Welcome to Hellion colonist! This short guide will serve to help you get your bearings in the world of Hellion and extend your expected lifespan beyond the 15 minute mark.
What is known
- You have been sleeping for over a century.
- Initial colonization efforts proceeded as planned while you were asleep.
- At a certain point in time prior to your awakening the Hellion colonization project (also known as the Expedition) came to an abrupt halt due to still unknown factors.
- An armed conflict took place in the Hellion system.
- The fate of early Expedition personnel and the “Daedalus” flagship is unknown.
- Contact cannot be established with the UNE government or the corporate representatives of Altair Corporation, Skyline Defence Solutions and HADES Foundation.
- It is unclear if the distress signal was ever sent back to Sol.
- Odds of a rescue operation within the foreseeable future are close to zero.
- It is unknown how many other Expedition survivors are currently stranded in the Hellion system.
Waking up from a cryosleep can be a disorienting experience for seasoned veterans and new colonist alike, so take a moment to familiarize yourself with the interior of your Crew Quarters Module. Depending on your circumstances you might have to weather an orbital debris storm or two and repair your outpost before you can fully access all of its systems.
What to pay attention to
- Cryopod - always remember where you parked your character. Vacant cryopods in your base can be used by other survivors. Having a friend help you out is never a bad thing.
- Survival gear - always take a suit, a helmet and a full jetpack with you.
- Emergency equipment - fully loaded welder, fire extinguisher and a spare oxygen canister or two will greatly improve your odds of survival.
- Environmental monitors - check them out as they show you the current pressure, air quality and any problems that the station might be experiencing.
- Heads up Display - pay attention to your suits HUD at all times and watch out for hazards like fires, hull breaches and system malfunctions.
- Pressure hazards - in case of a hull breach or loss of atmosphere doors will not open automatically. Use manual override to open doors and make sure to grab onto the walls to avoid being knocked down or blown away by decompression.
- Main Systems - Power Supply, Life Support and Cargo are three main systems of any station.
- Power Supply Interface - allows you to manage different systems and balance out the base’s power output and consumption.
- Life Support Interface - provides air filtration and pressure regulation capabilities. All connected modules and their current status can be viewed from here.
- Cargo Interface - allows you to refuel your equipment as well as refine and manage vital resources necessary for survival. All connected modules, their system tanks and cargo holds can be accessed from this interface.
- Refinery - enables processing of raw materials into useful resources but consumes a lot of power while operational.
- Parts - provide massive bonuses for systems they are attached to and can greatly reduce system operating costs. Keep an eye out for higher tier parts and don’t be afraid to swap out parts from one system to the other depending on the situation.
Priority for any Expedition survivor should be to restore full life support capabilities to their outpost by repairing any hull breaches and damaged systems. In case you have to go out into EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) to repair any external hull breaches or malfunctioning solar panels you should remember the basics of navigation in zero gravity.
How to survive in the vacuum of space
- Airlocks - are the only modules that can be used to enter or exit a space station without venting precious atmosphere. Docking an airlock to your outpost is paramount for conserving resources.
- Decompression - occurs when atmosphere is vented into space. If you do not have access to a working airlock remember to use manual override to seal off corridors and sections of your base to minimize loss of atmosphere when going EVA.
- Jetpack - is the most important piece of space gear as it allows you to maneuver in the vacuum of space. Without a working jetpack you slowly quickly drift away and suffocate. Jetpack also contains your suits oxygen, power and fuel supply.
- Acceleration - occurs constantly while thrusting in any direction.
- Inertia - countering is vital to effectively move in the hard vacuum of space as all motion is perpetual since there is no air friction to slow you down. If you thrust forward for 3 seconds you will need to thrust backwards for 3 seconds in order to stop your movement.
- Fuel conservation - will help you survive for longer. Use inertia to your advantage when crossing large distances.
- Collision - in space can be extremely dangerous depending on the relative speed of two objects. Pay attention to your directional speed indicators and avoid colliding with other objects when moving faster than 5 m/s.
- Stabilize - your rotation by using jetpack or grab onto the hull of nearby modules to stop your motion.
By now you should have a solid grasp of your situation. Salvage what you can from the surrounding modules and start making preparations for moving your outpost from its current position as its orbit frequently passes through one of Bethyr’s debris fields. In order to accomplish this you will need to refine some resources, repair the ship outside of your outpost and learn the basics of ship navigation.
The ship functions much like your outpost having both the Power Supply and Life Support systems. In addition to two auxiliary solar panels the ship is also equipped with a small fusion reactor, powerful engines and a warp drive FTL (Faster Than Light) system. But before you access the pilot chair, make sure to authorize yourself as the ship’s captain using the security interface panel.
Due to immense distances between planets and moons most ships rely solely on FTL for travel between locations. While engines can be used to cross large distances they remain inferior to the warp drive.
Remember that your ship can only carry a single module at a time. In order to move your outpost to a safer location you will first need to detach individual modules by using docking levers inside the connecting corridors. Then grapple a detached module using the ships docking interface. Once a module is safely grappled by your ship you can start plotting a warp jump by using the NavMap.
Navigation and Scanning tips
- NavMap - shows your current orbit and position in the Hellion system.
- Ship scanner - is the only way to accurately locate distant objects. Scanner has a limited range so change your orbit and scan again from a different location.
- Locations - of nearby scanned objects will show as points of interest on your map along with their orbital trails.
- Derelicts - are ruined modules and an excellent source of equipment, parts and other gear.
- Modules - are the building blocks of space stations. They can be towed with your ship and docked to your outpost.
- Asteroids - can be mined for raw resources to replenish your fuel reserves, oxygen and other resources.
- Debris Fields - are large orbital zones filled with deadly shrapnel and derelict modules. Try to avoid them whenever possible. If you decide to enter one of these fields on purpose make sure your ship is in good condition and that you have sufficient resources for emergency repairs.
- Warp drive - maneuvers require warp cells and sufficient power in the ship’s capacitor to execute.
- Distance - plays an important role in setting up a maneuver and directly affects warp cell fuel consumption.
- Collision - with a planet or a moon will always be fatal so make sure the line connecting your current location and desired destination is clear of any planets/moons. You may need to adjust your departure and arrival times, or execute an additional warp maneuver to get clear.
- Interplanetary travel - requires an improved warp core also known as a “Singularity Cell Detonator”. Better cores will allow you to use faster warp.
- Planetary zones - all planets and moons belong to either Civilian, Industrial or Military zones. Each zone holds specific items, upgrades and modules.
After completing your first few warp maneuvers, mining some raw resources and looting a derelict or two you should be confident enough to deal with anything Hellion throws your way. Just remember to upgrade your systems with better parts when you find them and add additional modules to your outpost. The ship may have most of the systems to keep you alive but it will not allow you to refine raw resources. Same can be said about your starting outpost, although it has all of the systems necessary for survival they are inferior to specialized modules like a dedicated life support or a cargo bay refining system.
Finally never forget that you are not the only survivor out there. You will come across others. How you choose to interact with them is up to you but it never hurts to be armed appropriately or have a sentry or two to protect your station while you are away.
Good luck colonist! Let’s hope you won’t need it.