Nebulae

Nebulae are one of the interesting spatial terrain types that may be included in the sector. (NOTE: Nebulae will not appear in the sector as long as the "Terrain" setting in the server setup screen is set to "None". In 2.2, but not 2.3, the "Lethal Terrain" setting makes them appear instead of "Terrain") Nebulae appear on the LRS, TAC and Helm/Weapons as one or more overlapping large purple circles that can span many sectors. On the Mainscreen or VIS screen they appear as clouds of varying colors. 

 

Nebulae dramatically impair sensors, meaning that an enemy ship in a nebula does not appear on LRS or TAC. This does not hold for space stations, friendly ships, monsters, mine fields, or other terrain; they appear on the LRS even when inside a nebula. Enemy ships cannot see into a nebula either; normally enemy ships will attack the Artemis if it gets within a certain range, but hiding in a nebula prevents this from happening. If an enemy ship has been attacked or taunted by the Artemis, however, it will follow the Artemis into a nebula, whether it can see it or not.

 

Even though enemy ships cannot be seen on the LRS and TAC, the Science officer (and the Captain's Map) can still see these ships with Science's more powerful sensors. Enemy ships can also be seen by Helm and Weapons as long as they are in combat range.

 

The Artemis is also limited to warp 1 while in a nebula. As of Artemis 2.7, nebulae come in three different colors; the original purple, as shown below, cyan, and yellow. These colors only appear on the Science screen, all three types look the same on the main screen. In most game modes, the color of a nebula is only cosmetic and has no in-game effect. Scripts, however, can make use of this feature to produce different effects when the player ship, a friendly or enemy ship or a monster are in a nebula.

 

Nebula can be seen on the LRS represented by purple discs