A Newbs Guide to HS

[Boldot]

Welcome to Hyperspace, one of, if not THE greatest zone on subspace.

 

This guide is meant mostly to answer the question “How do I play this zone?” and the many many subsequent questions following that.

 

Before you start playing, you should know a few things about how this zone works.

 

Money and Experience:

This zone uses money and experience as a means to customize your ship(s). In the buy menu you can see just how many things you can customize for each ship. You start with $5000 and 0 exp. Money is earned by killing other ships, winning the flagging game, and occasionally winning an event. The amount of money you earn for each kill is based on your bounty, their bounty, and the difference between your exp. What you need to remember is that the higher your bounty, and their bounty, the more you get. Exp is earned in the same ways, but is based solely upon your exp and your opponent’s exp. The max amount of exp you can get is 6, and the minimum is 0. There is no max amount of money that can be earned with a single kill.

 

Purchasing:

Now that you know how the money system works, you can go buy something!

There are five different shops in Hyperspace, four of which are in the center area, and where you buy the majority of items for your ships. Ships themselves are bought while in spectator mode.

Musks Misc Junk Shop (I7, upper left corner of C) sells all armors and reactor plants

D1stort's Hardware Store (I14, lower left corner of C) sells all utilities, sensors, bricks and converters

The Cat's Engine Cache (G11, center left side of C) sells all sublight drives and ftl engines

Bomook's Gun Store (M7, upper right corner of C) sells all guns and bombs

And all Alien Tech items are bought in the store in sector 4

So when you want to buy something in a certain category, you need to head to a certain shop. To see how much money and experience you have ac!@#$%^&*ulated, enter into the chat window "?money" without the "s.

To access the main buying menu enter "?buy" it will show you all of the sections items are in. To look at a certain section type "?buy

" (example "?buy guns"). To buy an actual item you enter "?buy " if you aren't in the correct store, it will tell you to go to the right store to buy it, and if you are already there, your item will be added to your ship.

To see a description of an item you can type "?iteminfo " and it will tell you all about that item (energy use, gun/bomb level, bounce, shrap, stats boosted... etc...)

 

There are some restrictions on buying things. You can only have one of everything, except you can have three utilities, and two sensors (These both can be changed if you buy a "converter" which changes one slot availability.)

In the "Alien Tech" catagory, there are some very special items, they are always bought at the fifth store in sector 4(). Fields and Antideath. Fields are friendly area's that shoot bullets at every single enemy that enters them. Fields require a special alien tech known as a "field launcher" to use (except one, but thats covered soon.) You can buy certain "ammo" to use in it, each with a different strength of bullet, and duration, and size (the larger it is, the longer it is, and the weaker it is.) To place a turret type the command "?field" and it will place itself with you in the middle.

Antideath, or AD, is a very unique item that will once a minute, have you respawn right where you died rather than at the center spawn point.

 

There are two kinda of "brick" bricks that are one time use, and two special permanent items that use up a brick slot. They are all bought at D1's hardware store. The two temporary ones are fairly self explanatory, you can hold two of one, and the other is twice the size. The permanent items are a bit more interesting. Brick Attack is buyable re-usable field. It is much smaller than other fields, and lasts much shorter, but you do not have to re-buy it. Energy Infusion, when used gives you full energy.

 

 

Gameplay

Killing people in the center is fairly self explanatory, but to maximize profits there are a few things you can do. Try not to die, it may seem like a simple concept, but the amount you make per kill increases every single kill you make without dying. Try and stick with your freq, this helps quite a bit with the not dying concept, but also helps you earn more even if you cannot get a single kill. You get a portion of your freqmates kills (up to half if you are occupying the same space), so the more they kill, the more you earn as well. And don't start thinking you can just hide in the safes, pop out to get a kill, hide more, and get a really nice bounty built up. While staying in a safe, if your bounty is higher than 10, it will slowly decrease (the more you have the faster it will drop) back down to 10.

 

Flagging usually involves one of the many bases scattered around the map. There are six actual "bases," which are basically glorified mazes designed for ship combat inside of them. Looking at the minimap, it looks impossible to get to anywhere but the center, but this is just not so. There is one free publicly available way to get to any section of the map. These are the hypertunnels, and they are quite a bit of fun.

 

There are two kinds of frequencies (freq's) in this zone, public and private. Both have a maximum joinable size of 8 players. Public freq's 0 and 1 can get up to 10 players if both are already at 8 and people enter a ship from spec. To get on a private frequency you type "?changeteam :". If you are the owner of a freq you may pm somebody who shouldn't be on your team with "?freqkick" and they will be removed from the freq.

 

Lancasters are the only attachable ship in Hyperspace. This makes them very important for freq's trying to flag, as they act as an attaching point for all other ships. A common item that lancasters try and get is Summoner. It allows them to pm any person on their freq with "?summon" and they will attach to them instantly with their current energy intact (if they had full, they keep it.) What many lancasters do is type "?away ?summon" which will pm "?summon" to anyone who pm's them. This allows freq mates to simply pm the lanc they wish to attach to, and bam, there they are.

 

Faster than light travel:

There are two access points, called "gates," that lead to the hypertunnels (HT's for short) in the center area (located in the upper left corner, and lower right corner). To use these gates, simply fly over them while they are inactive, and you will start the activation process. It will show some activity, then show you red, which means it is now active and warping to the other terminal. Each gate has a single partner that it leads to, so every time you go in a certain gate, you will exit in the same place every time. On the other side of the gate, you will see that it is blue in the center, which means that it received activation from the opposite side, and people can warp from there to your side. Once inside the HT's you can travel around the border of the entire map. As you fly around (go ahead, enjoy the insane speeds, it really is quite fun ) you see gates dispersed around the HT's. Each of these gates leads to a certain section, usually the closest section to that gate. There are other, faster ways to get to other sections, but each of these costs money, and are usually quite expensive.

 

One thing that is fairly inexpensive is the Transwarp (or rather, the token's are inexpensive, passes cost one million.) Each token costs $1000 and is usable only once. You can enter the transwarp from one of its many entrances, and once in can exit at any section of the map. Very quick and efficient!

 

The other two methods of faster than light travel (buy ?ftl) are ID drives, and Jump drives. Now, these are very fast and efficient, but they both have a slight chance of failing, and destroying you completely.

 

ID drives are possibly the fastest way to get from area to area. In an open space simply type "?id " and it will warp you to the ID tunnel, and once you reach the end of that, there you are!

 

Jump engines simply take you to and from the HT's very quickly. You type "?jump" in an open space and a jump portal will open up. If you enter this portal you will be warped to the other side.

 

 

Ships:

Now, you're probably thinking about the future, and what you should get. That is entirely up to you, and your playing style. But as far as ships go, here's an idea of what each ship is generally designed to do. The picture shows the size of each ship, and what comes with its purchase.

 

Warbird: Small light gun fighter. Has really low energy, but a high recharge. Generally used by newer players as it is available from the start, and starts with one of its most used guns, the pulse laser. Made for high speeds and quick dodges. Mostly used in the center as it doesn’t have much energy to last in a base.

Primary weapons: Pulse Laser/Flechette Gun, style choice of bombs

Basic setup: Ion Drive, Compression Core, Getaway Pack

Energy range: 950-1390 (lowest max and starting energy)

 

Javelin: Small light bomber. Has slightly more energy than a warbird, and less recharge. Harder to use than most ships because it requires greater dodging skills and aim to be highly successful. Made for dodging enemy fire while tossing bombs at them. Mostly used in the center as it has low energy, and very low recharge.

Primary weapons: Falcon missile and shrap boosters

Basic setup: Retro Rockets, Compression/Esper, Seige Pack

Energy range: 1000-1480

 

Spider: Heavy gunner. This big guy doesn't need to rely on quick dodges and fancy flying to kill. It has a good amount of energy, quite high recharge, and very high muzzle velocity. Made to shoot guns, and lots of them. A good mix of use in bases and in the center as it can last a long time in the center, and pump out a lot of rounds into a base.

Primary weapons: Flechette for center, Pulse/Plasma for base

Basic setup: Mezon Capacitor, Close Combat x2, Energy Infusion

Energy range: 1800-3000

 

Leviathan: Tank. This large ship has the highest energy possible, not the greatest of recharge, and possibly the fastest bombs around. This behemoth cant move very fast, but it doesn't need to. It is the only ship that has access to the powerful L3 bombs. It is used quite heavily in bases as it can take quite a bit of punishment before finally dying. Sometimes used in center, but is hard to deal with large groups as it moves so incredibly slow.

Primary weapons: Falcon/TacNuke/Moab and shrap boosters

Basic setup: ZPM, Radiating Coils, Seige Pack

Energy range: 2000-3500 (highest starting and max energy)

 

Terrier: Versatility fighter. This medium sized ship has midrange stats all the way around. Second highest energy, good recharge, good speed, good thrust, good gun speed, and decent bomb speed. The moniker "Jack of all trades" is quite fitting for this ship. Has some of the greatest access to various items, so this ship is very customizable. Used everywhere due to its versatility.

Primary weapons: Completely depends on fighting style, and use of ship

Basic setup: Quantum Reactor, H2 Ramscoop, Energy Infusion

Energy range: 1400-1880

 

Weasel: Ship with EMP. This medium sized ship has decent energy, good recharge, and decent speed/thrust. This ship is made for using its EMP bombs, and occasionally its decent velocity guns. Not the most nimble, but can hold its own. Is the only ship with EMP, and has triple bouncing bombs. Mostly used in bases so it can take advantage of its triple bouncing EMP bombs.

Primary weapons: HE missile, Beam Array

Basic setup: ESPER System, H2 Ramscoop, Close Combatx2

Energy range: 1300-1940

 

Lancaster: ZEE MOTHERSHIP! This giant of a ship is the only attachable ship available. It has the second highest energy, and a good recharge. This ship is meant for basing, as that is almost entirely where you will see it. It is designed to be in a base, where other ships might attach to defend/attack. Not usually used in the center, except for turreting, due to its very large size and poor maneuverability. Primarily uses burst in base as it has the highest burst shrap count of all ships, and secondly uses bombs for bomblines.

Primary weapons: Falcon missile and shrap booster

Basic setup: Summoner, ZPM, H2 Ramscoop

Energy range: 1500-3000

 

Shark: That little annoying ship you cant hit. The smallest of all ships in Hyperspace, this little guy is much like the terrier in its versatility, but not for the same reasons. Has an incredibly slow muzzle velocity, slow bomb speed, but has very high speeds itself. Gaining more use in bases, its small size prevents it from taking as much damage, its high speed lets it get through enemy lines, and its rapid item usage helps take care of the rest.

Primary weapons: In center any gun of choice, in bases Burst with Salvo for delay

Basic setup: Close Combat x2, Siege pack, Quantum Reactor

Energy range: 1000-1400

 

 

 

 

And dont forget to pay tribute by way of sacrifice to the Hyperspace god, energy vortex!

Edited June 25, 2007 by Boldot

[Boldot]

Update bump.

Now contains pictures, headings, more information, and a better layout. There is still more to come!

[Boldot]

Update time! Now has entire ?buy menu cataloged as ?iteminfo sorted by each catagory (links are by the store locations.)

Adding list of ? commands later tonight, as well as pictures for sector 4!

[BlueWyvern]

Update this for new settings on terr and other ships. ?shipinfo

[11___________]

isn't wb starting nrg 925?

[Spuds]

First time here... great info TY!

[Aceflyer]

Update bump... revised version posted at http://www.sshyperspace.net/guides/newbie_guide.html - revised and updated for accuracy with new screenshots where needed. Edited December 26, 2007 by Aceflyer