots should know. If there are other areas to cover in more detail - I guess any proposed manual would be the place to go.

[Baobobafet]

to add some food for thought...

Although a manual is a definate must for the complexities of Pioneer. Most peoples eyes tend to glaze over at the mention of having to read a manual(and Pioneer's manual will be daunting for many) before having to try out a new game. It also pre-empts all the resulting rtfm posts that insue from a general lack of basic information on the mechanics of the game(the main feature). This just ties up any related forums with redundant posts on minutia about these issues over and over. If a select number of these screens were avialable, as I suggested earlier, as part of a screen saver function or an in game abreviated guide to the game. People would be exposed to this info early on and make more informed decisions durring their first experience with the game.

[Luomu]

Please move this sort of stuff to pioneerwiki.com - registrations are open to everyone.

[Luomu]

< Brianetta> kko_: #1244 is for potential inclusion in-game, not just as a resource for the web

No problem :) It seemed very wiki-appropriate to me. I leave it up to you.

[Baobobafet]

No problem from me if anyone else wants to add this stuff to the wiki... (got a few other things in RL on the burner right now) - but will get around to posting it eventually otherwise.

[Baobobafet]

I found the original psd files for the Pilot Aid screens above. (This seemed as good a place as any to leave a link to them) They are at 1920x1080 res. Some of the instruction text included could use some re-edit. All text is removeable at any rate.

Anyways here is the link: http://www.mediafire.com/?2lppime7kgepg1i

[impaktor]

Been more than a year now, and a basic manual has now been added to the wiki, where this stuff would, potentially, belong. http://pioneerwiki.com/wiki/Manual