Spacecraft

The spacecraft designer

Spacecraft (or craft for short) are aircraft-like small vehicles that can be launched from hangars on larger ships. They can perform a number of roles, including scouting, electronic warfare, anti-missile and anti-craft fire, and anti-ship strikes. Their ability to receive orders after launch makes them more flexible than other tools such as cruise missiles.

Spacecraft Mechanics

Controls

Right-Click Commands

Craft are controlled similarly to ships, but with context-sensitive actions depending on the item the cursor is pointing at when right-clicked. Where multiple valid controls exist, additional commands may be accessed by holding Shift.

Right-click commands

Object clicked	Modifier	Requirements	Action	Explanation
Space		None	Move	Opens the dial widget to allow movement. Holding Shift will allow placement of waypoints as normal.
Friendly Ship		None	Guard/Orbit	Craft will move into a holding pattern moving around the target ship. If it has anti-craft/missile armaments, it will be slaved to the ship's PD controller and will attack incoming threats.
Friendly Ship	Shift	Landing Pad	Land	Craft will line up and attempt to land on the target ship. It will orbit the ship until a landing pad is free and the ship is within flight quarters speeds.
Friendly Craft		None	Guard/Orbit	Craft will move into a holding pattern moving around the target craft. If it has anti-craft/missile armaments, it will be slaved to the craft's PD controller and will attack incoming threats.
Friendly Craft	Shift	Target of same craft type	Merge flight	Craft will join with the target craft/flight to form a unified flight.
Enemy Ship		None	Attack Ship	Craft will move towards the target ship and attempt to attack it with appropriate weapons. Behaviour is dependent on the craft's set stance toggles. Craft will automatically deauthorise weapons that cannot harm ships when given an attack ship order.
Enemy Ship	Shift	Craft has standoff illuminator/EO module	Illuminate/Scan	Craft will move into range of the target with its module and enter a holding pattern, attempting to keep the target illuminated.
Enemy Craft		None	Attack Craft	Craft will move toward the target craft/flight and attempt to attack it with appropriate weapons. Behaviour is dependent on the craft's set stance toggles. Craft will automatically deauthorise weapons that cannot harm craft when given an attack craft order.

Stance Controls

The craft stance controls

Spacecraft behaviour is controlled by toggling behaviors in the craft stance control board, similarly to ship postures. Spacecraft launch with the default stances shown on the right. The stances are:

HBURN (Engine Hard Burn)

State	Behaviour
OFF	Craft will fly at their cruise speed, using the regular amount of fuel.
ON	Craft will fly at their hard-burn speed, (usually 1.5x cruise speed) and increased fuel consumption (XXXX%)

FORM (Formation Type)

State	Behaviour
WEDGE	Craft flights will fly in a wedge-shaped pattern, pointing in the direction of travel.
LINE	Craft flights will fly in a line-shaped pattern, perpendicular to the direction of travel.
CROSS	Craft flights will fly in a cross-shaped pattern, perpendicular to the direction of travel.
ECHE	Craft flights will fly in an echelon (diagonal line) shaped pattern.

MNVR (Maneuvering posture)

State	Behaviour
DIRECT	Craft will fly straight towards their destination, and remain still when loitering.
JUKE	Craft will constantly make small directional changes as they fly or loiter.
EVADE	Craft will constantly make large directional changes as they fly or loiter.

Craft Stats

(Size, HP, etc.)

Designing Craft

(Different types of craft, ships that can carry craft, etc.)