A list of commonly-used FPS and aviation terms and abbreviations.
Format is Term or Abbreviation -- [full term]. Definition.
- Airplane Mode — See Horizontal Flight
- AGL — Altitude Above Ground Level. Distance to the ground under the aircraft.
- AR — Augmented Reality. A HUD view which allows the pilot to see in the dark/through fog and highlights wind and atmospheric hazards.
- Astlan — The world where the player first arrives in the game. This is where they purchase their CargoShip and begin their delivery career.
- Base — An “airport” where pilots can land for fuel, repair, upgrades to and purchases of additional CargoShips, load/unload cargo and passengers, and accept/complete missions.
- CargoShip — The player’s cargo-hauling aircraft.
- Control Mode — A FPS game mechanic which allows instant reconfiguration of the flight controls functions between three modes: Basic, Mode 1, and Mode 2.
- Flight Mode — The configuration of the aircraft control surfaces, for either Vertical Flight or Horizontal Flight.
- FPS — Frontier Pilot Simulator
- G, G-force — The load force on the aircraft and its cargo from gravity, maneuvering, and ground movement. Too much can cause damage to aircraft and/or cargo.
- Horizontal Flight — Flight where aircraft lift is provided primarily by airflow over the wings. Also called “airplane flight.”
- HUD — Heads-Up Display.
- HOTAS -- Hands On Throttle And Stick.
- MSL — Altitude above Mean Sea Level. Also called barometric altitude.
- Powered Lift — Aircraft capable of vertical takeoff/landing and low-speed flight using engine thrust for lift, and using airfoils (wings) for lift during horizontal flight.
- Profile, Player Profile — Selected from the game’s Main Menu, holds the players settings, preferences, and current saved game.
- Random Mission — Missions generated by the FPS game economy. Bases will offer/need cargo hauling based at prices determined by supply and demand. Passengers want to get from one base to another.
- Scripted/Story Mission — Missions created by the Razar s.r.o. team. These missions have specific checkpoints and success conditions.
- SKI — Solar radiation “weather” that sets an altitude where the aircraft systems begin to take damage from solar radation. Effectively, a maximum altitude. Hypothesized to mean "Seivert-Kosenko Interference" for the discoverers of the effect.
- STOL — Short Take-Off and Landing
- Taxi — Aircraft movement on the ground, with the gear in contact with the ground.
- Thrust Vectoring — Control of the aircraft by tilting the aircraft engines instead of through the use of aerodynamic control surfaces such as ailerons and elevator. Thrust vectoring is what allows Vertical Flight.
- Translation — Lateral movement (in the forward/backward/left/right directions) without movement in the pitch/roll/yaw axes. Sometimes also called “strafing.”
- Vertical Flight — Flight where lift is provided primarily by aircraft engines and aircraft control is via Thrust Vectoring. Also called “VTOL flight.”
- VSI — Vertical Speed Indicator.
- VTOL Mode — See Vertical Flight
- VTOL — Vertical Take-Off and Landing