Calix Reneau · Technical Designer

So the heart of this question is, does the environment affect flight? And it does not yet, but it is absolutely intended to. Certainly not for the initial rollout, not to the extent of atmospheric flight. More along the lines of things that would affect player behavior. You would have things like an ion storm, for instance, that you're going through that's going to affect your power plant or your shields, or you could be going through a nebula that is highly volatile, and if you're using your thrusters too much, could just blow up around you. So yes, we are looking at having it affect the flight mechanics directly, but the lower-hanging fruit and the much more immediately attainable version of this is things that would make you rethink your strategy in this area.

Matt Sherman · Technical Designer

I think, at least to me, one of the best ways to think of this is actually the end of Star Trek II when they're fighting against Khan in the nebula, because they're still flying their ship normally, but they're having to make those considerations for the environment, which really changes up the tactics and changes up the gameplay a lot.