... not allways should get stupid answers

In the Forums or Steam discussions i always have to read questions like...

"I want to have a target marker"
"Why my Engine is so OP?"
"Why my Station is drifting away"
or
"I cannot dock, the controlls are bugged"

For everyone asking for things like that i will explain you how this Game works and how to navigate in space.

Hellion has more Science than Fiction and for many people its not easy to understand or accept this.

Long time ago there was a scientist, his name was Isaac Newton.


This clever man sat under a tree and an apple fell on his head.
Then he got an aha-moment: "The apple never falls to the ground, but the ground and the apple just change theyr distance and theyr relation to each other."

He made clear that every objekt isnt moving but just changes its relation to another objekt.



For example: If you standing still and "not moving" your always moving.
In relation to the earth and its rotation your not moving, but in relation to our sun your moving with houndrets of meters per second, because the earth is moving around the sun so fast.

Every Force needs the same force to counter it. Means if you rotate in airless space clockwise with a force you need the same force counterclockwise to stop rotation.

this is what we call, newtonian physics

Now after you may (or may not ^^) understand what that means.
Hellion simulates the newtonian physics.
If anything spins, it spins as long as it gets stopped spinning or it has a fixpoint where it can set its relation to.
To say it with Newtons words: "nothing or everything spins as long we know its relationpoint."

Now in Hellion like in reallife every objekt is allways moving.
A planet has an orbit around the sun and moons have an orbit around a planet.
Just asteroids, spaceships and other debris can be moved to change its fixpoints.



Orbital Movement:
Everything in Space has an orbit around anything else, a bigger objekt like a Planet or a moon in most Times.
If it wouldnt have an orbit it would fall to the surface on that object.
And as long as planetlanding is not implemented yet you should be aware of stopping your orbital movement ^^
The highest point in an Orbit we call "Apoapsis"
The lowest point we call "Periapsis"
If the Periapsis touching the surface of a planet for example were on a landing route.

You could also say, when you jump off of the ground your appoapsis will be the highest point you can reach. the lowest is the periapsis.


Warpdrive:
The Warpdrive is an option to get to an other object in space and follow its orbit.
So if you select an asteroid for example, the ship will get there and will share the same orbital information to fly near it.
Youve got a starting point in your own orbit. then the warproute and in the end of your travel the orbit of the object you reached.

Main Engine:
This engine ist just to change your apoapsis or periapsis quicker than with the RCS.
when were on an clockwise orbit around a planet and at the periapsis point and point our nose counterclockwise (Retrograde) we can lower our apoapsis. If we point our nose clockwise (Prograde) we can raise our apoapsis with a little boost with the main Engine.
The Main Engine is just a manual way to change the orbit quickly.
It is "not" a way to move around when we want to fly to an object like a spacestation or an asteroid. For that we use the RCS thrusters.

RCS:
With RCS, rather in a ship or in a spacesuit, we can move around in space.
Movement in space is usually hard to handle, because every movement needs a countermovement to "stop" moving.
If we rotate left, we do so, as long as we counter it with a rotation right.
The RCS has a plugged in stabilizationcontroll (SHIFT) to stop the rotation in relation to a nearby object.

Match Velocity:
This is a good way to fix rotation and sliding away from an object as a fixpoint.
We have to get a fixpoint first with T+scroll.
Then we can fly near it and with a movementchange less than 1m we could syncronize our movement with the selected object with doubleSHIFT.
a small Match Velocity marke will appear if were ready to do so

Now if weve warped near an object like an asteroid or a spacestation, we have a matching orbit and matching velocity to that particular object.
But in most times were too far away then.
We have to fly near it now.

- First change your relation to the object you want to change distance to.
With T+scroll in flightmode you can change the target on the right monitor.

- now we have to change our direction towards it with moving the mouse.
If we want to stop our rotation in relation to the target just hold shift.

- were ready now to fly towards it. press W for a little time and keep an eye on the vertically (V) and horizontally (H) movement speed.
For beginners dont try to change your movements with A & D because it will change your H and V Movement in an hard to handle way.

- now were moving towards the object weve selected as a fixpoint.
Dont fly to fast towards it and keep in mind. Every movement that you make needs a countermovement to negate it.

- If your near an object now and stopped your movement towards it with S you can use the match velocity option or change the target to one of the dockingports if it has one.

- To dock to an object you will need a lot of skill in changing distance, velocity and relative rotation movement to it. This needs lots of practice for beginners.

Keep in mind:
Docking is only possible
- with a matching dockingport.
- the dockingport is glowing orange
- having the same velocity as the object
- turning the dockingpart the right way around with matching arrows and
the hexagons are not spinned.

Doing it right should look like this


Have you Recognized?...
In a Spacesuit activating nav with K you see little white particles.
Those show you where you drifting away in relation to the targeted object.

In the cockpit of the spaceship you got an arrow in the middle of the HUD that appears when you drifting away from the targeted object. The faster your drifting away, the longer the arrow will be and signs, where you have to drift against to be in lign with your target.

Now i hope after explaining what newtonian physics mean, what an orbit is and how to solve movement in space, most of you now know better to handle Hellion.

Im sorry if something is not grammatically korrect. Im from Germany and english is not my mothertongue.
If someone has better solutions to explain something, pls write it down in the comments below and ill think about to implement it to the guide.

As allways thump it up and share it with everyone hoo should learn it.