Warp

Warp is what makes the universe of Estelar Online fit into a play session. With the real distances of the catalog, flying on impulse from one planet to another would take days; in warp, your ship crosses the system in seconds and reaches the neighboring star in minutes. Warp burns fuel and doesn’t work in combat.

Warp to target

Pick a target (a planet, a station, an asteroid field, a landing site) and press [G] by default (you can change it in SETTINGS › KEYS). The ship turns toward the target, speeds up and brakes on its own, stopping at a safe distance from it. Pressing [G] again cancels.

If a planet or the star is in the way, the route automatically swings over it; you don’t need to steer around anything.

Speed grows with distance. The cap is a million times the speed of light, but within a system the warp brakes in proportion to what’s left, so travel time grows slowly with distance:

Trip	Approximate time
Earth to Mars (255 million km)	about 24 s
Sun to Proxima Centauri (4.24 light-years)	about 3 min

The warp attribute and warp equipment (warp core) and the ship class multiply that speed. An Explorer warps much faster than a Battleship.

Free warp

With no target, [G] turns on free warp: the ship goes wherever you point it, at a fifth of max speed, and you fly normally. [G] again drops out of warp. Near planets and the star, speed drops on its own so you don’t fly through anything.

Interstellar warp

To go to another star, open the star map ([M] by default), pick the system and press [G]. On top of the normal burn of 0.5 per second, an interstellar warp charges 10 fuel on departure. Without that much in the tank, it won’t start.

Long trips keep going on their own until the end: the game renews the warp along the way without charging the departure again.

Recharge and combat

Recharge: after you drop out of a warp, the next one can only start 10 seconds later. The HUD tells you how long is left (“Warp recharging”). Redirecting a warp that’s still in progress (for example, to auto-landing) doesn’t wait for the recharge.
Combat: taking a hit blocks warp for 15 seconds. To escape a fight, you have to fly; warp comes back once the ship goes 15 seconds without being hit.
Protected arrival: when you drop out of warp, you get 15 seconds during which pirates won’t aim at you or hit you and PvP doesn’t apply. Shooting ends the protection immediately, and it works at most once a minute.

Auto-landing

With a scanned planet as your target, press [L] by default. The ship does everything left on its own: warp to the landing site, final approach and landing. If the planet has more than one site, a list pops up to pick from (keys 1 to 9 or click). [L] again, or [G], cancels.

Landing only unlocks after you scan the planet; until then, the game points at the planet and asks you to scan it. See Planets and discoveries.

Following a ship

With a ship as your target (a pirate, another pilot or a traffic ship), [L] turns on follow: your ship goes after it and matches its speed. If the target is far away, it warps to it. To stop, press [L] again, or speed up or brake ([W] and [S] by default).

Kiosks: safe points along the way

There’s a kiosk in every sector of space (a 4 light-year cube), including deep space, between the stars. In warp, no point is more than about 2 minutes from the nearest kiosk, so they work as stopovers on long trips:

Safe zone: within 50 km of the kiosk, pirates won’t aim at you or hit you and PvP doesn’t apply.
Respawn point: entering the kiosk saves your respawn point there, just like docking at a station.
Bar: inside there’s a bar where you can walk around, chat and trade items on foot.

To enter, get within 60 km of it, out of combat. One in every four kiosks has a bar exclusive to Galactic Citizens. More details in Stations and kiosks.

When warp doesn’t work

Reason	What to do
Empty tank	Refuel, refine ice or call the emergency tow; see Fuel
In combat	Fly away; warp comes back 15 s after the last hit you took
Recharge	Wait out the 10 s after your last warp
On foot	Go back to your ship and take off
“Unstable warp” damage	Warp works, but 30% slower until you repair; see Damage and repair
Expired rented ship	Renew it with community missions or buy a ship

Matches and idle mode (tour) use warp without burning fuel.