Glossary

This page contains a glossary of factual terms from astrophysics and astronavigation, as well as fictional terminology from the game Space Engineers.

A

Aft: adj. Located at the rear of a spaceship. Opposite of fore. Example: "I need an aft camera to dock this ship."

AI: adj, n. Short for Artificial Intelligence, a means of making drone ships and turrets act autonomously.

Altitude: n. In aviation, altitude is the craft's height above the ground or sea level. In Space Engineers, it's the height above the terrain.

Asteroids: n. Clusters of small non-round planet-like objects on a stable shared orbit inside a star system. Can be made up of ice, rock, or ores.

Attitude: n. In aviation, attitude is the orientation (pitch and roll) of the craft relative to a planet's horizon. To stabilise your attitude, you need gyroscopes.

B

Berth: n. The parking place of a starship in a hangar; the astronaut’s bed in the crew cabin.

Bow: n. The front end of the ship.

Bridge: n. The cabin in a large spaceship from where the captain oversees the vessel and commands the crew.

Burn: v, n. The activation of one or more thrusters.

C

Coast: v. A medium-range fuel-saving transfer manoeuvre in space. Accelerate the spaceship (or jetpack) to travel speed, stop burning, switch off Inertial Dampers, and use inertia to drift at constant speed towards the target. To brake, switch Dampers back on and possibly do a "flip-and-burn".

Cockpit: n. The cabin from which the pilot steers the spaceship.

Collector Pit: n. An array of conveyored Collectors built so that floating items from a salvage site or space battlefield are sucked into cargo. On planets, it uses natural gravity, and in space, artificial gravity. Often combined with a Grinder Pit.

Clang: v, n. The last sound an engineer hears before meeting their lord and destructor, and in extension, the name of the invisible higher power in game. A euphemism for game physics bugs. Also spelled Klang. Examples: As a noun, “My hangar doors have become an offering to almighty Klang”, or as a verb, “My refuelling arm clanged out”.

Clang Drive: n. An expert exploit using the unintended side-effects of game physics glitches to accellerate and steer a spaceship, instead of using thrusters.

Creative Mode: n. A game mode where players can build without material cost, shoot without ammo, and they cannot die. Opposite of Survival Mode.

D

Distal: adj. Of two subgrid blocks, the one further away from the main grid. Opposite of proximal. Example: "Reverse the distal piston!"

Dorsal: adj. Located on the top side of a starship. Opposite of ventral. Example: "We lost the dorsal turrets in the attack".

Drone: n. An unmanned vehicle engineered to perform a scientific, military, or civilian task without the presence of a pilot. It relies on Remote Control, Artificial Intelligence, or Autopilot.

F

Fore: adj. Located on the front side of a starship. Opposite of aft. Example: "Use the fore camera to aim the railgun."

Flip-and-Burn: n. A braking manoeuvre in science fiction. Same as retrograde thrust.

The Functional Line: n. When you face a block with a welder in hand and look at the construction tooltip in the top right, a red horizontal marker separates the optional (above) from the required components (below). This is the functional line. Example: "To advance Progression, grind the Landing Gear below functional and reweld it."

G

GPS: n. Galactic or Global Positioning System. Three numbers that tell you where a static point is in 3D space. In game, locations on planets and space stations are static.

Gravity Drive: n. A gravity drive uses Artificial Mass blocks and Gravity Generators on the same ship to move the ship without any thrusters.

Greeble: v. To decorate a featureless surface by adding detail and depth. n. The non-functional blocks repurposed as sci-fi decorations. Originally used in film studios by Star Wars ship modellers. Examples: "Stop greebling!", "Many greebles where lost in the collision, but the ship remained functional."

Grid: n. Building blocks in the game are arranged on a grid. In extension, any block structure you build, such as spaceships, rovers, stations, Mechas, etc. is referred to as a grid. We distinguish mobile grids and stations, and small and large grids.

Grinder Pit: n. An array of conveyored grinders built so that wrecks exposed to the combined area of effect are salvaged quickly. See also welder wall or collector pit.

Gyro: n. A  Gyroscope is a device used for stabilisation and control of attitude rotation (pitch, yaw, and roll) of a ship, vehicle, or walker etc.

H

Hacking: n. To take ownership of a neutral or enemy block and use its control panel, you use the Hacking game mechanic.

The Hack Line: n. When you face a block with a grinder in hand and look at the construction tooltip in the top right, you see a blue horizontal marker below the  Computer components. This is the hack line. Example: "To gain Ownership, grind the Cockpit below the hack line and reweld it."

Hangar: n. An enclosed space inside a station or mothership to dock smaller vessels safely. In the hangar, spacecraft are built, repaired, and stored.

Hitbox: n. An invisible simplified representation of the shape of a block used by the game's physics simulation. Oversized hitboxes were fixed in Version 1.196, greatly reducing destructive friction (clang) and allowing for more dynamic mechanical builds. Also known as collision shape or boundary volume in game development.

Hydroman: n, v. A portmanteau of hydrogen and man, that refers to the act of abusing the high speed of the hydrogen-fuelled Jetpack to catch up with ships instead of using an engineering solution, often in the context of piracy or boarding.

I

Inertia: n. The natural resistance of physical objects to changes in speed and direction. In space, inertia causes spaceships and jetpacks to continue drifting after only a single burst of the thrusters. Since we are used to the slowing effects of friction, dealing with frictionless inertia poses a challenge for human pilots’ intuition.

Inertial Dampers: n. A fictional device that negates the unintuitive effects of frictionless inertia in zero gravity to facilitate manual manoeuvring.

K

Keel: n. The bottom side of the ship.

Keen Software House: n. The indie game dev studio lead by Marek Rosa in Prague that has (among other things) created Space Engineers.

Klang: n. Alternate spelling of Clang.

L

Lag: n. High network latency in an online game means that after a player’s input, the game server’s reaction lags behind, which poses an obstacle in real-time (not turn-based) games.

M

Mecha: n. See Walker.

Mechanics: n. The area of engineering and physics concerned with the behaviour of objects when subjected to forces or displacements. Examples of mechanical blocks in game are  Pistons,  Rotors,  Hinges, and Wheel Suspensions.

Mod: n. A mod is a community created game modification, ranging from decorative and functional blocks or skins, to new gameplay, quality of life additions, and whole custom planets. See also Mods and Modding.

Moon: n. A celestial body of any shape that orbits a larger planet (or rarely, an asteroid) as a natural satellite.

N

NPC: n. Short for Non-Player Character. Computer-controlled characters can be friendly, neutral, or hostile towards the players. They can be faceless minions, helpful workers, or unique opponents. In Vanilla Space Engineers, the only NPCs are auto-piloted or Automaton-controlled drone ships, and rarely Sabiroids or Cyberhounds. See also Mods.

O

Orbit: n. In real life, a stable elliptical motion of one mass around another in space. Note: The game does not simulate orbits; planets, moons, and asteroids are immobile in game and don’t spin, either.

P

PBW: n. Short for player-built weapon. A mobile grid built to cause damage, for example, a guided missile. See Player_Built_Weapons.

Pitch: v. Rotation on the Y-axis, tilting up or down in a head nodding motion. See gyroscope.

Planet: n. A rounded celestial body that directly orbits a star on a cleared path, and that itself is not a star. Larger than an asteroid.

PMW: n. Short for player-made weapon. Same as PBW, see there.

Port: adj. Located on the left side of a starship. Can be marked with a red light. Opposite of starboard. Example "The port turrets are target locked!"

Proximal: adj. Of two subgrid blocks, the one nearer to the main grid. Opposite of distal. Example: "The conveyor line is broken somewhere at the proximal piston."

PvE: adj. Short for "player versus environment". It describes the situation in a sandbox game where players build bases and ships together and fight against NPCs and environmental dangers. Opposite of PvP. Can be singleplayer or multiplayer.

PvP: adj. Short for "player versus player". It describes the situation on a sandbox multiplayer server where players challenge each other in battles, make and break treaties, build traps and defences, and attack other factions’ ships and bases. Opposite of PvE.

R

RCS: n. The reaction control system (RCS) is a set of spacecraft thrusters that provides small targeted amounts of thrust for translation (using WASD). The opposite would be the stronger launch or braking thrusters.

Retrograde Thrust: n. A braking manoeuvre in spaceflight. Flip the ship 180 degrees so that the strongest launching thrusters face in the direction of travel as braking thrusters, then burn to brake. Same as flip-and-burn in science fiction.

Roll: v. Rotation on the Z-axis, a banking motion like cocking your head to the side. See gyroscope.

Rover: n. A wheeled vehicle engineered to travel efficiently on terrestrial or icy planets with gravity. They can carry a mix of equipment, weapons, cargo, or crew.

RP: n. Short for roleplaying, to collaboratively create characters and improvise a story while playing a video game.

Rubberbanding: n. In online games, an undesirable effect of latency in which a moving object or player appears to stall, and then leap from one place to another without passing through the intervening space.

RUD: n. Short for rapid unscheduled disassembly, an old euphemism for a failed rocket start.

S

Sandbox game: n. A type of game with rules but no “winning” condition nor predefined end goal. Players set their own goals, such as building, fighting, automation, exploration. Can be played by "PvP" or "PvE" rules, and in Creative Mode or Survival Mode, but enforces neither.

Satellite: n. A smaller mass in a stable orbit around a larger body in space. Satellites can be artificial (probes, telecommunication devices, space stations) or natural (moons).

Sim speed: n. Short for simulation speed. If the game's sim speed is 1.0 or higher, it is running nominally. If the speed is lower, the game has higher latency, which is perceived by players as undesirable lag and rubberbanding.

Spaceship: n. A vehicle that is engineered to travel through space for scientific, military, or civilian purposes. Also known as spacecraft or starship. Can be designed for interplanetary or planetary travel. Carries equipment, weapons, cargo, or crew.

Starboard: adj. Located on the right side of a starship. Can be marked with a green light. Opposite of port. Example: "Open the starboard hangar doors!"

Star System: n. A gravitationally bound system in space where planets are in stable orbits around a star. Example: The star system around the star Sol (the Sun) is called the Solar System.

Stern: n. The rear end of the ship. Example: "The captain is in the stern."

Stockpile: n. 1) To make a gas tank fill itself and prevent its gas from being used up, set it to stockpile. 2) In Survival Mode, a freshly placed block has an empty component stockpile. When you single-click the block with a welder and with components in your inventory, the components go into the block's stockpile immediately, as can be verified in the block tooltip. A block can have a full stockpile while being unwelded -- welding takes time.

Supergridding: An old exploit where you could edit blocks in the save file and change their grid size, resulting in a mix of large and small grid blocks in the same ship.

Survival Mode: n. A game mode where building has a material costs, shooting uses up ammo, and the characters need to maintain their health in order not to die. See Survival Mode. Opposite of Creative Mode.

T

Terrestrial: adj. On or from planet Earth; on the ground; Earth-like. Example: "Terrestrial planets are rocky planets."

Thruster: n. A propulsive device for adding controlled manoeuvrability to a ship. In game, either  Atmospheric Thrusters,  Hydrogen Thrusters, or  Ion Thrusters.

Thrust vectoring: n. The ability of a spaceship to automatically rotate the direction and intensity of unidirectional thrusters to control attitude or angular velocity in situations where aerodynamic control is ineffective, or where several multidirectional thrusters are too heavy. Only possible with scripts in game.

Tick: n. A tick is a unit of time used mostly in scripting. There are 60 ticks every second, so 1 tick is about 16.67 milliseconds.

Topside: n. The upper side of the ship. Example: "Meet you topside!"

Tug: n. A common type of utility spaceship that is purpose-built for controlled dragging. It uses  Landing Gear, magnetic plates, or rarely  Gravity Generators as tools to stow cargo, haul salvage, or assist spaceships that cannot reach their berth by themselves.

V

Vanilla: adj. A vanilla game is a game which has not been customized. The ideal vanilla world uses only standard planets, standard settings, no mods, no scripts, no plugins, no DLCs, no Experimental mode. It's the lowest common denominator that works for every user on every platform. For example, Keen Support will typically ask you to reproduce a reported bug in a vanilla world to exclude the possibility that the issue is caused by a mod.

Vector: n. In layman’s terms, an arrow that has a start, a direction, and a length. In maths, a vector describes a position in space relative to a start position by telling you in which direction and how far you have to travel to get from one to the other, as the bird flies. Only used internally in the game, players simply use GPS. Related example: "Thrust vectoring means controlling the direction and intensity of a rotating thruster."

Ventral: adj. Located on the bottom side of a spaceship or vehicle. Opposite of dorsal. Example: "If this shuttle had ventral lights, we could see how far away from the ground we are."

Voxel: n. The smallest element that a volumetric object is made of in 3D graphics. In game, asteroids, moons, and planets are made up of destructible voxels.

VST: n. The Visual Scripting Tool for Space Engineers is a Scenario Editor created by Keen Software House.

W

Walker: n. A large robot with android or animal features (that is, legs, arms, wings) that is controlled by a player from a cockpit inside. Also known as Mech(a).

WASD: n. The four most commonly used keyboard keys to control a game character are W, A, S, and D. Example: "I use WASD to steer the starship, not a controller."

Welder Wall: n. An array of conveyored welders built so that a projection exposed to the combined area of effect is built fast. Also called Welder Pit. See also Collector Pit, Grinder Pit, and 3D Printer.

The World Seam: n. A geographical feature on SE planets, where an artificial looking vertical ridge line marks where the six cube maps are stitched together. There is often one latitudinal seam around each pole, and there can be four more longitudinal seams outside the polar regions.

Y

Yaw: v. Rotation on the Y-axis, that is, turning left or right in a head shaking motion. See gyroscope.