Ulite: The Main Menu

The main menu is always visible at the top of the screen with the following options:

• "Ship" - ship and flight
• "Market" - trade and manufacture
• "Player" - player-oriented pages
• "Messages" - in-game mailbox
• "Logout" - logout.

The submenu will depend on selection of the corresponding main menu option.

At the top of the window is some additional information, including the name of the currently logged in player (top left), the current server time on the 2nd Line, and on the right are a few useful links for the Ulite forum, the help, top 100 players and the stats page, as well as the tech tree.

For players of previous versions that do not want to get used to the new menu system, there is the option "Display menubuttons" under Player Status, where you can choose the number of rows of menu buttons to be displayed. This is useful if untested browsers are used since the position of the buttons may be different from what's expected. The default menu structure consisting of the main and sub-menus is described here as the "Tree" option.

Some buttons only appear when certain conditions are met. You may toggle this behaviour with the Player Status page option "Always show all menu buttons".

Just below the buttons there is a status line indicating the current state of the ship (type of flight with destination information, docked, floating, etc.). At the end of this same row to the right a few more links, namely the universe map ("Universe"), the local space map ("Map") and the "Distance-List" which lists all systems within 40 light years to the current system.

Ship

Default page when selecting "Ship" from the main menu is the "Flight" page.

Systems

First, to clarify: A flight to another system is a hyperspace flight (or interstellar flight). A flight within a system (such as from a point to a station) is a normal (or interplanetary) flight. The hyperspace flight can not be cancelled whereas a normal flight can. To fly somewhere, the target must be declared first. Once you have a target, you'll get the option to actually initiate the flight. To be able to fly from one system to another system, the on-board computer must first be fed with data from the target system. Under this menu item all systems are listed that are currently reachable. The ship is capable of hyperspace travel only for a limited distance. This maximum distance is dependent on the ship's mass, the drive and from the available fuel.

Within the Drive - Status section, the first item listed is the active drive. Thereafter, the Maximum Range as a function of ship mass and drive. If Maximum Range is 0 Lj (Lj = light-years, a measure of long distances), then either the drive is not functional (ie it needs to be repaired, see "Repair and Maintenance"), or there is no built-in drive. Following this is the Current Range depending on available fuel. There are three types of drives, the (classical) Hyperdrive, the Military Drive, and the Wrap Drive. The Hyperdrive requires Hydrogen Fuel, the Military Drive requires Military Fuel. Fuel consumption depends of the class of the drive (higher class drives consume much more fuel).

The Navigation section lists the inhabited systems that are currently within range (this behaviour can be toggled to also include those which are uninhabited). Along with each system the following details are listed: sector, name, population class, the number of planets, planetary, and orbital number of stations, the distance to the current system and the required fuel to travel to the system. The setting to include uninhabited systems is also located within the Player Status screen ("Show all systems under target systems").

For uninhabited systems there is no population class, and these are dangerous to visit as often hostile ships will be waiting to shoot someone!

Each system has the following buttons:

• Fly to system (green): The system is entered as the target system and the ship immediately enters hyperspace. The button will appear when you have enough fuel on board.
• Target system: The system is entered into the targeting computer, but no flight takes place yet. Under the "Flight" submenu, a button will allow you to hyperspace when you're ready.

The Map

Directly below the navigation bar there is a link "Map" on the map of the current sector with its systems and the surrounding sectors. With this card, you can easily determine a route from one system to another. There are links around the map to navigate "One sector up", "One sector down", "One sector left" and "One sector right". Similarly, the sector coordinates can be entered directly into the end of the URL in the web browser, eg. sector [2,-4]:

map.php?map_x=2&map_y=-4

Sector coordinates are always given as [x, y]. X is positive to the right and negative to the left, Y is positive increasing upward and negative downward. Inhabited systems are depicted white, while uninhabited systems are grey in color. The sectors are surrounded with green solid lines, the dotted lines have a distance of 2 Lj.

The system 'Map' shows a perspective view of the three-dimensional universe. A system's Z coordinate is depicted with a vertical line and referred to as the "height" of the system. This line ends with a "flag" (small apparent thickening at the end), systems that have the flag on top, float above the map. Where the flag is down, they float below the map.

The first time a system is explored it may take a while for the page to be generated. Just wait a while and try again. Repeatedly pressing on "Map" will bring the message "It is just expected". If you see this message, just wait a while longer before refreshing the page.

The distance list

The distance list provides a list of all systems, which is up to a distance of 40 light years from the current system. The list has two columns sorted by distance. Each entry lists: sector, name, distance and population class.

Auto Pilot

Auto pilot is designed for long trips without human intervention by automatically hopping between several predetermined systems. To use this option the player needs to have purchased Auto Pilot equipment.

Here you program the trip one system at a time, selecting systems within maximum range of the ship for each leg of the journey. These intermediate systems are entered into the autopilot with the "Set System" button.

As you add more systems you will see the total fuel requirement is calculated as long as the distance. You can delete entries to traverse an alternative route. You may start flying to any of the systems in the program with the "Fly to system" button, then hyperspace flight begins and you are committed to the route entered to reach the specified system.

Once the program is entered or the journey begins, the final destination is specified under "Stations" submenu, and you can pick a station where you want to dock in the target system.

Flight commences with "Fly to system" in "Auto Pilot", or with "Fly to station" under "Stations". The "Flight" screen then shows the same details as usual under the heading "Navigation".

Auto pilot is also possible during a Convoy flight. Only the "Leader" requires Auto Pilot equipment. However, take note: Each ship requires an appropriate supply of fuel. Be sure to review the fuel supplies of each ship in the convoy and refuel as required (use redistribution of fuel). The Auto Pilot screen ONLY lists statistics such as fuel consumption for the Leader ship, not the fuel consumption of the other ships. The time of arrival may be wrong. Arrival time only refers to a flight of the lead ship alone. Larger ships in the convoy may cause longer flight times than what is predicted by Auto Pilot as the convoy always flies at the speed of the slowest ship.

Stations

Space stations are located on or in orbit around planets within an inhabited system. After a hyper jump you land somewhere in the target system, but then have to fly to a station. The stations and the planets of the target system are listed on the "Stations" screen. The screen lists the object position number (from inside to outside) of the planet, the planet name, the distance to the sun and respective stations and their positions (distance from the planet). A station may be on the surface of the planet - then it is a ground station - or has a certain distance to the planet, it's a space station. The stations can then be accessed with the buttons:

• Fly to the station: (orange) Returns the station as a destination station, and immediately flies off.This flight takes place in a normal room and can be interrupted any time by simply typing a different target.
• Target as destination: Targets this station as a destination, but doesn't start flight.

Planetary information is available by clicking the link (the number/name of the planet).

It should also be noted that the system displayed is always the current "target". One can therefore look at other systems using the system target functions. Furthermore, you can choose to target or fly to a station within your current/destination system at any time, even if you have already selected a station to fly to and later change your mind (this function is also available during hyperspace flight).

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