//CONTROLS/INTERFACE
Control-click when building ships or structures to pick how many to build.
Shift-click when building ships or structures to add five to the queue at a time.
You can set queued technologies to repeat when finished, moving them to the end of the queue.
Press 'P' to add an object to the pinned object list on the left. Control-click their icon to remove them.
You can click most messages in the message bar to zoom to the mentioned object or system.
Hold alt while hovering over a ship to display a ring indicating its maximum weapons range.
Hold shift while resizing a sub system to change the size by smaller increments.
You can rename planets and other objects by clicking on the pencil icon next to their name.
You can reveal the effects of a planet's condition by hovering over it in the Planet Window.
Any ship can serve as a mobile fuel supply if you allow it in the AI settings of the Blueprint Window.
Hold alt while giving a move order to lock the vertical component to the system plane.
Double right click and drag to adjust the vertical component while giving a move order.
You can also activate the 3D cursor by holding control while dragging the right mouse button for a move order.

//ORDERS
Hold control when giving an attack order to force weapons to be fired that normally would not be. You may also attack your own ships this way.
Hold shift when giving orders to chain them together. These orders will happen when the ship has nothing else to do.
Press 'X' with multiple ships selected to send each to a different unexplored system.
You can select multiple systems at a time when you issue an Auto-Colonize order.
You will need to force attack unowned objects such as stars to harm them - Hold control when giving the attack order.
When you manually dock or undock ships, they will forfeit their docking automation. Right click and select "Automatically Dock" to refresh it.

//TECH
Megaconstruction research reduces the cost of building large ships, and a few levels is useful for all empires.
Be careful when improving planetary structures, as their construction cost will increase with technology. Make sure your economy is ready for it.
When you level up a technology, you also get bonus progress in a random link. Level technologies up before branching out to save time.
Levelling a technology significantly improves related sub systems; they become about 1.4x more effective each level.
Technologies double in cost every time they are levelled. Be careful not to waste too much time on high levels of tech too early in the game.

//SHIPS
Pick the right scale for the job. Big ships are wasteful against small ships, and small ships have trouble damaging large ships.
If you find your ships are running out of ammo, build some Ammo Depots on planets in their system.
Keep your fleets up to date; You can retrofit old designs for a fraction of the new and old price of the hull.
Don't be fooled by how small larger ships look. A capital ship may only look slightly larger than a cruiser, but it is much stronger.
Bigger ships don't get more slots for sub systems; instead they get bigger, more effective sub systems.
You may scuttle your ships at a planet to regain some of the resources put into building the ship.
Constructing squads of Fighter-class ships locally is a good first defense against enemy incursions or pirate raids.

//SUBSYSTEMS
Advanced power generators explode violently when destroyed, damaging nearby friends and foes alike.
Larger guns do more damage, but fire more slowly. Use big guns to puncture armor, and small weapons to defeat small, defenseless targets.
Shields allow some hits to pass through as they are weakened. Don't forget to add armor to protect against such shots.
Armor reduces the damage a ship takes per hit, making it very effective against small weapons and beams.
Crewed ships give a small amount of free repair every tick; add a Repair Bay to keep your ship in top shape even in the middle of combat!
Beams hit a target four times throughout their duration. This makes them weak against armor, but makes piercing shields more likely.
You can place as much armor as you want on a design, but each plate slows the ship down and makes it more expensive.
Stations cannot refuel themselves, making Solar Panels and Bussard Ram Scoops a solid investment for long-lived defenses.
Flak Turrets are highly effective at killing swarms of smaller ships, but do very little to protect against similarly-sized targets.
Weapons are alternatives to each other -- DPS is not the only factor to consider when selecting armaments for your ships.
Ships without crews can be taken over easily with boarding pods.
Combat ships docked in a ShipBay are automatically deployed when enemies are detected and dock back at their carrier when no enemies remain.
Some weapons come with their own limited ammunition supply but for longer engagements make sure to include an Ammo Cache!


//PLANETS
Planet governors will build structures suited to their goal, and replace unsuitable structures if no slots are left.
You can set planets to repeat their build queue. Completed constructions will be moved to the end of the queue to be built again.
Each planet can have one or two special conditions that affect its structures. Check the planet window for details after colonizing a world.
By default, planets will use their space ports to maintain their resources at 50% capacity. You can change this in the Civil Acts screen.

//ECONOMY
Space Ports may provide some fuel, but a large fleet needs to be supplied by a Fuel Depot.
Unlike most resources, Goods and Luxuries don't need space ports to move around the empire.
Goods keep your people from becoming unhappy, but luxuries are necessary to make them happy.
The happier a population is, the faster they produce labor and resources.
Keep track of your empire's resources in the top left. If something is low, set a planet's governor to focus on that resource.
Planets continue to produce metal when they run out of ore, but at a much slower rate.
Planets with a larger population produce more resources, but also consume more goods and luxuries.

//GENERAL GAMEPLAY
Pirates prey on weak systems with wealthy economies; this can be exploited to your advantage!
Remnants are very powerful compared to other Empires in the game's beginning.  Keep them in mind as you expand or you might lose many colonists!
Check your Galactic Bank as you expand your empire; if you're short in Goods or Luxuries you may be straining your Empire's economy.
Colonizing worlds with smaller colony ships allows you to capture planets faster but the less slots a colony has the more vulnerable it is to destruction.
Destroying a star causes a wave of destruction to burst from it in a shockwave; the larger the star, the more damage dealt to objects in the system.

//EMPIRE
The resource focus and mandate civil acts can help you direct your economic output in case of shortages.
Be vigilant! Peace Agreements with no duration are permanent and cannot be revoked.

//MISC
Check out starruler.blind-mind.com for regular patches!
You can chat with other players by pressing 'T' in single player.
If you have any questions about the game, feel free to open the IRC chat from the escape menu and ask.
