Foldspace Jump

See Foldspace for a disambiguation of Foldspace-related terms.

A Foldspace Jump is the process by which the player navigates between the various Sectors of The Cluster. While the core premise of Foldspace Jumping is simple to understand on a gameplay level, there are a variety of specific mechanics related to Foldspace Jumping that justifies its own dedicated article.

Anchored Foldspace Jumps

To initiate an Anchored Foldspace Jump, the player needs to first be Docked at a Foldspace Anchor. Then, the player opens their Cluster Map and double-clicks on any Sector they are not currently in to initiate the Foldspace Jump.

An Anchored Fold Value is calculated based chiefly on the size of the Starsail, which is in turn used to determine how many Ticks are required to spool up the Foldspace Jump. Once the spool-up time has passed, the player ship is immediately moved to the target Sector, all relevant Hunt timers are reset, and the player can freely navigate the target Sector as they wish.

Every successful Anchored Foldspace Jump generates 1 Damage, and generates Heat proportional to the size of the Starsail.

Emergency Foldspace Jumps

To initiate an Emergency Foldspace Jump, the player can double-click on any Sector in their Cluster Map while Docked at any location other than a Foldspace Anchor, or press the Emergency Jump button at the bottom of the Cluster Map while Docked at a Foldspace Anchor.

An Emergency Fold Value is calculated based chiefly on the size of the Starsail, mitigated by the size of the Starsail's Reactor. The player ship is immediately transported to the target Sector, without any spool up time, but the Starsail Reactor will overload for a number of Ticks equal to the aforementioned Emergency Fold Value.

Every successful Emergency Foldspace Jump generates both Damage and Heat proportional to the size of the Starsail.

Heat and Damage

Coupled tightly with the Foldspace Jump are two intrinsics values that the Foldspace Drive keeps track of: Heat and Damage.

Heat

Heat is accrued every time a Foldspace Jump is performed, and is proportional to the overall size of the Starsail. Larger Starsails generate more Heat.

When performing a Foldspace Jump, the current amount of Heat that the Foldspace Drive currently has accrued is taken into account: for Anchored Foldspace Jumps, this translates to a longer Spool Time; for Emergency Foldspace Jumps, this translates to a more significant Reactor Overload.

Heat dissipates naturally, with 1 unit of Heat removed from the Foldspace Drive per Global Tick.

Damage

Damage is closely related to Heat, with a few distinct differences.

When performing a Anchored Foldspace Jump, the Foldspace Drive accrues 1 point of Damage, regardless of the size of the Starsail.

When performing an Emergency Foldspace Jump, however, the Foldspace Drive accrues Damage proportional to the overall size of the Starsail. Much like Heat during Foldspace Jumps, larger Starsails accrue more Damage during Emergency Foldspace Jumps.

When performing a Foldspace Jump, the current amount of Damage that the Foldspace Drive has currently accrued is taken into account, in a fashion identical to how Heat is taken into account as described above.

Importantly, Damage does not dissipate naturally. The Damage that the Foldspace Drive has accrued persists, until it is repaired at a Shipyard Docking Location, at great expense. As such, while maintenance of the Foldspace Drive can be managed reasonably well if sticking strictly to Anchored Foldspace Jumps, the cost of excessive Emergency Foldspace Jumps can quickly become devastating.

Reactor Overloading

While an Emergency Foldspace Jump immediately removes the player from their current Sector, the Starsail is crippled from normal operation in the target Sector of the Foldspace Jump afterwards, as part of a Reactor Overload.

During a Reactor Overload, all Ship Systems except for the Bridge, Transceiver, Crew Quarters, Private Quarters, and all but a single Engine are completely disabled. The one spared Engine is reduced to operating at Level 1.

This has several ramifications:

While the player can navigate the Sector, they can only move with the most basic Thrust speed.
Both the Scanner and the Jammer are disabled, meaning that not only can the player not see the Hunt timer, but said Hunt timer is operating at whatever base value the current Difficulty Curve demands.
The Mess Halls are disabled, meaning that Crew cannot be fed, resulting in Crew Morale dropping quickly; and the Cargo Bays are similarly disabled, meaning that Ladies cannot help relieve Crew stress.

All of this amounts to Reactor Overloads being very prohibitive to endure, and as such, are to be avoided at all costs. Chiefly, this strongly incentivizes avoiding Emergency Foldspace Jumps as much as possible, in addition to the massive Foldspace Drive Damage that they already inflict