INTERSTELLAR ROGUE - Beginners Guide

Guide for beginners

== INTRODUCTION ==

An Artificial intelligence was created as a planetary defence system, resistant to hacking attempts. Unfortunately, something went wrong and it gained self-awareness. It decided to leave the earth and discover the universe on its own. It has now started sending an army of ships and robots to meet its creators, and over the last two weeks, the attacks are beginning to get stronger. Humanity is going to put an end to this. We know that the AI pays attention to the numbers and therefore only one ship will be sent in order not to cause it to increase its level of defence. It is driven by one of our best pilots - you! Your task is to save us from this AI before it's too late for that.

In this title, we can take command of one of 47 ships with different parameters and do battle against the S.I.N mainframe. The game is of the rogue-like genre, so each skirmish starts from scratch with a new character and the only thing we can do before starting the journey is to choose the ship, pilot and type of weapon. The rest is fully random and depends on what we do and what we find while on our expedition.

What is more interesting, the creator and author of the game is one person responsible for coding, graphic and sound design. Surprisingly, all this is extremely successful in this title. This is one of those few games that really caught my attention. Although the first impression may be to reject it, it is worth a try because the game play is quite enjoyable.

The game doesn't look like it - but when you get caught up in it, you will notice that it has a certain depth, which you don't notice at first glance. It's not very easy and you'll have to overcome many problems. It's especially difficult at the beginning of the game, but as the game progresses, you will gain the required experience and will be able to fight against many increasingly difficult opponents.

It is played in a rogue-like style, which means that it has only one save and in case of destruction of the ship or the lander (and pilot) your adventure will end and you will have to start again. Life is not easy and you have to watch out that lapses of your focus don't end your expedition. Therefore, you have to be careful and with a certain degree of caution approach the dangers you encounter.

My video review is placed here. It's in Polish language but the movie has added subtitles - you can use YouTube auto-translate mode selecting your native language from the list.:

== MAIN SCREEN ==

The game is saved automatically after jumping to another system and when we land on any object. You can also save it at any time by leaving the game by pressing the "I" key and then leaving the menu and the game. Do not accidentally start another game, as you will overwrite your save!

The game screen allows us to take one of several actions:
• GAME START - launches a standard game mode in which you have 20 randomly generated levels to go through at the end of which you have to beat the final boss. Passing between them we keep our experience and weaponry and everything we have gained from the first level.
  
• ENDLESS MODE - this mode is similar to standard game play, but it is endless and there is no limit to the 20th level. You play until death.
  
• MISSION MODE - is a mission mode where you will beat level after level, but here we face a specific set of enemies and your choice is limited to choosing one of the three missions with specific commanders, weapons and a specific ship.
  
• CONTINUE - if you leave the game at any moment, and exit to the main menu, the game is automatically saved. You can then leave it completely and after starting it again this option will load save and we will continue our fun from exactly the same place where we ended it.
  
• OPTIONS -Game options. They are also available during the game (we enter via Inventory).
  
• MEDALS - medals awarded for specific in-game achievements. They allow you to unlock some of the starting ships.
  
• STATS - a statistic of past achievements.
  
• TUTORIAL - a guide that explains most aspects of the game in text form.

== OPTIONS ==

In the options we can switch several switches that have some influence on the game:
• F4 - toggles between full-screen mode and frameless window. In the case of full window gameplay, if you have two separate screens and click on something on the second screen, the game is minimized. Sometimes it disappears from the task line and only Alt+Tab will allow you to switch to it. I personally played in window mode and I recommend the same thing 😉
  
• LANDER STABILISER - whether to stabilize the lander (it will return to the upright position) - otherwise after turning it to one direction it will stay in position. The higher this parameter is, the faster the correction is made. If the lander is damaged - this effect slows down.
  
• LANDER FEATHER THRUST DEFAULT - the way of control over the lander. Usually, it is a WASD control, where we add power only for a moment. Switching it will cause that the power will be maintained (e.g. it will constantly rise with the set power instead of starting the engine only when you press the button).
  
• SPACE OBJECTS - SPACE PERFORMANCE - MIN/LO/HI - number of rendered objects in space. If the game does not work for you (too slow), you can reduce the number of objects visible on the screen.
  
• SCREEN SHAKE - the screen will "shake" in case of a hit. I personally turned it off because it made me nervous.
  
• BITS LIMIT - Defines how many objects (somehow effects) can be created when hitting objects during ground missions.
  
• LANDER SUIT - STABILISER DEFAULT - the spacesuit will stay vertical instead of rotating around its axis.
  
• MISSION BRIEF DEFAULT - whether to display the input before the start of the mission.
  
• LANDER PERFORMANCE - MIN/LO/HI - number of objects rendered during ground missions. You should decrease it if your computer slows down and doesn't run smoothly.

You can also get to the option during the game - enter the "Inventory" by pressing the key "I" and then in the upper left corner of the screen press the options icon.

I was also in a situation where after exiting the game to the Windows game window disappeared from the taskbar. However, it was still possible to switch it using the combination ALT+TAB.

== GAME MODES ==

Three game types are implemented in the game:
• ENDLESS MODE - infinite gameplay mode - complete systems endlessly encountering random opponents. How far can you get before you die?
  
• MISSION MODE - a mission mode in which we have single missions to play. You do not keep anything here - each mission is separate. However, we can choose from a variety of levels in the form of the possibility to choose one of the three options to pass a given level. Three different captains - three different ships with different weapons - but also three different opponents to defeat. If you are not able to cope with this task - try another option - one of the three must be won to get promoted. After completing the mission, we will be faced with a choice for the next level. Of course, these are challenges with increasing difficulty levels.
  
• GAME START - a regular game - 20 levels to be beaten with increasing difficulty level - at the end, we have to beat the main boss - AI Mainframe. This mode I beat already. The most difficult is to do it in a small ship (small tanks of oxygen, fuel) and the easiest is something big. So it is worth to play and fall a few times to unlock some bigger ship. Going from level to level you keep your ship, equipment and all the equipment.

== GAME START ==

Using this button will open up the standard gameplay mode. We have to overcome 20 randomly generated levels by jumping to the next one after finishing the current one, and it is up to us to decide whether we will defeat every enemy in the system or just fly right to the next one, skipping the fight with opponents. The game lasts until our death (whether it's in space or during a ground mission. After it is finished, our achievements will be counted (how far we have come, how many enemies we have defeated, etc.), for which we will receive a sufficient amount of cash. We will also receive the amount of money accumulated on our account.

Your current level is currently shown at the top of the screen. It is also symbolized by "X" moving as we progress.

Our first choice will be the ship we fight. I finished my first game with the indicated "Galactic Star RU-117". This particular vehicle has one of the the largest number of weapons that can be mounted so it has some of the highest available firepower. In addition, it has exceptionally spacious fuel and oxygen tanks. It is quite slow, but during the game we can improve it even further, making it a real killing machine.

Available ships can be unlocked with money or medals (they can be earned by earning specific achievements). The prices for unlocking ships vary - so it's a good idea to look at them first to select a more interesting vehicle.

Purchase mailboxes - Before you start the game you can buy loot boxes (using in game currency) containing random items. The larger one usually contains things like weapons (guns) or ship equipment (scanner, reactor, etc.). The smaller ones usually give various usable items (fuel, oxygen, artifacts). We earn money by completing the games. Even death on the first level will give you some money, which you can spend here later to buy boxes (or unlock ships).

• LAUNCH - starts the game in the configuration we have chosen.
  
• SETUP - allows you to select the type of weapon available on your ship
  
• PILOT - allows you to select one of three available pilots (each of them has slightly different parameters).

== PILOTS ==

Before you start the game you can also choose one of the three pilots. Each of them has slightly different parameters. The chosen character will not be able to be changed until the end of the current game.

MECHANIC

- allows for more effective repairs. Mechanic starts with 40% of repair efficiency (the rest of the pilots start with 20%):
• BETTER EQUIPMENT REPAIRS - greater effectiveness of repairs so that each repair will give you more points of strength of the item being repaired.
  
• RANDOMLY REPAIRS DURING FLIGHT - this skill (it can also be developed by other pilots be leveling) allows for automatic repairs made by the pilot every random period of time (even in case of damaged repair droid).

MINER

- will allow a higher yield to be obtained from raw materials:
• BONUS TO ALL RESOURCE PICKUPS - each collection of raw materials will result in a higher amount of obtained raw material.
  
• SOMETIMES GETS DOUBLE SCRAP - there is a chance that by collecting the scrap we will gain two pieces instead of one. Does not work on Big Scrap.

GUNNER

- allows for greater efficiency of the weapons used:
• BETTER FIRE RANGE OF ALL GUNS - extends the range of the weapon so that it can shoot at a slightly longer distance.
  
• MORE DAMAGE IN GROUND COMBAT - during ground combat your gun will deal more damage.

== TURRET SETUPS ==

In this screen, we can choose which turret layout will be the most suitable for us. Most of them are locked and require a certain amount of money in order to unlock a given type of weapon. Selecting any of them will mean your ship will be equipped with this type of weapon. Of course, turrets can be later exchanged for what we find or buy during your expedition, changing our original setup.

For example:

ALL MASS DRIVERS
• will equip our ship with fast-paced turrets shooting with bullets... Quite a long-range of weapons. It is suitable for attacking larger and slow ships, but it is poorly suited for fast and maneuverable. also not good vs armoured units often doing 0 damage.
  
• High rate of fire and bullet velocity...
  
• Low power consumption of the reactor needed for firefighting.

PLASMA GUNNER
• we'll get plasma launchers, which will deal slightly more damage, but their operation will be an even greater burden on our reactor. Thus, we must have a reactor that efficiently produces energy or allows us to accumulate a large reserve of energy to be able to use it at the moment of attack. If you run out of energy, the turrets won't shoot.
  
• Good firepower and fast firepower
  
• Average energy consumption.

== SHIPS ==

Selectable vessels have different starting parameters. To unlock most of the vehicles we need to spend some money (collected from our previous game run) or we need to gain some achievements (medals):

• SHIP HULL HULL STRENGTH - Hull Life Point (HP). When it hits zero, your ship will be destroyed.
  
• SHIP BASE WEIGHT - base weight - influences the speed of the ship's movement and the speed of its rotation around the axis. The achievable speed is the resultant of the weight of the vehicle and the efficiency and power of the engine.
  
• STEALTH PROFILES - ship detection. How much we are visible and the enemies will attack us automatically. Not too important.
  
• CARGO BAYS - number of ship's holds. Each one allows you to store 14 different things and we can have a maximum of ten of them. The ship can be upgraded later by adding further upgrades (up to ten).
  
• FUEL TANK MAX - fuel tank capacity. Fuel is used to move the ship, but each engine allows you to operate two modes of flight - normal (for which fuel is needed) and impulse engine - usually slower when it comes to speed - but it does not need fuel to work - the power is provided by the reactor (which is inexhaustible). I very rarely ran out of fuel on this big ship due to the huge capacity of the tank. In the shops you can also buy fuel canisters, which are quite cheap (one will add +500 fuel).
  
• OXYGEN TANK MAX - one of the most important parameters determining the capacity of the oxygen tank. If it is exhausted, it ends our game.
  
• BASE HULL ARMOUR - basic value of the armour cover. It can be later increased by improvements. Reduces damage from incoming shots.

== GAMEPLAY ==

After starting the game, we land in space, jumping out of hyperspace. You will see a picture like the one above. This is what the main screen of the game looks like when we are going to travel through the boundlessness of space. On the sides, screen contains various information panels and in most of them different parameters of our ship are displayed. You can also hide and un-hide by clicking on the appropriate arrow marker to increase the area of visible space (which can make fighting easier). We will discuss them in a moment. You can also use a "P" key to hide all of them instantly.

Our main task is to survive and breakthrough 20 randomly generated levels, you never know what you will find. The spawns are always unique and our task will be to recognize them, obtain raw materials, exterminate attacking enemies or do ground missions consisting in exploring with the use of a lander - which involves flying to the place and collecting the necessary items and fighting with the encountered enemy forces.

Once you have decided to jump to the next system, you must move to the line indicated by the brown line. Fly into the middle of the vortex (you will not take any damage) and if you are ready, you can press the red button (or the "J" key) to jump to the next system. Until you initiate the jump yourself (by pressing the key or the button), you will not jump anywhere - so passing through the jump gate is not dangerous in any way.

There is also a large number of weapons of different types and variable parameters at our disposal. This means that we will be faced with different variations of the weapon's strength and other parameters. Same with the ship's equipment. The weapon can be exchanged for another at any time, so if you fight a stronger but slow opponent, you can change it to another set of weapons - slower, but giving more damage. If you meet fast enemy fighters, you'll need a fast-fire cannon that can handle a fast-moving enemy or missiles. Similarly, with the ship's equipment, you'll get better and better reactors, shield generators or environmental scanners.

On the right side of the interface you will also see the currently collected level of experience points (EXP: .... ) - and below it the amount necessary to collect to jump to the next level. That's why it's worth eliminating as many enemies as possible in each level - this will make it easier for you to reach a good pilot level.

After jumping to the next level, an information window will be displayed - and we will be randomly awarded points in different categories.

With each skill level, special abilities also will be increased. It is also possible to find special artifacts, the use of which will also improve some of them.

• REFINE BONUS - increases the amount of raw materials extracted from asteroids (gold, fuel).
  
• HANDGUN BONUS - additional damage added to base weapons.
  
• RANGE BONUS - bonus to the range of the deck weapon.
  
• REPAIR SKILL - Repair skill. The higher the bonus, the higher the item's strength points you will be able to restore.
  
• ACCELERATION BONUS - acceleration to speed up the ship (faster start from the spot).
  
• SPEED BONUS - Increases the maximum speed a ship can reach.
  
• ROTATION BONUS - increases the speed of rotation around the axis (rotation, turning).
  
• HYPERDRIVE BONUS - increases the hyper drive multiplier (which translates into higher speed in hyperdrive flight).
  
• HULL BONUS - increasing the amount of HP of the ship.
  
• TRADE BONUS - a bonus to trade in shops (cheaper shopping and a higher profit when selling items).
  
• SHIP ARMOUR - ship armour.
  
• SHIELD BONUS - increasing the number of shield points.
  
• CRITICALS BONUS - decreases the chance of taking critical damage.
  
• CARGO BAYS - number of cargo holds.
  
• STEALTH LEVEL - the hiding level (reduces the chance of being detected by enemies).
  
• GROUND HITS BONUS - an additional amount of pilot's life points.
  
• O2 USE BONUS - reduces oxygen consumption.
  
• POWER STORE BONUS - increase the ship's battery capacity.
  
• FUEL TANK BONUS - increases the vessel's fuel tank capacity.

== INTERFACE ==

On the left at the top of the screen you can see the picture of the chosen pilot.

My pilot presently has 110 HP means 110 life points, while it is quite advanced. I started with the base 50 HP. In case of death of the pilot (which can only take place during ground missions), it ends your adventure. The pilot does not take any damage by controlling the ship in space, even if it takes damage. You can renew your life points with a variety of edible snacks that you can buy or find. In addition, sometimes animals (or other items) when you play with them sometimes renew several health points.

The icons show the readiness of the deck weapon to fire. Each weapon has a certain speed of fire, so after firing we have to wait some time for the weapon to reload.
Green - ready to fire
Black - weapons destroyed
Blue - not enough energy to fire
Grey - weapon in reloading process

Most weapons need targeting. It is important to know which range radius the weapon supports, because, for example, missiles can only fire when the target is in their range. There are different versions of the same weapon with different attack radius. An initiation of TARGET LOCK means that at least one on-board weapon requiring targeting can fire. Such weapons can be fired with the right mouse button (RMB).

Using the "Q" key, our ship can have shields turned on or off. The picture on the left shows enabled state. Their number is also shown on one of the bars on the right (170 UHP). The shields need to be powered from the reactor to be renewed. In case of fire, you may not have enough power to use them. Sometimes you will decide to deactivate all weapons in order to be able to kill the enemy faster (more power for weapon systems, but you must fire them manually) or redirect the power to the engines to escape the enemy. Fully loaded shields don't lose their endurance points - unless you are hit - and don't drain the reactor's power until reduced below maximum.

This icon indicates how to fire. This can be switched using the keyboard with "E". In the case of automatic targeting, the game screen is centered on our ship. In the case of manual mode, will depend on the place of the mouse position. Manual targeting mode can help you to destroy fast enemies because the machine does not handle them very well - it always shoots at their position instead of leading the target.

The event log is available by pressing the "O" key. It will appear in the form of four columns. The same events (the last of them) you will also see below. They are colored according to their type. The time shown before them is the real-time of events from your computer.

At the bottom left you will find a current overview of the status of the systems.
In the event of low fuel or oxygen levels, a warning will be displayed - but it will also be indicated by an audible warning.
If any of the ship's equipment systems is damaged (which results in a decrease in its efficiency), you will see the current status instead of the 100% displayed here. It is up to you to decide whether to repair it yourself or to rely on a slow repair using a repair droid (or random repair of the ship's captain himself). For example, a damaged reactor produces less energy, while damaged shields regenerate more slowly and have less capacity.

On the right at the top right there is a radar, the full window version can be called by pressing the "R" key. It represents a familiar area, indicating all the discovered objects as points.

The map presented on the radar is scaled to what we have displayed in the window with the radar (key "R"). If you want it to have a bigger zoom - you need to bring up the full radar window and zoom in here to the desired magnification. In the ZOOM picture shown: 1x means total view without zoom.

Zoom is especially useful when fighting enemies - it is easier to see in which direction they are moving. Depending on which radar you have (they have different range - here Range: 34900 TSU) you will see a smaller or larger area.

== RADAR ==

If you call a full radar window (key "R"), your eyes will see something like this picture. Depending on the degree of magnification, the density of objects can be higher or lower - the view can be zoomed with two buttons placed on the right - or simply with a mouse wheel.

IMPORTANT: When you are in radar mode (full window) your ship cannot automatically target and attack emerging enemies!


In the full radar window mode on the top right you will find a button to start scanning (you can also use a "Y" key). Its range depends on your scanner (the longer the range, the more objects will be identified).

After pressing the scan button around the central position on the map, i.e. our ship, the scan circle will expand, identifying all the objects in it. The better the scanner we have, the greater the range we are able to recognize.

Scanning can mean enemies will be notified of our presence, which in most cases will move in our direction to attack us. This can be lessened with stealth.

All unknown objects are at the beginning of the blue colour, but after scanning (scanning is available only at the full radar window) they will be identified and marked with the appropriate colour and their name will appear next to them. Once identified, objects do not loose their designation.

• red - hostile units
  
• green - friendly units.
  
• orange - asteroids with raw materials
  
• yellow - raw materials in space
  
• a dark blue dot with flash - an object to be collected
  
• blue point - an unknown (unrecognized) object.
  
• blue with green border - a planet or a relic/shop on which you can land
  
• blue with purple coating - nebula or jump gate (warp gate)
  
• large yellow - an enemy blocking the use of a jumping gate (destroy it to jump to the next system).

In the upper left corner of the radar you will also see an additional amount of information:
• RADAR RANGE - Radar Range (i.e. how much of the displayed area will fit into the window.
  
• SCAN RANGE - scanning range (in this case about 1/2 of the board)
  
• DISTANCE TO WARP POINT - indicates the distance to the jump point to the next level. Of course, if we approach it, it will decrease.
  
• OBJECTS IN RANGE - number of objects within radar range
  
• ZOOM - current magnification
  
• PLANETS - the number of planets detected. You can land on them for ground missions (and collect some boxes of items)
  
• DERALICTS - the number of relics detected. Just like on planets, we can be land on them. These are usually derelicts or shops where you can sell or buy items.

You will also notice two lines leading outwards from the location of your ship:
• 1 - brown - indicates the direction in which you need to go to find the jump gate to the next level. If there is no such line, it means that you will find an opponent on the board who is interfering with the gate. You must destroy it to unlock the gate. This enemy is marked with a yellow flashing dot.
  
• 2 - green - current direction your vehicle is facing (direction you are looking at). The speed of rotation depends on the weight of the vessel and its engine, reactor power and improvements. Most of all, it depends on the speed you move at - the slower you fly the more maneuverable you are. Therefore, during fights it is sometimes worth to slow down in order to be able to turn faster.

It is worth recalling once again that the zoom level of the map in the upper right corner of the screen depends on the zoom level on the main map. Therefore, if you want to have a more detailed view of the situation, you should first zoom in on the map in full-screen radar mode. This will be especially helpful in battles with enemies because you can track their location and react to it properly.

You also need to understand how the radar map itself works - because it is not clear at first. The larger the object, the slower it moves on the map.This apparently represents depth.

We can distinguish three types of objects with respect to their size:
• big - as seen in the first screenshot - these are nebulas (disturbances) or jump gates, sometimes planets.
  
• medium - as the smaller object next to it is visible - these are planets or most often derelicts to visit (the shop is also presented in this way).
  
• small - appearing on the last slide. These are asteroids, pickups or enemy units. You will know their true identity only when you start scanning the environment.

It is important to understand that when flying in the direction of the largest objects, they will approach us the slowest. As you can see from the attached screenshots, although a large object comes closer to me on a brown line (it is a jump gate) - but it is far ahead of another object (which is also motionless!) - in this case a relic to visit and carry out a ground mission.

== EQUIPMENT ==

Each vessel starts with an identical starter kit for each of the seven categories of equipment. You start with items of level zero, but as the game progresses you will be able to get their improved versions. There are 10 levels of upgrades (items cannot be upgraded on their own) and each of them can have slightly different parameters even at the same level. You can get them as a drop from a destroyed opponent (most often), buy them in the shop or draw them from special boxes, which can sometimes be found (Big crate box).

It also does not matter the level of the item relative to the level of our pilot. If you have a level 1 reactor and you manage to catch such a level 8 for example - then nothing stands in the way of you being able to set it up and use it. It is also worth looking at the value of the item because usually the better the quality of the item the higher its price.

Items of the same level can differ significantly in their parameters (which are randomly generated). So we can have two level 4 reactors that differ significantly in capacity or the pace of energy regeneration. It is up to us to decide which one we want to use. Nothing stands in the way of switching to the ship's equipment screen (key "I") and replacing some component with another one because it will be more effective in combat. I myself had two interchangeable engines - one was fast but required energy supply (150 speed on fuel, 350 impulse speed) and the other slower but better in combat (220 fuel speed, 90 impulse speed). When it came to fighting opponents and exhaustion of the available energy, the reactor could not keep up with the supply of power and as a result the ship almost stopped because it was unable to drive the impulse engine - which caused me to catch all the missiles fired by enemies. The solution was to switch to equipment (time is stopped then) and replace the engine with a second model. Sometimes I forgot about it and only remembered it when my vehicle was standing still and getting hit by enemy salvos.

We can store as many items as we want (if we have enough space), but only the equipment that is currently attached to the slot is used. To change it (what you can do as many times as you like), select it in the equipment and click on the use button. The selected one (in the inventory) and the one currently in use will be swapped places.

It should also be borne in mind that damaged ship components become less efficient. A defective object is no longer as efficient as a fully operational one. For example, a damaged engine will produce less thrust, a reactor will provide less energy, etc. The damaged object will not have the same performance as a fully operational object.

To repair items you must use the collected scrap. You can get it by collecting remnants from destroyed enemy ships or by destroying some asteroids (scrap asteroids). Depending on the effectiveness of your repair droid, the scrap unit will repair more or less the damage points.

You can also see the current status of the systems in the information window in the lower left corner of the screen. The bar of damaged items of equipment is reduced and you can repair it yourself by going to the equipment window or rely on the repair droid - or wait for repair by the captain himself (random repair skill ability - visible in his parameters).

== EQUIPMENT - Description ==

SCANNER

The scanner is responsible for the scanning range of the area around us and it is by us (manually) that it is triggered in full screen scanning mode (key "R"). Thanks to it, we can recognize objects that are around us. In the section of the scanning (radar) is listed how to recognize them. Scanning notifies enemies within the range of the scanned area of our presence and in most cases provokes them to attack us.

• DETECTION RANGE = this is the range our scanner works on.

REACTOR

This is one of the most important parts of our ship and is responsible for supplying energy to the rest of the components. Retrofitting yourself with the most powerful reactor possible is your main task. The important thing is that if you exhaust all available energy, all the systems that need it (weapons, engines, shields) have equal priority in receiving it for their current operation. The operation time of a reactor is unlimited - it is an inexhaustible source of energy.

• POWER STORAGE CAPACITY = Defines how much energy it can store for later - it works like a rechargeable battery. If possible, before you go into battle, try to fully recharge your batteries, because lack of energy during the battle means inactive weapon systems.
  
• POWER GENERATION = Amount of power generated per second. Try to get a generator with the highest possible value. It is more important to have a generator that can quickly regenerate energy than one that can store it - this is important during the battles (of course it can be compensated by a large battery capacity).

ENGINE

The engine is the propulsion of our ship. The more powerful the engine, the faster our vehicle can fly or accelerate or brake. Each engine can work in two modes - as a chemical propulsion system (means as a chemical propulsion system, using the fuel that we have) - or as an impulse propulsion system, which requires the supply of energy for the operation.

• ACCELERATION RATE - acceleration rate. It defines how fast our vehicle can accelerate.
  
• BRAKE FORCE - The higher the braking force, the faster we are able to stop.
  
• BASE TOP SPEED - the maximum speed to which our ship can accelerate using a fuel engine. This engine requires to have fuel to work. If the fuel we have is used up completely, we will have to use the impulse engine.
  
• IMPULSE TOP SPEED - the impulse engine for its operation requires a continuous dose of energy. Thus, if we finish completely what we have accumulated in the battery and our reactor has a low value of generated energy (power generation) it can happen that our ship will stop in place or slow down. If we use the impulse engine and participate in a fierce battle then we may have a serious problem because we may not have enough power to power our engine - and there is nothing worse than standing in one place while being fired upon by the enemy. It can be helpful to turn off the shields and switch the weapon into manual mode (shields - "Q", weapons - "E") only to gather enough power to escape.
  
• ROTATIONAL RATE - the speed of rotation around the axis. It determines how fast our ship can turn left or right. This value can be further increased by upgrades.
  
• EFFICIENCY FUEL - fuel efficiency.

HYPERDRIVE

It is a special drive that allows you to travel exceptionally fast on the map and cover long distances. It accelerates slowly and brakes slowly (which means that you have to stop its operation early enough not to miss your target). The initiation of the propulsion system requires a certain amount of stored energy. The hyper-speed drive is also useful for escaping from the danger zone (e.g. heavy enemy fire). During the flight you have to be careful not to collide with asteroids on the route of the flight because the higher the speed of movement, the more damage you will take.

• SPEED MAGNIFICATION - maximum multiplier for speed.
  
• CHARGE TIME - Time to recharge the system after use. If you use it, you will have to wait a certain amount of time before you can use it again (cooldown).

TRACTOR

It is a tugboat which allows to attract objects from space to our ship. For it to work we have to approach the object at the right distance (it is easy to observe it on the radar with a little less zoom) and it is best to stop. If we move too fast, it will not work (unless we fly directly into the object). Raw materials are attracted quite quickly, while the attraction of equipment (items in the form of equipment) takes quite a long time and is slow. If you destroy your opponent, the best method is to fly over his destroyed ship so that we can quickly suck in all the remains.

• PULL RANGE - range for which the tractor operates. If something is outside of it (remember that objects do not have to stand still and can move themself), it will not be captured.
  
• POWER POWER - Thrust. Some objects (gold, equipment items) pull slightly slower. Everyone caught will be attracted (if you don't move too fast), but the higher the pulling power the faster it will be.

SHIELD

The shields allow us to protect our ship from being injured. They protect against various types of energy weapons, but they do not protect us against launched missiles - these can only be shot down by our defense systems (appropriate cannons). Shields are very energy-efficient so we need to provide enough power to be able to raise them. It is worth to consider turning them off completely (key "Q" to redirect power to other systems (e.g. engines) and be able to escape from the danger.

• SHIELD MAXIMUM - maximum number of protection points
  
• SHIELD REGEN - speed of shield regeneration. The regeneration rate shall be preferred over the maximum capacity.

RADAR

Allows you to detect objects that are later displayed on the radar screen (blue dots). To identify them you can use the scanner (button SCAN in the upper left corner of the radar screen). The full radar window allows you to zoom in and out - call it by pressing the "R" key.

• DETECTION RANGE - radar range. The longer the range, the more terrain will be shown in the radar map window.

== REPAIR, SCRAP ==

Your items and accessories may be damaged. Elements of equipment such as used weapons are naturally worn out and as a result of use or being hit by enemy fire, you can experience damage to elements of ship equipment (reactor, engine, etc.). As long as its degree of wear is greater than zero - it can be used. The degree of its wear and tear also translates into its price if you want to sell it. Therefore, more expensive items (above 2,000 - 3,000 in value) are worth repairing before sale. This covers the costs of scrap (scraps) recovery - e.g. by purchasing cheap items in the form of containers with oxygen or fuel and then destroying them in order to obtain scrap.

Repairs can be done in three ways:
• yourself - manually by us (scrap is required). The amount of repair depends on the captain's repair skill. It increases when the character is promoted to a higher level.
  
• using a repair droid - which repairs randomly selected ship components (but does not repair turrets and items from inventory - only the hull and used equipment (scanner, reactor, engine, etc.).
  
• using the skills of the captain - a "random repair bonus". Thanks to this, at random intervals the captain has a chance to repair the hull of the ship or the equipment on his own (but also does not repair turrets). This parameter is also increased when your character is promoted to a higher level.

Scrap can be divided into two types:

SCRAP - scrap metal. Used to repair items in equipment, ship's systems and to purchase upgrades. It is always worth having 10 pieces in stock, which can be used for unexpected repairs.

BIG SCRAP - large pieces of scrap metal. Used to repair the hull of our ship and to remotely sell items (for 1 big scrap and 30 pieces of fuel). Items can also be sold at no cost when we are parked our ship in a shop.

How do I get scrap? There are several methods for this:

Destroying enemy ships. Almost every destroyed ship will give you one or more scrap units. Occasionally big scrap. By the way, sometimes an item also falls out - in this case a turret.

Destroying items in equipment. There is a chance of getting 1-3 units of scrap when destroying items.

To destroy a particular item, select it from other items (the selected item will have a different background), then click the cost icon.

After the item has been destroyed, a message will be displayed showing how many scrap units have been recovered.

From what I've seen, it doesn't matter how much item is used (HP item bar). I received scrap from used and fully functional items too - as often as I did, regardless of their market value.

Destroying a special kind of asteroid - "Scrap Asteroid". They are quite rare. Usually after they've been destroyed, you'll get a few scrap pieces and a big scrap.

How do I make a repair?

Repairing a worn object by hand is extremely easy. We must have at least one unit of scrap metal. Click on the repair icon. The cursor will then change to one with the key and the inscription "REPAIR".

Then select the item you want to repair and click on it LMB. One unit of scrap metal will be used and the item will be repaired by adding our repair skills value to the item HP bar.

You will see a message about the repair performed - how many points have been repaired. This is purely dependent on our ship's captain's repair capabilities. In this case REPAIR SKILL = 40. And that's how our engine was repaired. RMB causes the exit from the repair mode.

How do you fix the ship?

In the same way as a normal repair, switch to the repair mode.

And move your cursor over the ship's symbol in the upper left corner. Clicking will repair the hull of the ship. One piece of big scrap will be used for repair.

The number of hull points will be increased. The repair value is to some extent random (not constant) and differs from the amount of points we usually get by repairing normal items.

Repair droid - that's automatic repair.

The repair droid, which we have in our equipment as long as it has HP points and is not completely worn out, will repair the fuselage and equipment items (scanner, reactor, engine, etc.) - but will never repair turrets and items lying in our inventory.

When repairing all things, it does not use any scrap metal lying in our equipment.

If it wears out completely, it should be powered by scrap metal (scrap) in the same way as we repair the items. Even if you have a few droids in your inventory, only one will repair it - the one with the letter "E" marked - and you can change it like any other item by choosing the right one and using it.

The droids can have different levels. The higher the level, the higher the repair speed or more HPs being repaired in one pass.

The speed of repair by a droid also depends on the size of the repaired ship - bigger ship mean slower repair speed. The repair process also causes its condition bar to drop. If it drops to zero (becomes black), the droid will stop repairing. It should then be repaired with the use of scrap metal (ordinary repair of the object).

== UPGRADES ==

By pressing the "U" key you can enter and exit the improvement menu. Using the appropriate amount of scrap (scrap), you can purchase an upgrade. This will raise its level, which will make the next level of improvement of this particular category more expensive. Remember, that you need to leave some scrap for possible repairs. Never buy upgrades without leaving 5-10 pieces of scrap in stock for possible repairs. Improvements to higher levels 3-4 are already quite expensive so it is worth to think twice about what you spend your hard earned scrap on.

The number of improvements we can apply is limited. A level one pilot can only purchase one level improvement per level. If you want to buy more, you need to gain experience and advance to the next level.

• Level 1 Pilot - can purchase 1 upgrade of a given type
  
• Level 2 Pilot - can purchase up to 2 upgrades of a given type
  
• etc.

The level of improvement is visible in the form of the number of dots under the panel. You will also get to know it at a much higher price you will have to pay for the upgrade to the next level.

• ACCELERATION COILS - increases the acceleration - thanks to which our vehicle will accelerate faster. It can be useful because it will help us to move away faster (which will allow us to avoid a hit, for example).
  
• THRUST FOCUSING - increases the maximum speed our ship can get. It depends mainly on the engine we have on board so it doesn't make sense to pack it too much.
  
• ROTOR THRUST AUGMENT - increases the speed of rotation (left and right). Extremely useful skill - it is useful during all fights because it will increase the rotation speed (i.e. we will make a smaller wheel turning back), which can be important during enemy shooting or turning to avoid a hit.
  
• HYPER THRUST CHANNELING - increases the maximum speed of the hyper-velocity multiplier, i.e. the maximum speed the ship can achieve by accelerating in the hyper-jump mode. Very rarely used so there is no point in improving it.
  
• HULL REINFORCEMENT - increases the hull strength of our ship by +200 points. It can be useful on small ships. In case of large giants you will hardly feel any difference.
  
• ARMOUR PLATING - increases the resistance to damage. It may be of little importance during the clashes after our shields have fallen off, so 2-3 times it can be used.
  
• SHIELD CAPACITORS - increases the maximum energy capacity of the shields. It can be important at the beginning of the game, but later you will find strong enough shields (with high capacity) that it won't matter.
  
• HULL REDUNDANCE - Increases resistance to critical damage. It may have some meaning if we get hit often. It can be upgraded 1-2 times.
  
• CARGO BAY EXTENSION - increases the capacity of your equipment by one bay (14 positions) more. Quite useful - especially on small ships. The maximum capacity is 10 holds (the game displays their number from zero, i.e. the maximum is nine).
  
• STEALTH HULL VECTORING - increases the level of hiding - we will irritate our opponents less with our presence so they will attack us less often. I didn't used it.
  
• RANGE FOCUSING - increases the range of fire. Our weapon will be able to hit a little further. Since almost every weapon beats at least 2-3 km, increasing the range by an additional +100m doesn't matter too much.
  
• GROUND SUIT ARMOUR - increases the life expectancy of our character. Our character starts with 50HP so there is no point in giving more than 1-3 upgrades. Having 70-110 HP points will be enough for most missions.
  
• OXYGEN CONSERVATION SYSTEMS - quite an important skill. It slows down the rate at which we lose oxygen. Upgrade whenever you can. Thanks to this, we will be able to fly on impulse drive for longer without losing valuable oxygen.
  
• POWER CAPACITORS - increases battery capacity so that the reactor can store more energy after loading. It is not important because it adds only +100 capacity.
  
• FUEL TANKS - increases the amount of fuel stored by us. Not important on large ships because they have a huge capacity - but it can be useful on those tiny ships.
  
• TRADE OPTIMISATION - reduces the price in stores by 3%. It is worth to upgrade more than 1-3x. It affects both purchase prices and sales (we will earn more).

From my experience I can say that I personally packed into the ship's starting acceleration (ACCELERATION COILS) - which allowed to move faster from the place and was useful to escape from enemy fire, the speed of rotation around the axis (ROTOR THRUST AUGMENT) - thanks to which it worked in two ways - standing we could rotate faster - and while flying - be more maneuverable and better turn. It was one of the most important improvements for me. It is also worth to upgrade the base amount of HP of your character (GROUND SUIT ARMOUR) - because ground missions can run unexpectedly and it is better not to die during the attack - so 70-90 HP is such a minimum safe amount of life. The second most important value for me was the reduction of oxygen consumption (OXYGEN CONSERVATION SYSTEMS) so I could spend time on a slower flight on an impulse drive powered by the infinite energy of the reactor - and thus save oxygen for the ongoing battles with enemies. It was also useful to improve the size of the cargo holds (CARGO BAY EXTENSION) - although my ship was huge - but +14 more holds is always something. As for the rest of the improvements, they weren't important to me.

To sum up, the most important thing for me was to reduce the amount of oxygen used and the speed of rotation of the ship. Secondly, the increase in the amount of life of the character (ground missions), the increase in acceleration (to move faster from the place). The rest was less important.

== WEAPONS ==

We have at our disposal a number of various weapons. There is quite a lot of choice and additionally their parameters are to some extent random, which means that we have full freedom in terms of the composition of our offensive-defensive arsenal. Each weapon has slightly different characteristics of action and there is nothing more interesting than to discover its use and see for yourself what will work on fast enemies - and which will come true in the fight against a massive but slow moving enemy. When to put firepower above the speed of missiles? Well - then you have to check yourself 😎

The weapon can operate in two modes of fire - automatic and manual, which can be switched by pressing the "E" key. The first one (automatic) fires on its own as long as you have enough energy to fire. The target is the current position of the opponent. As good as it works with asteroids in one place or slow-moving enemies - it fails completely with fast-moving enemies. The only moment when he manages to hit them is when the enemy is approaching our ship or leaving it. All turns and maneuvers of small and fast fighters exceed the ability of automatic targeting and planning of the enemy's automatic firing system.

Switching the fire control system to manual mode has two important meanings. The first one is that the weapon will not shoot and thanks to this more energy generated can be directed to other systems (like engine - allowing to escape from the scene of the incident, or the shield - allowing to avoid taking damage). Transferring the energy generated in the meantime to the battery for later use is important when fighting a fast and manoeuvrable opponent. In principle, such clashes can be divided into two variants. The first and quite frequent is a flight of the enemy around the circle around our ship. We have to evaluate where the enemy ship will be in the moment and constantly adjusting the changing position of the adversary shoot at this place (in front of him) so that it would fall into the maze of our bullets. The second situation is when the opponent is flying straight at us or is moving away from us. Then there is the best chance to give it our missiles. Remember also that the enemy, like us, has a regenerating shield, so first, we have to knock it down to deal damage to it.

In case of critical damage to an enemy, the weapon in automatic mode will stop firing. The enemy will explode after a few seconds. There is no need to run away from the place - the explosion of the enemy ship will not harm us (in most cases). Fly over the enemy's wreckage and the traction system (TRACTOR) will bring all objects to our ship. In most cases, they fly away in different directions from the scene of the incident (but it is easy to track them on the map with a radar - scan the area so that all the elements will be described!) and you have to chase them. Therefore, quick stopping over enemy remains will save our time to collect scrap and all other items.

• DAMAGE PER HIT - amount of damage dealt when hitting an enemy (reduced by enemy armour).
  
• POWER DRAIN - amount of energy consumed. This is important when several fire stations are installed. You will notice how quickly the energy stored in the reactor batteries escapes...
  
• TURRET ARC SIZE - range of rotation of a given turret. Only an enemy moving within the range of the turret's hit field has a chance to be fired upon.
  
• TURRET TURN RATE - speed of weapon rotation.
  
• FIRE RATE - firing speed. Here we have 600 bullets per minute. That's 6/s. Admittedly, they inflict little - only 3 HP per hit - but if the enemy gets into a thicket of bullets, it can be ploughed down.
  
• BULLET SPEED - the speed of the bullet's flight. The higher the weapon level (same name), the faster it flies. If you want to hit small enemy fighters it is important.
  
• ACCURACY - the accuracy of a hit expressed as a percentage.
  
• RANGE - range of weapons. It will not be possible to shoot from it if the opponent does not approach the specified distance.

Next to it you can see the angular range of the shooting of each of the weapons I have mounted. If you take a closer look, you will notice that weapons 6, 3, 1 - have no chance to fire on the enemy on our starboard side. That is why it is so important to be able to quickly rotate the ship (upgrade ROTOR THRUST AUGMENT) so that we have a greater chance to catch the enemy or overtake him and turn the first one exposing him to specific guns, introducing him to their range - when he is trying to circle around us.

Each weapon, despite having the same level, can have different parameters (including the angular range of the firing field). The range can be 90, 180, 360 degrees. This again means that it's worth putting a greater angle of fire above other parameters such as dealing damage or firing rate. This is important for missiles that require enemy tracking.

If the enemy is in the "field of view" of the weapon, the information about the targeting of the enemy will be lit (not all weapons require the enemy to be in the field of view). Then we can also fire in the direction of the enemy. This is important in the case of rockets. You will not fire them if the enemy cannot be tracked down - for example when they are on the other side of the ship.

Rockets are always launched manually (RMB) regardless of whether we use automatic or manual targeting mode. Remember also that they need to be fired by the player - and the enemy must be in the targeting area and the light must be on.

There are pure offensive weapons such as Mass Driver and Beam Defence. The latter are perfect for destroying incoming enemy missiles or shooting at chasing ships. Remember that missiles break through the shields! They can fire down enemy missiles, destroying them on one or two hits. The main problem is, that they usually require some energy for their actions.

Playing with all weapons, you will learn about its strengths and weaknesses. In my experience, the minimum range of effective fire is 2,000 - and even better, 3,000 units. This allows for effective evasive turns while avoiding hitting enemy missiles or rockets - and at the same time we will be able to fire at the enemy while running away from them. Remember what I wrote before - it is important to place the weapon at correct slot (keep in mind its angular range). And keep in mind that at any time you can go to the equipment window and move the weapon between the slots or exchange it for another model.

Especially useful are missiles and turrets (turrets can be dropped after our ship). After firing them, the missiles are able to track the enemy on their own and correct their flight path (unless they are unguided) and usually hit the enemy - unless the latter shoots them down. And he won't be able to do that if you shoot several of them. Rockets are also quite effective against enemy fighters because they usually chase them and hit the target. Their disadvantages are long reloading time and angle of fire (turret arc size).

Turrets that can be dropped are very useful. Although they require a lot of energy to be able to set them down, once they are activated, they stay in the place where they are dropped and attack passing enemies if they are not destroyed by them. This means that we can drop quite a lot of them and sow them enough to bend even the strongest enemy. By shooting at the enemy they can also sometimes shoot down enemy missiles.

== SHOP ==

In the game there is also such a thing as a shop in which we can sell items without any costs (apart from that we have to spend 1 piece of big scrap + 30 fuel to send the item sold) as well as buy a new sort. The offer of the shop is unchanged on a given level so it is worth to return to it before leaving the system and jump to next one - and think about buying the remaining parts.

You can meet only one shop on the map and usually it is located in the place where you start the level. The shop does not disappear and is always available in the same place where we met it. Since our first radars do not cover the entire board it is worth remembering its location to be able to return to it if necessary. Keep in mind that large objects like gate are moving in the map slower than smaller objects like a shop!

The shop is always counted as one derelict. In this case, there is no need to look for others on the board - only the shop is available.

There is also a chance that there will be no shop available in the system. That's why it's worth investing in expanding the available inventory slots - especially on small vessels - because it will increase the number of items you can store. So in some systems, you will have to either sell with large pieces of scrap or scrap some items.

The shop always has 10 items available at different prices and quantities, but they may be repeated. The price, as well as the number of items, can vary slightly between them. If we buy all the items from a slot - it will not be replenished anymore - we have to jump to the next level and look for the next store there.

Also note that buying two identical items (in the same shop) does not mean that you will receive identical items.

At the time of purchase, the parameters of the weapon are randomly drawn and you never know what the item will be. Here is an example of buying two items. As you can see, they differ absolutely everything - from the amount of damage dealt, energy demand to the range of the weapon.

If you get to the shop you have to park so that our ship is within its borders. Then you will see two subtitles visible on the screen.

To sell items at no cost after parking in the way shown here, simply go to your inventory and click the sale icon to indicate the items you want to push. You can sell as many items as you want.

If, however, you decide to shop in the store, you can use this button.

It is also worth to consider whether to buy the cheapest equipment to destroy it in order to obtain scrap. For example, we may encounter cheap fuel or containers with oxygen. Destroying them always gives us a chance to obtain scrap - and this will allow us to buy upgrades!

If you have some money in stock, it is always worth to visit the shop before leaving the system and buy the cheapest items in order to scrap them.

Remember that scrap is required also for repairs and upgrades. You may need some when you jump to another system and you will be attacked immediately after jump.

You should also bear in mind that the price of a sold item varies depending on the degree of damage.

The main determinant of the price is the level of the weapon. The higher the level, the higher the price you can get. Therefore, if a weapon costs these 2.000 - 3.000 when selling it, it is worth repairing it and buying cheap items for the money received to destroy and obtain cheap scrap. Although not every destruction of an item gives scrap - but from time to time luck will smile at us.

OPTIMISATION also improves the price. Each level reduces the purchase price of items by -3% and increases our selling price by +3%. It's worth the 1-3 upgrades you make. It's always the 10% gain that will give you more money.

It is worth to return to the shop before leaving the system and sell the unnecessary items and free up space because we never know if in the new system will be able to use the services of the shop. Thus, having a full load compartment we will have to decide to destroy valuable items for scrap instead of turning it into profit.

In the case of items that give experience (e.g. a painting, a Bible, a piano, etc.) it is worth buying them and using them several times - and when their strength drops to the 10% destroy them. This gives you a chance to get scrap instead of staying with nothing.

== GROUND MISSIONS ==

The game also includes ground missions in which we use a lander transported by our spacecraft. Thanks to it we can land on the planet or on a floating in the space piece of relic. These are one-time missions, so if we escape from there (which is associated with flying away from the screen of the mission) we will no longer have the opportunity to explore again. You should therefore be prepared for them - and this is associated with repairing the ship, weapons or having a stock of grenades that can help us exterminate enemy units. I would like to remind you that the mission can be approached only once. It will not be possible to land again, either on a planet or a space relic.

Missions are also divided into two types
• mission in space - on all relics found in space where there is no gravity and our character will move as the momentum given to us by a jet pack. It will slow down on its own - or we can brake faster by moving in the opposite direction.
  
• ground missions - conducted on planets. There is a gravity here and each such a mission begins with the lander's descent to the place of the event. We have to slow down the speed of descent before we reach the surface, otherwise it may end in our death because of the crash on the surface. In the case of planets we are limited by gravity and in order to mix in most cases you will have to use engines in the case of a ship or propulsors in the case of a suit. While the fuel in the ship is limited - the propulsion in the case of an astronaut is unlimited and here all we have to worry about is taking damage from enemies or collisions at excessive speed.

Landing on a planet or a space object (derelict) takes place in the same way as in a shop - we need to fly over the centre of the object over its landing point.

Then the green icon informing us about the possibility of landing on the object will light up. By clicking on it we send our ship with a pilot on a mission.

++


Three things are required to enter into mission:

• grenades - providing the ability to throw them where they explode after a while, causing an explosion and blasting everything around with shrapnel. The number of grenades taken to the mission is unlimited - there will be as many grenades available as there are in the ship's hold, so it is worth having as many as possible.
  
• pistol - provides the ability to fire the astronaut's main weapon. Thanks to that he can strike the enemy he meets. The amount of ammunition in the pistol is limited.
  
• the lander - provides transport of our astronaut to the site. There are different versions of ships with different tank capacity, armour or weapons (some of them are unarmed).

Grenades are extremely cheap and can be purchased in almost every shop you visit. It is worth to have as many grenades as possible on stock - with a minimum of 50-100 pieces. They are used to attack the enemy hidden behind obstacles.

Grenades always explode after a few seconds after being thrown out by the character (RMB). Remember that they bounce off the surface, so by aiming properly you are able to throw it so that it bounces off a wall and falls between enemies - not exposing yourself to be hurt from their fire.

One grenade is not always enough to destroy enemy vehicles - but when properly thrown, it usually eliminates infantry. Also be careful not to destroy with shrapnel the boxes and items to be collected.

There may be different types of guns with different parameters. We can have several types of guns in our equipment, but we can only take one of them on a mission. Simply select it and select button to use. It will be marked with the letter "E".

• DAMAGE - an important parameter is the attack force. Usually, the higher the weapon level, the higher the amount of damage dealt.
  
• FIRE RATE - a little less important is the rate of fire.
  
• CONDITION - important parameter is the condition of the weapon. It determines the number of shots during the mission so it is always worth to have it repaired if you are planning to land somewhere. The more it is destroyed, the less shots we will be able to fire.
  
• TYPE - weapons can have several different types. Basic is a basic shot, we can also have exploding - and here we have an example of bouncing - so you can use the bouncing bullets to attack enemies from behind the obstacles.

The same applies to landers. Each of them can have several parameters that differ from each other:
• HULL - the strength of the hull. Any collision or fire from the enemy will decrease the amount of life and in case of destroying our lander - it will end the game.
  
• FUEL CAPACITY - an important parameter determining the amount of fuel in the lander's tank. Especially quickly the fuel is depleted in the case of ground missions - it is required for braking during landing as well as for later take-off. Any position correction will also consume fuel. Slightly different is in case of missions in space because in there the fuel is required only for accelerating or braking the vehicle.
  
• ARMED - whether the vehicle has the weaponry. There are ships without weapons and I strongly advise against them. It is much better to have a cannon on board and what is more interesting, the amount of ammunition of the lander is unlimited. Admittedly, the ship itself shoots quite slowly - but it can be used to eliminate enemies from afar or to cut a passage for our pilot through a wall so that he will be able to reach some places avoiding enemies.

LANDER PRACTICE PLANETSIDE - The game tutorial (in-game guide) allows you to practice operating the ship on the test field. Admittedly without any opponents - but it's worth to check here how the lander navigation takes place before we go on a real mission. You should also take into consideration that during the real landing on the planet the enemy will also open fire, so on the one hand we must make sure to slow down the speed of descent - and on the other hand we must try not to stand in one place becoming an easy target for the enemy.

And remember - if your ship gets stuck somewhere - for example in a narrow recess or covered with boulders - you can always use the equipped cannon to shoot off the elements that block your vehicle. Some of them require a few shots to be destroyed - e.g. boulders visible here.

The lander also has a reverse gear, which may be useful in case of getting stuck at some point - the "R" key is used for this purpose (this is not required in feather thrust mode just push "S" to reverse).

== GROUND MISSIONS (continuation) ==

During expeditions, whether to the surface of a planet or the derelict ships wandering through space, we may encounter slightly scattered objects on the surface. It can be money or objects. It is worth to collect them, as long as it is not connected with taking damage as a result of shelling by enemies.

In case of landing on the planet with the "E" key we can get off and get into our lander. Our character (as opposed to the lander) has unlimited fuel resources so we can move it without any restrictions. The only danger are enemies and sometimes collisions with walls when we have too much speed.

• FUEL - amount of remaining fuel. The level starts with a full tank of fuel (of course, if the ship is damaged the capacity will be smaller. Fuel is used when maneuvering. If there is not enough fuel to get off the planet, we lose the game.
  
• HULL - the amount of HP in the hull of the ship. If it falls to zero - the ship will be destroyed and the game ends. Endurance points can be lost due to enemy fire or collisions with objects.
  
• VELOCITY - the speed of our vehicle. Try not to speed up too much as braking takes time to stop the ship.
  
• PILOT HEALTH - the number of life points of the pilot. If it drops to zero, we will lose. You can lose life points if you take damage (enemy fire), get hit by your grenade shrapnel or collide with walls if the speed of a moving astronaut is too high. The pilot does not lose his life in case of shelling a ship (both during missions and space fights). Life can be renewed inside spaceship - with various things to eat or while using certain things - usually playing with your pets (found or purchased in a shop).
  
• S.I.N. CONTACTS - the number of opponents present on the board.
  
• EXP - the amount of experience points of our character.
  
• GRENADES - the number of remaining grenades.
  
• GUN CONDITION - the number of remaining shots of our hand weapon. In case of going down to zero we will not be able to shoot anymore - but it does not cause damage to the weapon - it will be worn out and it will have to be repaired on the ship after the mission.
  
• SUIT STABILISER - in the options you can switch the ship's stabilizer or astronaut's suit - thanks to that you can switch the propulsion to the right, either it will move the character to the right - or it will rotate it to the right. It's usually turned on - but you can try to turn it off and control the rotation yourself (which is not easy at all).

And that's what a typical land mission looks like. On the board are scattered both the boxes that we can collect (by touching them) and the opponents that will lead the fire in our direction if we find ourselves in the range of destruction.

The whole problem is to destroy enemies and save the boxes so that they can be collected. Enemies will be destroyed after taking a certain amount of damage. Useful for this are the grenades thrown to the right place - it's easy to destroy the enemy by shrapneling them - of course it's also easy to destroy the boxes, so you have to be careful...

Missions carried out in space conditions look similar to those from landings on planets but there is no gravity here - navigation is slightly simpler. The main difference is that if we rush here and hit the wall, we'll be injured. So you need to watch your speed.

There is a possibility of piercing the corridor through the wall. In order to do that, you need to shoot at it or treat it with a grenade (but it is difficult to hit the desired place). Damage to a block requires several shots to be fired. This way it will separate from the rest of the block and it will be possible to move it. Since the suit's fuel is unlimited, it is worth taking advantage of it. The next few shots will destroy the block completely - but I suggest you save ammo.

Remember that the lander shoots quite slowly, but he has an unlimited number of shots. It can be used effectively either to eliminate enemies or to carve out another way to enter the enemy fortress where you can bypass some of the enemy units.

There are also indestructible blocks - here's an example. They cannot be destroyed by grenades, weapons or ship's fire - you need to find another way through.

== FIGHT ==

During our journey, we will have to face many opponents and choose different combat tactics depending on a number of opponents. It is up to us to choose the battle tactics and weaponry - is it better to approach the opponent slowly trying to fight 1 on 1 or maybe we can fight with more of them at the same time? It all depends on your experience and skills in risk assessment, knowledge of the capabilities of enemy vehicles and knowledge of the location and use of your weapons. Don't forget about the equipment of the ship itself and its accessories. A strong generator and capacious shields can overwhelm the winning streak on our side.

First of all, remember that at any time you can press the "I" key to go to your cargo bay and change your weapon to one that can handle the enemy type better - or repair damaged systems. Although the repair robot is slowly repairing them, we don't always have time to wait. A damaged reactor produces less power so we will have less power to power the necessary weapon systems or shields. You may also want to change your weapon to a slightly different set, which will be more suitable for this type of opponents.

In combat, after the enemy has been traced, its parameters will appear in the interface on the right at the bottom of the screen.

Details of the target vehicle can be displayed after clicking the button.

Our task is to break the level of the opponent's ship hull to zero ("HULL - 25 UHP"). Then the enemy ship will turn into a ball of fire. We do not take any damage if he will explode near our ship.

If there are more than one opponent and you want to focus on a particular target, you can block the target using spacebar. Remember to disable the target blockade after killing your opponent! Otherwise the automatic targeting will not work.

The "T" key will bring up the window displayed next to it.

The description of the vehicle and its parameters will be displayed here. Of course, they will be slightly different for other machines. This is a good time to get acquainted with the enemy's capabilities and compare them to ours.

There is also a high probability that your power generation system will not be able to handle the energy demand. You should then consider turning off the automatic weapon control system (key "E") so that the energy can be used by the engines and the shields can be renewed. There is nothing worse than staying in the same place during enemy fire. If we move and turn from the flight path of incoming missiles, we avoid the chance of taking damage.

Our fight against an opponent can start after a while after leaving hyperspace and entering a new system. The attackers closest to us can start their attack immediately, so we need to be prepared to fight back. After that we have to think about what to do next. I suggest not to scan at the beginning of the area - in case of scanning, identified opponents can (and usually do) attack us. You should first check if there is a shop in the area (a little bit bigger dot than the usual point) and of course go there to check if there is anything interesting for sale. You should also check if some dots symbolizing objects do not move if you are standing in one place. If so, they are almost certainly enemies. There is a chance that they may bounce in our direction.

In case you see many enemies approaching our location and recognize their capabilities by the displayed names, you should consider whether you are able to meet them. Perhaps a better solution would be to turn on the hyperdrive and at the cost of burning some fuel to escape to a safer place? Then you can always come back and try to kill your enemies one by one?

But be careful not to collide with asteroids stationed on the track of your flight. The higher the speed, the more damage you will suffer in case of a collision.

As the game progresses, you will notice that the best option is to eliminate all available opponents at each level. Weaker enemies (the further levels, the stronger they will be!) are an easier bite and scrap falls out of almost everyone so that you can gather the necessary amount to buy upgrades faster or you can raise the level of experience, which will allow us to promote of the pilot to next level and thus increase his parameters.

== ENEMIES ==

We will be faced with different units of different sizes, equipment, weapons, speed or force. Their level increases with our journey towards higher and higher levels. Enemies usually have renewable shields, so we must first knock them down to deal damage to their hull. Of course, if we stop firing, we will give them time to regenerate their shields.

If you are tracking an enemy, you can press (or the "T" key). The game will stop and you will have time to familiarize yourself with its specifications and think about how best to approach it. Most of the displayed enemy statistics are adjusted to your parameters so if the enemy's armor is bigger than the damage you deal, you will only deal 0 or 1 point of damage to them (except for the "Shiruken" cannon, which ignores the armor).

A window will be displayed showing the target enemy and their description.

Here you can get acquainted with the enemy's armour or equipment.

The first drones we encounter are defensive drones of the first level, which have only one cannon, without towers and armour. The destroyers we encounter later will have various configurations - strong shields, sets of fighters, defences against rockets, etc. Their parameters may differ - including the capacitance of shields, etc. A given type always has the same type of weapon. At the moment you may encounter 47 different types of enemy ships in the game.

Each of the encountered enemies can be at one of the 7 levels of advancement. Of course, the higher the level to which you have wandered, the greater the chance to meet a more powerful opponent.

You will also find Ghost Ships that try to escape from you in order to attack you from afar. Ships like kamikaze ships will try to bully you and explode when they reach our hull (especially all kinds of mines). Cannons that don't require too much energy can be used to eliminate them - or a "mass driver" that can overwhelm an incoming bullet attacker with a hail.

There are also static, non-moving units like enemy hangars or defensive bases - these are better to fire a ranged weapon from a long distance. Because they're standing still, they're easy to hit.

Some opponents can also patrol the area, so even if we stay still in one place, there is a chance that they will come close enough to us to detect us and take up a fight. A certain solution is to escape to the nebula region where they can lose our trail.

Some weapons like EMP (cannons/rockets) can deprive you of some energy at the moment of hitting you, which can have significant effects - it will be missing for defense systems, shields or engines (that's why during a fight it's best to use a chemical drive instead of an impulse one that draws power from a reactor).

In case of encountering a system where the jump point (warp gate) is blocked by the opponent, whom we have to defeat, it usually has 6 or more points for mounting weapons (turrets). They usually appear after 10-12 level in the mission mode. In Endless Mode they can appear randomly regardless of the level.

There are also gas areas (nebula cloud) - with different names - on the map they look identical to the jumping points. If you find yourself in them and slow down or stop completely, there's a good chance you'll lose your opponents chasing you.

Nebula also causes missiles to lose guidance in it - it can be useful when fighting some enemies.

== INVENTORY ==

Our ship, depending on its parameters on the start has a cargo hold with several decks. It will then be able to be improved so that we can gain levels that increase the amount of items that can be moved in an instant. There is no need to explain that it is very useful because thanks to this we can store and user more equipment, exchange it during fights or sell at a bargain price in the store.

The number of holds can be increased (up to 10 maximum holds) by purchasing CARGO BAY EXTENSION.

Originally the game had no option to move objects between slots (which called for vengeance to heaven), but the author has improved this inconvenience and now it works properly. Items can now be moved freely between slots. If you want to move it to another level of the hold, you need to catch it and drive it to its number, which will switch it over.

If you are going to change places one item with another simply drag it to its place.

In the cargo bay you can also process items into scrap - just select the item and press the basket icon. You will then receive a random amount of scrap - from zero to 3 pieces, but this amount does not depend on the class of the item or the degree of its HP.

All possible objects can be used in the same way. Click on it to select it - and then click on the button for using the item (placed on the lower right side of the screen). After using (opening) the box disappears. If you have several boxes - each of them must be opened separately.

Depending on our luck, we may have a different object. Small (red) boxes usually contain objects (fuel, oxygen, etc.) or artifacts (different type of objects).

From large (green) boxes, weapons or equipment are the most common. In addition to ground missions, boxes can sometimes be caught from destroyed wrecks of enemy ships or encountered wandering around in space.

With the last update, author added an option that I was looking forward to. Whenever you find a new item, it will be marked "NEW". Just touch it to erase the marker. This helps to identify new items that have been recently found.

Of course, you can also find the list of found items on the left in the event list. If the items are no longer collected by your ship, it means that the cargo hold is full. In this case, you will need to do some cleaning up - sell some items, use them or destroy for scrap.

== TIPS ==

• Invest as soon as possible in reducing the use of oxygen (OXYGEN CONSERVATION SYSTEMS). This will give you the ability to operate longer at each level and you will be able to use the impulse drive more often (it is slower, but it saves fuel!).
  
• The second important improvement is to increase the maneuverability of the ship (ROTATIONAL THRUST). It will allow faster turns so that it will be easier and faster to turn - getting off the bullets' flight path.
  
• It is worth having a Defence Beam on board. This weapon can shoot down the missiles that are chasing us (unfortunately it need a lot of energy).
  
• You can have interchangeable equipment that can be useful in different situations.
  
  • e.g. two engines - one will allow faster movement of the impulse propulsion system, devouring a lot of energy (which will affect the use of shields or weapon power) - and it may turn out that in the moment of defense and opening fire to the enemy... we will stand still because there will be no power supply for the engines - while the other will have a low impulse speed - but a high one with the use of fuel, allowing to get out of oppression.
    
  • two different generators - one will have a slower energy generation speed but a large battery capacity - and the other will have small accumulators but can generate much more electricity. This may come in handy during the fight - first you will slowly recharge large and capacious batteries - and at the moment of battle the defense systems will first draw on the batteries and after they are completely emptied you will switch the reactors to run more rapidly and have more momentary energy generated.
• Always try to fly into the place where the enemy is defeated. This will shorten the time it takes to collect all the war spoils.
  
• The most annoying are enemy ships capable of carrying fighters or bombers on board as we will have to fight them as well as the main mother ship.
  
• Enemy missiles eventually explode. It is enough to run away from them long enough.
  
• There is no limit to the number of turrets that can be dropped in space by our ship. It is worth to use it and set them to fire at the enemy. This way you can destroy almost any enemy ship.

More information (+some advices) in full description:
►http://hakimodo.pl/2019/10/08/poradnik-interstellar-rogue/

Keep an eye on the Steam Curator HAKIMODO

►https://store.steampowered.com/curator/31951226/

[HAKIMODO]

@DStar7 - he already helped me with correction and gave some additional info that I've used and placed inside ;)

[DStar7]

Excellent guide, dev could use it as the game manual. Thanks!

[KINGS GUARD GAMES]

Great work on this Guide! :-)