Navigation and scanning

Navigation combines a ship's sector, within-sector coordinates, galactic heading, current speed, and requested speed. Sensors convert those values into relative bearings and distances while applying class range, cloaking, jamming, nebula, and upgrade rules.

Movement commands

• IMPULSE speed [turn] selects a speed from 0–99 hundredths of light speed and optionally turns the ship.
• WARP speed [turn] selects hyperspace speed, subject to the class's warp capability and engine condition.
• ROTATE degrees turns relative to the current heading; ROTATE @heading chooses an absolute galactic heading.
• WARP 0 or IMPULSE 0 requests a stop using the corresponding drive.
• NAVIGATE x y reports bearing and distance to a sector center.

ge-next also provides STOP, which cuts the engines even when helm damage prevents ordinary navigation commands. Classic GE does not recognize STOP.

Acceleration and rotation occur over update ticks rather than instantly. Current speed can therefore differ from requested speed. Warp travel consumes flux and crossing the ship's rated maximum risks progressive engine damage.

Scanner commands

Form	Use
SCAN SECTOR	Map the current sector's detectable ships, planets, wormholes, and mines.
SCAN RANGE [1-9]	Plot ships and mines inside normal class scanner range at a selected scale.
SCAN LONG	Long-range ship scan at ten times normal range, with less local detail.
SCAN SHIP letter	Inspect one ship from the current scan table.
SCAN PLANET number	Inspect one planet/wormhole from the current sector table.

Range levels 1–9 shrink quadratically below full range. ge-next additionally accepts H and Q with SCAN RANGE or SCAN LONG to request half or quarter of that scan type's full range; classic GE does not accept those arguments. Classic uses SET SCANNAMES, SET SCANHOME, and SET SCANFULL to control scan presentation. ge-next replaces them with the five SET SCAN display modes described under SCAN display modes.

Scan letters and locks

Ship letters are temporary entries in the observer's scan table, not permanent ship identities. They can change whenever detectable ships change. LOCK letter stores a target so later commands can use @. In ge-next, the target is notified when the lock is established and Cybertrons treat locking as hostile. Classic GE stores the lock but does neither of those additional things.

Interference and concealment

• Cloaking reduces or prevents detection according to distance and system state.
• Jammers scramble values for every nearby ship, including the user who launched the jammer; severity increases with proximity.
• A nebula blocks scans across its boundary. Inside it, scanners work only in a small local radius. Phaser fire itself is not blocked.
• A damaged tactical or scanner system can remove functionality entirely.

Spatial hazards

Wormholes relocate ships and may cause system damage. Planets exert local gravity and can be orbited within 250 distance units. The configured Galactic perimeter either wraps or repels ships at the galaxy edge.

Detailed topics

• Impulse travel, Warp travel, and Rotation and headings
• Sector scan, Range scan, Ship scanning, and Planet scanning
• Planet scanning, Locks, and Scantab
• Nebulas, Jamming, Wormholes, and Galactic perimeter

Home · Play · Reference · Versions & history · Sysop · Development · Classic bugs