Ship Systems - Thrusters

[alexanderson1993]

Thrusters are very small engines primarily used for rotating the ship and small maneuvers. They provide six degrees of freedom - that is to say they can move the ship linearly in the X/Y/Z directions and rotate the ship yaw/pitch/roll.

Thrusters are the primary method of setting course. When a crew member selects a destination, they must use the thrusters to point their ship in the direction of their destination. We'll discuss the specifics of navigation in a separate discussion.

Thrusters can also be used strategically. The linear thrusters can move the ship out of the way of incoming projectiles. The rotation thrusters can turn the ship so incoming projectiles hit a more well-defended area of the ship. They can also turn the ship so weapons with limited firing arcs can get a target lock on an enemy ship.

Thrusters are not intended to be used continuously at high output. Instead, they operate on momentary switches - the crew holds down a button/joystick to keep the thrusters active, and the thrusters deactivate when released. When deactivated, the ship will automatically slow its movement/rotation via the inertial dampener system. With a joystick control, the output of the thrusters can be throttled, so very small movements with a fraction of the available thrust will be possible.

The max speed and acceleration for both rotation and linear movement will be configurable. Like Impulse Engines, acceleration will be based on the mass of the ship the thrusters are attached to.

Thrusters will expend an amount of power proportional to their output. If there is insufficient power available, the maximum thruster output will decrease. Efficiency will directly impact the power, which will indirectly impact the thruster output. Heat will also steadily increase proportional to the output of the thrusters for as long as they are engaged. At small enough thrust output, it should be possible that the thrusters will produce less heat than they dissipate.

An Autopilot function (which hasn't been discussed yet, but is necessary for crews to be successful) will rely on the thrusters to automatically adjust the heading of the ship to make sure it's pointed in the right direction. The thruster adjustments over the course of an autopiloted course should produce minimal heat.

The Flight Director should not need to have any direct view of what the thrusters are doing, since any crew action on the thrusters will automatically adjust the ship's heading and position. The exception is the flight director configuring an autopilot destination for the crew, which would use the thrusters to get the ship on course.

Questions, feedback, and suggestions welcome.