Your Creation's temperature is divided into two values:
- Internal Heat (INT) - The temperature inside your Creation.
- External Heat (EXT) - The temperature affecting your Creation from the surrounding environment.
Managing these values is critical to staying alive in Frontier.
Internal Heat (INT)
Internal Heat (INT) represents the temperature experienced by your Shell inside the Creation.
INT is primarily influenced by:
- Your Creation's External Heat (EXT)
- Heat generated while producing Capacitor Energy through fuel consumption.
Since the Power Generator continuously produces energy, it also generates heat. As a result, it is normal for your INT to remain slightly higher than your EXT during standard operation.
If your Creation enters Emergency Shutdown, capacitor generation stops completely. Without the Power Generator producing additional heat, your INT will gradually equalize with your EXT.
Note: A warm cockpit is normal. An overheating cockpit is a problem.
External Heat (EXT)
External Heat (EXT) represents the temperature your Creation is exposed to from its surroundings.
Several factors can increase EXT, including:
- Nearby stars
- Feral attacks
- Cosmic anomalies
- Environmental hazards
As EXT rises, your Creation must work harder to keep internal temperatures within a survivable range.
Stellar Heat
How Stellar Heat Works
- The longer your Creation is exposed to a star, the more heat it accumulates.
- The closer you are to a star, the faster your EXT rises.
- Line of sight matters. Asteroids, wrecks, stations, and other large structures can block stellar radiation and reduce heat buildup.
- Prolonged exposure can overwhelm your thermal systems, causing dangerous increases in Internal Heat (INT).
Managing Stellar Heat
Extinguishing Salve
- Extinguishing Salve removes temporary heat-related status effects caused by recent exposure to extreme temperatures.
Homeostatic Inoculation
- Homeostatic Inoculation treats long-term damage caused by sustained overheating.
Heat Trap
If rising temperatures become difficult to manage, you can manufacture a Heat Trap using your Emergency Printer.
A Heat Trap is a deployable Payload launched from a Launch Bay. Once deployed, it absorbs excess heat from your Creation, helping reduce your current temperature. After deployment, the trap drifts through space and gradually cools until it reaches the surrounding environmental temperature.
Thermal Discharge
Deploy Heat Traps carefully.
When a Heat Trap is destroyed, it releases all stored heat in a Thermal Discharge, damaging every Creation within its blast radius, including allies and your own.
Keep the following in mind:
- The more heat stored within the trap, the more powerful the discharge.
- Any damage dealt to a Heat Trap will destroy it.
- Heat Traps are intentionally fragile and should be handled with care.
Volatility
A Heat Trap remains Volatile while its temperature exceeds its Volatility Threshold and cannot be recovered during this state.
Once the trap cools below the threshold, it becomes inert and can be safely scooped up and reused.
Tip: A Heat Trap can save your life or become a powerful weapon. Use it to shed excess heat, or intentionally detonate it to create a dangerous thermal blast.