Explanation of UI and some basic hot keys.
Quick Start
0-9: Toggles your weapons for the first 10
Left Ctrl + 0-9: Toggles your weapons for 11-20
T: Lock Nearest Target, same as the lock icon on the right side of the UI
Y: Unlock current target
F: Ship to travel in at full speed the direction its facing. Same as the Full Speed button on the right side of the UI
V: Stops ship movement. Same as All Stop button on the right side of the UI
B: Evasive
G: Approach
U: Toggles UI
;(semi-colon): Follow
[ (left bracket): Target Previous (Multi Active)
] (right bracket): Target Next (Multi Active)
I: Toggle indicator
O: Toggle damage indicators
R: Re-center camera
A: Rotate left (manual mode)
D: Rotate right (manual mode)
K: Photo mode
C: Take screenshot
Galactic Map – Solar System
Ships start their journey at Sol
You can switch your spaceship only while you’re docked at Sol. You can’t switch ships anywhere else, so be sure to do this before you travel elsewhere
Click on “Loadouts” on the left-side menu to view your ships
Select a ship to modify its loadout
Once your ship and loadout are set, undock, and start exploring!
Movement
Movement in CSC is similar to point-and-click games
Double Left click an area to direct your ship or left click and drag
Right click and drag to adjust the game’s camera
You can also enable manual mode to use A and D to direct your ship. And F to enable sublight and V to Stop
Scroll up or down to adjust the zoom level
Game UI
Ship stats
At the top left of the screen, you’ll see your ship’s stats:
HP
Armor (If you have armor enabled)
Shields
At the bottom right of the screen, you’ll see your current power usage
Keep an eye on this when engaged in battle, as power usage will start to increase and potentially overload when abused
Modules
Your equipped modules are shown at the bottom of the screen
Activate them by clicking on each icon while engaged in combat. Or use the hotkeys. They will be greyed out when they are not in range
You’ll see a green dot at the top right corner of each icon when they’re activated
Activating modules will begin to affect your power usage, so control output wisely
Ship Toggles
The cube icon represents your cargo. Clicking it will open your inventory to show acquired resources
The sunlight icon allows you to toggle your ship’s explorer beams
This helps for darker areas or uncovering hidden items
The lock icon allows you to hone in on another ship and modify your ship’s movement around that target
The target icon similarly determines movement of ship
Toggling it on (orange) drops a waypoint of where ship the will automatically move
Toggling it off will allow you to pilot the ship manually
Toggling Slip Stream allows a turbo boost of ship movement for a limited time
Toggling Full Speed autopilots in the direction clicked
Clicking All Stop puts a halt on everything
Sliders
Defense adjusts shield power
Offense adjusts how fast weapons can shoot
Engine adjusts how fast your ship moves
It’s possible to max out all three sliders, but this will have significant impact on your power usage
Sector Map
The sector map can be seen at the top right of the screen
It displays the radius around the ship, revealing nearby ships or asteroids
Click on the + and – buttons to zoom in and out
Toggle the ship icon to change the camera view on your currently selected target
Clicking on the map itself will also allow you to return to the main system through the Exit System button
Mining
To mine an asteroid, fly nearby and target it by hitting left-click. Then, select the mining laser module. You’ll be able to see mined ore in your logs, as well as in your cargo. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find some Trilite!
Combat – The Big Bad!
You can right click to determine how the ship navigates around the enemy NPC
Approach
Follow
Orbit
Evasive
Untrack
This is also where you can toggle your active modules and ship output and where you should monitor your ship’s stats and power usage
You’ll notice your HP, armor health, and shield health begin to deplete when hit. Shields regenerate. Armor does not. You’ll also notice damage dealt and damage received in your Logs, so keep an eye on that too.