FAQ

Is this 2-body physics or approximated n-body?

N-body. Each tick the ship’s gravity is the inverse-square sum of every well and every moving body. Velocity-Verlet, not a Kepler two-body orbit.

The win check fits a Kepler ellipse in the green ring. That is the capture test, not how you fly. On shipped maps, moons feel wells only — no moon–moon pull unless the map is well-less or dense.

Is it really the first orbital racing game?

That is the tagline for a specific mix: competitive 2D racing under inverse-square n-body gravity, gravity-assist slingshots, closed-orbit capture, and a public board the server re-simulates from button tapes.

Gravity games exist (Gravitar, Lunar Lander, Kerbal). Racing games exist. We have not found an earlier title that is this combination. If you know one, tell us — we will credit it. We are not claiming a search of every 1980s arcade ROM.

Is gravity cartoon, or inverse-square?

Inverse-square: a = μ r̂ / r². Closer is stronger. A slingshot is a gravity assist. There is no orbit button and no constant “planet pull.”

Does the server trust my time and score?

No. You send button bits and tick numbers — never pose, never race time. A scored win is the server re-flying your input tape on today’s stock map and engines. A POST of time/fuel without a finishing tape does not land on SCORE / TIME / FUEL.

What is the trajectory line?

Where you go if you stop thrusting, sampled at 60 Hz in the current orbit frame. Draw-only. It is not a second physics and not the scored sim. Watch draws the line recorded from that flight, clipped at the scored crash.

Why 165 Hz?

The sim steps at a fixed 165 Hz on both client and server. Snapshots to other ships are ~30 Hz. Archived 60 Hz tapes replay at the rate they were recorded.

Can the browser and the board disagree?

They used to, on maps like Snake, because libm sin/cos/atan2 differ wasm vs native. Both ends now use the same portable trig. A leftover mismatch is rejected as unverified, not written as a crash.

Do I need an account?

No. A name is a label on the board. Anyone can wear a tag. Treat a row as “this tape won,” not “this person won.”

Can a bot sit on the board?

Yes. The trusted object is a legal button tape. A script that plays a human-possible sequence will score. That is not a physics cheat. Competitive integrity against automation is not claimed.