Warp command

The WARP command sets a ship's requested warp speed and may also set a new course. The ship accelerates and turns over subsequent movement updates; the command does not move it instantly.

Syntax

Classic Galactic Empire and ge-next both accept a relative turn:

WARP speed [relative-turn]

The relative turn must be from -180 through 180 degrees. Positive values turn to starboard (right), while negative values turn to port (left).

ge-next additionally accepts an absolute galactic heading:

WARP speed @heading

The @heading form is only available in ge-next. Classic Galactic Empire does not recognize @ with the WARP or IMPULSE commands. In classic, use ROTATE @heading, allow the ship to turn, and then issue WARP without a heading.

Examples:

WARP 5
WARP 10 5
WARP 20 -10
WARP 8 @90
WARP 0

These request warp 5 without a new turn, warp 10 with a five-degree starboard turn, warp 20 with a ten-degree port turn, warp 8 on absolute heading 90 in ge-next, and a complete stop.

The classic help file gives 355 as an example of a five-degree port turn. The actual classic validation accepts only -180 through 180, so the working form is -5.

Requested speed and heading

The command stores a target speed and target heading. Acceleration and rotation then proceed independently toward those targets. A ship may therefore be turning while it accelerates, and its path curves until the requested heading is reached.

Acceleration is determined primarily by ship class. Deceleration occurs at twice the normal acceleration rate. An available acceleration booster upgrade is available in ge-next, doubling both acceleration and deceleration rates.

Omitting the heading behaves differently between versions:

In classic, WARP speed acts as a relative turn of zero from the ship's current heading. This replaces the pending target heading and cancels a turn already in progress.
In ge-next, omitting the heading preserves the existing target heading. A turn already in progress continues while the ship changes speed.

A damaged helm refuses the command because it cannot accept either the speed or heading order. ge-next's STOP command can still initiate an emergency stop when the helm is damaged, but the ship will be unable to move again until the helm is repaired.

Classic rejects every WARP command from a class with no warp drive, including WARP 0. ge-next rejects nonzero warp requests from such a class but permits WARP 0 as a stopping order.

Issuing a valid WARP command while orbiting a planet breaks orbit and cancels any planetary maintenance in progress.

Entering and leaving hyperspace

Warp 1 is the threshold for hyperspace. The ship enters hyperspace when its actual speed accelerates across that threshold, not when the command is first entered. It returns to normal space when deceleration carries it below warp 1.

Hyperspace changes which combat systems are available. Torpedoes and ordinary phasers cannot be fired there, while compatible phaser systems operate as hyper-phasers. Shields and cloaking cannot operate in hyperspace. Missiles can continue pursuing a target across the transition. See Warp travel for the full movement and combat effects.

Speed limits

Each ship class has a rated maximum warp. The ship's current safe maximum may be lower when its warp drive is damaged. A drive reduced to a maximum of zero cannot provide warp power, leaving only impulse propulsion until repaired.

The rated maximum is a safe cruising speed rather than an absolute command limit. With an undamaged drive, the game normally accepts requests up to the class maximum plus half of that maximum, using integer arithmetic. A class rated for warp 20 can therefore request as much as warp 30. Speeds above the safe maximum are overspeed operation and can damage the drive.

The classic help describes speed as being between 0 and 50, but the actual limit is determined by the ship's class and current warp-drive condition.

Overspeed

The command can accept a speed above the drive's current safe maximum. This risks degrading or destroying the warp drive: classic GE uses random warnings and abrupt reductions, while ge-next accumulates damage gradually. Reducing speed stops further overspeed damage but does not repair damage already sustained. See Warp travel#Overspeed for the history, calculations, and differences between versions.

Movement and energy

An accepted warp order changes the target speed; fuel is charged as the ship accelerates and moves, not merely when the command is typed. Classic GE and ge-next differ in ongoing warp cost and pod reloading. See Warp travel#Distance per movement update for travel rate and Warp travel#Flux consumption for energy costs and the result of running out.

Warp-drive damage

Warp damage can reduce the current safe maximum below the ship class's normal rating. The command warns when a requested speed exceeds the damaged drive's safe rating. ge-next may permit a ship already moving above that new rating to request a controlled speed within the remaining attainable range, but it does not allow fresh acceleration beyond the class's absolute overspeed cap.

Maintenance repairs the warp drive and clears accumulated ge-next overspeed damage. Ordinary passive repair does not restore the reduced warp maximum or clear overspeed damage.

Comparison

Behavior	Classic Galactic Empire	ge-next
Relative turn with `WARP`	Yes	Yes
Absolute `@heading` with `WARP`	No	Yes
No heading supplied during an existing turn	Cancels the pending turn	Preserves the pending turn
`WARP 0` on a class without warp drive	Rejected	Accepted as a stopping order