Navigation: The Warp Drive

Use the warp drive for most of your traveling. You can set the speed at which you warp through space (called the warp factor) with the up and down arrows in the Warp Drive area of the Command Console. Warp factor 1 is slowest (although it's about twice the speed of the fastest impulse speed), and Warp factor 9 is the fastest. At Warp 9 you will cross the galaxy in a very short time- but it will cost you a lot of energy. Warp 3 or so is generally comfortable.

To use the Warp Drive, you will generally do one of these two things:

  • Click on your desired destination in the Long Range Scan, and then press Engage. Or, 

  • Use the Computer menu to find a specific destination (the nearest outpost or starbase, for example). Then press Engage. This is a more precise way of selecting places to go.

Both of these methods use the Warp drive in Auto mode. However, there may be times when you will want to travel at warp speed on a specific heading; you can do this by using Manual mode. To find out about Manual mode, see "Navigation: Auto or Manual?".