Player's Guide

Official Super Starship player's guide

What is Super Starship?

Super Starship is a space exploration game set in a procedurally generated galaxy containing 1 million stars, 5.4 million planets, and 13.3 million moons. Every discovery you make is permanently recorded in a shared universe database — if you're the first to find a planet, your name stays on it forever.

The core loop: fly your starship between star systems, land rovers on surfaces to mine resources and scan alien structures, trade minerals at starbases for credits, buy upgrades, and push deeper into the galaxy.

Controls

Ship Flight

W / S - Accelerate forward / backward
A / D - Look left / right
Q / E - Roll ship
Mouse - pitch / yaw
Space - HyperWarp to targeted planet (requires upgrade)
Return - Launch scanning probe (consumable)
F - Activate scanner
T - Toggle local map
M - Toggle galaxy map
O - Toggle orbit visuals
H - Toggle HUD
J - Toggle Echoes of Altair journal
L - Toggle ships log
B - Build planet base (requires base builder)
TAB - Progress update, ship stats and ship inventory
ESC - Toggle ship computer / menu

Rover (Surface Exploration)

W / S - Forward and reverse
Mouse - Steer
Left Mouse - Fire mining laser (requires upgrade)
F - Scan nearby items or structures

Core Resources

Fuel

- Powers your starship. Faster speeds burn more fuel.
- Starts at 100,000 units (~200 light-year range). Upgradeable to ~2,000 LY range.
- Refuel at starbases or by scanning alien structures (20% chance of fuel recovery).
- If it runs out, requires rescue with a 1,000,000 credit charge. Keep an eye on it.

Energy (Life Support)

- Drains continuously, even while docked or idle.
- Starts at 86,400 units (~24 hours). Upgradeable to ~240 hours.
- If it runs out, requires rescue with a 1,000,000 credit charge. Keep an eye on it.
- Recharge at starbases or find energy in structures (20% chance).

Minerals

- Collected on planet surfaces via mining laser or from pods/vegetation/asteroids.
- Trade them at starbases for credits (5-10 credits each).
- Rarity multipliers: Common 1x, Uncommon 2x, Rare 4x, Exotic 8x.
- Cargo capacity starts at 100,000 units per expansion.

Credits

- Currency for all ship upgrades and equipment.
- Earned by trading minerals, making discoveries, and completing missions.
- The more you play the more you are rewarded - cash in exploration time for credits (1 hr = 100,000 cr).
- Cash in discovered planets for credits - 10,000 per planet discovered.
- Discovered habitable planets are worth up to 10,000 each.

Upgrades and Equipment

Mobility

- HyperWarp Drive — Instant travel between planets within a star system. Press Space when targeting a planet more than 1 million km away. This is one of the most important upgrades in the game.
- Speed Upgrades — Increase max speed in 0.05 LY/sec increments up to 1 LY/sec.
- Rover Speed — Upgrade rover from default up to 100 m/s.

Resource Capacity

- Fuel Capacity — Expand your range from 200 LY up to 2,000 LY.
- Life Support — Extend energy from 24 hours up to 240 hours.
- Cargo Expansion — Each level adds 100,000 units of mineral storage.

Tools & Detection

- Mining Laser — Extract minerals from rocks and vegetation. Upgradeable from 1x to 10x efficiency. 300m range.
- Scanning Probes — Consumable items that fly to each moon to scan them so you don't have to.
- Beacon Detector — Detects beacons when orbiting planets. Range upgradeable from 5 km to 50 km.
- Pod Detector — Finds ancient alien pods on planet surfaces.
- Deep Space Radar — Shows stars with technology/discovery beacons on your HUD.
- Stellar Cartographer — Displays star details including planet and moon counts.

Advanced

- Base Builder — Establish ground bases on planets.
- Quantum Communicator — Contact nearby starbases remotely to cash in discoveries.
- Stellar Energy Collector — Auto-recharges energy when within 10 million km of a star.

Discovery System

Everything you find earns points and credits:

- Stars — Points and credits for each new star visited.
- Planets — Standard rewards; habitable worlds with oceans/life give 10x points.
- Moons — Smaller rewards, but still count toward completion.
- Structures — Alien ruins on surfaces. Scan them for random rewards:
- 5% chance of a technology upgrade
- 20% chance of fuel or energy recovery
- 30% chance of minerals or credits
- 10% chance of a scanning probe
- Chance to unlock ancient lore entries
- Beacons — Several types with escalating rarity:
- Planet Beacons: Fly through energy beams in orbit
- Visitor Beacons: Touch with your rover on the surface
- Technology Beacons: Ultra-rare, grant random equipment
- Discovery Beacons: Extremely rare, massive rewards
- Anomalies — Strange phenomena on planet surfaces. Listen for audio cues, then drive your rover to the source.
- Pods — Ancient alien artifacts on surfaces. Collecting them at key milestones unlocks mysterious story fragments.

All discoveries sync to a shared database. First discoverer gets permanent naming credit.

Missions

- Transport aliens and cargo to structures or starbase for big rewards.
- Scan unknown objects for technology upgrade or minerals.
- Missions auto-generate based on your current location and context.
- Complete them for credits and points beyond what mining and trading provide.

Starbases and Trading

Over 200,000 starbases are scattered throughout the galaxy.

- Dock automatically when within 50m of the green docking cube.
- Sell minerals for credits (5-10 per mineral; 2x rates at planet-based stations).
- Purchase upgrades and equipment.
- Refuel and recharge energy.
- Undocking takes a few seconds.

Galaxy Structure

- 9 Quadrants (3x3x3 grid across the galaxy)
- 45 Sectors (5 per quadrant)
- Each sector contains multiple star systems
- Use your ship computer to navigate the hierarchy
- Star systems are seed-deterministic — the same star always generates the same planets

Tips and Strategy

Early Game

1. Upgrade fuel capacity first. Running out of fuel in deep space with no starbase nearby requires an expensive rescue.
2. Buy the mining laser early. Minerals are your primary income source and you can't collect them efficiently without it.
3. Watch your energy. It drains constantly. Don't wander too far from starbases until you've upgraded life support.
4. Explore locally. Get comfortable with flying, landing, and mining before venturing into deep space.
5. Trade often. Don't let your cargo fill up — full cargo means wasted minerals left on the ground.

Mid Game

6. HyperWarp is a game-changer. It lets you jump instantly between planets in a system instead of flying manually. Prioritize it.
7. Hunt for habitable worlds. They give 10x the points of regular planets. Look for blue/green planets with oceans.
8. Install beacon detector + range upgrades. Easy discoveries you'd otherwise fly right past.
9. Take on missions. They provide variety and reward types beyond basic mining.
10. Scan every structure you find. The 5% chance of a free technology upgrade adds up over time.

Advanced

11. Seek out secret stars. There are 389 hidden throughout the galaxy with special meanings (mathematical constants, sci-fi references, historical dates). They award massive bonus points — 30,000 to 500,000+.
12. Use Deep Space Radar. It reveals which stars have technology and discovery beacons, letting you target the most rewarding systems.
13. Collect pods methodically. Reaching pod milestones unlocks story fragments that reveal the game's deeper mystery.
14. Listen for anomalies. When you hear strange sounds on a planet surface, drive toward the source. Anomalies are one-per-planet rare discoveries. Watch your ship gauges that activate when an anomaly is detected.
15. Stellar Energy Collector saves lives. Once installed, flying near any star auto-recharges your energy. Essential for deep-space expeditions.

Resource Management

16. Faster speed = more fuel burn. Don't always fly at max speed. Moderate your speed for long journeys.
17. Plan routes through starbases. Think of them as gas stations on a road trip.
18. Structures are supply caches. With 20% chance each for fuel and energy, scanning 5 structures statistically gives you at least one refill.
19. Exotic minerals are worth 8x. If you find a planet rich in exotic minerals, mine it thoroughly before leaving.
20. Upgrade cargo capacity before long mining runs. Nothing worse than a full hold halfway through a rich planet.
21. Use warp gates to travel long distances. Warp gates are located at the center of each quadrant and are activated when your destination star is in another quadrant.

Completionist Goals

- Discover all planets in a star system for completion bonuses.
- Find all beacon types across the galaxy.
- Hunt down all 389 secret stars.
- Reach the top of the shared leaderboard across all tracked stats.
- Uncover the full ancient narrative through pod collection and structure discovery.
- Establish bases across the galaxy with Base Builder.

Quick Reference - What To Do and When

Low on fuel - Find nearest starbase, or scan alien structures on nearby planets
Low on energy - Dock at starbase, or install Stellar Energy Collector and fly near a star
Cargo full - Trade at nearest starbase before continuing to mine
Lost in deep space - Use ship computer (ESC) to navigate by quadrant/sector/system
Want faster travel - Buy HyperWarp for in-system jumps; upgrade speed for interstellar
Need credits fast - Mine exotic minerals (8x value) and trade at planet starbases (2x rate)
Looking for rare finds - Install Deep Space Radar to locate technology/discovery beacons