I explicitly turn them on when I need them - like on the dark side of a planet or in a planet's shadow while wandering the rings. However, I use one of the modes of my X52 as "approach mode" - configured with more fine thruster control and stuff. The macro configured to trigger when I roll the stick into that mode toggles the gear and lights and configures power such that I have 4 pips to shields and few enough assigned to engines that full throttle with the gear deployed doesn't take me over the speed limit. Leaving the station, rolling out of that mode toggles the gear and lights back and configures everything for normal flight. I've avoided "close encounters " with another cmdr in the slot before now because my lights made my (black) ship more visible.
Ship Lights Etiquette...A Non-Serious Thread :)
- Thread starter ThomasWJames
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Hmmm...interesting. So, when I'm traveling 55 MPH, and a car passes me going 60 MPH, I sense their passing at a rate of 5 MPH...what if I was going just 1 MPH UNDER the speed of light, and turned my lights on? I would see light emerge from my beams at a relative 1 MPH, right? If so, what does light look like at that speed? And, given I see with light, would I need to record this to see it at all? <<Head explodes>>
Hmmm...interesting. So, when I'm traveling 55 MPH, and a car passes me going 60 MPH, I sense their passing at a rate of 5 MPH...what if I was going just 1 MPH UNDER the speed of light, and turned my lights on? I would see light emerge from my beams at a relative 1 MPH, right? If so, what does light look like at that speed? And, given I see with light, would I need to record this to see it at all? <<Head explodes>>
1) Ships use the frame shift drive to shift their frame of reference. They aren't travelling faster than light, they only appear that way to an outside observer as space contracts in front of the ship and expands behind it.
2) While you're right that the speed of light is constant, it's unlikely we'll ever be able to accelerate a spaceship to a significant fraction of light-speed. As you approach relativistic speeds, weird things start happening. Can someone with a better physics background step in? Anyway, I'm sure there would be more interesting things to distract you from your headlights.
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Apart from the obvious use of lights when docking or landing where it's dark, I also use it when approaching or leaving stations when CMDRs are around.
The lights make you easier to spot for other people.
The lights make you easier to spot for other people.