Thirty seconds on the pad, then straight up: launch pads
Published
In short: a launch pad is a bunker module that sends small craft from Low up to the Top band in one hot ascent. You pick the craft and the pad, they gather over it, wait 30 seconds, and go. Once they’re waiting, they’re committed. Numbers are placeholders.
At a glance
| Fitted on | bunkers only, one plot each |
| Load | up to 18,000 m³ a pad: a squadron of 12, or 7 Prospectors |
| Wait | 30 s, hovering 30 m over the pad |
| Then | a hot ascent to Top |
| Cost | free, for now |
| Coming down | needs no pad |
How it works
- Order it. Select small craft, right-click a bunker with a pad, and pick “Burn to Top from the launch pad”.
- Several units at once. They share the pad’s room, and more pads take more. The game starts with one on your bunker.
- Fly in. Each unit flies to its own spot over the pad. An order given while it’s still on its way calls the burn off.
- The wait is a commitment. Once it’s on the pad, other orders won’t take it off. A countdown shows over each unit.
- Refused with a reason. A unit that can’t go gets a note saying why: too big, pad full, docked, already at Top, in another area, or the bunker isn’t up.
Small craft can still climb between height bands without a pad for now, so a pad is one way up, not the only one. Making small craft need a pad to go up is planned.
More: launch pad module, bunkers, height bands.