Game detail
The space environment is visually rich, with immense backgrounds created from sources such as images from the Hubble Space Telescope.[citation needed] The space around the player is populated with planets, stations, clouds of various types, Trade Lane rings and many other objects. Computer-generated ships (police and other patrols, cargo convoys and so on) move around on whatever business the relevant faction would be involved in. The space around many planets is a veritable hive of activity, with orbital stations and trade lane terminuses often in orbit, generating considerable traffic. The environment is rendered very realistically (within the rules of the game universe). The player can switch between various viewpoints.
In space, the player is in control of a ship and is generally trying to get from one place to another without that ship being destroyed. Control is through a mouse and keyboard; the game does not support a joystick interface. Maximum speed in normal flight is 80 of the in-game measurement, but a thruster can also be used to boost speed for a period. ("Kill Engine" allows the player to drift at high speed, while forward, backward and side Thrusters allow the player to stay at KE). In cruise mode the speed increases to 300 m/s but in this mode all weapons are disabled. Any ship in cruise mode is usually difficult to hit but special "cruise disruptor" missiles (which, rather obviously, disrupt a target's cruise engines for five seconds during which the target can be attacked or destroyed) are available on the market. Trade Lanes allow a player to move across a system very quickly (2500 m/s). Ships have four flight modes - free flight, go to (a kind of autopilot that will fly a ship to a selected point avoiding obstacles), dock (used to land on planets and stations and to travel along Trade Lanes and through Jump Gates), and formation (in which a player can join a convoy and will automatically adjust position to match the convoy's Speed/orientation).
While landed, a player can trade weapons and ammunition, commodities and even buy a new ship. Players can also visit the bar to pick up gossip, have their reputation "hacked" (see Factions and Reputation) or select a mission from the job board to pick up a little money.
There are several ways to make a living. A ship can be flown to take on missions from the job board to gain money, or the player can move cargo around, ideally buying low and selling high. Some asteroid fields can also be mined by firing on small free-floating asteroids, garnering commodities to sell. However, mining takes great amounts of time to fill even the smallest fighter's cargo hold, and is therefore considered by many to be dull and uneconomic.
Shipping and Handling
Not included in price can be arranged to preference(+-R20-R40). Or collected in Centurion, Pretoria area.
