4 seconds out, 6 in, 400 m hot: why the hangar works as it does
Published
The carrier launches and recovers its craft through two side bays. Here is why each number is what it is. How it plays: The carrier’s hangar.
Two bays, amidships
Why: “not the stern, the engines are there; not the belly, a landed carrier must still launch”. Both bays launch and recover, and the line is shared out: the owner once saw “four queued at one bay while the other stood free”.
Built 2026-10-24 · scripts/ship_catalog.gd MOUNTS["Imperial"], two bays at x = ±53.7 m
A 24 × 10 m opening
Why: not yet recorded. A basic bay “is just a hole in the hull”: craft fly in and out on their own, with no catapult and no arrestor.
Built 2026-10-24 · scripts/ship_catalog.gd MOUNT_SIZES["bay"] = 24 × 10 m
Launch in 4 s, dock in 6 s
Why: “recovery is slower than launch”. Ships wait behind an approach point 120 m out, each 45 m further back.
Built 2026-10-24 · scripts/hangar.gd LAUNCH_TIME := 4.0, DOCK_TIME := 6.0, APPROACH := 120.0, WAIT_STEP := 45.0
Down to the bay at 50 m/s
Why: a ship waiting above or below the bay used to be “sucked down into the bay in a blink”. It now comes to the approach point at 50 m/s, eased, then slides in.
Built 2026-10-24 · scripts/hangar.gd DOCK_DESCENT := 50.0
Docking goes first while the carrier spools
Why: “the scramble: whoever is inside when it jumps goes along”. And nobody starts through while the carrier is hot dropping or burning.
Built 2026-10-24 · scripts/hangar.gd
Hot launch and hot dock: 400 m at full speed
Why: “chill = peaceful, hot = dynamic action”. A hot launch is a catapult-style shot straight out 400 m at full speed, 0.8 seconds for a Mk3 Striker against a 4-second slide. Automatic, looks only, no cost and no other effect.
Built 2026-10-24 · scripts/hangar.gd HOT_OUT := 400.0
When it turns hot
Why: “near enough to matter (derived, no tuning)”: an enemy craft within its own reach, plus the carrier’s point-defence reach, plus the 120 m approach. With Mk3 point defence that is about 2 km for a Mk1 enemy fighter, 2.6 km for a Mk3. A ship with an enemy on its tail docks hot anyway: “a fighter running home with a raider on its tail”.
Built 2026-10-24 · scripts/main.gd _hangar_hot(), _ship_hot()
Rearm in 20 s, from the carrier’s hold
Why: rearming waits for docking: there is no rearming in the field. An empty 500-round magazine refills in 20 seconds from the light rounds in the carrier’s hold, which starts with 20,000. A docked ship’s fuel is topped up from the carrier’s tanks at once.
Built 2026-10-25 · scripts/hangar.gd REARM_TIME := 20.0; main.gd START_ROUNDS = 20,000
Docked craft are safe
Why: docked craft are asleep, out of every list, so nothing can see or shoot them. A raid had once been chasing fighters already docked inside the carrier.
Built 2026-10-24 · scripts/hangar.gd dock_now()