Your guide to the human frontier, ship controls and the choices that make a captain.
The human frontier Your first ten minutes The console and its panels Map, camera and travel Turns, days and ship movement Scanning, exploration and probes Ports, cargo and the economy Trade analysis and automation Ships, StarDock and the bank Combat, factions and ordnance Planets, colonies and citadels Corporations, other captains and messages System, saves and sound Command console and advanced utilities Administrator tools Troubleshooting and choosing a strategy The human frontier By the late twenty-sixth century, humanity had survived the resource wars of Earth and learned to cross the darkness between stars. The first warp relays joined scattered colonies into a trading network. For a while, the Federation promised that no world would ever starve again. Then the network grew faster than its patrol fleets. Beyond the protected lanes, a captain's judgment became more valuable than any treaty.
Ore feeds shipyards and construction. Organics keep colonies alive. Equipment turns raw materials into working civilization. A mining world may have mountains of ore and desperately need machinery; an industrial station may sell equipment and buy food. Independent traders connect those worlds. Their cargo holds carry the economy, and their charts determine which worlds prosper.
You are one of those captains. Your ship begins as a small opportunity in a large galaxy: earn credits, discover routes, build a fleet or colony, and choose who deserves your trust. Federation patrols, alien traders, pirates and FERREngi share the lanes. Some protect commerce; others see your profits as their next payday.
This is the setting of this manual. The campaign's actual sector count, seed, starting location, ship statistics and rules come from the game you join.
Your first ten minutes Log in to resume your online campaign, or choose Play Offline for a separate local game. Read your sector, credits, remaining turns, hull, shields and cargo in the console. Open Sector to inspect your surroundings and Map to see your known connections. Scan nearby space, inspect a reachable port and compare what it sells with what another port buys. Buy a small cargo, travel there and sell it. Keep enough credits for repairs and enough turns to return to services.
At a StarDock, inspect Shipyard and Catalog before buying equipment or changing ships. Try a short route before enabling automation. Open System whenever you need this manual, status, sound settings or account-independent utility controls. A disabled button usually means the location, equipment, turns or current action does not permit it.
The console and its panels MAP shows your charted galaxy and route choices. PORT shows the current market and cargo transactions. TRADE compares opportunities and automated trade settings. SHIPYARD offers the services available where you are. SECTOR describes your current or selected sector, its exits and local objects. PLANET handles landing and colony operations. COMBAT presents encounters and defenses. COMPUTER provides route planning, directories and analysis. TRIP tracks travel and queued activity. MESSAGES contains communications. CATALOG compares ship designs without buying one.
The ship panel shows your condition and inventory; the cargo panel shows occupied and free holds. Bookmarks keep useful destinations handy. The activity log and Last Output explain recent results. Read the result of an action: a pressed button is a request, and an online action succeeds only after the server confirms it.
Map, camera and travel Local, Route, Charted and Galaxy choose the scope of the map. Zoom controls change scale; drag to pan. Economy, Danger, Factions and Trade Lanes toggle information overlays. The sector-number field locates a sector on the map; locating is different from traveling. The legend explains symbols. The resting radar sweep marks the ship's location.
Click a charted sector to inspect it and review a route. Use the travel confirmation to begin. Warp follows an available connection, and a multi-hop route follows several connections in order. A visible line or nearby position on the screen is not proof that a ship can travel directly there. Uncharted destinations may need exploration before the computer can plan through them. Known danger warnings deserve attention.
The camera returns to the ship after actions. Trip and the route progress display show the destination and completed hops. Cancel or Stop ends automation at its permitted stopping point; an already submitted hop may still finish. Keep a return route and a turn reserve. Prefer a slightly longer safe route when your ship is damaged or carrying expensive cargo.
Turns, days and ship movement Turns are your daily action budget. Movement, scanning and other operations can consume that budget; read each action's cost and your campaign's settings. Scout movement has its own efficiency: the current balanced Scout can make 1,500 moves using 1,000 turns, but that does not make all other Scout actions free. Other ships have different movement and specialty tradeoffs.
Online time and daily replenishment follow the server's rules. The server advances the campaign day; there is no player Advance Day button in System. Offline time controls operate on your local game. Plan an expedition by counting both outbound and return hops, plus trading, scanning or combat costs. Spending the final turn far from services can leave you waiting for the next allowance.
Scanning, exploration and probes SCAN reveals nearby information at its displayed cost. AUTO-EXPLORE moves the ship through the galaxy while discovering sectors. Select its options, watch the progress and stop when you need to preserve turns or avoid risk. The information you have charted is not the same as information you have personally visited.
Ether probes are consumable reconnaissance equipment bought where stocked. A probe charts remote information without moving your ship. AUTO-PROBE launches probes according to its available options; the probe count decreases, while your ship stays in its sector. Inspect inventory after the purchase is confirmed. Stop before using your emergency supply.
Explorer strategy: use a Scout, map useful corridors and bookmark services. Trader strategy: probe ahead before committing a full cargo to an unfamiliar route. Never assume a scan guarantees safety; encounters, inventories and other players can change after information was collected.
Ports, cargo and the economy Ports trade ore, organics and equipment. BUY and SELL descriptions are from the port's perspective: a port that buys ore is where you sell your ore; a port that sells ore is where you buy it. Check the transaction controls, current price, stock and quantity before confirming. Port class describes its commodity pattern; specialty ports and StarDocks offer different services.
Cargo consumes holds, and a ship cannot load more than its available capacity. Choose a quantity or a fill/max option where offered. Selling frees space and returns credits. Jettison deliberately discards cargo; use it only when freeing space is worth more than the discarded goods. Negotiation options, where offered, change the proposed deal rather than guaranteeing a discount.
A profitable route buys cheaply and sells for more after accounting for hops, turn costs, stock and cargo capacity. Compare profit per turn, not just profit per hold. Recheck prices after repeated runs: a depleted supplier or full buyer can make yesterday's excellent route poor today. A small reliable loop near services is often better for a new captain than a distant high-margin gamble.
Trade analysis and automation Computer and Trade analysis search the information available to your ship for useful port pairs and routes. Directory lists known destinations and resources. Route planning connects destinations through available charted warps. Advisor suggestions are estimates based on the current information; inspect their assumptions and travel distance.
Auto Trade performs a configured trading trip. Trade-until-exhausted repeats eligible opportunities until its stop condition, resources or turns prevent another run. Max-holds and negotiation settings affect the proposed trades. Trip displays the sequence and progress. Stop trading when you need to change plans; wait for the pending action's result before issuing competing orders.
Hauler strategy: choose capacity and repeat a short, well-stocked loop. Opportunist strategy: compare several markets and switch when stock or margins weaken. Keep a repair and fuel reserve. Automation saves clicking; it cannot guarantee profit, immunity from threats or completion during a server outage.
Ships, StarDock and the bank Catalog shows ship roles, statistics and available artwork. Compare holds, hull, shields, attack, defense, movement efficiency and special equipment rather than treating the highest price as universally best. Scout favors discovery; a cargo specialist favors commerce; a combat specialist favors survival and fighting. Use the displayed statistics as the final authority for this build.
At an eligible shipyard or StarDock, buy or upgrade through the offered controls. Repair hull and restore shields where available. Buy fighters, mines, probes and other supported ordnance within the ship's limits. Inspect the confirmed ship and inventory afterward. Transporter and towing options, where available, help manage other ships; requirements and route limits still apply.
The personal bank is available at StarDock. Deposit moves carried credits into your bank balance; Withdraw brings them back. ALL transfers the available amount in that direction, and each transaction must meet its current action requirements. Bank strategy: protect savings while keeping enough carried credits to buy cargo, repair and finish your route.
Combat, factions and ordnance Combat begins when an encounter requires attention or when you choose an eligible attack. Inspect hull, shields, fighters, hostile strength and the offered attack, retreat or surrender choices. Travel may be blocked during an unresolved encounter. Fighting changes resources and can affect experience or alignment; attacking a patrol is different from defending against a pirate.
Fighters can be carried or deployed where allowed. Deployed fighters defend a sector rather than remaining in your ship's inventory. Armid and limpet mines serve different attack or tracking roles; inspect the operation and ownership rules before laying or retrieving them. Mine disrupters and other special equipment need the correct inventory. An interdictor can restrict movement when supported and engaged; toggle it deliberately.
Federation space and patrols favor lawful behavior. Aliens and FERREngi have their own interactions and threats. Alignment influences your standing and rank ladder. Combat strategy: scout first, repair before another fight, and do not risk your entire trading reserve on an uncertain encounter. Defense strategy: protect valuable approaches with legal deployed assets and keep an escape plan.
Planets, colonies and citadels Open Planet to inspect planets in your sector and land where permitted. Genesis equipment creates a planet when the action is allowed; choose and inspect its name and class. Load colonists at a supported source and unload them into an eligible colony. Colonists occupy cargo space while transported. Colony production converts settlement into resources over time under the campaign's rules.
Collect resources with enough free holds. Deposit or withdraw planetary credits where offered. Citadel construction needs the displayed resources, credits and time; starting construction is not instant completion. Higher levels unlock systems such as Combat Control Computer, Quasar Cannon, Planetary TransWarp, Shielding and Interdictor. Enable supported systems only when the required level is complete. Quasar settings govern fuel use; its attacks consume resources and require a valid target.
Colonist strategy: establish a manageable supply route before expanding. Fortress strategy: build defenses and retain ore for systems rather than selling every unit. Production strategy: choose a useful planet class, deliver colonists and connect its output to buyers. A colony is a long-term investment, not free immediate income. Online support depends on the server: a rejected operation has not completed.
Corporations, other captains and messages Corporation controls create, join or manage a group where your campaign permits them. Inspect membership, roles and shared assets before transferring resources. Corporate ships and cooperative defenses can support a division of labor: explorers chart, traders supply and defenders protect. Do not assume a personal asset becomes shared automatically.
Messages provides inbox, outbox, recipients and sending controls. Hop-limited messages depend on the network distance and communication rules. FedCom, radio and hailing offer additional channels where supported. The connected-player view shows available multiplayer information; an empty list may simply mean nobody else is connected.
Cooperative strategy: exchange useful sector and market information, agree on ownership and coordinate transport. Keep messages concise and include sector numbers. Treat old reports as clues to verify, especially before carrying valuable cargo into another captain's territory.
System, saves and sound System contains Status, Set Home, Import, Quit, Self-Destruct, Last Output, this User Manual and Sound. Status summarizes your ship and campaign. Set Home marks your current location for navigation. Last Output revisits feedback. Sound switches quiet computer feedback on or off and remembers the choice on this browser.
Online progress is stored by the server; offline progress uses this browser's local storage. Local save, load and export tools create or restore local data where supported. Import expects a compatible save and does not grant authority to overwrite an online campaign. Export a local backup before experimenting, and do not confuse a local file with your authenticated online save.
Quit ends the current session view. Self-Destruct is destructive: read the confirmation and exact scope before agreeing. A game reset and a password reset are different actions. Never use a destructive control to repair a temporary login problem.
Command console and advanced utilities The visible controls are the easiest starting point. The command console also accepts short orders. M travels; S scans; V shows status; I shows ship information; D describes the sector; C opens computer functions; P handles port and StarDock services; J handles jettison; L handles planet operations. Context matters: follow the prompts and use ? or ! for the current command help rather than guessing an argument.
Other command families include fighters and mines, beacons, towing and transporters, navigation points, interdictors, corporations, Genesis and rank ladders. MSG offers message operations. System commands beginning with ; include SAVE, LOAD, EXPORT, IMPORT, DAY, RECORD, REPLAY and CHECK where supported. Recording stores commands for later replay; replay can spend resources again. CHECK is a diagnostic self-check, not a repair or account reset.
Online and offline command paths can differ. The server can reject a locally described feature or an action you lack permission to perform. The returned message is the result. Avoid replaying long macros without checking turns, inventory and the current sector first.
Administrator tools Administrators have a separate panel for players, campaign settings, sectors, ports, combat fixtures and maintenance. Player controls inspect or edit eligible balances, turns, cargo, ordnance and ship condition. Temporary Password creates a one-time recovery credential that requires the player to choose a new password; hide it after securely giving it to the intended player. Role changes and account deletion require particular care.
Sector and port controls inspect or change the selected campaign's world. Combat tools can spawn a hostile or clear current-sector hostiles and mines. Settings controls change the offered campaign values; day tools advance campaign time. Export makes a campaign backup, while import preserves existing campaign IDs and rejects conflicts. Reset controls are destructive and may be blocked when allocated player starts require reconciliation.
These controls are administrative privileges, not normal strategy. Back up before maintenance and read every confirmation. Use them to run and repair a campaign fairly, not to assume the player manual's save tools grant administrator access.
Troubleshooting and choosing a strategy If login fails with Internal server error, wait for service recovery or report the error; repeatedly entering credentials does not fix a backend failure. If travel is refused, check turns, active combat, valid exits, a charted route and any pending action. If a purchase seems missing, wait for confirmation and refresh the inventory. If the map is confusing, finish the action, return focus to the ship and inspect Sector. If automation stalls, stop it and read Last Output before starting again.
Balanced captain: explore a little, run a reliable trade loop, keep defenses and bank savings. Specialist trader: prioritize profit per turn and cargo efficiency. Explorer: prioritize safe discovery, probes and bookmarked services. Colony builder: prioritize supply routes and steady investment. Fighter: prioritize repairs, intelligence and appropriate ship strength. Corporate player: prioritize clear responsibilities and reliable shared logistics.
Whatever your role, preserve three reserves: enough turns to reach safety, enough credits to recover and enough information to choose the next destination. The best plan is one you can change when the galaxy changes.