The Tractor Beam

The tractor beam may be used to drag in and hold on to inert objects, or enemy ships that would otherwise run or be elusive in combat situations. To use it, first select the object(s) that you want to lock the beam onto. Then, click on the small checkbox in the Command Console or hit the tilde key ( ~ ) to toggle the tractor beam on or off. An energy meter on the Command Console gives you a visual indication of how much energy is being expended to hold all tractored targets close to the Enterprise.

  • Energy output will be higher while a tractored target is being pulled in, and will level off once the object has stabilized close to the Enterprise.

  • Enemy ships with cloaking ability cannot cloak while tractored. This fact can come in very handy in a battle situation!

  • The beam requires a stable platform. If used while under warp power, the tractor beam will become highly unreliable and will most likely disengage.

Evasive Maneuvers

Under the Starfleet menu you'll find three preset evasive maneuvers which you can use to try to evade enemy fire. The maneuvers vary from 5 sec to 15 sec in duration.

Checking the "Evade Continuously" option means that once you select a maneuver, the Enterprise will continue to repeat the evasive maneuver until you click "Stop."