Player Help Archive:
All help articles available in-game via the 'help' command are displayed here. This list is frequently appended so if a wanted topic does not exist it is suggested that an in-game mail is sent to the *ideas board suggesting what topic is needed.Help on asteroids:
Asteroids are the remnants of the formation of solar systems and planets, and mostly consisting of rock, metal or ice.
Gas clouds are large volumes of dust or light elements and molecules such as hydrogen or helium, as well as more complex cellestial chemicals.
These ancient collections of material can be harvested to exploit the raw materials they contain, to do so requires specialised mining starships colloquially known as 'asteroid miners' which are equipt to harvest and process materials from asteroids. To gather latent energy or gas material from gas clouds requires after-market gas-harvesting equipment which is both not immediately available, and not documented and not packaged with standard crafting tools- you must find the assembly instructions yourself.
To mine from an asteroid, you need to navigate to it either manuaully using the 'FLY' command in the cockpit and then entering the X and Y coordinates of the asteroid or use the autopilot by entering 'AUTO' command and then entering part of the name of the asteroid (its identification string of four letters and three numbers is best for matching). Once you are at the asteroid's coordinates you need to orbit the asteroid by entering 'ORBIT name' where name is the identification string of the asteroid, once you have successfully entered orbit of the asteroid you can begin mining by entering 'Activate mining' which will activate your asteroid mining module. You will continue to mine until you enter the all-purpose 'STOP' command or until the asteroid is exhausted of resources or destroyed.
To use a gas harvesting module, orbit a gas cloud instead of an asteroid and enter 'ACTIVATE GAS HARV' which will match and activate the module.
Asteroids and gas clouds are usually composed of a single material, and can be exploited until they are too small or dilute to harvest further, in which case they will likely disperse into the void within some time.
As most solar systems are chaotic affairs with large planets and stars tugging on one another relentlessly, the uneasy nature of these collections of bodies tends to gather and fling asteroids and gas clouds in and out of the system, making these small collections of materials temporary residents at best, as a result asteroids and gas clouds will come and go regularly.
Asteroids bearing exotic materials are often small, having been formed as shrapnel from an impact between another asteroid and a young and thus molten metallic planet.
See also: resource, materials, harvest, ship, space