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.

Story Contracts

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

The Trouble with Tiddlets

The Trouble with Tiddlets is a four-part story contract arc centered around the discovery, research, and ethical controversy of a mysterious lifeform known as the Tiddlets. In Parts 1 and 2, the player assists with initial tests and containment efforts. In Part 3, it is revealed that Tiddlets produce valuable crystals when exposed to Hyperspace Shock, prompting the Institute for Interstellar Lifeforms to establish a farm ship and request the player’s help acquiring a Short Hopper — a vessel equipped with a Hop Drive. The player’s choices directly influence the ship’s price and the outcome. After collecting hundreds of Tiddlets, the player must make a crucial moral decision: support Dr. Swanson’s exploitation plan or assist Professor Toppingbury in freeing the creatures. In Part 4, the Tiddlet farm suffers a catastrophic failure, and the player rescues surviving scientists before the ship is destroyed. Regardless of prior decisions, two Tiddlets remain aboard the player’s ship — a permanent reminder of the choices made and the unresolved ethical questions surrounding their treatment.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Merchant ships with valuable cargo are being targeted and destroyed while under the protection of the sector's private security forces. The commander of these forces requests help in investigating and returning the Black Box Flight Recorders of three of these vessels.

Black Hole Sun

An accident in high orbit around a black hole has left the crew of a research station in need of rescue. The research, connected to the Stargate Project, has pushed the station closer and closer to the event horizon.

Special Missions

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."