Console help

Console Stations

Describe what stations are

Helm

The Helm console steers the ship using the maneuvering system and moves the ship using impulse and warp drive (for Terrans) or jump drive (for Ximni).

Helm can also initiate a docking sequence with a friendly base to allow refueling, then release the dock so the ship can be on its way.

Your warp drive (or jump drive) can go faster and farther than your enemies, but it consumes a lot of energy.

Ask Engineering

To make the ship turn faster, ask Engineering for more power to maneuvering. To make the ship move faster, ask Engineering for more power to the impulse or warp drive.

Weapons

The Weapons console controls your beam weapons and your torpedoes.

Enemy shields are more vulnerable to beam weapons adjusted to their weakest frequency. The Science Officer can tell you which frequency is weakest on each enemy ship.

Weapons can arm and fire torpedoes with variety of warheads. Homing torpedoes are the cheapest and do moderate damage to one target. EMP torpedoes have a large blast radius, damaging the shields of anything caught in their blast. Nukes also have a large blast radius, severely damaging anything caught in their blast. Mines are like Nukes but they drop behind your ship and explode when a target comes near.

In an emergency, Weapons can provide energy to your ship by draining a torpedo weapon.

Ask Engineering

To make your beam weapons hit harder, ask Engineering to increase power to beams. To make your torpedo tubes load faster, ask Engineering to increase power to torpedo tubes.

Engineering

The Engineering console has two main functions: to distribute power to the ship's systems and to direct damage control teams to repair damage to the ship.

If Helm, Weapons, and Science are doing their jobs well, they will all be demanding then you transfer more power to their systems.

Overheating

Systems like sensors, weapons, and engines can overheat. If a system overheats beyond its limits it will be damaged and require repairs.

Every system can dissipate some heat naturally, so systems you set to 100% (normal) power do not overheat. When you increase power above 100% heat will build up toward an overheat.

Engineering has a pool of coolant available to cool down overheated systems. You don't have enough coolant to cool everything all at once, so distribute it carefully.

Science

The Science console is the eyes of the ship, locating and scanning virtually anything in the sector. The crew is counting on you to tell them what is going on out there, so don't play Science if you can't speak up!

When Science spots an unknown contact, you can select it with a click, then use an initial scan to identify it.

Once identified, Science can run further scans to find out details about the contact, including status (such as shields) and intelligence reports (such as the taunts which will anger an enemy captain).

The further away an object is the longer it takes to scan.

Ask Engineering

To make your sensors scan faster, ask Engineering to increase power to sensors.

Communications

The Communications console is the voice of the ship. Incoming and outgoing traffic appears in the ship's log: the newest line always sits in the strip under the ship data panel, and the full history is on the Log tab of that panel, filtered into Ship and Mission.

Comms can taunt enemies, choosing from many biting insults, but each enemy will respond to only one taunt. The wrong taunt will get the enemy to laugh at you and cut off communications, so ask Science for advice on which taunt to use.

Comms can order friendly ships to change course, attacking or evading enemies.

Comms can request that friendly bases construct torpedo weapons and expedite refueling, rearming, and repairing your ship.

The comms station has a 'RED ALERT' button which will keep your crew on their toes.

Flight Hangar

The Flight Hangar allows player the wish to fly single craft (fighter, shuttle, bomber) missions. They can join the lgh hangar.

Select from several station, and ship hangar. Grab a craft. Select a mission and Fly.

Fabrication

Engineering can BUILD things. The Fabricate tab lists recipes; a build spends materials, takes time, and delivers the finished item to the ship.

How a build works

Four steps, and each one happens at a different console - fabrication is a crew activity, not an Engineering solo.

1. GATHER the materials. They are carried by the ship, so any console's pickup counts.

2. FABRICATE on Engineering's Fabricate tab. This spends the materials and starts a build timer - the item is not ready immediately.

3. DELIVER the finished item. A beacon goes to Weapons, which is what loads it into a tube.

4. DEPLOY it. Weapons fires the beacon where it is wanted.

A beacon deployed with nothing delivered

Firing a beacon tube with no delivered program launches a default bio beacon, not the one you meant. If a job wants a SENSOR beacon, it has to be fabricated and delivered first - a recovered probe puts a round in the tube but carries no program.

Where materials come from

SALVAGE is the common raw material - reclaimed plate, wiring and parts.

Shoot open a wreck and collect the cache it leaves. Wrecks are left behind by destroyed ships, and opening one is worth doing even when it holds no upgrade.

Tow a salvage hulk to a refinery, where a mission provides one. The refinery pays in processed material as well as credits.

Buy it at a station market. This always works and is never a hunt, but it is the expensive route - scavenging is meant to be the cheap one.

A BIO SAMPLE is recovered from a dead space creature, and stations sell those too.

Check the cost before you fly

The Fabricate tab shows each recipe's cost next to how much you are carrying, so you can see what you are short of without guessing.