Here's how to quickly get started in Star Conquest.
FIRST, A SHIP...
You'll start out in your alliance's capital spaceport with a large sum of credits on loan, ready to buy your first starship.
You will find yourself inside your pilot league's liaison office. This is a place specifically for new pilots. To go into the spaceport proper, type OUT to move out of the office.
Take a chance to look around the place. See where the spaceport's facilities are, because you will need them eventually. Most importantly, find the spaceport's starship store!
Once in the store, type
MENU to see what ships are for sale. Since you're just starting out, there aren't many that you can buy.
WHICH SHIP DO I BUY?
Starting out, you have three choices:
- The Cargo Hauler: The largest cargo capacity of the starting ships, but with near-zero combat capability.
- The Flitter: A bit of a tradeoff between cargo capacity and fighting ability, but not particularly good at either.
- The Fighter: Geared solely toward combat.
When you decide which one you want, notice which number it's listed under on the menu, then type
ORDER #.
For most purposes, a cargo hauler will give you the quickest start.
GETTING ABOARD THE SHIP
When you buy your ship, you are the only one who can access it. Your ship will automatically be unlocked and relocked for you when you enter it. If you need to grant others access to it, use the ACCESS command at the ship store.
Next, go back to the landing pad! Your ship should be sitting there waiting for you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If your ship is ever not where you left it, it is probably in the spaceport's garage. Simply try to
BOARD it as normal, and it will be automatically transported for you.
Type
BOARD [your ship's name]. You'll find yourself in the airlock! Then type the same command again to enter your ship's control room.
Type
POWER to power up your ship. You're now ready to fly!
HOW DO I FLY THIS THING?
Your ship is controlled with a few simple commands:
POWER to toggle power,
LAUNCH to launch,
JUMP to jump to another sector,
MOVE to move somewhere within a sector. The
MOVE command is also how you will land or dock your ship.
There are, of course, many other commands depending on what you're doing. For more help, look at the Starship Command Reference help file.
WHAT NOW?
Now that you've got a ship, you should head right back to the liaison office where you first started! To do this, simply exit your ship to end up back on the landing pad, then type
GO OFFICE.
Now talk to the cadet orientation officer. Simply type
TALK OFFICER. This officer will explain the basics of piloting to you and will help you through a set of simple tasks to introduce you to various activities.
If you need help flying your ship, the
TUTORIAL command is the best thing to try. It will teach you all the basics and does not take very long.
Once you've learned from the orientation officer, you should head for Space Vermin Patrol Command and look for more tasks there. You can also head to Accord of Free Worlds Command see if any technicians there need your help. Just use your ship's
JUMP command to get to these places; for example,
JUMP SPACE VERMIN.
MORE HELP?
The first place you should go for help, besides the help files, are other players!
First of all, if you didn't choose a mentor when you first started, you may want to choose one now by typing the
MENTOR command. An experienced player will be assigned specifically to help you.
In addition, you were given a communicator when you first started that you can use to seek help from other players.
Type
TRANSMIT [message] to talk to other players in your alliance.
Type
TRANSMIT G [message] to talk to ALL players.
Type
TRANSMIT NEWBIE [message] to talk on the newbie channel. This channel is specifically for help about the game, and is the only communications channel where out of character questions are allowed. Remember that it is for questions and help only, not a channel for out of character talk. All other channels are strictly in character.
TRANSMIT can be shortened to
TR.
If need be,
OOC [message] can be used in place of
SAY to ask an out of character question to people around you. This should be used as sparingly as possible, but when you can't quite figure out a game mechanic and you want to ask the people around you, use
OOC. This is not a gamewide communication channel and can only be heard by people currently in the same room.
OTHER IMPORTANT COMMANDS
- SUPPORT: Ask the staff for assistance, or report a bug or a typo.
- CASH: See how many credits you have on hand.
- POINTS: See how many points you've earned.
- INFO: View information about your character.
- PROFILE: Write a profile, or view your last submitted profile and see its status.
- WHO: See who else is playing.
