FAQ

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Getting Started
Q: I have no idea what I'm doing in survival mode! What should I be worried about first?

A: The Survival Best Practice (Guide) will get you started, whether you're on Akua (temperate planet) or Omicron (desert planet with no oxygen).

Vital Stats
Q: What are my vital stats?

A: In order as listed on the HUD:
 * Health: a measure of your overall health (if at 0, you're dead). Can be replenished by some types of Food and and.
 * Food: a measure of your hunger (if at 0, you take starvation damage). Can be replenished by Food.
 * Oxygen: a measure of how much oxygen you have to breath (if at 0, you take suffocation damage). Can be replenished by, and at powered Oxygen Station (CV,BA)/Oxygen Station (SV,HV)s supplied with Oxygen Bottles.
 * Stamina: a measure of your endurance (if at 0, you cannot run). Can be replenished by standing still (~25/sec), and by some types of Food.

Using/Eating Items
Q: How do I eat/use items?

A: Open your inventory (default 'I') and drag an item from it into one of the squares in your hotbar (the vertical bar to the left of your HUD). Close your inventory, select the square containing the item, and left-click.

Getting Food
Q: How do I get food?

A: You start the game with a few, which will refill your hunger bar completely; however, you will not be able to craft more until much later in the game. You can collect food from Flora growing on the planet surface, from dead Fauna, or you can grow it yourself (see Farming (Guide)). Many types of Food can be crafted into more advanced foods using the Food Processor.

Caution: some Flora may be poisonous (decreasing your health) when you eat them, even while restoring some of your food bar. Always check the info panel for an item (to the right of your inventory) before eating it!

Getting Oxygen
Q: How do I get oxygen?

A: The Escape Pod contains a few Small Oxygen Bottles, which can be consumed (like food) to restore 25 oxygen each. For long-term oxygen production, place the O2 Generator in water or ice, and power it with Fuel Pack (Promethium) ; the generator will output one Oxygen Bottle every 120 seconds real time, which can be crafted into more Small Oxygen Bottle (though this is inefficient), or placed in a Small Oxygen Tank/Large Oxygen Tank on a structure that has a powered Oxygen Station (CV,BA) (or an Oxygen Tank on a vessel that has a powered Oxygen Station (SV,HV)).

Crafting
Q: How do I craft items?

A: You must use some kind of constructor, commonly either the Survival Constructor that you start with, or a Large Constructor attached to a Base or Capital Vessel. Open the constructor's inventory (default 'T') to place raw materials in it, and look at construction recipes. To construct an item, left-click it, and it will be added to the construction queue. When the constructor is turned on (via the power toggle in the upper right), it will construct each item in the queue if it has the resources to do so (skipping items that it cannot currently construct).

Open Wound, Bite, Food Poisoning
Q: Something bit me and I'm losing health! How do I remove this effect?

A: There are a number of Medicines available to counteract effects you may be afflicted with. A summary:


 * treats Bite
 * treats Open Wound
 * treats Food Poisoning
 * treats Alien Parasite
 * heals you and treats Open Wound and Food Poisoning
 * heals you and treats Open Wound, Food Poisoning, and Bite

There are also a few types of plants you can collect (depending on the planet) that have medicinal properties.

Placing Blocks
Q: How do I know where I can place blocks?

A: Most blocks have colored dots on them, corresponding to the four structure types:


 * BA = Base (Color Code: Orange Dots)
 * HV = Hover Vessel (Color Code: Blue Dots)
 * SV = Small Vessel (Color Code: Green Dots)
 * CV = Capital Vessel (Color Code: Yellow Dots)

Hovering over a block in your inventory will give additional information about where it can be placed.

Removing Blocks
Q: How do I remove blocks or flora?

A: In general, blocks can only be removed in survival mode using a Remove & Repair Tool: select the tool, then left-click on a block until it is removed. The components used to make the block will appear in your inventory (make sure you have space!). Note that at present, removing containers with items inside them will cause those items to be lost!

If the block is part of a structure that you don't own, then you can destroy it with Weapons (but you don't receive its components) or find and destroy the Core (Alien) that is controlling it in order to use the Remove & Repair Tool.

Flora can be removed using the Drill.

Mining
Q: How do I find and mine more resources?

A: Resource deposits are highlighted on your HUD and map automatically when you come within 500m of them. To mine a resource, switch to the Drill and hold down either mouse button while pointing at the terrain. Resource deposits tend to be about 10 meters below the surface, and will start dropping resource items for pickup (default 'T') once you start mining the deposit itself.

Q: Is there a quicker way to drill?

A: You can always craft a higher grade drill, which will not only yield resources faster but it will also drop them directly into your inventory. Alternatively, you can also equip a Hover Craft or a Capital Vessel with drills/drill turrets which require a Resource Cargo Box to function properly. Once succesfully assembled, your craft will have the ability to either mine resources in planets or in meteors, care is recomended when using a HV with drills attached so as to avoid digging downwards causing your vehicle to become stuck in a tunel.

Q: How deep can I drill and can I find other hidden resources there?

A: Currently, you are somewhat limited in how deep you can drill as you will run into a very thick stone layer and your efforts will not result in new resources being discovered. At present, resources are discovered near the surface and displayed on your HUD when you get within a couple hundred meters of them in the air or on the ground. You are welcome to drill and explore anywhere you like but keep in mind that resources will be close to the surface.

Powering Structures
Q: How do I power my Base/Hover Vessel/Small Vessel/Capital Vessel?

A: You must construct some kind of generator (Small Generator or Large Generator for Base/Capital Vessel or Generator for Hover Vessel/Small Vessel) and place it on the structure, along with a fuel tank (Small Fuel Tank or Large Fuel Tank for Base/Capital Vessel, or Fuel Tank for Hover Vessel/Small Vessel). Then place Fuel Pack (Promethium) in the fuel tank and turn on the structure (default 'Y'). For Hover Vessel/Small Vessel, you need to enter the cockpit first before turning on the vessel.

Inventory Management
Q: How do I efficiently manage all my stuff?

A: Some inventory management techniques:


 * [SHIFT]-left-click on a stack moves the whole stack from one panel to another. This is an easy way to rapidly refuel a Fuel Tank or move items into or out of a constructor.
 * Right-click on a stack splits it and picks up half the items.
 * Right-click with a held stack puts down one item.
 * [SHIFT]-left-click on a constructor recipe places 10 of that recipe in the queue instead of one.

Removing Items from a Queue
Q: How do I remove unwanted items from a construction queue?

A: You must first switch off the constructor (set the power toggle to 'Off' in the upper right of the constructor's inventory). Then you can left-click on items in the queue to remove them.

Farming
Q: How do I grow food?

A: See the Farming (Guide).

Cannot place this block on terrain!
Q: Why can't I place any blocks?

A: Blocks can only be placed on structures (like a Base or Small Vessel). If you don't have a structure yet, then you need to make a starting block for the structure, like Base Starter. Once you have placed a starting block you can add more blocks to it.

Cannot place this block on base!
Q: Why can't I place a block on my base?

A: Some types of blocks cannot be placed on a Base. See Placing Blocks for more details. Note that a few items cannot be placed on any structure, and must be placed directly on the ground. These are:
 * O2 Generator
 * Water Generator
 * H2O2 Generator
 * Work Light
 * Work Light 2

Food and Oxygen
Q: Do I need food or oxygen in creative mode?

A: No. Your vital stats will not diminish while in creative mode.

Resource Gathering
Q: Do I need to mine and craft blocks while playing in creative mode?

A: No! Just open the creative mode inventory by pressing the 'H' button. This inventory can be sorted, searched and filtered as well.

Filtering Blocks
Q: How can I select just blocks that can go on a specific structure type?

A: You can filter the available blocks by clicking on the base/vessel icon on top of the creative mode inventory (press 'H' to open the creative mode inventory).

Removing Blocks (Creative)
Q: How can I remove blocks in creative mode?

A: While holding another block in your hand (currently equipped item,) place the block against the block you wish to remove and right click to remove it. Smaller blocks such as lights, elevators and the like can be more difficult to remove on the first try as the UI "targets" what the player looks at. With some practice, you will be a block surgeon in no time!

You can also use the Remove & Repair Tool (as in survival mode); pay attention to where the tool is pointing, as unintentional secondary damage can occur to other blocks. This is a known issue and should be fixed soon.

Escape Pod
Q: Can I repair the Escape Pod?

A: No. This was possible in earlier versions of the game, but is no longer possible.

Q: Can I salvage parts from the Escape Pod?

A: No. This was possible in earlier versions of the game, but is no longer possible.

Note: It's generally best for long term survival to build a small base first to ensure that you have a Large Constructor there. See the Survival Best Practice (Guide) Guide for further help.

MSV Titan
Q: Can I repair the crashed Capital Vessel, "MSV Titan" on Akua?

A: You cannot make it fly, as it is classed as a Base rather than a Capital Vessel. However, you could turn it into your base by adding a Core (Player) block, or just salvage valuable parts of it using the Remove & Repair Tool. There are also many containers in it to loot.

Q: Can I dismantle the crashed Capital Vessel, "MSV Titan?"

A: Yes, you can. Though it took a hell of a beating as it plummeted from the heavens to it's final resting place you may find a few good things to salvage that are worth your time and the cost of R&R Charges. It terms of salvaging priority for all things you may encounter, try to find more complex items such as cores, oxygen tanks, weapons, doors, lights, etc. By focusing on more complex items you will get more out of a salvage operation for your time and resources invested.

Capturing Structures
Q: How do I capture a station, outpost or non-player faction structure?

A: Find the Core (Alien) or Core (Player) block and destroy it, replacing it with your own factions' core block.

Capital Vessel and Planets
Q: Is it possible to enter a planet with a Capital Vessel? A: Yes, however fuel requirements will be much greater and some vessels may strain their bottom thrusters attempting to stay leveled in a high-gravity enviorment, so keep these factors present lest you scuttle your ship.

Renaming
Q: How can I rename my structure?

'A: Open the Structure/Vessel Control Menu by pressing 'P'. Sometimes you need to be inside the Vessel (cockpit) or Structure to change the name. You will see the Name Entry Field in the "Overall Status" section in the lower right hand corner of the window frame. Type the new name or edit the existing name and press [ENTER] to save it.

Thrusters and Top Speed
Q: If I add more Thrusters to my vessel, will this raise the top speed?

A: No. But you will reach top speed faster at the cost of more fuel. Currently, top speed in space is around 110 m/s and atmospheric flight is limited to around 60 m/s. The Hover Vessel is limited to 50 m/s.

Building Under Vessels
Q: How can I build below my Hover Vessel or Small Vessel?

A: At the moment, the best practice is to dig a hole or build something like a platform. Alternately, if you add a generator, fuel tank, cockpit and a few thrusters to your vessel, you can power it on and leave it hovering a few meters off the ground, allowing you to build underneath it. You will need thrusters in each direction (four for the hover vessel, small vessels need an additional thruster for lift) to keep it from drifting under power.

Change Game Mode
Q: Is it possible to change a creative game to survival (and back)?

A: Short answer: not currently. Long answer: there is a method but it is not recommended as it can cause ill effects for certain blocks under certain conditions; this feature is planned for a future release.

Change FOV
Q: Is it possible to change the Field-of-View (FOV)?

A: Yes, in graphic option

Change to Third-Person
Q: Is it possible to switch to third-person view?

A: By default, 'V' switches between first- and third-person view. You may move the camera while holding [ALT].

Volume-filling Oxygen
Q: Does oxygen fill up a room/Do I need to make the rooms in my Base fully sealed?

A: Not currently, but this is a planned feature.

Change Structure Mode
Q: Is it possible to turn a Small Vessel into a Capital Vessel, or a Base into a Capital Vessel or Small Vessel?

A: Currently no.

Planet/Orbit Loading Screen
Q: Is there a loading screen when entering/leaving a planet?

A: No, but currently there is a short change-over effect which will be removed in a future release.

Q: Can make a base under the Lakes/Water?

A: Yes you dig under the water and the water stays floating in the air and you can breve under there.

Mule Milk
Q: Where do I get Mule Milk?

A: Head over to Akua or Ningues (the ice planet) and harvest it from Lizard Mules.

Promethium Ore
Q: Is there any way to collect Promethium Ore beside mining?

A 1 : Desert Golems (found on Omicron) when killed will usually drop some Promethium Ore. These creatures may be slow, but they are very resilient and the resources expended in killing just one usually far outweighs the energy content of the Promethium Ore that they drop. They are really only a last resort for survival as it is better to raid alien outposts, hunt Drones and/or search for crashed derelicts with cargo boxes to loot.

'''A 2: Yes fly to a trading station in space or on the planet. If in Multiplayer you could probably arrange a trade?'''

Water/Oxygen for Plants
Q: Is water/oxygen required for plants plants to grow?

A: Not at present. See Farming (Guide) for more information about farming.

Base Attacks
Q: Will Non Player Characters attack my Base?

A: At present, Drones will attack player structures and vessels. Fauna will not actively attack a player structure or vessel but can/will chase a player onto a structure or vessel.

Tip : Dig under the base and use rocket launcher or explosives or both. Then fill some space. Jump up and down to clear the base. Then jump on the bottom floor. Have a base core on you and POW their base is yours now.

Questions not answered
How can the host change the weight carry weight without using the false option to carry as much as you like?

Can you edit a file to increase the characters carry limit?

When you dig under the water, why does the water not go down after you dig?

Can make a base under the Lakes/Water?

How come players are not making a mod to increase the ship speed?

Is there a way to remove radiation from certain blocks? Fuel, generator ( make not hot ), core?

When placing a item, Why does it not show the area of effect if it is has radiation?