Chapter 1
Introduction
The Dantooine system… For the moment, the battle is over. A wheeze of static over the comlink brings news of victory, “It’s done. We control the bridge.” Orbiting your beloved Br’Kai II transport - now bleeding fuel from its engine casing - this ordeal begins to puzzle you. What were those Black Sun pirates thinking? Who makes such brazen attempts to hijack an Alliance transport without expecting some resistance?
Moments after the Br’Kai II sent its distress call, your wing took flight. You tracked down the Black Sun hijackers and shattered their limited defenses: a pair of stock fighters and a damaged gunboat. Before the hijacked transport could jump into hyperspace, you lined up behind the vessel and destroyed its propulsion system with a few well-placed laser cannon blasts. Realizing that their prize had been disabled, the Black Sun pirates scattered.
As you consider the deeper meaning behind Black Sun’s aggression, a stream of laser blasts cut across your field of view, snapping you back to reality. It seems the pirates haven’t fled after all: a wing of Black Sun heavy fighters leaps out of a nearby nebula and screams toward your tiny squad, intent on revenge. After the opening volley, their target becomes clear: the torpedoes and laser cannon fire are all directed at the transport. The Black Sun pirates are upholding their mantra of “If you can’t steal it, destroy it…”
You crank up the throttle and hit your thrusters. Your only hope is to protect the transport long enough for it to reach the relative safety of the nearby nebula.
You open a comlink channel with your wingman. The plan is simple: hit them hard, race into the nebula, and cover the transport long enough for it to escape. But before you can speak, a flash blazes in the corner of your eye. A wave of fire and debris engulfs your cockpit as a nearby explosion shakes your starfighter. Your wingman’s reactor has gone critical. It’s now just you, the crippled transport, and a wing of fresh Black Sun fighters…
There is no time to grieve. You launch into the nebula and route power to stabilize your rear deflectors. Robbed of energy, your weapon capacitor goes dark… The heavy fighters launch several rounds of “smart” missiles, forcing you to dive and turn while carefully timing the release of counter-measures. Little good it does - a modified heat-seeking missile crashes into your thrusters and robs you of what slight advantage you had. You have nothing left to lose. The Black Sun fighters are closing in all around you, your engines are damaged, and the transport is on the verge of total collapse.
Desperately, you reach back to your Alliance training, searching for any gambit that might save your hide. And then it comes to you: A dangerous IFF scramble could be the last ditch tactic you need to survive. Quickly, you overload your reactor, causing it to erupt with a muffled thump. Your ship resists the miniature explosion, forcing your shields to swell and shatter. The resulting white-hot bubble of energy races outward and slams into the approaching Black Sun craft, scrambling all of their scanners. For a few moments the enemy is blind.
Your ship drifts powerless through space. You peer out of your canopy, watching for any sign of the enemy, hoping that you’ve slipped from their radar and into oblivion. Your ship tumbles into the nebula, disappearing into its bright clouds. You are completely invisible… for now.
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Welcome to the real academy, kid…
I can tell you’re itching to get into the cockpit of a starfighter and become the galaxy’s next Luke Skywalker. Just remember that bein’ a starship pilot ain’t just cruising through the Core Worlds on a party barge. I don’t care if you’re one of the galaxy’s most experienced adventurers with a krayt skull in your living room, or if you’re still shooting vermin on Corellia-once you head into space, you’ll need a whole new set of skills to survive.
Lucky for you, I got your back. I know a thing or two about shooting down pirates and replacing weapons systems. So, anytime I interrupt, you’d better pay attention.
And hey, if you’re itchin’ to get into the action and you’re already an experienced adventurer, check out my handy “Lightspeed Piloting Program” below.
Shug Ninx, galactic tour guide
(or the closest thing you got, anyway)
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Shug Ninx’s Lightspeed Piloting Program:
A Crash Course in Becoming a Fighter Ace
1. Go visit a novice Space Quest Trainer on Tatooine, Corellia, or Naboo. You can find them all on the planetary maps. Once you talk to this trainer, you’ll get:
• A Novice piloting skill
• Certification for your first starship
• Your first starship (in your datapad)
2. Talk to your Space Quest Trainer to get your first Mission.
3. Head to the nearest starport and use the Starship Terminal to launch directly into space.
4. To control your ship:
Mouse Control heading
Mouse 1 Fire primary weapons
Mouse 2 Fire secondary weapon
Mouse Wheel Zoom in/out
W / Up arrow Increase speed setting
S / Down arrow Decrease speed setting
Q / Left arrow Roll your ship counter-clockwise
E / Right arrow Roll your ship clockwise
A / Numpad 1 Yaw left
D / Numpad 3 Yaw right
TAB Cycle through targets
You can also use a flight stick or gamepad to control your ship.
5 Follow the flashing white triangles on your radar and white arrows on your HUD to your first waypoint.
6 Blast anything that gets in your way! Line up your target in your reticle and pull the trigger (Mouse 1 by default). You may need to “lead” your target by firing just in front of the enemy craft.
7 You can always land by visiting any nearby Space Station (available through your Star System Map). Target the station (“C” by default) and choose from a list of destinations.
8 If you get destroyed in space, you retain your starship in your datapad, but it might need repairs. Examine the ship before heading out into space again.
9 You can always repair your starship at a space station for a fee.
Chapter 1: Getting Started
Installation
To begin adventuring in space, you’ll need to install Jump to Lightspeed. Please follow these instructions:
If you are a new player, you will need to first install Star Wars Galaxies®: An Empire Divided®. Instructions for installing An Empire Divided can be found in the Quick Start Guide.
By default, the game installer will install the game in a C:\Program Files\StarWars Galaxies folder, but you can change this location. Be sure to install Jump to Lightspeed™ in the same folder as Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. If the installer does not automatically launch, double-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop, then double-click on your computer’s CD-ROM or DVD drive. Double-click on SetUp.exe to install.
Windows 2000/XP users, please note that you must be in the Administrator Profile in order to install.
You may need to disable virus-scanning software for a successful install. You may also need to update your video card drivers to the most recently released versions. Visit the web site for your video card’s manufacturer to find the proper downloads.
System requirements may change over time, and you may need to upgrade your current system (or obtain a new system) to play the Game.
Taking Your Existing Star Wars Galaxies Character Into Space
Once Jump to Lightspeed has been successfully installed, your existing Star Wars Galaxies characters will be able to learn special piloting skills, own starships, and continue their Star Wars® adventure in space!
Log on with your favorite character and skip to Chapter 3: New Professions to discover how to gain access to the piloting or Shipwright professions.
Creating New Characters
To create a new character:
• Press the ‘Create’ button on the main connection screen.
• Select the species and gender for your character. These are the only two choices that are irrevocable.
• Press ‘Next’ to move on to customization.
• Customize your character. You are able to adjust many different aspects of your character’s appearance, including height, weight, and facial features.
• Press ‘Next’ when you are done customizing your character’s appearance.
• Choose your character’s starting profession. You will advance in the profession by pursuing activities in-game. Once in the game, you will also be able to learn piloting skills from specific trainers (see Chapter 3: New Professions). Any character can become a skilled pilot, regardless of his or her other profession(s).
• We recommend that you run through the ‘New Player Tutorial’ at least once to familiarize yourself with Star Wars Galaxies’ basic movement, camera controls, chat system, and object and NPC interaction systems.
Note: You can only create one character on each “galaxy” (also known as a “server” or “cluster”). If you are an existing player and wish to create a new character using the Sullustan or Ithorian species, you can do so on any galaxy, providing you don’t already have a character living there.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Chapter 2
New Species-Ithorians and Sullustans
Jump to Lightspeed allows you to create a new character using any of the original eight species or either of two new species: Ithorians and Sullustans. Both offer a full range of customization options to ensure that no two characters look the same.
Ithorians.
Ithorians
Ithorians, often known as “Hammerheads,” are herbivorous pacifists recognized for their bizarre, ladle-shaped necks and wide-set eyes. Ithorians also have mouths on both sides of their curved necks, which results in a unique ‘stereophonic’ speaking voice.
The Ithorians’ homeworld of Ithor is a stunning paradise characterized by ample sunlight, glistening waterfalls, thriving rainforests, and gentle breezes. Since the dawn of their civilization, the quiet Ithorians have worshipped the “Mother Jungle” and have lived in complete harmony with their surroundings. For every vegetable plucked from the ground, the wise Ithorian plants two replacements.
The Ithorians moved to the sky relatively early in their societal development, gliding casually above the baffor treetops in “herd cities” equipped with powerful, yet environmentally-friendly, repulsorlift systems. Most Ithorians live in “herds” that migrate about Ithor’s three civilized continents. Still others travel throughout the galaxy in space-faring “herds” to sell unusual merchandise.
Ithorian horticultural and cloning expertise is second to none. This fact has, unfortunately, focused considerable unwanted attention from the Empire onto planet Ithor and its peaceful species.
The gentle, optimistic Ithorians prefer to work in agricultural, artistic, diplomatic, mercantile or space-faring fields. A select number choose to take on the mantle of ecological priests, keeping the “Mother Jungle” safe from danger.
In-game, Ithorians receive bonuses to their mental attributes.
Sullustans
Sullustans are affable, gregarious creatures known for their jowled faces and chattering language. Planet Sullust is a barren, volcanic world smothered by a heavy toxic cloud. Sullustans thrive in tunnels deep beneath the planet surface where they have constructed highly advanced, startlingly beautiful cities. Wealthy sightseers from halfway across the galaxy tour the hot-springs of Sullust and enjoy exotic delicacies such as “drutash grubs” (which are best served with omaton sauce).
Evolving in a network of dark, mazelike warrens imbued the species with an unfailing sense of direction. Once a Sullustan has traveled a path, the way is never forgotten. This innate skill even extends to hyperspace, making Sullustans prized as star navigators and explorers.
SoroSuub, one of the galaxy’s largest manufacturing conglomerates, is based on Sullust and employs half of the population in its mining, production, and packaging departments. The company makes hundreds of products, from injecto-kit shoes and battle armor to the XP-38 landspeeder. SoroSuub is an ardent supporter of the Galactic Empire, and has taken great pains to ensure that its legion of Sullustan workers never breathes a word of dissent. Even so, many Sullustans have taken issue with this policy, and have shared their loyalty with the Rebel Alliance...
Sullustan characters tend to be hardy and active, with well-developed willpower.
<<>>
Well, there’s your galactic anthropology lesson. But just ‘cause the professors who wrote that junk say that Sullustans are “affable” and Hammerheads are “pacifists” doesn’t mean that’s always the case. I’ve met plenty of grumpy Sullustans and had more than one Ithorian put a blaster rifle against the back of my skull. If you’re a Sullustan or an Ithorian yourself, you control how you live, not some genetic code.
Be a polite pilot or a hardened mercenary; it’s up to you.
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Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Chapter 3
New Professions
Jump to Lightspeed allows players to explore four new professions, all involving starships. Through these new professions, you can become an Alliance starfighter pilot or a master starship-builder, a mercenary privateer or an Imperial TIE ace.
Alliance Pilot
The Alliance Pilot serves the Rebel Alliance, the ragtag coalition of heroes who oppose the tyranny of the Galactic Empire. As an Alliance pilot, you will have access to a wide range of powerful starships, including the versatile X-wing and the incredibly fast A-wing. Alliance pilots also learn special Rebel piloting techniques and custom astromech programs that improve a starfighter’s defensive capabilities and other features. Because the Rebel Alliance is embroiled in a violent war with the Empire, the life of an Alliance Pilot is fraught with danger. If you start down this path, you can expect to clash with Imperial forces on a regular basis.
Imperial Pilot
Many claim that the Empire’s greatest strength is its ready supply of talented and ruthless pilots. The Imperial Pilot serves the Emperor, battling Rebels, pirates, and others who threaten Imperial rule. An Imperial Pilot is expected to become proficient with the Empire’s signature craft: the TIE fighter. Advanced pilots gain the right to fly TIE variants, including the deadly TIE Interceptor and experimental TIE Aggressor. The Imperial training program requires Imperial Pilots to master proven Imperial Navy tactics and become well-versed in the use of special navi-computer programs that enhance starfighter performance.
Imperial Pilots are devoted to winning the Galactic Civil War, undertaking some of the most dangerous missions in the galaxy and engaging Rebel forces wherever they are found.
<<>>
The Galactic Civil War is gettin’ out of hand. Nearly every system is caught up in the fighting. I expect to see TIE fighters and X-wings tussling over Tatooine and Yavin 4, but now the Imperials and Rebels are blasting the hell out of each other above Corellia. When the fighting spreads into the Core Worlds, you know things are getting serious… Now, I’ve no love for the Empire, but I’m not much for heroics either, so don’t expect me to join this war. whether you fly for the Rebels or the Imperials, be warned: this war turns friends into enemies at lightspeed.
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Privateer
A Privateer is effectively a mercenary pilot. Loyal to neither the Rebel Alliance nor the Galactic Empire, most Privateers are willing to fly missions for any group with enough credits. Privateers might find themselves working for the Smuggler’s Alliance on Tatooine, the Corellian Security Forces (CorSec), or even the Royal Security Forces (RSF) of Naboo. Privateers utilize a variety of craft, including those originally designed for criminal groups such as the Hutts and Black Sun. Through rigorous training and various underworld contacts, Privateers learn exotic piloting techniques and master black-market droid programs.
The life of a Privateer involves a great deal of conflict. Privateers who work for reputable groups may find themselves policing systems and battling pirates. When running missions for the Hutts or the Smuggler’s Alliance, a Privateer is likely to run afoul of local authorities or even the Empire.
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Some pilots, especially those suicidal TIE jockeys, head into space for the sheer thrill of combat. But there’s other reasons to become a Pilot. First, you’ll earn loads of credits. Every time you finish a mission, you’re likely to get paid, and just blasting enemy ships rewards you credits. Second, you’ll earn standing with whatever group you serve. Shoot down a dozen TIE fighters and you’ll be able to cash in some favors with Alliance high command. Third, and maybe most important, every time you destroy an enemy craft, you stand a chance at gettin’ some useful spare parts or other loot.
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Shipwright
Shipwrights are talented engineers who build starships and starship components, including weapons and engines. Perhaps more importantly, Shipwrights can learn to reverse-engineer equipment discovered in space. A Shipwright with a steady
supply of parts to disassemble and a desire to experiment can produce an array of powerful components.
To learn more about being a Shipwright, reverse-engineering, and spare parts, see Chapter 9: Shipwrights and Starship Crafting.
<<>>
Shipwrights deal in starships and their parts, but that doesn’t mean that they need to head into space. Travelin’ the galaxy can be dangerous, maybe too dangerous for your typical engineer. Instead of looking for spare parts himself, a well-connected Shipwright can buy everything he needs from Privateers or Imperial and Alliance Pilots lookin’ to earn some credits on the side.
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Acquiring a New Profession
As with An Empire Divided, your character can learn new professions in-game. All four of the new professions can be gained after character creation by interacting with an appropriate Non-Player Character, usually called a “Trainer.” Trainers can teach you the basic piloting skills (or Novice Shipwright). In addition to a novice skill, pilot trainers (also called “Space Quest Trainers”) can provide you with the certification necessary to fly your first starfighter and dole out missions that will earn you credits, faction standing, experience, and the opportunity to advance in your chosen Pilot profession.
Each pilot type has specific trainers. If you want to be an Alliance Pilot, you should talk to a Rebel Space Quest Trainer. These trainers are located in major cities on Tatooine, Naboo, and Corellia.
Space Quest Trainers will only train like-faction or neutral players. For instance, if your character is a declared ‘Rebel,’ she will not be able to learn Imperial Piloting skills from an Imperial Space Quest Trainer, and vice-versa. Separately, if you acquire the Imperial Pilot novice skill box without being an overt Imperial (via Star Wars Galaxies’ faction point system), you will not be able to learn Rebel or Privateer pilot skills until you ‘Surrender’ the Imperial Pilot novice skill box.
To surrender skills, open the skills window (CTRL+S by default), click on the skill you wish to surrender and then click the ‘Surrender’ button. You will be asked to confirm the removal of the skill.
Finding Your Space Quest Trainer
• Travel to Tatooine, Naboo, or Corellia. (NOTE: There are no beginning Space Quest Trainers on any planets other than Tatooine, Naboo and Corellia. If you are not on one of these worlds, you will not be able to search for them using the planetary map as described below).
• Open the planetary map (CTRL+V by default).
• Locate the “Trainers” tab on the right-side pane of the planetary map interface.
• Double-click “Trainers” to open a list of trainer categories.
• Double-click “Pilot” to expand the list of specific NPC Space Quest Trainers (you can also double-click “Shipwright” to expand the list of specific NPC Shipwright Trainers). Each Space Quest Trainer’s name and factional affiliation will appear here.
• Right click on the Space Quest Trainer that interests you.
• Select “Waypoint” from the menu that appears when you right-click. This will create a waypoint in your datapad.
• Close the planetary map window (CTRL+V by default).
• Activate the waypoint to your quest trainer by opening your datapad (CTRL+D by default), selecting the ‘Waypoints’ tab, and right-clicking on the waypoint object that you just created. The waypoint object will bear the name of the Space Quest Trainer by default. Choose ‘Activate’ from the right-click menu.
• Close the datapad (CTRL+D).
• Follow the waypoint indicator - the blue arrow on your radar - to your trainer. As you near the waypoint, it will become visible as a beacon of bluish light on the horizon.
<<>>
If you want to become a pilot, you have to find the right mentor. Those pilots willing to train you in the basics of space flight and combat are only found on Corellia, Naboo, and Tatooine. Don’t go wasting your time searching for them on other planets. As you earn your wings, you’ll be sent to other instructors and commanders, which might take you to the farthest reaches of the galaxy.
Also remember that no Imperial Officer is going to help you become an Alliance pilot… Make sure that you seek out Rebel Alliance trainers to become an Alliance pilot, Imperial trainers to become an Imperial Pilot, and Privateer trainers to become a Privateer.
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Gaining Your First Pilot Skill Box
To gain your first piloting skills, you’ll need to talk to your Trainer. You can start a conversation by double-clicking on the Trainer or using the radial menu and choosing the “Converse” option. Once you’ve started a dialogue, follow the conversation options to sign up for your Novice Piloting skill box.
Upon receiving your Novice Piloting skill box, you will earn at least one starship certification (which gives you “license” to pilot a specific type of ship) and your “starter” ship. You can also receive your first mission from your Space Quest Trainer (see Chapter 4).
Your Starter Ship
All novice Space Quest Trainers have the ability to provide you with a starter ship. You can see this ship in your datapad (CTRL+D by default). The “starter ship” is a low-powered vessel suitable for rookie pilots.
If you don’t have a ship in your datapad, converse with your original Space Quest Trainer to acquire a new starter ship. Starter ships are intended to get you into space (and combat) right away. However, you won’t be able to upgrade your starter starship. Only those ships built by Shipwrights (other players) can be upgraded. Eventually, you’ll want to buy such a ship from another player.
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You’re gonna be pretty amped when you hop into the cockpit of your first starship. It’s a milestone in every young pilot’s life. But don’t get too attached to that ship. Since nobody wants to give a rookie a hi-tech starfighter to crash, your “starter ship” is just that - a starting point on your path to becoming the next Imperial Ace, Rebel hotshot, or Kessel-running Privateer. As soon as you get certified in another cockpit, you’re gonna want to upgrade to a better model.
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Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Chapter 4
Missions and Combat Basics
The life of a starfighter pilot revolves heavily around completing missions for his or her factions. Rebel Alliance pilots are called upon to make the galaxy safe from Imperial tyranny by patrolling the galaxy, running escort duty, and, of course, battling Imperial forces wherever they might threaten peace and freedom. Under order from the Emperor, Imperial pilots are constantly on the hunt for pirates, smugglers, illegal mercenary groups, and Rebels. Privateers, meanwhile, might run missions to protect Jabba the Hutt’s smuggling lanes or chase pirates from the Naboo system.
Regardless of the type of pilot you decide to become, you’ll earn credits, experience, faction standing, and the ability to advance in your chosen profession by completing missions of various types.
While a simple patrol mission sounds easy enough, traveling into space can be exceedingly dangerous. When undertaking virtually any mission, you should expect to encounter some enemy forces. You must be ready for combat at all times.
This chapter covers both the mechanics for taking and completing missions, getting into space, and destroying your enemies.
Receiving Your First Mission
As soon as you have your Novice Piloting skill box, you’ll be eligible to begin flying missions for your Trainer. To receive your first mission, talk to your Space Quest Trainer by double-clicking on him or her and then follow the conversation options.
To complete the mission, you’ll need your starter ship. If you do not already have a ship review the “Your Starter Ship” section in Chapter 3.
Launching Your Starship
Every mission doled out by a Space Quest Trainer will require that you head into space (and usually a specific area of space).
To launch your starship:
• Go to the nearest Starport. Walk inside and locate the “Starship Terminal.”
• Right-click on the terminal to bring up the radial menu.
• Choose “Launch Starship” to go directly to space.
Note that your ship must be relatively intact in order to launch. If you are missing critical components or if those same components (like your engines) are badly damaged, you will not be allowed to launch. You must outfit your ship with working equipment. Since this is your first mission, your ship will be intact.
Attempting Your First Mission
Your first mission will be a simple patrol that requires you to fly to several waypoints in space. The waypoints will appear on your radar as pulsing white triangle, on your HUD as white arrows, and actually in space as glowing beacons of light. Once you pass through a patrol waypoint, your mission will update and you’ll receive the next patrol point.
But, be warned: it’s likely your patrol will be met with violent disruption. You’ll have to think fast and shoot straight to survive. See below to learn the basics of combat.
Basic Flight Controls
Mouse Control heading
Mouse 1 Fire primary weapons
Mouse 2 Fire secondary weapon
Mouse Wheel Zoom in/out
W / Up arrow Increase speed setting
S / Down arrow Decrease speed setting
Q / Left arrow Roll your ship counter-clockwise
E / Right arrow Roll your ship clockwise
A / Numpad 1 Yaw left
D / Numpad 3 Yaw right
TAB Cycle through targets
Mouse Heading Control
You can control your ship heading with the mouse. If you move the mouse away from you, your ship will lift; if you move the mouse to the right, the ship will turn to the right. When using the Mouse, you will receive a “virtual joystick” indicator on your ship’s Heads-Up Display (HUD).
As you move the mouse, this indicator changes position to show how fast you will turn in the desired direction. The further the indicator is from the center of your screen, the faster you will turn. Put the cursor in the center of your viewscreen to stop turning.
Joystick and Gamepad Support
You can also control your starship with a joystick, as described on the following page.
• Use the joystick up/down axis to control ship pitch.
• Use the joystick left/right axis to control yaw.
• If your joystick has a twist-handle, it can be configured to govern starship roll.
Basic Combat
In most cases, combat is simply a matter of being able to line up your target in your targeting sights and opening fire at the right time.
To cycle through all targets in your immediate area, use the TAB key (default). Also, you can use the comma (,) and period (.) keys to cycle through nearby enemy targets. A targeted enemy will show up as a blue arrow on your HUD. Follow the arrow until you have the targeted starship in your field of view. When you’re ready to attack, open fire by hitting the appropriate mouse or joystick button.
To hit your target, try to aim for the small bright circle just in front of the ship’s movement. This indicator shows the enemy ship’s trajectory and will help you “lead” your target as it zooms away.
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Becoming an Ace pilot takes practice, but here are a few hints that might help you survive your first few encounters…
>> Lead your target. Especially when your target is at a distance, fire your shots just in front of the enemy ship. As the ship moves, it will actually fly into your line of blaster fire.
>> Tail your enemy. One of the most effective tactics is drop-ping in behind your enemy and sticking to his afterburners. This keeps you safe from return fire and you can concentrate all your fire on one set of shields. It’s not always easy, especially if you’re trying to tail an agile A-wing, but it’s a tactic you should master.
>> Manage your speed. If you’re in a speedy starship, like a TIE fighter, you might want to throttle back and slow down so you don’t continually fly past your enemy. A TIE fighter tailing a Y-wing might only need to fly at half-speed to keep the Y-wing in its sights.
>> Watch your back. Enemy pilots know some of the same tricks you do and will try to slip in behind you whenever possible. Keep an eye on your radar for approaching hostiles, especially when you’re on a straight trajectory towards a waypoint. If you spot space vermin sneakin’ up on you, turn and blast them.
>> Spinning is a good trick. Liberal use of rolls can help shake enemy fighters and keep them from peppering you.
>> Slam on the brakes. If you have a fast-moving enemy right on your tail, you might be able to trick him into buzzing past you by making a sudden stop. If this trick works, you’ll find your self looking into your enemy’s engines and you can tail him.
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Destroying an Enemy
When you destroy an enemy ship you automatically receive:
• Any credits that the enemy pilot was carrying
• The credits held in the ships cargo hold (for transports and capital ships)
• Any special item that the ship was carrying (loot equipment)
• Starship combat experience (if you are not yet a master of your pilot profession)
• Prestige points (if you are a master of your pilot profession)
All credits and loot are transferred automatically into your inventory.
Disabled Components
As you take damage, it’s possible that an enemy might destroy your starship’s shields and armor. After this occurs, any subsequent damage you receive will be applied directly to your ship’s engine, weapons, and other internal systems. Damage to different systems has different effects. If your Engine systems are damaged, you will fly and turn slower. Eventually, sustained damage can disable your engines, weapons, and other systems, causing them to cease functioning altogether. If your Engine is disabled, you will no longer be able to move, and your enemies will make short work of you!
Repairing your Starship
When your ship sustains a significant amount of damage, it can be “destroyed.” You will see a brief cinematic of your vessel engulfed in a violent explosion. Fortunately, you never lose your ship chassis permanently. After being destroyed, your ship is automatically towed to the nearest neutral space station.
When your damaged ship arrives at a space station follow these steps:
1. Communicate with the space station. This should happen automatically. The space station commander will hail any damaged ship that comes near the space station.
2. Tell the space station commander that you want to ‘Repair’ your ship.
3. Your ship will be automatically repaired for a fee.
If you return to the ground, you can do repairs using the Starship Terminal at the starport.
When you are on the ground…
1. Go to the starport where you parked your starship.
2. Go to the Starship Terminal and use it.
3. Choose ‘Manage Ship Components’ from the radial menu.
4. Locate the starship components (shown in the center view pane) that are damaged.
5. For each one damaged, you will need a specific ‘Repair Kit’ that fixes that component. For instance, an ‘Engine Repair Kit’ will not work on a Weapon Capacitor.
6. Drag the appropriate ‘Repair Kit’ from the left-side menu onto the damaged component in the center view to fix your ship.
7. Once all components are repaired to your satisfaction, you can close this window or choose to ‘Launch’ into space.
And the steps for repairing something aboard a multi-passenger ship would be:
1. Find the repair station for the damaged component inside the starship. Each component in your multi-person starship has a specific repair station associated with it.
2. For each damaged component, there is a specific repair kit that will repair it. Drag the appropriate repair kit onto the damaged component to repair it.
Heading Home
Once you have finished your mission, you will want to return to the ground and rendezvous with your Trainer. To return home, you need to visit a Space Station.
• Open the Star System Map (‘M’ by default), or open the Hyperspace map (with ‘H’
key by default) and double-click on the space system in which you are currently flying.
Double-clicking the star system from the hyperspace map will cause the Star System Map
interface to open automatically.
• Choose a Space Station from the list of stations in the Star System Map interface.
• Right-click on the Space Station and choose ‘Create Waypoint.’
• Close the Star System Map.
• Fly to the new waypoint.
• When you arrive at the space station, you must target the station (‘C’ by default ) and communicate with it (with the comm button on your HUD display) or a radial menu.
• Tell the space station you want to land on the planet. The space station will provide a list of viable landing zones on the planet below.
• Choose your destination to begin the automatic landing sequence. When you reach your desired planet, return to the quest trainer for your reward. You can also converse with your quest trainer again to receive another mission.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Chapter 5
Camera Controls and the HUD
As you explore space and engage in combat, you’ll need to keep your eyes open for enemy forces and watch various elements of your Heads-Up Display (HUD). Learning to use your camera to observe your surroundings is vital for success, especially against more dangerous opponents, and the HUD is one of your most valuable tools.
The Virtual Cockpit
After launching into space you will find yourself in the cockpit of your starship. In order to look around the cockpit and survey the space zone, press and hold the INS key on the keypad. While in this view you cannot change heading with the mouse, but if you let go of the INS key, your view will snap forward and you will be able to resume piloting with the mouse.
Third-Person View
You can use the mouse wheel to zoom the camera out from your cockpit to a third-person view of your ship. Roll the wheel backwards to zoom out, forward to zoom in. While zoomed out, you can rotate around your ship holding the INS key and moving the mouse.
Camera Elasticity
When flying in third person you will notice that the camera ‘lags’ a bit behind your starship. You can control the ‘elasticity’ of the camera’s attachment to your starship with the ‘Camera Elasticity’ slider in the options menu. Go to the game options screen with CTRL-O (by default), and choose the ‘Interface’ button on the left side of the Game Options screen. Note the ‘Camera Elasticity’ slider near the bottom of the screen on the right. Adjust this slider to set the amount of lag that the camera exhibits when moving your starship.
The Starship Display (HUD)
Your ship hit points / health summary
Pilot / group status - lists your group members and their ship status.
Comms - Ship-to-ship communications - After targeting the space station with the ‘C’ key, use the “/” key to invoke a ship-to-ship commlink with a Space Station.
Toobar Icons
7a. Zone map
7b. Inventory
7c. Datapad
7d. Character sheet
7e. Skills
7f. In-game email
7g. Game Options
7h. Community tools
7i. Abilities
7j. Holocron
7k. Game MenuShip Component
Status icons
8a. Engines
8b. Weapons
8c. Weapon Capacitor
8d. Booster
8e. Reactor
8f. Droid Interface Target
Indicator
9a. Target Name
9b. Sub-component name
9c. Target Type
9d. Difficulty
9e. Faction
9f. MISSION CRITICAL - if the target is critical to your current mission, this text indicator will appear in the ship targeting window.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Chapter 6
Advanced Combat and Controls
The basics outlined in the previous chapter should help you survive your first few encounters, but to truly excel at combat, you’ll want to master a suite of commands and controls.
Default Controls
CTRL + / Auto-level your ship
B | (Joystick button 6) Engage Booster
7 | W | = Increase Throttle
3 | S | - Decrease Throttle
END Set throttle to 0%
HOME Set throttle to 100%
1 | Q Roll ship counter-clockwise (left)
5 | E Roll ship clockwise (right)
A | (Joystick) | (Mouse) | Numpad 1 Yaw left
D | (Joystick) | (Mouse) | Numpad 3 Yaw right
Numpad 5 Pitch up
Numpad 2 Pitch down
C Target closest space station or capital ship
Z Target closest starship
, Target next enemy starship
. Target previous enemy starship
K Target next friendly starship
L Target previous friendly starship
X Target ship under reticle
M Match target speed
H Open Hyperspace map
N Open Star System map
1 | (Mouse button 1) Fire primary weapon group (guns by default)
2 | (Mouse button 2) Fire second weapon group
3 | (Mouse button 3) | ; Release Counter-Measure
O Open Wings (X-wing)
D (or type /dock) Dock with target / undock with target
I (or type /inspect) Inspect target (target must be disabled)
J Open Quest Journal
[ (Left bracket) | (Right bracket) ] Cycle through components on an enemy starship
G Open Weapon Group configuration screen
V Open Ship Component Details screen
F Open Formation command interface
CTRL + F Form-up (enter formation with a group)
\ Communicate with NPC starship/station
Customizing Your Controls
You may configure starship controls. Open the game options menu by pressing the [INSERT ICON] button on the lower right of your screen, or by pressing CTRL-O. Find the CONTROLS tab on the left side of this screen and click on it. Slider bars for mouse and joystick sensitivity, dead zone size and inertia are here; adjust the sliders to your liking.
If you want to choose custom keystrokes for in-flight commands, look for the KEYMAP button at the bottom of the screen. Click on this to bring up the control input menu. On the far right is a tab labeled SHIP. Click on this tab to bring up your ship custom controls. Choose any command for which you would like to create a custom mapping. Press the REMAP button. Input the keypress, mouse button press, joystick button press, or joystick / gamepad movement you want to associate with the selected command.
Be sure to hit the APPLY button so your changes are made permanent. If you end up with controls you don’t like, you can also use the RESET DEFAULT button on the controls page to return to the default control setup for Jump to Lightspeed.
Advanced Starship Combat
Much of the combat involves lining up a target using your mouse or joystick and unleashing a barrage of fire. As you advance, you’ll face increasingly more talented enemy pilots and you’ll rely more on secondary fire (such as missiles), counter-measures, and special moves.
Missiles
If your ship is equipped with guided missiles, you can fire them once you are locked on target. To lock on a target, you must keep that target in your targeting reticle for a small amount of time. Once you do so, the targeting bracket around the enemy ship will change, indicating that your missiles are “locked” and ready to fire.
Use your missile fire key (determined by your ship loadout) to fire a missile. Fire your missiles only when an enemy is actually “locked.” The guided missile will track your enemy and hopefully damage or destroy him. Your missile can be foiled if your enemy drops a counter-measure.
Counter-Measures
Counter-measures are designed to disrupt a missile’s guidance system, causing that missile to miss its intended target. Whenever an enemy ship fires a missile at you, you will receive a Missile Lock warning on your HUD. To prevent the missile from hitting you, you can release counter-measures by hitting the semi-colon ( ; ) key (by default).
Player vs. Player Combat
In order to do battle against other players, your character will need to be an Overt member of a military faction - either Rebel or Imperial. In space, players are either (pure) neutral (no other player can do damage to them, and they cannot do damage to any other player), or they are Factionally Overt (they can do damage to the opposing faction).
There are special player vs. player rules for the “Deep Space” and “Kessel” systems.
WARNING: Do not enter either the “Deep Space” or “Kessel” systems if you do not want other players to be able to damage your starship in combat. These high-end zones are specifically designed to support large-scale player vs. player battles, and the rules have been simplified to make this happen.
Disabling and Inspecting Enemy Starships
Some missions will require you to disable larger starships for capture or inspection.
To target specific ship sub-systems, use the left and right bracket ( [ ] ) keys. Tap the bracket keys ( [ and ] ) to cycle through sub-components of your currently selected target. For instance, if your target is a Corellian Corvette, you can use the left and right bracket keys to cycle through the shield generator, the main reactor, the engines and the bridge. Once you have selected a sub-component, your missiles and ship blasters will be tuned to strike that component. Once the sub-component is destroyed, your targeting system will automatically cycle to another sub-component.
If your objective is to disable your target, you will need to use these keys to target the enemy’s ‘Engine’ sub-system. After you target this system, fire as normal. Once you have done sufficient damage, the enemy ship will come to a stop. Once a ship is disabled, you can inspect it by typing /inspect in the chat window or by using the INSPECT button on your HUD. If you locate a mission objective, it will automatically be transferrd to your ship.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Chapter 7
Advancement
Advancement through the new Pilot professions involves both completing missions and earning Experience to qualify for new skills. Your Space Quest Trainers can provide you with skills once you qualify. Once you master a Pilot profession, you can continue progressing by earning “Prestige Points,” which provide you with special access to areas of space locked in war and other perks.
Gaining Piloting XP
Each time you destroy an enemy NPC starship you gain experience. If you have not yet mastered your pilot profession (you don’t yet have all of the skill boxes associated with the profession, including the topmost box), you will receive Starship Combat Experience.
You will need Starship Combat Experience to advance through your pilot profession. You will receive an on-screen message when you gain enough experience to qualify for your next skill. Converse with your Space Quest Trainer when you have sufficient experience and elect to learn a new skill.
Gaining Prestige Points
Once you have mastered your chosen profession (meaning that you have all of the skill boxes associated with the profession) you will start earning Prestige Points. There are Rebel, Imperial and Privateer Prestige Points. These Prestige Points can be exchanged to access high-end player-versus-player areas, including the unknown regions of Deep Space and the spice mine system of Kessel.
Piloting Commands
As you advance in your chosen profession, you will gain access to special commands that you can execute during combat. All commands are skill based, meaning that the more levels of ability (Pilot Special Tactics skill modifier) the pilot has, the more easily the command can be executed successfully. With most abilities, there is a period of time that must elapse before the pilot can use another one. This is shorter for simpler commands, and longer for more complicated ones.
Imperial Pilot Commands
The tactical training that Imperial pilots receive is second-to-none. As Imperial Pilots advance, they will learn new performance-enhancing commands and gain the ability to call in support craft for aid.
Pump Reactor/PUMPREACTOR
The pilot attempts to overcharge his reactor’s reactant injectors and squeeze some extra juice out of the generator. This will increase overall available power to some degree. At the same time, the pilot overloads the output coils leading to the ion drive units, producing additional available thrust over normal operating parameters. When the pilot does this, there is a risk of the automated flight control systems detecting the overload as a threat and shutting the system down, or ‘scramming’ the reactor. If the reactor scrams, the ship will basically shut down until the systems automatically reset. The additional power and speed provided by this tweak are very handy in a space dogfight, but sitting motionless in space while you wait for your reactor to re-ignite can be deadly. Thus only the more daring pilots are known to attempt this feat with any regularity. Running this command increases the power available to all ship subsystems, and ship speed. A failure to run the command will shut the ship down; and the greater the failure, the longer the downtime.
Emergency Weapons/EWEAPONS
This ability allows the pilot to temporarily circumvent the ship’s normal power distribution parameters and instead dump all power normally meant for recharging the ship’s shields into weapons instead. Note that this doesn’t increase how much damage the weapons do, but instead how much power for recharge is available to them. Shunting shield power directly to the weapons allows firing bursts of extended lengths, at the cost of recharging the damage deflection screens. Running this command temporarily shuts down recharge for the shields and increases the weapon capacitor recharge rate dramatically. A failure to run the command will shut the ship down; and the greater the failure, the longer the downtime.
Bomber Strike 1/BSTRIKE1
Although not in command of a strike force themselves, pilots can, from time to time, call for assistance on standard Imperial command frequencies. If local non-assigned strike assets are available, they will be routed to the pilot’s locale where they will engage the requested target. Once the target is destroyed, or extreme casualties have been suffered by the strike package or its escort, the vessels will leave the area. A skilled pilot will be able to convince the local kill-zone Controller into giving him higher quality assets in the package, increasing their chance for success and survival.
To run the Bomber Strike, select a target, and type /bstrike1. If it’s something you could attack and a skill check is passed, a strike package will arrive and engage the target squad. Once the target, the strike package, or the strike package’s escort is destroyed, the remnants of the strike package will leave the area. The success level of the pilot’s skill check will affect the types of ships in the strike package.
Bomber Strike 2/bstrike2
Identical to the Bomber Strike 1 command, except the pilot’s career growth has granted him access to a larger strike force.
Bomber Strike 3/bstrike3
Identical to the Bomber Strike 2 command, except the pilot’s career growth has granted him access to an even larger strike force.
Rebel Pilot Commands
The Rebel Alliance navy is a ragtag group of pilots who rely on a diverse fleet cobbled together from stolen, borrowed, or illegally purchased starfighters. Because the Rebels have worked so hard to build their fleet, Alliance commanders stress the importance of bringing back each starship intact. Thus, the abilities that Rebel pilots master include protective measures and tactics for increasing survival. Like their Imperial counterparts, Rebel flight officers can also call on allies.
IFF Transponder Scramble/iffscramble
With this command, a pilot can scramble his ship’s on-board identification code. This allows the starship to temporarily broadcast a “friendly” recognition code to an enemy currently attacking the ship. If the transponder scramble is successful, attackers will cease fire. They will react if attacked, or eventually realize that they have been fooled by a transponder scramble and re-engage.
Emergency Shields/eshields
This ability allows the pilot to temporarily circumvent the ship’s normal power distribution parameters and redirect all power normally meant for recharging the ship’s weapon capacitor into shields instead. The weapon capacitor will no longer recharge for the duration of the effect and may shut down completely. However, the command will increase shield power levels and shield recharge rates. A failure to run the command will shut down the starship down; and the greater the failure, the longer the downtime.
Cannibal Repair/vrepair
By using this ability, the pilot initiates various subroutines to redirect power and programs from the vehicle’s most heavily damaged system to intact systems. If the pilot successfully executes this command, the most heavily damaged system is repaired somewhat, but the power overload causes damage to other systems. Slightly more damage will be incurred or repaired depending on how successfully the pilot executes the command (in a skill check). Cannibal Repair is not a replacement for normal systems repairs. It is intended to get a heavily damaged ship back into operation to finish a mission or escape enemy forces.
Cannibal Repair Other/vrepairother
This variant of the Cannibal Repair ability allows the pilot to sacrifice some of his own ship’s integrity (or “health”) in order to improve a friendly ship’s integrity. To execute this command, the pilot must first select a friendly ship and come to a complete stop next to that ship. Once the command is successfully executed, the pilot’s ship will “donate” integrity from its own systems to repair the most heavily-damaged component on the recipient vessel.
Call Repair Ship/callrepairship
At Tier 3, the pilot can invoke this ability to call a friendly repair vessel that carries a supply of low-level replacement components. A few moments after the pilot executes the command, a repair ship hyperspaces into the area, flies near to the pilot’s craft and provides limited repairs. If the repair effort is successful, the pilot’s ship will be restored to (at least) basic operating capacity.
If combat erupts during the repair period, the repair ship will cease making repairs and make a hasty retreat. Pilots should also note that a repair ship will not hyperspace to your location if you are already engaged in combat.
Call Reload Ship/callreloadship
At Tier 4, a pilot can summon an ammunition hauler. The ammo vessel will resupply the pilot’s weapon stores with all manner of guided ordnance (missiles, torpedoes) and counter-measures. Much like repair vessel pilots, ammo ship captains will not reload craft that are under fire, and will run at the first sign of trouble.
Call Repair/Reload Ship/callrepairreloadship
Master Rebel pilots can also receive aid from larger Alliance ships that have both repair and reload capabilities. These vessels will resupply a pilot with fresh starship components, missiles, torpedoes and counter-measures. Like their specialized counterparts, these Repair / Reload vessels are very skittish and will run at the first sign of a fight.
Privateer Pilot Commands
Privateer pilots aren’t necessarily all pirates and mercenaries, but they certainly use unorthodox tactics. With no allegiances or traits in common (other than personal self interest), the Privateer’s starship tweaks and tricks cover a wide range of basic operational themes and effectiveness.
IFF Transponder Scramble/iffscramble
With this command, a pilot can scramble his ship’s on-board identification code. This allows the starship to temporarily broadcast a “friendly” recognition code to an enemy currently attacking the ship. If the transponder scramble is successful, attackers will cease fire. They will react if attacked, or eventually realize that they have been fooled by a transponder scramble and re-engage.
Emergency Thrust/ethrust
In some battles, a little extra speed can mean the difference between life and death. The Emergency Thrust command temporarily increases the starship’s speed by short-circuiting several subsystems and confusing engine/reactor sensors, the pilot can divert a ludicrous percentage of power from the starship’s reactor straight into the engines. The tradeoff is that most of the power routed to the engines is stripped from weapon and shield systems. Weapons will be disabled and unable to fire, and shields will no longer regenerate and will begin to slowly dissipate. The duration of this effect varies with how well the pilot executed the command. Once the effect ends, the ship’s systems will reset to default operational parameters.
Pirate Trap 1/ptrap1
Sometimes a diversion is better than a fast ship. This command sends out a fake freighter distress call to lure pirates to the area. The pirates attracted to this distress signal will create a major distraction that the pilot can use to ambush enemies or escape.
When this command is executed, the number and type of pirates that arrive is dependant on the level of success. If the pilot has a target, the pirates will attempt to attack that target. If the pilot doesn’t have a target, the pirates will engage any ship in the area. If the pilot was generally successful with the initial command, the pirates won’t come after the pilot (at least not initially). However, it the pilot is horribly unsuccessful, the pirates will recognize the ruse and, resentful of the ploy, attack the pilot mercilessly.
Pirate Trap 2/ptrap2
With familiarity of the pirate comm channels comes the ability to circumvent and pervert these communications. Pirate Trap 2 attracts more powerful, and potentially more dangerous pirates.
Energy Pulse 1/epulse1
This command creates a series of dangerous system overrides that short-circuit the starship’s weapon capacitor, causing the vessel to emit a powerful and damaging omni-directional pulse of energy. This pulse is marginally under some semblance of control, and only enemy ships nearby will take damage. In addition to the brute-force external damage, there is a very slight chance that the pulse will cause damage directly to internal systems of nearby enemy vessels. This command completely drains the weapon energy capacitor and can only be fired if the capacitor currently contains a minimum amount of energy. If a pilot fails the skill check for this ability, the energy pulse will fizzle before it is emitted. If the pilot fails dramatically, the pulse will blowback through the pilot’s own systems and generally wreak havoc on the ship.
Energy Pulse 2/epulse2
This more advanced form of the energy pulse is easier to control and is designed to damage and possibly even disable ship-subsystems. This command has much the same effect as Energy Pulse 1, but is more powerful. It’s also a bit more difficult to execute successfully.
Energy Pulse 3/epulse3
This version of the energy pulse command is an exercise in sheer insanity. It not only pulls energy from the weapon capacitor but also taps the shield batteries to funnel an outrageous amount of power into the pulse. This energy pulse has very little finesse, and nearby friendly vessels have as much to fear as enemy vessels. A wise pilot would be well advised to warn their friends away before triggering this command. With greater power comes much higher damage output to both external components and internal systems. Energy Pulse 3 also has a much higher chance of disabling internal systems.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Chapter 8
Advanced Starship Guide
As you advance through your chosen profession, you’ll gain certifications for more advanced and more powerful starships. However, in order to truly maximize the potential of a starship, you’ll need to know how to outfit it with new gear, integrate an astromech droid to enhance the ship’s performance, and keep the vehicle in good-repair.
Outfitting Your Starship
Aside from your Starter Ship, every starship can be upgraded with new components. The weapons, engines, shield generators, and other equipment gained through defeating enemies in space can be used for this, or you can purchase new components from Shipwrights. To upgrade a component, visit a Starship Terminal and choose “Manage Ship Components” to review your starship equipment status, and to configure your ship loadout. If you have recently acquired a new shield system, better armor, an upgraded weapon, or a faster droid interface you might want to install it on your ship before you fly. Simply drag and drop the new component (from your inventory on the left side of the screen) into the appropriate component slot in the center pane. A RED square barrier over the component slot indicates that the component is not compatible with the starship in which you are trying to install it. You can also review your starship’s status using the datapad (CTRL+D by default). Note that you can only upgrade, repair and exchange parts using the Starship Terminal in a starport.
Repairing Your Ship
To repair your ship, visit a Starship Terminal and choose “Manage Ship Components” from the radial menu. The center view shows all of your starship components. Locate those that are damaged. For every damaged component, you’ll need a specific Repair Kit to fix it (an Engine Repair Kit will not work on a Weapon Capacitor, for example). Drag the appropriate Repair Kit from the left-side menu onto the damaged component in the center view to fix your ship. Once all components are repaired to your satisfaction, you can close this window or choose to ‘Launch’ into space. If you are aboard a multi-passenger ship, you can repair components at repair stations inside the starship. Each component inside your multi-person starship has a specific repair station associated with it. For each damaged component, there is a specific Repair Kit that will repair it. Drag the appropriate Repair Kit onto the damaged component to repair it. When you die and are towed to a space station, repairs can be offered by that space station. Tell the space station commander that you want to ‘Repair’ your ship, and your ship will automatically be repaired for a fee.
Multiplayer Ships
Groups of players can fly together aboard multi-passenger starships. Jump to Lightspeed offers several multi-passenger starships including the YT-1300 Corellian Transport (the basic model that Han Solo used to fashion his one-of-a-kind Millennium Falcon). While aboard a multi-passenger ship, players are free to walk around, chat, craft, dance, play music, and heal. Additionally, players can elect to pilot the ship (if they are the owner of the craft and if they select the pilot’s chair and choose ‘Pilot Ship’ from the radial menu), use a turret (if the ship is equipped with turrets), or an operations station. Use the LEAVE STATION button to stop piloting (and stand up), get up from the Operations station, or leave a Turret station.
Flying Together
In order to climb aboard a multi-passenger ship, players will need to first form a GROUP. Once the group is formed, the players can go to the local Starport and locate the Starship Terminal. All members of the group who wish to board the multi-passenger ship must be in the same room when the group leader/pilot activates the ‘Launch’ function of the Starship Terminal. After the starship is launched, all members of the group (that were together in the same room with the Starship Terminal) will board the multi-player ship.
Droids
Droids play a vital role in Jump to Lightspeed. Adding a droid to your starship can dramatically enhance performance. As you advance through your chosen Piloting profession, you will earn the ability to program your droid with various abilities and commands.
To use a droid command:
• You must possess the skill to control a droid or navicomputer.
• You must possess the skill that gives you knowledge of droid programs.
• You must have either an astromech or an ‘initialized’ flight computer on your ship.
• And you must have a program inside the droid.
Astromech Skills
These skills are generally the fourth column of the three piloting skill trees. Aside from granting you droid commands, these skills are also used to control flight computers. As you advance, you’ll gain the ability to hold more programs for your droid at any one time.
Astromechs and Flight Computers
Flight computers are crafted items that have no function outside their ability to make droid programs accessible to a ship’s pilot. Flight computers are necessary in some cases because only a certain number of ships will accept an astromech. For example, a Y-wing fighter will accept an astromech, but a TIE-fighter will not and must use a flight computer instead. A flight computer must be ‘initialized’ through its radial menu.
If your starship does accept an astromech, you can use any R2, R3, R4, or R5 unit. These can be built by other players and purchased directly from them, or purchased from the Bazaar. To actually associate a droid or flight computer with a ship, open your datapad and choose “Manage Ship’s Components” from the radial menu on your starship. Click on the ‘droid’ pane on the top of the window, and drag the droid or flight computer datapad object from the player’s datapad into the starship’s droid slots.
Programming Droid Commands
As you gain astromech-related skills, you’ll learn valuable droid commands. To make a droid command accessible to the ship, it must be turned into a program. To do this, you must first acquire blank memory module chips either by crafting or purchasing them. Once the chip is in your inventory, use the chip’s radial menu to ‘program’ it. A chip can only be programmed once, but once you acquire a skill that teaches them a droid command, you can program that command into any memory chips you have. Once a memory module has been programmed, it can be kept, stored, or traded (even to players who don’t know how to program that command themselves).
A programmed droid memory chip isn’t useful to the droid or in space until it is uploaded to the droid or flight computer’s datapad. This is done by selecting the appropriate option from the memory module’s radial menu. Droid memory chips destroy themselves when they are uploaded, and an uploaded droid command can never be turned back into a chip.
Using Droid Commands
When you launch into space with an astromech or flight computer loaded with programs, you can access your droid commands from the ‘droid’ pane of the Abilities window (CTRL+A by default). These droid commands can be accessed just like any other player commands, through /commands or by being dragged onto the toolbar.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager
Chapter 9
Shipwrights and Starship Crafting
Aside from “starter ships,” Shipwrights provide most of the starships in the galaxy. Shipwrights also build a wide range of equipment and have the ability to “reverse-engineer” components discovered in space.
Becoming a Shipwright
Use the Planetary Map (CTRL+V) to find a Shipwright trainer. When you converse with this trainer, he or she will grant you the Novice Shipwright skill box provided you have enough skill points remaining and the correct amount of credits. The Novice Shipwright skill will allow you to begin building immediately.
Tools of the Trade
Every Shipwright needs some key equipment in order to ply the trade. These include:
Starship
Crafting Tool
The Starship Crafting Tool, which is provided to you by your Shipwright trainer, is a special crafting device that will allow you to build components for starships and other basic items. To build advanced items, you’ll need to use a Space Crafting Station.
Draft Schematics Your draft schematics are basically blueprints for what you can build. You can find your draft schematics in your datapad (CTRL+D by default).
Space Crafting Station
Stationary devices found in many cities, Space Crafting Stations enable Shipwrights to build starships and more advanced components for these vessels. Space Crafting Stations also allow you to experiment when crafting; experimentation can lead to the creation of improved components and ships.
Reverse-Engineering Analysis Tools
These devices allow you to reverse-engineer an item, extracting valuable data from a piece of equipment in order to build a better version of it. There is a unique analysis tool for each type of component (an Engine Analysis Tool, a Weapons Analysis Tool, etc.). These tools are delicate, one-shot devices that are destroyed during the Reverse-Engineering process.
Space Crafting Station
Stationary devices found in many cities, Space Crafting Stations enable Shipwrights to build starships and more advanced components for these vessels. Space Crafting Stations also allow you to experiment when crafting; experimentation can lead to the creation of improved components and ships.
Reverse-Engineering Analysis Tools
These devices allow you to reverse-engineer an item, extracting valuable data from a piece of equipment in order to build a better version of it. There is a unique analysis tool for each type of component (an Engine Analysis Tool, a Weapons Analysis Tool, etc.). These tools are delicate, one-shot devices that are destroyed during the Reverse-Engineering process.
Kurt "Thunderheart" Stangl
Community Relations Manager