Star Citizen Planetary Landing Guide

This is a step by step tutorial for new Star Citizens: how to find the ship retrieval consoles, how to get to a destination and everything in between.

This article is a condensed version
of the Guide to the Galaxy website.

Ready Player One

Stanton is the first complete solar system created in Star Citizen. The cities and largest outposts are marked in blue.

Essential Keyboard Controls

Note: The movement keys are detailed in the ‘start’ sections of the following guide but the screenshot keys are only shown in this section.

Avatar Controls

• Movement
  • H – Get out of bed/chair
  • W,A,S,D – forward, left, back, right
  • Mouse Wheel – increase/decrease walking speed
• Interaction
  • F+mouse – Highlight interactive item (F), and interact (left mouse button)
  • F – Invoke default action on an interactive item
  • F1 – Toggle mobiGlass
  • F2 – Toggle system map
  • T – Torch
• Position
  • CTRL – Toggle crouch
  • X – Toggle lay down

Ship Controls

• Start / Stop
  • R – Flight ready on/off
  • U – Power on/off
  • Y – Exit seat/bed/eject
• Landing / Lift Off
  Note: Disengage Cruise Control C to stop forward movement
  • LEFT CTRL – Ship down
  • SPACE – Ship up
  • N – Raise/lower landing gear
  • N+hold – autoland on a pad (flight serviced pad only)
• Movement
  • W, A, S, D – forwards, left, backward, right
  • Q, E – Roll ship left/right
  • Mouse Wheel – Set speed limit
    (minimum value is greater than 0)
  • C – Cruise control locks forward speed to the limiter
  • V – Flight assist on/off
  • SHIFT – Afterburner
  • X – Space brake
  • T – Lights
• Quantum Travel
  • B – Spool hyperdrive / Show location markers
  • B (long press) – Engage hyperdrive

Ship Control Notes:

1. When Cruise Control (CC) is engaged, a small arrow appears next to the speed limit line on the HUD.
2. CC locks the forward speed to the limiter and the lowest value is greater than zero. Tip: don’t use CC in confined areas! Instead press+hold the direction keys while adjusting the desired speed with the limiter using the mouse wheel.
3. Use V to decouple the ship from Flight Assist, especially during flight or fight.
4. You can spool the hyperdrive while it is being calibrated. If you are close to the target, spooling will happen automatically.

Engine Heating Notes:

It used to be common for engines to overheat and shut down. You can delay this with the following

• Turn off cruise control C before a quantum jump
• Boost your engines using the shields/engines/guns energy triangle or F5
• Overclock an engine

To overclock an engine, use the F key and mouse wheel to zoom in on your cockpit multifunction displays (MFDs) then press some buttons to find the energy triangle and engine controls. The engine will have an overclocking button next to it.

Screenshot Controls

• PRINT SCREEN saves a screenshot to C:\Program Files\Roberts Space Industries\StarCitizen\LIVE\screenshots
• F12 – Toggle comms chat panel to remove from the screenshot
• Z – Toggle freelook
• F4 – Change view between 1st & 3rd person
• 3rd person camera controls:
  • F4+PGUP/PGDN – move the camera up/down
  • F4+Left/Right arrow – move the camera left/right
  • F4+Up/Down arrow – zoom in/out
  • F4+Home/End – blur/focus
  • F4+Numpad +/- – narrow/wide field of view (lens type)
  • F4+Z – toggle orbit cam
  • F4+Numpad * – reset to the previous view

VoiceAttack for Star Citizen

You can download a starter profile for the VoiceAttack voice control software >>here<<

Printable Keyboard Controls

My present to you Citizen! o7
Flight, Foot, Screenshot & Emote controls
Now including VoiceAttack commands

Emotes

Emotes are hand signals and body language that can be triggered by key binds or chat commands in-game. Open the chat window and typing a selected command as ‘/command’.

Practical Emotes

I have selected the most useful emotes to use in a small reminder sheet. Click on the following image to get a full-sized version, or download the Star Citizen Controls PDF file.

The Full Emotes List

Here is an amalgamation of Emotes that I have gathered from previous years and I have also verified them.

If you have any more emotes not listed you can send them in via the contact page. The command ‘/stand’ may have worked once, but is no longer valid. Instead, simply move forward.

Key Binds for Emotes

CIG devs have made a set of bound keys in:
Options > Keybindings > advanced controls > Social – emotes

Solo Ship Guide

If you are flying around on your lonesome, you’ll need the Solo Ship Guide to make the best use of free-fly weekends and test waves.

You can get some instant buds by joining an organisation – find the FAQ here then take a look at the available organisations here. A redacted organisation membership prevents others from knowing which organisation you are in. A Hidden membership hides your organisation from all. To create an organisation, look here.

Preparation

Save Disk Space

Instead of having a Live and PTU version of the game, move the Data.p4k file to the directory you are going to use:

• C:\Program Files\Roberts Space Industries\StarCitizen\Live\
• C:\Program Files\Roberts Space Industries\StarCitizenPTU\Live\

Run the Game Launcher

Run the game launcher and sign in to Star Citizen.

To check for game updates manually open the Settings tab and press the Verify button to check and update.

If you update, you should delete the USER folder whichever of these two locations is applicable (normally just the first one):

• C:\Program Files\Roberts Space Industries\StarCitizen\Live\USER
• C:\Program Files\Roberts Space Industries\StarCitizenPTU\Live\USER

Launch the game

The start screen gives you access to the modules you have bought: Universe, Star Marine and Arena Commander. Choose the Universe option.

Character Customisation allows you to design your avatar – you might be taken to it automatically, or else you can find the button on the lower right of the screen.

After customisation, return to the Universe screen and continue.

• Select Spaceport > Stanton System
• In the Stanton System dialogue, choose Region > Best
• Click Visit Location.

If the game crashes during the loading sequence, it’s because you need to change your system’s Page File settings as described in ‘Prevent Potential Game Crashes’.

After the game loads it’s useful to alter your options to run the game in ‘Windowed Mode’ – that way you can easily detach from it using ALT+TAB key combination and do other things with the PC as necessary. It takes 10+ minutes to travel across the solar system, for example.

Starting Point Guides

The game starts with you waking up in Hab unit bed, looking upward. Press H to get out of bed for a better view of your starting point. Find an image below that matches your display and click on it to find a guide that will get you from the hab unit to the landing pads and hangars.

Common Tasks

How to Use Lifts

The control panels for lifts may have more destination options than can be made visible in the space available. To find a destination, use the F key to highlight the lift panel and scroll the mouse wheel to move the list of destinations up and down.

For example, at the Aspire Grand on Microtech, the Lobby option will initially be out of sight. To bring it into view use the scroll wheel first and then you can point at the Lobby option and left-click it using the mouse cursor.

Access the Ship Retrieval Consoles

Press F+mouse to interact with a Fleet Management console. Select your ship and press the Retrieve button to summon it.

If Your Ship Isn’t Available

If you lost your ship in a game crash you can use insurance to get a new one: press the Claim button and then Pay Expedited Fee to cut the wait time down to the minimum. You can log out or select a different ship if you don’t want to wait.

The ship you receive via insurance will be a new one from the factory, so it won’t retain any customisations you may have made.

At the end of the claim sequence, you will have to press the retrieve button to deliver it to the landing pad.

Board the Ship via the Landing Pad

Once the ship has arrived, the console will tell you what landing pad to look for. Check the signs on the walls around you for the correct direction to go.

The path may take you through an airlock that you will interact with twice to get through, using F+Mouse.

You will see a small blue indicator that shows the position of your ship. You can use that to confirm you are going in the right direction.

Find the ship, climb in (F+mouse) and get into the cockpit (F+mouse). Approach your ship and use F+mouse to highlight the entrance and enter the ship.

If you don’t know how the ships are constructed, getting inside can be a problem. The places to check, depending on the size and shape of the ship are:

• The rear may have a drop-down ramp
• The side might have a wide door
• The underneath might have a hatch.
• The cockpit may have a ladder. So far this has always been on the left-hand side from the pilot’s point of view.
• If you get any kind of a highlighting response check around the immediate vicinity as well as the thing you think is the hatch, sometimes the highlight is triggered because you are right next to it.

Use F+mouse to select and enter the cockpit chair. From the cockpit use F+mouse to select Flight Ready or press R

When Flight Ready is selected, the power comes on and engines are engaged. Ensuring your mouse cursor is centred so the ship remains level, press SPACE to go upwards away from the platform.

Switch out of precision flying mode to SCM mode by pressing N to raise the landing gear and increase speed.

Exit Via Hanger Roof

Go to your ship and find the entrance by highlighting it with the F+Mouse key then entering. When you are seated in the cockpit, use F+Mouse to set the power to Flight Ready.

You will have to contact the Landing Services to open the hanger roof before lift-off.

Open the mobiGlass F1, then select the Comms symbol on the far left. In the comms display locate the Landing services in the Contacts list, then click on the connection icon to request departure. The hanger roof will then open.

• If you are using a mouse for ship control, be sure to center the mouse on your screen to keep the lift-off vertical.
• Use either Freelook Z to look upward or external view F4 to get a wider field of view to check the hanger roof is open.
• Ensure Cruise Control C is disengaged or you will drift forward
• Press the Space Bar to achieve lift-off and continue on to a good height above the spaceport to get clear of the no-fly zones that are over parts of the city.
• Raise your landing gear N.

Flight Lanes

The larger locations that are fairly close to the cities will have flight lanes that should be used to enter and exit the landing areas. These will be activated when you have contacted ATC and have been granted permission to land or take off.

Remember to look for them if you are approaching an area you haven’t been to before. If you fail to use a provided flight lane you run the risk of destroying your ship on the city shields.

How to Navigate to a Destination

This section will show you how to navigate between distant locations such as moons and planets. You can also use it to Quantum Travel from orbit to a marked location on the surface.

Open the Star Map

To plot a course between planetary bodies you will need to open the star map F2. The map will open but might be zoomed so far can’t see anything onscreen! You will have to shrink the map using the mouse scroll-wheel and you will see planets Hurston, Crusader and their moons.

Map controls:

• Press and hold the left mouse button to rotate the map
• Press and hold the right mouse button to move the map

You can also get to the star map by clicking on F1 then click the symbol that looks like ((+)) to access the Star Map.

Select a Destination

On your first flight select a local moon using the mouse to click on its symbol. A dotted line will appear showing that you have selected a potential route. Press the Set Route button to confirm this is the route you want and the connecting line becomes solid.

You can optionally, double-click the target moon to zoom in and select a named destination on the surface, or you can do it when you arrive.

Note:
If you select a route that is longer than your fuel permits you will need to use a rest stop as a refuelling station. The larger the ship the more fuel it carries.

Engage the Hyperdrive

Close the mobiGlass UI controls F2.

If you have a visible radar in your ship it should now have a line on it pointing the way to your destination. If not, there will be a small blue marker somewhere on the screen indicating where you can find your target.

Assuming you have a radar in the lower half of the screen, press W to increase engine speed from zero, spin the ship around using Q or E until the radar destination line is pointing upward. Raise the ship’s nose until the line shrinks down to the centre of the radar and your destination simultaneously arrives at the centre of the screen.

Your targeting cross-hairs will meet the selected moon. Recent updates now mean that you have to press B to bring up the quantum drive. Wait for it to calibrate itself.

While the calibration is in progress you can press B to spool the hyperdrive if that isn’t already happening automatically. After the hyperdrive is spooled, press and hold B to engage hyperspace.

Note: holding B down all the way through a long hyperjump will stop you falling out before you reach the target.

How to Get to the Surface from Orbit

There are two ways to get to the surface:

• Blast down all the way using full thrust and afterburner (SHIFT)
• Select a surface target and go halfway there with hyperspace

A shortcut method is to press B to overlay the landing targets on the moon or planet then move the HUD centre cross over the target. Wait for calibration and spooling to complete then press and hold B to hyperdrive towards the target.

It may be simpler to use the mobiGlass to find and select a target in a similar manner that you have done before, except that the targets will be on the surface.

After you initiate hyperspace, the navigation system will take you around the planet to reach the selected location and release the ship at high altitude. Annoyingly you may get turned around to point to where you came from when the ship exits Quantum Travel. Hopefully this just a bug but it’s worth engaging some thrust to steer the craft a and keep it on track to your selected target.

The ground location targets will have disappeared, so press B once more to make the ground targets visible again. Now use full thrust and afterburner SHIFT to cover the remaining part of the distance.

In addition to this method, you can also select an orbital marker or other target and break out of hyperspace partway through the flight. This can be useful to get around a planet or moon quickly.

Remember that you can change the view using F4 and Z to enable free-look at any time of the trip down.

Landing on the Surface of a Moon or Planet

Some ships are heavier than others, so take that into account. You might need to level off to a shallower angle to avoid hitting the ground.

As well as flying at a downward angle, you can use LEFT-CTRL to push the ship downward.

When you are near the surface, slow the forward speed S, switch to precision flight mode N and landing gear will be deployed.

Upon landing use F+mouse to select Engine Off from the cockpit panel, use H to leave your seat.

How to Get to Orbit from the Surface

By orbit, I mean a place where Quantum Travel (QT) will be available. QT is not available when you are within the atmosphere of a planetary body; your QT targets will be coloured orange and have Exit Atmosphere displayed next to it.

On Hurston, the ship will exit the atmosphere at 100 km.

The quickest way to exit the atmosphere is to set the ascent angle to 90° relative to the planet’s surface using the elevation indicators in the centre of the screen. Ensure your landing gear is up and apply afterburner SHIFT.

When you have reached a safe QT altitude, the elevation indicators and the Exit Atmosphere warning will disappear and your target marker will turn green.

How to Auto Land on a Landing Pad

Request Permission to Land

Landing pads at policed areas like Port Olisar must be requested for use. Before you begin the landing sequence, lower your landing gear N, then use the comms panel in the mobiGlass F1 to request a pad. You must be close enough to the pads for the comms to be available.

Find the Landing Pad

When you are granted a landing pad, the one you are looking for will be outlined on the floor as well as surrounded by a green translucent wall.

At a greater distance, the pad will be marked with a maintenance icon (a spanner). If you can’s see it, your only option is to fly over all the landing pads looking for the above symbols.

The Landing Sequence

Note: the auto-land feature allows you to dive nose-first into a hanger where it will straighten you up and set you down.

Here is a long-hand video of what to expect.

To auto-land, go to the marker then Press+hold N until autoland commences. When it reaches the surface there may still be some residual movement, but go ahead and switch off the engine then press H to leave the seat.

When the Landing Sequence Fails

However, I’ve had problems getting a landing request through and being allocated a pad in which case you can try landing on a pad anyway and quickly nip off before anyone sees you :0)

Locations

Port Olisar, Crusader

Port Olisar is a space station orbiting planet Crusader. The Hab unit is located two floors up from the Fleet Management Consoles and the landing pads are close by.

• Press H to get out of bed.
• Press W to approach the door. Rotate the mouse wheel forward to increase the walking speed. Press F+Mouse to enable interaction with the door.
• Once you exit the bedroom and you will be in Deck 3 corridor. Go to either end of the corridor to locate a staircase down to deck 1.
• The closed-door with panel lights above it leads to the control room and it will open as you approach. The ship retrieval monitors are on the circular desk in the centre of the room.

Refer to the Common Tasks section for information

Lorville, Hurston

From Hab unit to Spaceport

How to get to the Teasa Spaceport from the Hab unit. This hab unit has two doors, the exit door is more ornate and has a striped panel on it.

• Get out of bed H
• Approach the door of the habitat using W, A, S, D keys.
• Scroll the mouse wheel to increase speed and use Mouse+F to interact with the door lock to open it.
• There are two floors in this part of the building. If you are not already on the upper floor, go up and find the elevator in the centre of the end wall.
• Summon the elevator using Mouse+F.
• Go to the ground floor.
• Exit the lift and follow the corridor out into the open and down a staircase to the viewing platform. You can see Teasa Spaceport from here.

• Bear left and go up the staircase then bear left again.
• After a few 10s of meters go down 2 flights of stairs to the metro centre and find a sign showing perimeter, spaceport and industry train lines, also on the left.
• The due time for the next train is shown above the protective doors bordering the track. Check both platforms to see which one will arrive first.

• Exit the train a the Teasa Spaceport station.
• Find the only available exit and follow the corridor left and right all the way to the ship retrieval consoles lined up opposite the M50 Interceptor on display.
• The Fleet Management Consoles at Teasa Spaceport are on the left as you approach from the top of the staircase.

Retrieve Your Ship

Refer to the Common Tasks section for information

Go to the Hanger Via an Elevator

• Once you have been informed what hanger number you have been assigned on, turn around 180° to see the direction to the hanger elevators you will need.
• Check the overhead sign to find your hanger/elevator number.
• Two of them are located ahead, the others are on the left.

• The hanger number you are looking for will have its number painted on the floor in front of the elevator.
• Call the elevator using Mouse+F and when inside select the assigned hanger button.

Refer to the Common Tasks section for information

How to Land at Lorville

See also: How to Get to the Surface from Orbit

Lorville is covered by no-fly zones, so head for dead-centre of the city from high altitude on a vertical approach. The landing site is composed of a series of subterranean hangers covered by sliding roof doors that look like landing pads when seen from above. They are all hangars, so wait for the doors to open before you land.

To land in a hanger:

1. Descend to Lorville using full thrust and afterburner SHIFT
2. When you are close to the hangers, switch to precision flying mode N
3. Position yourself directly above the hangers in order to avoid going through a no-fly zone
4. Anytime after 8000 meters, you can request a landing pad:
   1. Click F1 to open the mobiGlass
   2. Click the Comms button at the bottom left of the display
   3. At the top-left of the display, choose the Comms tab
   4. Click on Lorville Landing Services, to initiate a landing request.
   5. A hanger roof will be opened for a period of time.
5. To keep things simple, you can enter the hanger nose downward and level up by using the auto-land feature (N) when inside the green translucent walls surrounding the landing spot. If you prefer a horizontal descent you can use keys 2 & 3 to manoeuvre forwards & backwards.
6. After landing, switch off the engine and press H to exit the cockpit seat
7. Go to the alcove at the far end of the hanger where the painted number is
8. Go underneath the hanger number bearing left to find the elevator
9. Go up to the Teasa Spaceport

The hatch is open for a limited period. Use the green marker to guide you to the correct hanger.

The Transit System

There are trains that connect Leavsden, Teasa Spaceport, the Central Business District and six gates on the perimeter of Lorville. At the perimeter, you can retrieve a ground vehicle if you have one in store.

Hurston Outpost Biomes

HDMS Stanhope & HDMS Oparei have savanna biomes, so it seems likely the others will. The trip from Stanhope to Oparei took a little less than 30 minutes to complete, so circumnavigating Hurston would take around 4 hours as a rough estimate. For most locations, it would be quicker to go into orbit (100,000 meters) and hyperdrive to a marked location rather than overland.

HDMS Ishmael & HDSF-Zacharias

HDMS Ishmael is an interesting underground facility set upon a hill on Hurston surrounded by vegetation and trees. I foolishly climbed up onto the structure and got stuck in the pipework for about 20 minutes.

The entrance is damaged and suggests that the facility has been abandoned, but once you get below you will find working machinery and other intriguing things.

HDSF-Zacharias has a similar structure to HDMS Ishmael.

Area 18 on Arccorp

From Hab Unit to Spaceport:

1. Exit the Hab and find the lift
2. Go to the ground floor and exit Adira Falls
3. Turn right and go forward into the passage
4. Follow the passage into Zone 3
5. At this point, if you want to visit the mission giver Tecia Pacheco, she will be on your left as shown on the map.
6. For transit to the spaceport bear right and go under the Fizz advert
7. Enter the City Flight building on the left
8. There are two platforms available but you won’t be able to see which one will have the next arrival unless you visit them both.
9. The shuttle will drop you off at the Spaceport which is fairly linear at the moment, so you can easily find the Fleet Management console and behind those the two elevator bays leading to the hangers.
10. Climb aboard your ship, get flight-ready using R
11. To access the Landing services open the mobiGlas F1.
12. On the left of the row of command buttons, find and open Comms.
13. Select Contacts and click on the Landing Services to hail them. They will open the hangar for you.
14. To exit the hanger, you may have to go horizontally or vertically. Check both sides as well as the roof.

Here’s a quick peek at Area 18… it’s a great piece of work by all the team

Levski on Delamar

Be aware that Levski is on Delamar and not Daymar!

The diagram shows the upper and lower levels of Grand Barter which is the focus of the location. The mission giver can be found at the borehole station.

There are two hab sets on either side of the customs area on Levski. When you exit your hab units go through the customs gates located at the centre of the hall. The ship retrieval consoles are behind the customs area.

Refer to the Common Tasks section for information

Rest Stops

There are rest stops scattered through the Stanton system which will act as fuelling waypoints. You can buy fuel directly from the landing pad via the mobiGlass.

Rest stops are marked on the mobiGlass map with names such as HUR L1 and CRU L1. The L refers to a Lagrange point where gravitational and centrifugal forces reach equilibrium.

You can orient yourself to land at the rest stop by looking for the large Rest and Relax sign rotating at the top of the structure. Spin your ship around so that ‘up’ corresponds to it.

The lighting, advertising boards, posters and holographic brand names give the location atmosphere and you can spend a fair amount of time just admiring the artistry.

Security Post Kareah at Cellin

You can find Kareah in the mobiGlass navigation screen in orbit around Cellin, a moon of Crusader. While there I stumbled across an AI character who shot me after thinking about it for a while. Apparently, he is for target practice.

You can remove your ‘wanted’ status here using the main console in the centre of the station. If you can’t log in, that’s a bug. Once logged in, there will be a time delay while your status is cleared and you will be shot at by other players because that’s what happens here.

While I was considering if I should or shouldn’t shoot with my tiny little pop gun, the other two players had no problem to immediately using their machine guns to fill me full of lead for a long after I had keeled over dead. That’s not what I thought the star citizen community was about, to be honest- all for one and one for all and all that. Anyway, now I have the biggest gun on the rack if you know what I mean.

Jumptown on Yela

Jumptown is the place where you can buy the drug Widow and sell on at one of the local mining establishments with a 70% profit margin. I have finally managed to land there in one piece, but I only managed that by visiting early in the morning when all the trigger happy pilots were at work.

Grim Hex at Yela

Grim Hex can be found in the asteroid belt around the moon Yela and is visible in the mobiGlass navigation map.

From Hab Unit to the Fleet Management Consoles

• Press H to get out of bed.
• Press W to approach the door.
• Rotate the mouse wheel to change walking speed.
• Press F to enable interaction with the door and click the left mouse button to initiate interaction and select Open.
• From outside the sleeping quarters, look for one of two staircases going down to the next level.
• On the lower level go down a few more steps to find two lifts facing each other.
• Summon a lift
• When the doors open, make sure you are not walking into an open shaft! If so, summon the other lift which should be ok :o)
• In the elevator, select the Landing Pads level.
• Outside the lift door, you will see a row of ship retrieval consoles.

Refer to the Common Tasks section for information

The Zero Gravity Entrances

As well as the Grim Hex building itself there are two zero-gravity entrances. One is a large bay located slightly away from the main building.

There is an internal corridor leading from the rear of the bar on the lowest level of Grim Hex situated between the two elevators. When you enter the bar, bear right to find the start of the corridor. Follow it down to an airlock after which you will become weightless. If you navigate down the shaft you will come to some external doors.

You can also get to the external doors from the landing pads. As you approach Grim Hex oriented to land, the entrance to the zero-gravity bay is on your left, hidden from view around the side asteroid. To find it, land your ship, get out and jump off the landing pads on the left and navigate down the side of the rock face using your suit thrusters.

The ARK Starmap

The mobiGlass will show you the existing destinations you can visit but you can see the planned destinations on the interactive ARK Starmap at robertsspaceindustries.com/starmap. These systems are currently being created by the Lore Makers who are weaving the history of the Star Citizen universe.

Player Information

How to Join the Public Test Universe (PTU)

• Got to the RSI Website at RobertsSpaceIndustries.com
• Clear away the ‘Discover Our Universe’ overlay if there is one
• Log In
  • On a wide enough browser, at the top right is the Account menu item. Click on that to log in.
  • On a narrow browser at the top right will be the text ‘RSI’, click on that to reveal a drop-down menu and click on the Account entry at the bottom of the list to log in.
• The account bar changes colour from amber to green, click on Account again to open it up.
• Underneath your User Image, find and click the SETTINGS button and the MY ACCOUNT page will appear.
• In MY ACCOUNT, click SETTINGS and lower half of the screen will show the options as a menu list at the left.
• Click PUBLIC TEST UNIVERSE (the last item in the list)
• Click Copy Account to PTU. A green banner appears to tell you your account details are being transferred to the PTU server and you will be given a separate password and instructions via email.

In My Account > Settings the left-hand pane is a list of items including the Public Test Universe. Select Copy Account to PTU In My Account > Settings the left-hand pane is a list of items including the Public Test Universe. Select Copy Account to PTU

• Wait for the transfer confirmation email
• Using links and password provided in the email in order:
  • Download and install the Test PTU Launcher
  • Log in to ptu.cloudimperiumgames.com/connect using your usual username and the supplied PTU password.
  • Run the Test PTU launcher and log-in using your usual username and the supplied PTU password.
  • Allow time for the Test PTU Launcher to identify missing games files, then install them
• You are good to go.

Telemetry & Road Map

• The road map – the planned updates to the game can be found here.
• Telemetry – compare your PC hardware with the rest of the community. Mine is at the marked square at the lower left of the diagram but works fine as far as I’m concerned.

Bugs & Possible Solutions

• Unable to find Flight Ready
  • Get into the pilot seat, not the co-pilot seat
  • Ensure the ship’s power is off since Flight Ready can probably only be reached from a cold start
  • If you look around the cockpit, Flight Ready might subsequently be added to a cockpit menu
  • You might be able to find a cockpit button that does the job
  • Get out of the seat and then back in again (necessary if you choose copilot seat)
  • If all else fails, get another ship
• Unable to get into a ship
  • Try deleting your USER folder
  • If all else fails, get another ship
• File decompression error
  • Your files haven’t been updated correctly. Delete data.p4k at C:\Program Files\Roberts Space Industries\StarCitizen\LIVE\Data.p4k and download the game again
  • To continue uninterrupted, move the warning dialogue offscreen and ignore it. Pressing OK will terminate your game
• Can’t Get Past the Loading Screen
  • Refer to Prevent Potential Game Crashes.

Prevent Potential Game Crashes

My version of the game had been crashing at startup for months, and although I knew it was a memory problem I assumed there was something wrong with Star Citizen. The real reason for the error was actually because the page file on my machine was fixed at a low value.

A page file is a part of your disk used to store information that can’t be held in the available RAM all at once.

Set your page file allocation
to System Managed Size!

To check the page file allocation on Windows 10:

• Open Control Panel by typing into the taskbar search box
• Set the Control Panel view to Category
• Click on System and Security
• Click on System
• Click on Advanced System Settings
• Ensure the Advanced tab is selected
• In the Performance group box click on Settings
• Select the Advanced tab
• In the Virtual Memory group box click on Change…
• Take a screenshot of your current settings and keep them safe!
• When you have safely recorded the current state then…
• Either select System Managed Size or else choose a suitable custom range

Considering Buying?

Try a Free Fly Weekend

Every now and then you will get the chance to try out several ships in the game on a Free Fly Weekend. You can create an account for nothing and if you already have an account you can try out the promoted ships which will be available to you automatically.

The best way to find the Free Fly event web page is via the menu of RobertsSpaceIndustries.com. The menu has a PLAY NOW button on it that takes you to a page where you would normally buy a game package. Instead, click on Visit the Free Fly Event.

Sign up or log into the page, select and copy the Free Fly code from the web page (for example GETINTOTHEVERSE) and apply the code. Newcomers will then download an executable and install the game while existing account holders can run the RSI Launcher immediately.

Consider These Pros & Cons

There are reasons you might be unhappy with the Star Citizen. If none of the Cons worries you unduly, you’re probably ok to spend some money on what’s available today. You can always buy or replace assets later so there’s no need to go in with more than the minimum amount of money to start with.

Pros

• The realism of some of the landscapes is amazing.
• If you are going to buy it in the future anyway, you don’t have to wait until its finished.
• There’s some fun to be had with it in its current state.
• You can get discounted prices if you’re not in a hurry.
• You can find out a lot about the game on the Star Citizen YouTube Channel without buying.
• You can try out the game for free on the occasional Free-Fly weekends.
• A shambolic failing demo by Chris Roberts is reassuringly honest and open. Only someone with the utmost confidence in where they are going would let this fiasco stay public!

Cons

• There are plenty of bugs.
• Development started in 2012 and a coherent working game mechanic hasn’t been established yet.
• The programmed game-play is almost non-existent.
• They have no incentive to complete the game since its earning millions right now from selling ships and accessories.
• There is no legal guarantee the game will ever be finished.
• The small print means you have no chance of getting the money back.
• They have normalised the act of paying multiple hundreds of dollars for ships.

If You Are About to Buy…

If you understand that the game has been a wreck-in-progress since 2012, that you won’t get a refund and you still want to gain access to the Persistent Universe then you’ll need to buy a game package that includes a starship with prices ranging from $54 to $330 (click here).

Quote my referral code to get an extra 5000 aUEC to spend
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Your in-game name cannot be changed easily so it’s worth thinking about that ahead of time. You’ll be stuck with it for years potentially, and later on, that could become significant. You can pay to change your name if you need to, but personally, I would find that rather irritating.

There are a lot of great looking (and expensive) ships you can buy for Star Citizen, but you should be able to get them all in time by playing the game and earning UEC cash. I suggest you don’t pay any more than you need to, you can always buy later when you have had a chance to evaluate the game.

Once you have bought a game package you can download an installer which creates Star Citizen in 45GB of disk space.

Get Squadron 42 at a Discounted Price

You can find the first-person shooter Squadron-42 pledge at the same address as the starter ships but this is a different game arena set in the same universe. You may be offered a discount for the two of them – I bought Squadron-42 for half price that way.

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