Trying to get the alignment mechanics down when I noticed that when stationary, if you align to anything, the thrust kicks in and you start moving forward as well.
My thoughts on alignment was that it would just rotate your ship to the desired direction and that is all. I didn’t know it would then also start propelling your ship forward as well.
I’ve been doing this “align” and “stop ship” combo via keyboard shortcuts, but it’s awkward. If you “stop ship” too soon, it also stops your alignment from completing.
Where does this come into play?
Well, when hacking.
You want to stay within range of the container, while aligning to the desired gate or station in case of a quick get-away. As of now, the align will also move you away from the container and looting range. With all the bouncing ships do when hitting other object as well, it’s very difficult to get this down right.
FYI: (I cant seem to align to a “safespot/bookmark” via keyboard shortcut either. You have to use the interface)
So how do I just get my ship to rotate without forward thrust added on?
If not possible, then how about adjusting motion mechanics to allow for it? Alignment should just mean that, ALIGNMENT. All the other motion mechanics automatically assume alignment like jumping, docking and so on. So why the redundancy?
If you’re at a full stop (0 m/s) then it takes the same amount of time to go to warp whether you’re facing the target already or you’re facing the opposite direction. Visually you will see your ship still turning but your momentum and align time will be the same either way.
So what you are saying is that pre-aligning makes no difference? It will take me the same amount of time to warp whether I’m facing the align target or not?
Pre-align means you also move towards your intended warp direction at at least 75% of your maximum speed so once you hit the warp button you enter warp instantly.
if you are sitting still at 0.0 m/s, that is correct. If you’re moving at max speed toward your aligned target, like Uriel said, you can go to warp instantly because you’re already at the optimum velocity in the proper direction.
Your ship is not a ship, it is a dot in a 3 dimensional space. The direction your ship is facing is visual, it has zero effect on the game. “aligned” is 75% maximum velocity travelling in the direction of the target. You can trick the system by using a propulsion mod, you use it to quickly accelerate, then de-cycl it. When the modue becomes inactive, your maximum velocity reduces, therefore your 75% velocity reduces.
This isn’t something I’ve tested, but supposedly there’s a trick where you single cycle a prop mod while stationary, then activate warp when the prop is 3/4 through it’s cycle. That will allow you to “instantly” warp.
It’s really only useful in some situations, like coming out of abyssal gates, because turning mods on doesn’t deactivate your invol, just moving. I haven’t tested if that works in fw complexes, but I assume it wont.
They reduce the time to warp. If you look at the number it modifies, round it up the the next full second, and that’s how long it will take to get into warp if you’re not already aligned in the correct direction.
I can understand the wish here - getting out before the attacker lands, targets and points you.
As others have pointed out, the minimum requirement for starting a warp tunnel (and thus being safely away) is 75% speed with 5° of the destination point. Being within that is what “aligned” means - at that point pressing warp is instant.
Stationary and instant warp aren’t compatible things.
However, that’s not the whole story.
If you can build a ship with a very fast align time, and you’ve got your wits about you you can escape before an attacker can lock and point (disable your warp drive) you. Ideally you want to be below two second mark - but if you can’t get there, the lower you can get the better.
There’s a whole bunch of server and message timing stuff in the background of that.
Remember, an attacker takes time to decelerate from warp as they appear on grid, locking a target takes time (ok, the attacker can reduce that s lot), a cloaked ship has timer that delays locking.
Oh, and dropping a unit of carbon at the warp in point can trip decloak on a hunter that isn’t being very cagey.
If you are alert, you can run.
Don’t put armour plate or armour rigs on - that increases align time. Don’t put shield on, it make an attacker lock you more quickly. Use nanofiber modules and inertial stabilisers (watch the signature) to reduce your align time.
Watch d-scan and local chat - it’s easy to get too absorbed in hacking - and if anything makes you twitch RUN (hit warp) like all the hounds of hell are chasing you. Because they probably are.
The T1 explorer ships, the Magnate and so forth, align faster than the T2 covert ops ships.
Go to quieter places away from busy systems and well away from the trade hubs and start your exploration trips there.
