Hello and welcome to the universe of Frontiers Reach.

As the developer of the game, I would like to think that I have no illusions about what it is I have created. That said it is not lost on me just how different this game is from so many other space games. Many of which are great games, but that have a tendency to all play the same with different aesthetics.

Frontiers Reach is my attempt to create something new and interesting in the world of space games. To achieve this I've gone back to the space game roots of playing with combat and physics. However in this modern era I feel that this has resulted in something that is just vastly different from manyof the other space games that exist today. And so the intention behind this guide is to ease the transition for both new players and space game veterans alike.

I'm not going to lie, there is a LOT going when you're sitting in the cockpit of one of these starfighters. That is intentional. The game is heavily inspired by Cold War Era fighter jets which required an immense amount of training and knowledge to fly.

Consider this guide Day 1 of starfighter flight school.

In the Frontiers Reach Universe, a starfighter is a class of flying vehicle that is capable of taking off from a planet, flying up and out of the atmosphere, and then cruising to another planet where it can land refuel and start another journey. Spacefighters also exist in lore but they are not capable of atmospheric flight and in the year 2230 they are considered older tech.

A key feature of starfighter technology, and one that you'll want to get familiar with is the RCS system. Or Rotation Control System. This should not be confused with a Translation Control System which will control lateral movement. But there are also other systems that you'll need to learn about like countermeasures, weapons control, thermals, and fuel.

Like I said, there is a LOT going on in this cockpit and each of the instruments has information that you'll need to reference at some point during a flight. So lets get down to business.

1) Aim Ring and Gravitational Drop Indicator - This is actually a cluster of instruments that work in unison. The largest element is the Aim Ring and is accompanied by a smaller ring that called the Target Lead Indicator. There is another smaller indicator that shows the drop of your cannon rounds relative to the local gravitational field over a 2km distance.

2) Multi-Function Displays - These displays are currently only used to show a visual warning for incoming missiles.

3) Fuel Gauge - Rather than a hard time limit, fuel is tracked instead. (refueling and rearming will be available in some missions).

4) Thermals Gauge - This gauge is for keeping track of thermal conditions for the entire fighter. If you overheat your fighter the computer will let you know with an audible warning and blinking icon. Overheating your fighter will cause a small amount of damage over time to your fighter if it stays in an overheated state.

5) The Pod - Each fighter comes with a pod. Which is essentially camera that tracks the current target. In this case the pod will also track predicted bomb location for easier use of bombs from the cockpit.

6) Angle of Attack Indicator - The Angle of Attack Indicator, or AoA gauge, shows the vehicles current direction of movement relative to the direction that the vehicle is facing in.

7) Hull Integrity Indicator - This indicator shows hull integrity for the entire vehicle. The icon will blink if integrity is too low.

8) Mission Info Panel - This Multi-Function Display is for mission objective information only. (Something more readable for lower resolution screens will be implemented eventually).

9) Countermeasures - There are three types of countermeasures. Flares, Chaff, and EM Field. Flares dot the sky with missile disruption spheres of influence behind your fighter. Chaff creates a cloud of missile disruption behind your fighter. And the EM Field creates a bubble around your craft.

10) Wayfinder - This arrow instrument will point you in the general direction of your mission objectives. If you lock on to a target the wayfinder will turn from orange to red and track your target instead.

11) RCS, True Speed, and Throttle - These instruments are sometimes clustered together, and sometimes separated. The RCS indicator is pretty simple being not much more than an indicator light. The True speed readout gives you your current speed in Meters Per Second. The Throttle indicator shows at what percent your throttle is currently sitting at.

12) Radar - The radar sends out a ping updating the view inside the globe to display the Identity Tags of each entity around you assuming it has an Identity Tag the radar can actually read. This has a refresh rate of every 3 seconds, so keep that in mind while flying.

13) Weapons Information Panel - This cluster of gauges show the currently selected weapon from your internal, light, and heavy weapons as well as the current state of the selected weapon.

14) Attitude Indicator - These lines with numbers trailing up and down the screen are the attitude indicator. This is a pretty decent indicator your attitude relative to the surface of a planet, or if you're in space, it is relative to the carrier you launched from.

5) Heading Indicator - This indicate your current heading in North, South, East, West directions.

While each indicator is ultimately different in its purpose, they all use a similar method for indicating the gauges current state to the pilot.


The first indicator we'll cover is the Countermeasures Indicator. This indicator is simple to understand and shows all three states in the most easy to understand fashion



In this state, when the indicator light is blue, the countermeasures are ready to be used whenever the pilot requires their usage.




When the indicator light turns yellow, this means that the countermeasures are currently in operation and cannot be used.




Once finished operating, the countermeasures will go into cooldown and the light will turn orange. In this state the countermeasures are not active and cannot be used as they are currently being reloaded.

Between 100% and 75% throttle.


Between 75% and 35% throttle.


Between 35% and 0% throttle. At this point your fighter will begin to feel the effects of gravity.

The truespeed indicator is the best indicator for understanding just how fast you're actually going. When the light is blue the engines are functional normally.


When this light turns orange, this indicates that the Afterburner is currently in use.

The RCS system, or Rotation Control System, is how you execute sharp turns and other key maneuvers to avoid enemies and missiles or just to navigate tight spaces.


When the light is blue, the RCS system is active and ready to be used.


When the light is yellow, the RCS system is currently in use.

The weapons management cluster is a series of indicators wrapped up into a small package.

In this state the currently selected weapon system is primed and ready to fire.


To go further into the operation of this cluster...

1) Currently Selected Weapon Ammo Counter - This numerical indicator will keep track of the ammunition for the currently selected weapon system. Is based upon the number of times the weapon system can fire. So a volley fire weapon system with 10 shots per volley at 2 volleys will read as 2 in this indicator.

2) Currently Selected Weapon State - This light will appear as blue when the currently slected weapon system is not in use. If the weapon system is volley fired, the light will turn yellow while the volley is being fired. Afterwards it will enter cooldown and turn orange.

3) Currently Selected Weapon Reload - This progress bar indicates the amount of time left until the currently selected weapon system can be fired again.

4) Currently Selected Weapon System - This light is one of three that run along the bottom of this section of gauge. Here it indicates that the starfighters internal weapons bay is the currently selected weapons systems.

5) Currently Selected Weapon Name - This is the name of the currently selected weapon system (generic names used now).

The fuel gauge is in some ways your mission timer. Where some missions may have hard timers requiring things to be done in a specific amount of time, there is also the fuel restrictions of missions. Some missions may allow you to rearm and refuel during the mission. Extended fuel tanks can be added to your starfighter in the hangar.



1) Fuel Gauge - When you first start out the fuel gauge will be at max. It will slowly decrease over time.

2) Fuel Warning Icon - This icon will begin to blink if you get below 50% fuel and blink faster when below 25%.

Under normal operations a fighter isn't likely to overheat. However when introduced into combat conditions a fighter can very quickly become a ball of flame from overheating if the pilot is not careful.




1) Thermal Gauge - This gauge shows roughly at what percent the current heat level is at. If it breaches the 100% threshold your fighter will begin to take heat damage.

2) Thermals Icon - This icon will begin to flash at 50% thermals and flash faster at 100%. At 100% an audible warning will also be given by the fighters computer.

The wayfinding arrow is your primary tool for tracking points and entities of interest.


When assigned a new mission objective with a defined point in space, the wayfinding arrow will become active and point in the direction of the objective.


If at any point in time you lock onto an enemy the wayfinding arrow will turn red in color and track the enemy instead.

The radar is perhaps one of the more important indicators in the cockpit. It shows positions of enemies, friendlies, and drops. The radar will also indicate what direction incoming guided munitions are approaching from. It should be kept in mind that the radar has a refresh time of 3 seconds.


The radar has a circular grid on it, this grid is orange when in level flight.


And turns blue when inverted in flight.

The attitude and heading indicators are great tools for orienting your self in "space". And it is in space especially that these tools become even more helpful as there maybe moments when you find yourself becoming disoriented in some environments. Refer to these instruments in those events.


It should also be noted that there may even be times on planetary levels when these instruments become helpful. Flying through caves and tunnels may result in disorientation at times.

Another combination indicator. This gauge is used for keeping track of your direction travel relative to the forward facing direction of the fighter. This is done through the circular ring that will shift and display and arrow indicating the true direction of travel.

The three blue arrows stacked upon each other are the gravitational pull indicators and will only be active if you're in a gravity well of significant influence.