Editing Time (section)

==Sub-Pulses==

Each increment is broken up into "sub-pulses". These are the actual units of time used by the game engine to calculate events. Ship detection is checked once per sub-pulse, for example, and standing orders are renewed once per sub-pulse. The player may choose the sub-pulse increment if desired (using the "Select Sub-Pulse Length" bar on the main game window), but typically it can be left at the automatic value. Usually there will be a few dozen sub-pulses per increment if the automatic value is used (e.g., a five-day increment will use a two-hour sub-pulse). If an interrupt happens, it will stop the game at the sub-pulse where the interrupt was triggered. 

More frequent sub-pulses means more calculation is required from the game engine, so the increment might take longer to process (especially in large universes, or on older computers). However, more frequent sub-pulses will also increase calculation accuracy, which can be especially relevant in combat situations. For example, if you're passing time in five-day increments and using the default two hour sub-pulse, that means that an enemy ship can fly for two hours and execute its orders before your ships get a chance to respond, or even a chance to detect it. If you have a sentry ship watching a jump point, for example, and an enemy ship flies through that jump point, it can be as much as two hours away (36m km at 5 km/s, for example) from the jump point before detection is next checked. As such, things can potentially slip past your sentries with sub-pulses that are too long. Alternatively, if missiles are fired and detection is not checked in time, you may lose your ability to shoot down the missiles, because they hit before you can detect them. 

For this reason, the game will typically force very short turn increments in combat situations, so that these situations do not come up. If you fear combat is imminent, you can also switch to shorter increments and/or reduce the sub-pulse length.