Contract

The Contract screen as seen in the game

Contracts are jobs that players can accept to earn money. Aside from a few story missions, contracts are procedurally generated from a collection of mission types. Two contracts are automatically accepted at the start of the game - 'Make your new ship ready for flight' and a sector objective to destroy enemy forces somewhere in the first sector.

Mandatory Contract

Make your new ship ready for flight

This contract is automatically accepted at the start of every game.

• A Reactor, generating power.
• Engines capable of propulsion.
• Test the engines from the Tactical Screen
• Life support to make the interior habitable
• An FTL Drive capable of Hyperspace jumps
• Jump to the marked destination

Boldly Go Mode Story Contracts

These contracts are optional, but double as low-risk guided tutorials in essential game mechanics.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

A three-part story contract arc focused on neutralizing an elusive pirate vessel preying on merchant vessels in the sector. The story includes guided tutorials on salvage, rescue, and combat.

Black Hole Sun

A three-part story contract arc focused on helping a scientist rescue his brother, aboard a science vessel stranded close to the event horizon of a black hole. The story includes guided tutorials on isotope collection, gas/liquid storage, and mining.

The Trouble with Tiddlets

A four-part story contract arc centered around the discovery of the mysterious Tiddlets and ethical quandaries concerning their reproductive cycle. The story includes tutorials on "salvage", installing/dismantling equipment, and docking with a moving ship.

Deep Space Industrialists

An extended story contract arc focused on recommissioning an old factory station to produce goods for the Stargate Project, in partnership with its owner. The first four parts of the story includes guided tutorials on smelting, manufacturing, trade, and collecting/refining nebula gases. Additionally, if the partnership is maintained via profit share through the first four parts, the station owner will continue to advise and aid the player in various ways through the rest of the playthrough.

Survival Mode Story Contracts

Analyse Anomaly

Analyse mission progress

Collect data on the expanding void. You will be provided with Hyperspace Sensors that must be installed on the ship's hull. During FTL jumps, these sensors collect data. You will receive $1000 per data at each magnitude of collection: 10, 100, 1000, etc.

Evacuation

Create a ship capable of holding planetary citizens looking to escape the void. Pick up as many evacuees as possible and bring them to new worlds in other sectors. You will receive money for each magnitude of evacuees picked up.

Nomad

Design a self-sufficient ship that will allow you to continue to run from the void forever. Bring as many people with you as possible and have them live permanently in your fleet. You will receive money for each magnitude of permanent residents in your fleet.

Procedural Contracts

Courier mission

Cargo must be delivered to a specific system in a particular sector. This contract may or may not come with a time limit. The cargo is delivered via a cargo shuttle to the player's ship upon accepting the contract. The cargo is then retrieved via cargo shuttle when the contract is turned in.

Cargo lost, delivered late, or delivered to the wrong location will be deducted from the payment. The supply boxes from failed Delivery contracts will remain on your ship until the next cargo shuttle brings contract supplies.

To abort a courier mission: this can currently only be done by editing the save file. As always, make a backup copy first! Look for any mission where Type = Delivery and Accepted = true; cross-ref AssignedLayerId to figure out which layer (ship) it's assigned to. Use the Items list on the mission to find them in the Objects list on the assigned ship and delete them before deleting the Accepted, AssignedLayerId, and Items lines on the mission.

Urgent passenger transport request

Passengers must be transported to a specific system in a particular sector. This contract may or may not come with a time limit. The civilians are delivered via a cargo shuttle to the player's ship upon accepting the contract. The passengers are then retrieved via cargo shuttle when the contract is turned in.

Passengers lost, delivered late, or delivered to the wrong location will be deducted from the payment. The passengers from failed Transport passengers contracts will remain on your ship until the next cargo shuttle brings contract supplies.

A player docking with a Stranded Ship

Rescue civilians from wrecked ship

The docking view

A ship has become stranded or damaged, and its crew must be rescued by docking with the ship. This contract may or may not come with a time limit. If it does, the engines on the damaged ship explode when the timer ends, killing the remaining crew onboard.

To dock with a ship, the player must be in Tactical view and must line up their docking port with the docking port of the stranded ship. A ship's docking port appears as two diamond-shaped indicators that must overlap the target ship's diamond-shaped indicators. When done correctly, the docking port extends and connects to the target ship.

Once the civilians are onboard, they must be delivered to a starbase or colony, where they will depart the ship via cargo shuttle. Any civilians not reaching the cargo shuttle safely will be deducted from the payment.

Eradicate armoured thugs

Also called "Neutralise pirate gang"

Hostile ships are harassing civilian ships in a system and must be taken care of. The threat can be a small group of fighters, a fleet of ships with fighters, or a large weapons platform.

Fighters are small and agile, dealing small amounts of damage very quickly. Ships have similar capabilities to average player ships. Weapons platforms are large and slow, with armor and heavy weaponry.

If overwhelmed, hostile forces may attempt to retreat. Ships that successfully retreat will be deducted from the payment.

Mining contract

Tilium is used to create the FTL Charges for evacuation ships to travel away from the void. The Tilium Ore must be mined from an asteroid belt and, in some cases, smelted into Tilium Crystals. The Tilium Ore or Tilium Crystals must then be taken to a trading post for delivery via cargo shuttle.

Asteroid belts may contain hostiles or be in the path of a meteor shower, requiring ship defenses to perform the mining successfully. It is a good idea to review the available Combat contracts to see if any are in the same system, as that may indicate the level of hostile activity to expect.

Clear dangerous minefield

A dangerous minefield is present in a sector. You must travel to the system and destroy the minefield before pirate forces arrive.

Weapons are required to accept this contract.

History

• Update 1.rc2: Introduced.
• Update 2.rc1: Certain Contracts require a minimum Rating in a particular category.
• Update 2.rc1: Contracts in systems where you already have existing contracts are highlighted with a light blue diamond.
• DEMO1: Removed "Provision the science vessel" and "OPEN CONTRACT: JUSTICE" contracts. Added "The trouble with Tiddlets" contract.
• DEMO2B: Many changes. See Version History.
• DEMO3A: Added "Clear dangerous minefield" contract.
• Alpha1A: Added "Take permanent refugees into your care" and 2 "Sector Objective" contracts ("Destroy all hostile forces" and "Evacuate stranded civilians"). Renamed "Open Contracts" to "Special Missions."