New Captain Manual

Getting Started And Missions

Your first objective is not to master every system. Learn to read a sector, protect your fuel and cycles, complete a trade, and build enough explored memory for NavCom to become useful. Captain's Orders teach those controls; Stardock missions turn them into repeatable work.

Play Game Start First Flight

Before Launch

Account Setup And Recovery

RegistrationUse a valid email, a 2-32 character display name, and a password of 8-72 characters. Unicode passwords can reach the secure byte limit sooner.
Ship NameYour starter ship name is optional. When supplied, it must be 2-40 characters; you can later file a paid registry change at a Stardock Government Office.
While SubmittingWait for the registration result before trying again. The screen identifies the failed setup stage and gives a corrective action when account creation cannot finish.
Forgot PasswordOpen Reset Password from the login screen, request a link for your email, choose a new valid password, then log in again.
Change PasswordProfile requires the current and new passwords. A successful change revokes existing sessions, so sign in again on devices you still use.

First 20 Minutes

Your First Flight

  1. Create an account, choose a captain and ship name, then join a public universe from Captain Registry.
  2. Read the Sector Console before moving. Check fuel cells, cycles, open cargo holds, exits, local services, planets, ships, mines, and risk warnings.
  3. Open Captain's Orders. These six objectives are your onboarding checklist and each finished order has a reward you must claim.
  4. Follow the single gold Recommended action when it fits your plan. On phone, tap an exit first to review its destination, fuel-cell cost, cycle cost, and known risk.
  5. At a Trade Port, buy a commodity listed under Sells. Review the live total first, keep credits for fuel, and do not fill every hold unless you know where the commodity is wanted.
  6. Open Known Markets, select that commodity, and choose a discovered port under Buyers. Send it to Nav Computer and engage the route one hop at a time.
  7. Sell at the destination, read the transaction result and XP award, claim completed Captain's Orders, and return to a Stardock before investing or accepting a mission.
Keep a reserve: Early profits matter less than avoiding a zero-fuel ship. Check the full route cost and leave enough credits to refuel at a port or Stardock.

Onboarding Rewards

Captain's Orders

Orders complete from normal play. Open the orders panel after an objective updates, then claim its credit and XP reward. A completed reward is never granted twice.

First TradeBuy or sell at a Trade Port. Reward: 1,000 credits and 10 XP.
Plot A CourseEngage a route through Nav Computer. Reward: 750 credits and 10 XP.
Leave The CoreVisit a sector beyond your arrival point. Reward: 500 credits and 5 XP.
Visit StardockMap any sector containing a Stardock. Reward: 750 credits and 10 XP.
Survey A PlanetOpen a known planet scan and inspect its resources. Reward: 750 credits and 10 XP.
Survive EncounterWin a combat encounter or retreat successfully. Reward: 1,500 credits and 25 XP.
Do not rush combat: The encounter order is intentionally the hardest. Build fuel, drones, shields, and an escape route before treating it as an early objective.

Command Deck

Desktop And Phone

Sector First

Sector Console is the live local picture. Use it to identify ports, Stardocks, planets, other ships, hazards, wrecks, and available exits before choosing a command.

Recommended Action

Only one useful local action receives the gold Recommended treatment. It prioritizes recovery, Stardock, actionable trade, then planet operations; it is guidance, not a required path.

Desktop

Top-level command tabs keep Sector Console, Nav Computer, Known Markets, Known Planets, Communications, and Corporation work separated for repeated play.

Phone

The compact header shows essential ship status while fixed bottom navigation keeps major views within thumb reach. Exit taps open a preview before movement.

Full-Screen Commands

Profile, trade, planet, Stardock, combat, and other focused commands use full-screen phone views. Close or complete the command to return to the sector scan.

Known Memory

Known Markets and NavCom only use information you have discovered. Visiting sectors and ports makes the planning tools more valuable without revealing hidden space.

Command Results

Successful actions and authenticated errors open compact, dismissible overlays without shifting the deck. Read the result before repeating a command.

Progressive Detail

Ship sensors, planet sensors, and Captain's Orders can collapse to reduce clutter. Ready onboarding rewards surface automatically.

How To

Complete A Trade Run

  1. At a port, separate Sells from Buys. Sells means the port has stock for you; Buys means it will pay for cargo you carry.
  2. Compare unit price, available stock, credits, and open cargo holds. Use the live total preview and reserve enough credits and capacity for the trip.
  3. Open Known Markets and select the same commodity. Compare known buyers, understanding that market price and demand can change before arrival.
  4. Preload the buyer into Nav Computer. Compare Fastest, Efficient, and Safest routes, then check total fuel, cycles, and risk.
  5. Engage the route and review each sector before continuing. Travel can be interrupted by hazards, mines, or opposing NPCs.
  6. At the buyer, sell what current demand can accept. The result shows executed and next price, remaining credits, and eligible trade XP; market activity changes prices for everyone.

How To

Plot And Follow A Route

  1. Open Nav Computer and choose a destination already present in your explored-sector memory.
  2. Select Fastest to conserve cycles, Efficient to conserve fuel, or Safest to reduce known exposure.
  3. Review the path, totals, hazard explanation, and destination. NavCom cannot predict hidden ships or mines that appear after the plot.
  4. Engage the route. Assisted navigation freezes the server-calculated path and shows current sector, next sector, and hop progress.
  5. After each hop, read the movement result and destination-specific continue control. Proceed only when fuel cells, cycles, ship condition, and threats remain acceptable.
  6. If you move outside the planned path, the assisted route stops. Reopen Nav Computer and plot a new course from your current sector.

Repeatable Work

Stardock Mission Boards

Visit an eligible Stardock and enter Mission Boards from the concourse. Offers are shared across that universe and station, refresh every six real hours, and show eligibility, objective, destination, expected danger, cycle allowance, and fixed rewards before acceptance.

One Active Mission

Each captain can hold one active mission per universe. Accepted work survives board rotation and remains visible from the Command Deck.

Cycle Allowance

Missions expire by cycles spent after acceptance, not ordinary wall-clock time. Unrelated actions and automated-route cycles also reduce the allowance.

Remote Completion

Complete objectives through normal movement, trade, combat, or rescue commands. You do not return to the issuing Stardock for payment.

Abandonment

Abandoning starts a 30-minute real-time cooldown before another acceptance. Target cancellation after failed reassignment does not impose that cooldown.

Shared Offers

Hunt and Rescue are exclusive and display Assigned without naming the captain. Delivery has limited quantity capacity; Survey can support multiple captains until first report.

Results

Completion reports show credits, XP, and alignment movement. Notable outcomes can appear in Recent Galaxy Events without exposing private movement.

How To

Complete Each Mission Type

Survey FrontierAccept at Stardock, note the destination briefing, plot through known lanes toward the frontier anchor, and enter the requested unexplored sector. Arrival records the survey and can complete it remotely.
Deliver ShortageBuy the named normal commodity yourself, travel to the specified port, and sell into its reserved demand. Partial sales count. A compatible Trade Autopilot route can also contribute.
Hunt RaiderConfirm your attack rating, drones, shields, fuel, and retreat path before accepting. Locate the named active raider and land the qualifying defeat through normal tactical combat.
Emergency FuelReach the genuinely stranded player in the same sector and use the mission rescue action. The transfer is validated against both fuel capacities and keeps one fuel cell in the rescuer's tank.
Choose for your ship: Delivery favors cargo capacity, Survey favors efficient movement, Hunt demands combat readiness, and Rescue needs fuel range plus enough supply to reach the target.

When A Command Is Blocked

Common Blockers

No Route Found

The destination or connecting lanes may not be in your exploration memory. Explore outward manually or choose a known frontier anchor first.

Cannot Accept

You may be away from Stardock, ineligible for that board, on cooldown, already assigned, using an unsuitable ship, or holding another active mission. Read the offer blocker.

Mission Expired

Every cycle spent after acceptance counts, even on unrelated actions. Use a direct plan and avoid unnecessary commands while assigned.

Automation Paused

Check route status for insufficient fuel, credits, cycles, cargo, market capacity, a travel incident, or manual deviation from the expected sector.

Stranded

At zero fuel, use the distress flow and pass cycles for emergency help. Rescue NPCs or an eligible player mission may reach you.

Combat Looks Bad

Do not start the round. Leave protected space carefully, refit drones and shields at Stardock, or choose a valid fueled exit for a retreat attempt.

After Onboarding

Choose Your Next Goal

Trader

Expand market memory, compare commodity spreads, commission a larger hauler, and install Trade Autopilot when the route economics justify it.

Explorer

Use an efficient scout, map frontier anchors, compare route risk, pursue Survey missions, and watch for rare wormhole connections.

Planet Builder

Claim outside protected space, move colonists from Earth, assign workers, build a citadel, and develop storage and specialized add-ons.

Combat Captain

Improve drones, shields, scanners, and escape options before hunting raiders, pursuing bounties, defending territory, or invading planets.

Corporation Officer

Join a group, complete probation, coordinate assets and diplomacy, build influence, and eventually support a planet-backed corporation port.

Logistics Operator

Connect ports and managed planets with suitable hull hardware, then monitor fuel, stock, storage, danger, and route state between logins.