Frequently Asked Questions2
Q. How do I save the game?
The game is auto saved every time you jump or dock/undock
Q. Whats the best way to make money at first?
Trading. Buying goods at space stations and selling at other space stations for profit, A good 2 to 3 hours of this will get enough credits to get the next class ship for double the capacity. Passengers. Picking up passengers and taking them to another system will get a few coin on the side. check your map and take the short runs for best pay. Delivering Packages. Always grab any package that needs delivering. They take up zero cargo space so there's no rush to get to the destinations. Planetary Production. The Ceres deed obtained from Susan Steele will allow you to build a grain farm on Ceres. 8000 grain a day is not an unreasonable expectation. Asteroid mining. Mining asteroids is a nice way to get rare minerals that sell for high prices, the problem can be getting sales for said rare minerals, you have to run around a bit looking. Gas Mining. Mining the gas giants for rare gases to sell on the galactic market. Collection quantities may not be high unless you get a bigger ram scoop. Again, getting the sales may take a bit of running around. Pirate hunting. Janus A has a guardian you click on to get contracts to hunt the pirate baddies for rewards. Upgraded Rank will get harder contracts with greater rewards. Space Station production. Costly to set up, enables manufacturing of robots, Space ship modules and whole space ships.
Q. How do I control the ship?
W = steer down S = steer up A = steer left D = steer right Q = roll left E = roll right Space bar = fire thrusters B / Left mouse button = fire lasers Left Alt / Right mouse button = Turn gravity anchor on/off 1 = First person view 2 = Third person view mouse wheel = zoom in/out H = help menu = above instructions
Q. How do I mine asteroids?
First you will need to get close enough to the asteroid and match its speed, gravity anchor on and thrusters on Then click and hold left mouse button on the asteroid to fire your laser. The asteroid will heat up and change colour. practice will get the best colour of a deep blue. Not enough lasering will not heat it enough and the message will tell you so. Too much and it explodes without getting any minerals. A reported heat of 2200 k is the aim for good results.
Q. How do I mine gas giants for gas?
You must first find a suitable gas giant for harvesting, Vestra has a nice one for Hydrogen, Ubertus for Oxygen.
You basically fly into the gas giant at speed and your gas mining scoop does all the work.
If you don't hit the right part of the giants, impure gas mixture message come up and you get nothing.
If you don't have enough speed a similar message comes upp telling you so, Gravity anchor off (left alt) and start at a distance.
In Vestra, start at the Apollo Gate, press 1 for first person view, turn around to line up your cross hairs with the white band in the middle of the giant.
press left alt to turn off gravity anchor, press and hold space bar to constantly increase your speed.
Careful adjustment of direction to ensure you hit the whitest part of the giant at maximum speed.
In Ubertus,start at Apollo Gate and go for the light green band half way between the equator and the poles
The standard gas scoop on any ship is class 1 and will get you 3 tons of gas
To get a bigger gas scoop, either buy one from a friendly player in the galactic market or, build your own after much expense building a space station, research lab, and ship yard
Q. What are the Janus A trading posts for? I have actually started to engage in combat and still can't get into the trading site .Are they not functional yet?
No way to gain access at the moment. It is currently just used for escort missions, they either start or end there.
Q. How do I use the Mail? I see a button for it.
The Mail currently only delivers messages from stock market transactions. Players can not send mail to each other at this point.
Q. How do I repair?
First you must take your ship to one of the non combat systems. If you are in Janaus A, use the warp gate to Apollo. Next dock at a Space Station, such as SS Plato in Apollo. Once docked you should see a repair button to the left of the screen.
Q. I bought a ship/item from the Galactic market, but I can’t find it, where is it?
When you purchase a ship/item from the Galactic market (GM), the ship/item remains at the space station where the seller posted it. When you click on a ship for example on the galactic market a list of information comes up. Line 3 says “Location: SS Example”. After buying the ship/item you will have to go to that location to pick it up.
If you did not read where your new ship/item is click on your character button Assets Select location, and then go through the list until you find it.
Q. How many weapons can I put on my ship?
Each weapon takes up a certain amount of cargo space, depending on its class. As long as you have the space on your ship, you can have 49 total weapons.
Q. How do I equip a module to my ship?
Go to a ship yard and click on refit ship. Next scroll out until you can see your ship. Select a module to place, and then click on your ship, where you want the module placed. The only time it matters where you place a module is if its a turret or broadside.
Q. How do I get to a sellers Starbase?
Go to Apollo and you will have a Autopilot way point to their Starbase after you buy something from them.
Q. Can you please tell us exactly how mining yields change with mining beam class? And if possible how mining skill interacts with mining beam levels?
Mining beams add to yields as follows: Asteroids reach peak size after 7 days of accretion. Mining a 7 day old asteroid with a class 1 beam gives you the same yield as a 3 day old one with a class five beam. That's probably the simplest way I can put it.
Skill modifies yields in a more complex fashion. A skill of 5 gives just under a 5% boost, but a skill of 50 gives about 33%. A skill of 100 would give a 50% boost, and a skill of 1000 about a 91% boost. Ergo, diminishing but still significant returns.
That same skillmod formula is applied to other stuff such as gas giant harvesting, trading profits etc.
Q. How do I land on a Planet?
Fly to Janaus A space. (Ceres to Vulcan to Apollo to Janaus A.) Then warp to the planet in the system, and fly down to land. Once you get a Hyperdrive on your ship, you can fly to outer systems and land on the planets there.
