Bearing
A bearing gives the direction from an observer to a target. In Galactic Empire, the bearing shown by a scan is normally relative to the observing ship's current heading, not an absolute galactic direction. This distinction matters when aiming weapons or deciding how far to turn.
Reading a relative bearing
0: directly ahead.+90: starboard, or to the right of the ship's current heading.-90: port, or to the left.180: directly behind.
For example, a ship facing north sees an object due east at bearing +90. After turning to face east, the same stationary object has bearing 0. The object's position has not changed; only the observer's heading has. Relative bearings are reported in signed degrees, generally from -179 through +180.
Absolute direction
A galactic heading is measured from north regardless of where a ship faces: 0 is north, 90 east, 180 south, and 270 west. A target's absolute direction can be obtained by adding its relative bearing to the observer's heading and bringing the result back into the 0–359 degree circle. For example, heading 180 with a target at bearing -90 points toward absolute east, 90 degrees. See Rotation and headings and Coordinate system.
A scanned ship's heading
The Heading field beside a scanned ship is not the same as its bearing. It describes how that ship faces relative to the line back toward the observer: near 0 points toward the observer and near 180 points away. A detailed ship scanning can also report the target's absolute galactic heading.
Classic GE had an axis-alignment error that could slightly misreport cardinal bearings and mutate coordinates while calculating them; see Classic bug: Axis-aligned bearing errors.
See also
Home · Play · Reference · Versions & history · Sysop · Development · Classic bugs