Approximately Up Sensors & Logic Tier List

Approximately Up rewards ships that read the environment and route data intentionally. Unlike builders where power flows passively, you connect cables from joysticks to thrusters, meters to monitors, and logic gates to automated sequences. This tier list ranks velocity meters, radar, altimeters, gyro lines, and logic gates from first-flight essentials to late-game automation — solo or in four-player co-op.

Tier scale

• S — Install on every serious hull.
• A — High value with modest wiring.
• B — Situational or secondary readout.
• C — Training wheels you outgrow.
• D — Skipped unless experimenting.

Velocity meter

A velocity meter reports how fast your craft moves relative to the surface or reference frame — critical for judging approach speed, orbital inserts, and whether your retro-burn is too timid or too brutal.

Tier	Role
S	Primary flight instrument on any ship that lands or docks
A	Second meter routed to a co-pilot monitor
B	Used only on straight vacuum cruises with radar doing most work
C	Hidden behind a window with no monitor
D	Absent on heavy landers

Early game: Wire one meter to a cockpit monitor before leaving Earth — prevents slamming into the pad on first RCS tests.

Mid game: On Moon approaches, combine velocity with altimeter thresholds so pilots know when to pulse electric vertical thrust.

Late game: Feed velocity into logic gates to auto-cut main thrusters within safe bands — A-tier automation for cargo tugs when crews trust their wiring.

Radar

Radar helps detect stations, terrain, and obstacles — especially when clouds or long distances hide the target. Co-op crews benefit from one player calling radar range while another handles attitude.

Tier	Role
S	Navigation on multi-leg routes and cloudy planets
A	Backup on short Earth hops where visuals suffice
B	Single-player runs with memorized routes
C	Radar powered but not connected to any display
D	No radar on blind ocean or cloud worlds

Early game: Configure radar after your first successful launch — many tutorial objectives assume you can find a beacon.

Mid game: S-tier for Moon and station-to-station hops where orientation drift hides the pad.

Late game: Pair radar readouts with Co-op guide navigator roles; split audio callouts so the pilot keeps eyes on attitude.

Altimeter

An altimeter tracks height above ground — the difference between a soft landing and a frame explosion. Works with dampers and vertical thruster pulses.

Tier	Role
S	Any lander, especially low-gravity worlds
A	Orbital craft that only occasionally touch down
B	Ships relying purely on visual ground cues
C	Altimeter not visible to the flying player
D	Heavy cargo lander without height awareness

Early game: S-tier immediately — Earth gravity forgives little.

Mid game: Set mental callouts at 500 / 200 / 50 meters (example bands) using monitor placement.

Late game: Route altimeter output through logic gates to trigger retro thrust or landing light sequences — A-tier when gates are tuned and tested on empties.

Gyro line

The gyro line visualizes pitch and roll relative to the horizon — a quick attitude check when RCS is idle or instruments clutter the cockpit.

Tier	Role
A	Standard on landers and co-op ships with new pilots
B	Veterans using RCS feel alone
C	Present but obstructed by decorative windows
D	Omitted on stable orbit-only probes

Not as mandatory as altimeter or velocity, but A-tier for teaching friends in multiplayer.

Logic gates and routing blocks

Logic gates, data routers, joystick splitters, and wireless transmitters form the automation layer. Gates compare signals, threshold meter values, and switch thrusters or lights without constant input.

Tier	Role
A	Auto-cutoffs, landing light sequences, arming switches
B	Simple one-gate projects (door + button interlocks)
C	Over-complex gate chains nobody tested
D	Gates wired backwards — chaos for co-op blame games

Joystick splitter: Converts 3D joystick axis output into paired 0–1 thruster signals — A-tier for custom wired RCS instead of disposable RCS cans (see Thruster tier list).

Data router: Organizes multiple data lines when six thrusters and three axes overwhelm direct ports — A-tier on medium ships, S-tier on large co-op builds.

Early game: Skip heavy logic; use direct joystick → thruster wiring.

Mid game: Introduce one gate (e.g., landing gear lights when altimeter < 100 m) to learn signal flow.

Late game: Chain velocity + altimeter into automated retro scripts — A-tier when documented so co-op partners know override switches.

Cameras and monitors (support tier)

Cameras feeding monitors are not sensors but depend on the same data culture. External cameras rank A-tier for docking and teaching rear visibility; interior monitors are S-tier whenever a meter or radar output exists.

Recommended loadouts

First Earth ship: Velocity S, altimeter S, gyro line A, radar A, logic C (direct wiring only).

Moon lander: Altimeter S, velocity S, electric vertical thrust per thruster guide, gyro A, one landing gate B.

Co-op explorer: Radar S, dual monitors A, data routers A, arming gate A, spare manual overrides S (switches the pilot can reach).

Common wiring mistakes

1. Meters powered but not routed to a visible monitor.
2. Radar on without a display for the flying player.
3. Logic gates on the same power branch as RCS — brownouts mid-roll.
4. Forgetting data connections on atmospheric thrusters that need them.
5. Co-op builds with instruments only on the host seat.

Fix these before blaming thruster tiers — see Getting Started and Thrust calculator for holistic checks.

Related pages

• Thruster tier list — propulsion that sensors guide
• Tier list hub — overview and tier key
• Co-op guide — who owns radar vs joystick
• Planets map — worlds where radar and altimeter matter most

Sensors turn Approximately Up from a crash simulator into a repeatable transit game. Start with velocity, altimeter, and radar, then layer logic once your crew agrees on override rules — before the blame game starts.