Crashing into a planet

[deon_de_ruijter]

When I fly in planet mode, and I cut off my engines I start falling.
But when I hit the surfaces, nothing happens except I hover over the surface and my ship will autolevel.
I am pretty new to the game and I will only crash when I go really fast.
Is this normal or a bug?
I also noticed that when flying into a gas giant, there is no atmospheric heating.
This sounds pretty odd to me.
Is this normal too or just a bug?

[Vice]

As intended for both. For the first, your ship's thruster control systems will do everything they can to keep you alive, even if your ship falls by its own weight. The thruster systems will attempt to stabilize your fall, generally always nose down if you aren't flying fast enough to sustain lift. And they will usually be able to keep your speed low enough that the ground effect and shield arrays will cushion your fall... at which point, the thrusters will automatically level your ship over the terrain once you reach it. You can of course overfly those protection systems and plow the nose of your ship into the ground to destroy yourself, if you so choose. Speeds above around 1000 will generally result in some damage. Speeds above around 2000 will generally result in enough damage to destroy your ship.

For the second, upper atmospheric pressures in gas giants pose no threat to your ship's shield system. The 'low' atmospheric pressure is easy for it to contend with, both for heat and pressure. Dive deep enough into the middle of a gas giant however and the pressure will eventually crush your ship.

[deon_de_ruijter]

Thank you for your answers.
For your second answer, do you mean that there is no atmospheric heating when flying through a gas giant at high speeds?
I noticed the atmospheric pressure but no heating for example when flying through a the atmosphere of a normal planet with speeds higher than 3000.
Is there atmospheric heating close to the core of the gas giant?

I also noticed that when I fly through a gas giant, my ship will not switch from space to planetary mode.
Is there a reason for that?

[Vice]

For your second answer, do you mean that there is no atmospheric heating when flying through a gas giant at high speeds?

Correct, not enough to effect shields or cause a burn effect. Usually just enormous low density winds. Edit: I think I'll change this for the next update though to introduce some burning effects if you reach the higher density central region of a gas giant planet.

Is there atmospheric heating close to the core of the gas giant?

At the point when the pressure gets high enough, it's the crushing force, not a heating force. So again, no burn effect (however, as mentioned above, I think I'll add this in the next update). One of the main reasons for this is gameplay. There are certain options and structures contained within gas giants that requiring cruise flight to access them would likely be an unnecessary time consumption to most players. So the atmospheric density is kept low enough that the jump drive remains available to use, allowing the player to more easily and quickly reach locations inside gas giants... then be able to get out again quickly.

Edit: This will be changed for the next update. The high pressure area around the middle of gas giant will now cause the atmospheric burn effect if the player flies fast enough close to the center of the planet.

I also noticed that when I fly through a gas giant, my ship will not switch from space to planetary mode.
Is there a reason for that?

Yes, there is no terrain with gas giants with which to calibrate terrain based avionics (ladder). So space based instrumentation is left active.

[deon_de_ruijter]

Thank your for your help.
It is very pretty that the game is not very popular.
For me, this is the best space game I played in my life.

[Vice]

Glad to hear you're enjoying it and having fun.