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Egosoft Interactive FAQ

What do all those TLAs and abbreviations mean?


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Author Details
By: Carlo the Curious
Edited: 05/04/11 12:50


A TLA is a Three Letter Acronym. Not all the acronyms used have three letters, of course!


Ship Classes

Ships are divided into classes according to their purpose. Most races have at least one type of ship in each class.

M0Planet-killer (not used in Terran Conflict)
M1Carrier
M2Destroyer
M3(+)Heavy fighter (Improved)
M4(+)Medium fighter (Improved)
M5Scout
M6Corvette
M7Frigate
M7MMissile Frigate
M8Bomber
TSTransport Small
TLTransport Large (can transport station kits)
TPTransport Personnel/Passenger
TMTransport Military (a small carrier ship)
OWPOrbital Weapons Platform
LTLaser Tower
NavSatNavigation Relay Satellite
AdvSatAdvanced Satellite



Ship Variants

For smaller ships, most races have some variants of the basic ship types. Not all races have all variants available to buy at ship yards, and some don't even exist in a normal game.

Fighters can have up to four variants, typically having the following characteristics (though there is some variation so these rules do not always hold).

RaiderFaster, less shielding and less cargo
VanguardFaster, sometimes less shielding, sometimes better weapons
HaulerSlower, more cargo space
SentinelSlower, more shielding, sometimes less cargo space


Small freighters may also have variants, again depending on race and again with not all variants being available for all ships.

HaulerSlower, more shielding, more cargo space
MinerSlower, more shielding, more cargo space
TankerSlower, more shielding, more cargo space
Tanker XLEven slower, more shielding, more cargo space
Super-freighterEven slower, more shielding, more cargo space
Super-freighter XLEven slower again, even more shielding, even more cargo space


Certain ships also come in 'heavy, 'prototype', 'advanced' or 'enhanced' variants - this usually indicates an upgraded version of the basic ship.



Ship Equipment Levels

When buying smaller ships at a shipyard, different levels of equipment are available. Not to be confused with cargo classes (or the size of the ship!).

SNo weapons, minimum shielding
MBasic weapons, medium shielding
LMore weapons, maximum shields



Ship Nicknames

A few ships have standard nicknames. Examples include:

Elly
Ellie
Split Elephant
OddyParanid Odysseus
HCPArgon Heavy Centaur Prototype
TLSGoner Truelight Seeker



Transport Classes

Classes of cargo that a ship may, or may not, be able to carry. Not to be confused with ship equipment levels.

SSmall
MMedium
LLarge
XLExtra Large
STStation


Each ware has a transport class (or cargo class) and takes up a specific amount of ship cargo-hold, for example one unit of Rastar Oil takes up 6 units of space in M class containers, a unit of Argnu Beef takes up 4 units in S class containers, and an Ore Mine takes 8000 units in ST class containers. Note that this also applies to weapons and shields (even when installed).

Some types of equipment (e.g. jumpdrives) also have a minimum cargo class, and can only be installed on ships capable of transporting that class (although they don't actually take up any space).



Weapons

Weapons are divided into types.

Some weapon types have several variants: Alpha, Beta and occasionally Gamma. The Alpha costs the least, has the fastest fire rate and uses the least energy, but does the least damage. The Gamma variant is the most expensive, slow firing and energy-draining, but does the most damage. Unsurprisingly, the Beta variant is somewhere between the two. The variants are normally abbreviated to A, B and G and added as a prefix to the laser name abbreviation.

CFACluster Flak Array
CIGConcussion Impulse Generator
EBCEnergy Bolt Chaingun
(E)EMPC(Experimental) Electro-magnetic Pulse Cannon
FAA
FLAK
Flak Artillery Array
FBCFusion Beam Cannon (experimental weapon)
FBLFragmentation Bomb Launcher
FDFighter Drone
GCGauss Cannon
HEPTHigh-Energy Plasma Thrower
IBLIncendiary Bomb Launcher
ICIon Cannon
ID
IonD
Ion Disruptor
IPGIon Pulse Generator
ISRIon Shard Railgun
IREImpulse Ray Emitter
KYON
AKYON
BKYON
GKYON
Kyon Emitter (Kha'ak ships only)
(P)M/AM
M/AL
M/AML
(Prototype) Matter/Anti-matter Launcher
MDMass Driver
MDSMobile Drilling System
PACParticle Accelerator Cannon
PALCPhased Array Laser Cannon (experimental weapon)
PBCPlasma Beam Cannon (lasertower weapon)
PBEPulsed Beam Emitter
PBGPlasma Burst Generator (flamethrower)
PPCPhoton Pulse Cannon
PRGPhased Repeater Gun
PSGPhased Shockwave Generator
PSPPoint Singularity Projector
(P)SSC(Prototype) Starburst Shockwave Cannon
TBTractor Beam
TBC
TBLC
Tri-Beam Laser Cannon (experimental weapon)



Shields

The type of a shield is indicated by a number showing its maximum strength.

1MJ1,000KJ
5MJ5,000KJ
25MJ25,000KJ
200MJ200,000KJ
1GJ1,000,000KJ
2GJ2,000,000KJ



Equipment

These are a few of the many kinds of equipment that can be installed on a ship.

CLS
CLSS
Cargo Life Support System
CLS1Commodity Logistics Software MK1 (bonus pack)
CLS2Commodity Logistics Software MK2 (bonus pack)
JDJump Drive
UFJDUnfocussed Jump Drive
SETASingularity Engine Time Accelerator
SOSSystem Override Software
SSSSoftware Signature Scrambler
VEG
VEGs
Video Enhancement Goggles



Stations

There are many different types of space stations in the game, but only a few types have commonly-used abbreviations.

CFCrystal Fab
EQ
EqD
ED
Equipment Dock
GTGoner Temple
OM
SM
Ore/Silicon Mine
PAPPirate Anarchy Port
PBPirate Base
PHQPlayer Headquarters
SPPSolar Power Plant
SYShipyard
TCHQTerraCorp Headquarters
TD
TS
Trading Dock/Station



Sectors

A few of the sectors in the game also have common abbreviations.

ABAkeela's Beacon
APArgon Prime
BHSBlack Hole Sun
CBNW
CBSW
CBSE
Cloudbase North West/South West/South East
EoLElysium of Light
GFGetsu Fune
HoLHome of Light
IZIanamus Zura
KEKingdom End
KnnnKha'ak Sector nnn (e.g. K931)
NHNyana's Hideout
OBOre Belt
OLOmicron Lyrae
PEPresident's End
PPParanid Prime
TUSTerran Unknown Sector
USUnknown Sector
Uxx.yyUnknown Sector at map co-ordinates xx,yy
XnnnXenon Sector nnn (e.g. X101)



General

And finally a few miscellaneous items.

AIArtificial Intelligence (usually refers to the computer's ships)
ALArtificial Life
ANHA New Home (plot)
BoPBalance of Power (plot)
CAGCommercial Agent (bonus pack)
CapSlang term for capturing other ships
CTDCrash To Desktop
DWMDock Ware Manager (bonus pack)
ETAEstimated Time of Arrival (used in ship menus)
FAQFrequently Asked Questions
GODGlobal Decision Engine
HUDHeads Up Display
ISIn Sector (i.e. the sector you are personally in)
[L]Indicates that you have a Police Licence with the race the letter appears next to
MDMMissile Defence Mosquito (bonus pack)
MORTManually Operated Remote Trader
MTRManual Trade Run
NPCNon Player Character (usually refers to the computer's ships)
OFFOperation: Final Fury (plot)
OOSOut of Sector (i.e. a sector you are not personally in)
OOSDOut of Sector Defence (defence of the above)
SEScript Editor
TCTerran Conflict
Transport Class
UOUnknown Object
UFOUnidentified Flying Object
XI
XIM
Xenon Invasion (a mission type)
LT
ST
UT
Local/Sector/Universe Trader (Trade Command Software Mk3 commands)



If you see an abbreviation that is not listed here then it may be a standard abbreviation in common online use. Sites such as Acronym Finder or Abbreviations.com may be useful in such cases.


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