This is the connection screen. First time players will need to click on the "New Account" button. It will launch your web browser and take you to the Star Sonata registration page. You will need to register before playing. The account will also be your Star Sonata forum account. The name you use for your account does not necessarily have to be the name of your player character.
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After logging in successfully the Character Selection sreen appears in place of the login screen. The pulldown on the left allows you to choose an existing character. Here the character "moooster" is selected. First time players will need to enter a name and click the "Create Character" button.
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Here we are in the universe. That's your ship in the middle. You know it's yours since there's no name under it, and it always stays right in the middle of the screen. That odd squiggly green thing with a purple tail and tentacles is a space rat -- a pathetic species of space vermin fit only for extermination.
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Try flying your ship a little. Hit the 'W' key to accelerate, and 'A' and 'D' to turn. The autopilot can prove extremely useful to new players: right-click somewhere on your ship for it to take it there. This requires some patience as the ship's navigational system gets oriented, but it will get you there.
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This first galaxy we've joined is a special tutorial galaxy, where we give you the chance to hone your fighting skills on the lowly space rat. Target one of the rats by clicking on it. You'll see two blue circles surrounding it: this signifies it's your current target. In this game, you have to specifically target something to fire on it. Now, point your ship toward the rat and hit the space bar. Here you can see a blast from my Ion Peashooter about to collide with the rat.
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When you've had enough of rat killing (5 should level you up, which we recommend), it's time to head to the next tutorial galaxy. Let's find a wormhole, which is a naturally occuring phenomenon that allows intergalactic travel. Examine your radar, which should look similar to this picture. There will be a dark blue blob somewhere on it, which signifies a wormhole. Click on it, and you'll see a blue circle around it both in the radar and onscreen, if you're close enough.
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Once the wormhole is selected, you'll see it appear in your target area to the left. The red arrow indicated the direction you have to fly to intercept your target. You can fly with the control keys like before, or you can hit 'V' to go there on autopilot.
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Once you arrive at the wormhole, hit 'F' to jump to a new galaxy.
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This is one kind of space station. There are many different types in the known universe, but you will soon learn the common ones. Let's fly over to it and dock by hitting 'R'.
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Once you dock, you'll see a screen like this pop up. Click over to Trade, and then click on Commodity. Commodities are trade goods, whose prices fluctuate from station to station, and especially galaxy to galaxy. You can make a lot of money by finding a good trade route with a nice price differential. In this station, Microchips are a bargain at 90 credits. I'm going to buy 11 of them, the most I can afford with my thousand credits.
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Let's leave this station by hitting the big Undock button in the upper-right corner of the station window. There's another space station in the galaxy where we can sell these Microchips. It looks like this. Move over to it and dock by pressing 'R'.
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Over on the trade screen of this space station, we can see that Microchips are selling for 202 -- a nice profit. Let's sell all we've got. There's some Silicon for sale here, and it's for a cheap price. We can buy some, then take it back to the first station to sell it. This is the best kind of trade route, where you can move goods in both directions. Of course, out in the real world, finding a good trade route is a little harder than this! But that's where the Commodities Record screen can help you.
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Once you've gone back and forth a few times, you'll have enough money to upgrade some of your equipment. You can start with a better weapon. The Pulse Gun packs more whallop than the Peashooter, surprisingly enough. Dock at any station (basic gear is available at all), then click over to Weapon. Click on the Ion Peashooter to select it. Hit the Sell button.
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Click on the Pulse Gun, then click the buy button. Assuming you've got enough cash, it will appear on your equipment list like the picture below. Notice the image in the EQUIP column. The Pulse Gun is equipped, which is what you want. The game will automatically equip new gear you bought if there's no other of that type already being used. If you bought the Pulse Gun before selling the Peashooter, however, you'll need to manually equip it by double-clicking on it.
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When you think you're ready to brave the realworld, just exit this galaxy through the other wormhole. This tutorial should have given you a good starting point. Now it's time to explore!
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Tutorial