Locations are defined by a set of coordinates like the following:
3:233:5
The first number specifies the galaxy. The second number specifies the solar system. The third number specifies the planet location (“slot”) in the solar system. So in the above example, the location referred to is located in Galaxy 3, Solar System 233, Slot 5.
Hint: In a solar system, planet slot 1 is closest to the sun, while slot 15 is furthest from the sun. This is important later when deciding where to put your colonies. Hotter planets get more energy from each Solar Satellite, while colder planets can produce deuterium more efficiently. Average planet size (its number of available fields) also varies with slot location; slot 8 planets generally have a larger field count, while those closer or farther from the sun tend to be smaller.
As a new player, your planet is created and placed in the universe at random. It is given a default name, which you can change. You can also move your planets or destroy them (your home planet cannot be destroyed). To do this, select your planet in the Overview screen, and tap on the NAME of the planet, which initially is “Colony”. This will take you to the Planet Profile screen; from here, you can enter a new planet name, as well as move your planet or destroy (“Abandon”) it.
Type the new name in the “Rename” box and tap “Rename Planet”. Certain limitations may apply to length of name, spaces, special characters, etc. Do not use potentially offensive names or you will be asked to change them.
Rules for moving a planet:
In the Planet Profile screen, tap “Abandon Colony”.
After logging into the app and selecting the universe you wish to play, you will automatically be taken to the Overview screen for the last one of your planets you visited (your Home planet if this is a new game).
The upper section of Overview shows the name of the planet you are currently on, its coordinates, the number of fields (used/available), and temperature. It also shows your current points, the number of players currently online, and any current construction or research activity on the planet.
On the right of the Overview you will see an image of your planet; if you have a moon, the moon image is also shown, overlapping the planet image (to switch between Planet Overview and Moon Overview, tap the moon/planet image).
The lower portion of Overview lists all your other colony planets, their names and coordinates (planets that have moons will show a small moon image beside the planet). Below each planet you will see the current item being constructed there, or the word “idle” if no construction is being done.
The planets can be sorted in various ways depending on your personal Settings. Tapping on any of the planets listed here will switch to the Overview screen for that planet; this effectively “moves you” to that planet, and displays an Activity indicator there in the Galaxy view that may be seen by others.
Visible across the very top of most of the game screens is the Menu Bar. At the very left is the main menu button (opens the Main Menu). Spread across the rest of the Menu Bar is the Resource/Energy/Dark Matter display, showing how much metal, crystal, and deuterium you currently have on that planet; the planet’s current energy output; and the total amount of Dark Matter your empire currently possesses (only visible in portrait mode on some devices).
The second row of the Menu Bar shows (on the left) the name of the screen you are viewing, and (on the right) two buttons side by side: the Info Button “i”, which opens the Support Information screen (current game and universe information, and the Quick Start Guide), and the Messages Button (an envelope), which opens the Messages Screen. To switch universes, use the “Switch Universe” button in the Main Menu.
Tapping the resources or energy portion of the menu bar will take you to the Resources screen for that planet. Tapping the Dark Matter portion of the Menu Bar will take you to the Officers Screen.
Below the main Overview Menu Bar is the Flying Fleet Overview menu bar. On the right side of this bar is a numeric display (green/red) showing all incoming and outgoing fleets, including fleets from other players. Your own fleets are indicated by the first (green) number; fleets coming from another player are indicated by the second (red) number.
Hint: Pay attention to the red number, because incoming fleets may be hostile!
Tapping on the menu bar will open the Flying Fleet Overview screen, showing each fleet, a countdown arrival clock, the exact date and time of arrival, and a description of its mission. Transport, Deploy, and Recycle missions are displayed in green; Hold missions are grey; Spy missions are gold; Moon Destroy missions are yellow. Note: Incoming Attack and Spy missions (hostile) are red. ACS missions (your own, or enemy incoming) are white.
Tapping on any fleet expands the view to show the specific ship types and their cargo, both legs of their journey (outbound and return, if applicable). The amount of detail available for hostile incoming Attack fleets is determined by your level of Espionage Technology.
Hint: you cannot recall your fleets from this screen, only from the Flying Fleet Detail screen (Main Menu › Fleet).
(See also Fleets > Missions)
This shows the details for resource and energy production on your current planet. All mines, power plants and solar satellites are displayed, and the percentage of their output can be controlled by adjusting the dropdown list to the right. Decreasing the percentage of mine output will reduce energy usage.
Note: to apply any changes in output, you must tap the “recalc” button.
Storage Capacity is displayed for each of your resources. Once your capacity is reached, the mines for that resource will shut down until more storage facilities are built, or some of the existing resource is used up.
The Main Menu is your gateway to all the other main game screens. To open it, tap the main menu button in the upper-left corner of the Overview or any other top-level screen. The menu lists Overview, Production, Fleet, Galaxy, Alliance, Statistics, Communication, Officers, Settings, Empire, and TechTree, followed by a “Switch Universe” button and a “Close” button.
Note: Some screens have a “Back” button at the top left instead of the main menu button; tap it to return to the previous screen.
Open the Main Menu (upper-left button) and tap Production. This is where you will construct anything on your planet as well as initiate research projects.
The Production Screen has 4 tabs, and each tab has multiple things you can produce.
Note: Any items which are “grey” are currently unavailable for production; you must first “unlock” that item by building or researching something else (see The Game Interface > Main Menu > TechTree Screen).
Also, every item in the Production Screen has an “Info” button (a small letter i) in the lower right corner of its icon; tap this to get more detailed information on that item.
From the Main Menu, tap Fleet. Allows you to select and launch fleets of spacecraft on various missions, view details of fleets currently flying, recall outbound fleets, and open the Combat Simulator.
The Flying Fleet Detail menu bar at the top of this screen shows the number of fleets you currently have flying and the maximum available fleet slots. Tapping this menu bar opens the Flying Fleet Detail Screen, showing each fleet, a countdown arrival clock, the exact date and time of arrival, a “return” button to recall that fleet before it reaches its destination, and a description of its mission. Transport, Deploy, and Recycle missions are displayed in green; Hold missions are grey; Spy missions are gold; Moon Destroy missions are yellow. ACS missions are white.
Hint: the Flying Fleet Detail screen only shows your own fleets, NOT incoming fleets from another player; to see a brief overview of all fleets headed to any of your planets, see The Game Interface > Overview Screen > Flying Fleet Overview Menu.
To launch a fleet
Hint: By default, your current location coordinates are listed. If sending to another one of your planets, skip to the bottom of the Send Fleet screen and select your planet/moon from the “My Planets” dropdown list.
If you are sending this fleet to join another fleet in an ACS (joint attack) mission, skip to the bottom of the Send Fleet screen and select the ACS invitation button shown below “Group Attack”.
You will now see the Flying Fleet Detail screen, showing the details of the mission in flight. Tap the mission to expand the details. Tap “Return” to recall the fleet before it reaches its destination.
Combat Simulator
From the Main Menu, tap Fleet. At the bottom of the screen, tap the grey Simulate button to open the Combat Simulator. Fill in the details in the Attacker and Defender columns, scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap Simulate. This will generate a simulated battle report with predicted results. If you ran the simulation from a Spy Report, the Defender column is auto-filled with the spy report data, and you will have the option to launch an attack after running the simulation.
Hint: because battle results always vary, it is a good idea to run the simulation multiple times to get an average result.
Recalling Fleets
One of the most important features of the game is the ability to recall a fleet before it reaches its destination. Tapping on any fleet expands the view to allow you to recall outbound fleets. It also shows the specific ship types and their cargo, and both legs of their journey (outbound and return, if applicable).
Recalling a mission before it has reached the target will always return it in the same amount of time it has already spent flying. So, if a fleet has already been flying for 4:05:23 when it is recalled, the fleet will take 4:05:23 to return to its point of origin, making a total flight time of 8:10:46 for the fleet. Recalling a mission will therefore alter its original return time. Recalled Deploy missions also do not appear on a phalanx report (see also Buildings > Sensor Phalanx; Fleets > Missions > Moon Destroy; Fleets > Fleetsaving)
(See also Fleets > Missions)
From the Main Menu, tap Galaxy. This displays the solar system for your current planet. At the top is displayed the Galaxy Number, and the System Number. You can view other solar systems by changing these numbers and tapping the “Go” button (a small amount of deuterium is required).
The Galaxy screen lists all the orbital positions (or “slots”) beginning with the closest to the sun (slot 1) down to the farthest (slot 15). Occupied slots display a planetary image and the following:
Tapping a planet image opens the Planet Profile screen, with some additional information and option buttons:
Activity Indicator - A star (an asterisk, *) is shown next to the planet’s name if there has been activity there within the last ten minutes. After ten minutes and up to fifty-nine minutes, the actual time since last activity is displayed next to the planet’s name. After one hour of inactivity, the indicator disappears. Any activity that “refreshes” the planet Overview will cause an activity indicator.
Hint: Virtually no activity on a moon will trigger an activity timer, including refreshing its Overview.
Refreshing the Overview
The Overview of a planet or moon is “refreshed”, or updated to its latest/most current state, in a number of ways:
From the Main Menu, tap Alliance. If you are a member of an alliance, your alliance home page is displayed. Depending on the member rights you’ve been assigned by the alliance leader, you can view a list of members, manage alliance features and settings, and send circular messages to all alliance members (see Alliances).
Hint: If permitted to manage the alliance, you can add an image and public text that others will see when visiting your Alliance Home Page. The Alliance Image will also be visible in the Galaxy view if someone taps on an alliance member’s planet.
From the Main Menu, tap Statistics. Provides stats on individual players, alliances, and the game in general. The Statistics screen is divided into 4 tabs:
Note: Statistics are not instant, but are updated periodically. The date of the last update is listed at the top of the screen.
From the Main Menu, tap Communication. There are 4 tabs to choose from:
(see Forums, Chat and Messages)
From the Main Menu, tap Officers. Allows you to hire Officers, purchase Dark Matter, and use the Trader at the Scrap Yard. There are 3 tabs to choose from:
From the Main Menu, tap Settings. Allows you to:
From the Main Menu, tap Empire. A dynamic spreadsheet that shows all your planets and moons across the top row, with rows showing their total energy, resources, debris, cargo capacity, buildings, ships, defenses, and technology levels.
From the Main Menu, tap TechTree. Provides a comprehensive list of every building, technology, ship and defensive unit, and the prerequisite construction or research levels required to “unlock” it. Requirements that you have met are shown in green; requirements not met are shown in red.
Hint: you can tap the name of any item listed to open the “info” screen containing detailed information about that item.