Since you begin the game with very little beyond the basics, you'll probably eventually want to acquire items more suited to your character.
You can do this at the many stores located in various places within the game. Specific locations will not be given here, exploration is key - but other players may be able to guide you to particular stores.
Most stores (regardless of what they sell) can be split into two categories: Standard and Improved.
STANDARD STORES
These stores are fairly simple, as the name suggests. The command MENU or LIST will show you what is for sale at this particular store, along with the price of that item. An example menu is below:
~|~ Example Menu ~|~
[1] First Item 1,000.00
[2] Second Item 5,600,000.00
More Stuff
[3] Last Item 450,000.00
As you can see, each option is prefixed with a number. To purchase an item you use the command BUY, followed with the number of the item you wish to purchase. To purchase the last item in the above example, the command would be BUY 3.
It should be noted that the name in the store menu will not be how the item itself is named, only a method of identifying what the item is. So 'Short Skirt' will end up being 'a very short skirt', rather than just 'short skirt'.
IMPROVED STORES
While improved stores use the exact same system as Standard stores, they do have one extra feature. See the below item, taken from the menu of an Improved Store:
[1] Long-Sleeved Shirts 10.00 (Condition and Color options)
As you can see, in addition to the item number, descriptive name and price, there is also (Condition and Color options). In this instance, the item here has various different conditions and colors to choose from, so if you were to buy this item (using the command BUY 17) you would see this new menu:
This item comes in a variety of conditions, please choose:
[1] Faded
[2] Threadbare
[3] Dirty
[4] Oil-stained
[5] Sweat-stained
[6] Old
[7] Torn
[8] Frayed
Enter your selection:
If you wanted an old shirt, you would then enter 6, which will take you to this menu:
This item comes in a variety of colors, please choose:
[1] Blue
[2] Purple
[3] Red
[4] Orange
[5] Yellow
[6] Green
[7] Brown
[8] Black
[9] White
Enter your selection:
Where you can choose your chosen color. For this example, let's choose blue: 1.
You order an old blue cotton shirt.
And there you go, the shirt is now in your hands. Some items have two options like that, many have only one, and occasionally some will have multiple options.
There is one final kind of store, but these stores are specialised and you will usually know what you want when you go to one:
SHIP STORES
This is also the first store you will likely deal with - when you purchase your first starship.
In addition to the standard MENU command like other stores, ship stores (including the various stores that sell upgrades) also have the menu commands INFO and POINTS.
The standard MENU will like other stores display an item list of the (in this case) starships available for purchase, along with their price. However, the POINTS command is useful here as you may not be able to buy the ship you want.
The POINTS command will give a menu similar to this:
Starships:
Class................Overall Points..Combat Points
Asteroid Courier.....10..............0
Light Transport......30..............0
Medium Transport.....125.............0
This displays the point requirements for each of the items on the list, in a similar fashion to how much it costs in the standard MENU.
INFO, on the other hand, gives a little bit of information about the ship itself, as shown below for the Asteroid Courier:
U-4250AS UNITED FREIGHT D'INTSEC ASTEROID COURIER
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Since mankind first gazed up at those mysterious points of light in the sky, it has been his dream to tie himself to one of those points of light and painstakingly haul it down to earth. And now that dream is finally realized, with the U-4250AS United Freight d'Intsec Asteroid Courier! Based on the original Coalition design, the Asteroid Courier allows you to hitch yourself to massive rocks with style and efficiency! Dreary work-a-day life got you down? Take the weight off your shoulders with a little asteroid hauling today!
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Please note that not all ships will have information given in this command.
Ship stores are also where you can control who can access your ship through the ACCESS command.
