Reference Frame and Thruster Controls
(plus ECM and Target Select)

INERTIAL REFERENCE FRAME CONTROLS (for expert pilots only)

In space, speed is meaningless without a reference velocity, or 'refvel' for short. With these keys you can define any moving body to be 'at rest' so long at it's not accelerating. 'TGT'S REF' allows you and your target to fight in a common reference frame. This action is performed automatically whenever the autopilot is used. If you find a target that is inconvieniently travelling at several kilometres per second, you may wish to press 'TGT'S VEL' so you can fly about it as if it were at rest.
'OWN VEL' is only present for completeness, though it's handy for buggering up the aim of inexperienced enemies.

ACCELERATION / VELOCITY - ORIENTED THRUSTER CONTROL

By default, your ship is in 'velocity mode', i.e. it tries to 'fly like a plane' by striving to cancel left/right and up/down motion whilst maintaining a steady forward (or reverse) speed as set by the throttle lever. To do this, the flight control system must constantly adjust the many thrusters spread about your ship.
A few damaged thrusters can cause the flight control system to get hysterical and spin the ship to destruction. If you think your ship is getting hysterical or you just want to 'fly like an Asteriods ship' anyway, press the green 'ACC/VEL' button to put the ship into 'acceleration mode'. The throttle lever will be disconnected and you will have manual control via the joystick, rudder and docking keys.

ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURE (ECM)

Press this and any incoming missiles within 50m will be destroyed. Use it carefully, as it takes about three seconds to recharge. If you're really good, you can herd all the missiles into a 50m zone and destroy them all at once. If it turns out you weren't quite as good as you thought and there is still a missile coming at you with two seconds to impact, you might want to dodge the missile. Try the DOCKING KEYS.

TARGET SELECT (nearest enemy)

Pressing this will select the nearest ship that doesn't belong to an ally. Once you have selected a target, you can check its details or start firing missiles at it. Note that the target select button on the back of the joystick will target the object closest to the crosshair, irrespective of alliance or distance.

ADVANCED RUDDER SUBSTITUTE

These buttons, combined with the joystick allow even a legless pilot to spin the ship in any combination of all three axes.
Your joystick controls two axes of rotation which, by default, are pitch and yaw. These buttons control the third axis, which by default, is roll.

DOCKING KEYS

Pressing these will accelerate your ship in any direction without turning, overriding the throttle lever if necessary. The amount of acceleration is set by the blue plus and minus keys and is displayed on the HUD above the throttle indicator briefly when these keys are pressed.
The 'STOP' button will fire whatever thrusters necessary to make the ship come to a halt, as quickly as possible.
Designed to make docking safe and eay, these keys are invaluable for dodging bullets and missiles when playing 'chicken'.