1: Overview
The aim of taking part in this game is to build an empire others will cower before, a monument to your (virtual) greatness..
To do that you need bases that will give you the income, research and fleet production you need to attain that aim. None of your aims can be reached without a balance of these elements:
- if you do not have the income you cannot afford improvements and ships
- If you do not have the building capacity making anything takes forever
- If you don't build fleet and defenses you are vulnerable to other players' attacks.
- If you don't have sufficient technological development the options of what you can build are limited and anything you do build will be almost useless (imagine the difference between a chariot and a heavy battle tank).
So the finesse of the game is choosing correctly which options to spend your time and assets on. No solution to this conundrum is perfect, many approaches may work and many may not.
The primary mode of advancement is the owning of 'Bases' (think of a colonised planet), and later on 'Starbases' (hovering in space over a planet) can be built as well. These are your basic units of activity in terms of building, production and research. Without bases you cannot have those activities, so players should strive to construct as many as possible.
They (Bases and Starbases) are founded by using up a 'Colony Ship' that has been moved to a planet, moon or asteroid belt for this purpose. Collectively these placets, etc. are referred to as 'Astros' in the game. An astro can have 1 Base sited on it; as well as the option of placing as many Starbases over the astro. Starbases do not require that there be a Base on the astro (but they do tend to be safer placed over Bases)
Once you have your base set up you begin constructing structures on them to increase your output capacity. Generally you would start with some factory-type buildings to increase the output speed. Later economic buildings might follow, increasing your ability to fund further expansion and later still research buildings would allow for technological advances that unlock new, more advanced buildings and combat units.
To add to the game-play there are many other players taking part in the game. They all have plans to do better than you and the others involved in the game; in many ways it is a race to do best. At a certain level of play they may begin to attempt to attack their neighbours so as to acquire more income to pursue their advancement and to delay that of their opponents.
Hence having defenses and fleets to deter attack is highly important. A player with poor defenses is an invitation to attack. A predatory player will always attack the weakest victim possible. Why attack Player-A who has good defenses when you can make as much profit from Player-B for 10% of the casualties?
There are many kinds of defense structures you can choose from, depending on cost and on technology requirements. Building ships to help defend your bases, and later-on to attack other players' bases, is at the core of the game. Acquiring a fleet depends on having the income to pay for it, the industrial capacity to build it quickly, the technology to make it effective and the defenses to protect it once it is built. This is the core of this game; building and protecting, then moving to 'seize' the assets of other players in the race to become great.
Terms worth knowing regarding your bases before you start are:
- Economy (e): Credit output per hour. You need money to buy things.
- Construction (c): Capacity to build buildings per hour (in credits/hour).
- Production (p): Capacity to produce ships, stated in Credits per hour.
- Research (r): Capacity for technological research, in credits per hour.
Everything has a price. The length of time it takes a base to 'make' that item is the price of it divided by the base's capacity (cap) per hour to process that item. So if it costs $5000 and the relevant base cap is 500 per hour then it will take 10 hours to finish. Of note the (c), (p) and (r) commanders reduce the cost of their speciality by 1% per level, thus making it faster too.
A special warning: AE players (you know who you are; I do too) will find that there are a lot of familiar features here. True; but this is not AE and things do not necessarily work out the way you expect, including a lot of aspects of combat resolution. Be careful; and read the explanations to avoid embarrassment
Please note; in the game huge amounts of links exist to allow you to pass from one game 'page' to another. For the most part they are coloured in a turquoise-like colour called 'teal ' to make the links easy to see. The relevant names for important links are coloured the same way in this guide but are (for the moment) not linked.
Last thing: This is a work-in-progress that is very new. Please forgive any whoopies I've made whist constructing it. Also if there are inaccuracies or if you find any grammatical or spelling mistakes please pm 'Descartes' on any of the servers and i will fix it.
Any sorry for the Brit spelling; they made us do it for 800 years. 
2: Preparing to Start (1).
When you start playing Outer Core each player gets an equal starting package of the following:
1 pre-placed base, chosen at random by the server.
1 Fleet, made up of the following ships:
- 1 Colony Ship (CS); for building your second base
- 1 Scout Ship (SS); to explore the universe around you.
- 1 Corvette (CV), a small combat unit to help protect you or to widen your exploration options.
A small sum of Credits, the currency of the game.
Other than these items anything you acquire in the game must be built or earned by yourself, or else pillaged or scavenged from others (including your surroundings).
The game is played on an interface where the centre of the screen is the 'page' you currently have open in the game and the boxes to the side and top allow entry to the other 'pages' that allow you to get things done.
If you observe the headings of the links in the various peripheral areas of your screen you will see terms like 'Empire', 'Maps', 'Fleets', 'Alliance' Ranks' 'Comm' and 'Help" (these will be shown in the colour indicated here). If you hold your cursor over or the the right-hand side of these links you should notice sub-menues allowing access to related pages which will give you better control over your empire and its fleets. Tapping any of these allows you to enter the page inferred.
To the side of the page should be links that allow you to access details of your account (including optional settings and upgrade options), any messages you may have received, the message boards of your alliance (once you enter one), summaries of your Economy (how much income you produce and where), your Credit holdings and expenditure by each transaction plus a summery thereof. Further down there is a 'ticker' that reports the last battles to occur, provided they have happened within 30 minutes, and lists of recent new recruits to the game and any notes you make to yourself..
Learning to understand how to use these pages is the secret to initial success. Their individual internal details will be covered at length in the next chapter, for the moment it suffices to say that by-and-large the pages are responsible for what their name implies.
This game is rich in detail; as you learn your way around it you will begin to find masses of items I don't have room for here (some of which I am no doubt unaware of) that will make your experience both easier and more interesting as you discover them. Enjoy!!
3: Preparing to Start (2)
Main Tabs:
Empire Page: This gives a summary of all your Bases (and later-on your Starbases), initially in the order you built them in (you can permanently alter the order they are shown by pressing 'Reorder' at the top of the list).
Each base has its name, coordinates, economy size and what it is constructing, producing and developing listed in that order. To change any of these or to observe what else is queued for each function just tap the item required and the relevant list will appear. Tapping the 'Empire' button will bring you back out t o the main Empire page again.
The 'Empire' tab also has some of the most important sub-tabs to:
- The 'Production Centre' Page allows you to program all your bases to produce the same ships at once
- The 'Construction Page gives you an overview (and control of) the 'Construction' pages of all your bases at once.
- The 'Commanders' Page allows you to appoint, dismiss, promote, demote and move officers between bases. They influence various aspects of your bases according to their type and level (1% per level)
- The 'Technologies' page gives a summery of your technological development, the research capacity of each base and allows you to enter and change what each is researching.
- The 'Structures' page gives a summary of the number buildings of each type each base has. A separate chart at the bottom of the page details the defensive structures of each base. Each structure is listed by its initials, it is a good idea to gain a (rough) idea of what each one describes (that comes more easily with time).
-The "Capacities page summarizes the output value for each base in Economy, Construction, Production and Research. and totals them at the bottom.
- The 'Economy page' lists each base's Economic (Credit) output; both the maximum and the actual (if it has been damaged by attack). Later on if you earning credits through occupying another players base (or one of the non-player 'Borc' bases) these will be listed at the bottom of this page. The ability to pillage bases you hold can be controlled from this spot too (very bottom of page)
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Maps Page: The main page provides a galaxy map of each of the 11 galaxies available. The galaxies are divided into 100 regions whose number appears under the cursor as you move it over the map. Tapping on the region opens it. Some regions have many systems, others few or none. Each system can have 0-5 planets and up to 20 moons (few if any ever have this amount, quite a number have no astros at all). If you have a base or ship in a region you will be able to see the details of each astro, if you don;t have either the details are blanked out. An allied players base in a system will allow you to see just that particular system.
Sub-tabs include:
- Scanners. This allows you to see any fleets approaching astros near your bases. the better your Scanning technology the easier and further you can see incoming fleet. This tab has it's own list of sub-tabs above it, you can search for 'derbs' (debris; a handy cash-earner) and for recently landed fleets of other players near your bases. This tab should be used ofter; it's a good early warning system and can earn you lots of credits if used properly.
- Bookmarks. You can mark a location and make notes about it and refer back whenever you want. Handy for noting astros you might use as bases or for reminding you where your sworn enemies' bases are.
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Fleets Page: Lists your fleet on the move and also parked ones in the order they landed. You can access the fleet or directly access their movement, attack and merge pages from here (you can also get at fleet on the scanner page and on the astro/base page of they are parked). Very handy for monitoring what your stuff is doing at any moment.
AE players please note that you can have multiple fleets on the same astro; if you want to prevent this access 'Account' > 'Options' > 'Automerge' and enable it. There is no maximum number of fleets you can have; however Computer tech governs how many astros you can have forces on.
Sub-pages:
- 'Ships' page; lists every fleet you have by current position, destination if moving and number of each type of ship it contains. At the top of the page it gives the current number of astros you have a presence on and your current limit. Note that if you exceed this the program will not let you move any fleets until you fall below the limit.
The limit is set by your base numbers, your Computer tech and any bases you occupy. Please note if an occupied base disappears you can cross the numbers limit as a consequence.
- Units page: Lists the total number of ships of each type. If you tap the ship type name you can see where each of your holdings of that type lies.
- Market page. Brings you to the non-player astro where ships can be bought without having to build them. Tap on the base name and it will show you what is available for sale. Very expensive but handy if you are caught short on production capacity.
- Fleet Logs page: records of all your combats in the order they have occurred. You can access the fleet, site of battle or fleet record from here.
- Simulator page: plug-in your techs and defenses and those of the enemy to get an idea about how well you might do in a planned attack or defense. Reasonably accurate, but you have to guess the opposition's technology levels.
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Alliance Page: lists your alliances members and is the access point for information pages like the Alliance's Stargate (SG) lists and access to any Probes (a recce ship type) that are active.
Obviously if you are not in an alliance there is nothing to see here. Go to the Rankings page to find a list of other players and their alliance.
The alliance message boards can be accessed through the sub-tabs here, there are various boards whose function is reasonably obvious from their names. The names of the boards can be edited in the first sub-tab (marked 'boards').
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Ranks Page gives access to the the points rating of each player as well as their total Econ, Fleet size and Tech-points an combat experience total.
Sub-tabs rank guilds and individual bases in order of seniority. Bases can be sub-ranked for (e)-, (c)-, (p)- and (r)-capacities; but coords are not given (if you want to pillage them you have to find them first).
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Comms Page: access to the onling forums and the blog
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Help Page: accesses the FAQ and manual. Theses areas are currently being upgraded.
(4): That First Few Hours (1); The Base.
Earlier we learnt of what assets you would start the game with. One was the base already in place.
If you are dissatisfied with the astro this base is on it is ok to disband the base; you simply build a new Colony Ship on the next base you acquire and use it to select a different astro.
Your initial base on the randomly selected astro needs assessing. There are several 'pages' or 'views' associated with it. Each has its own function so as to limit the amount of confusion when you are making decisions. The relevant pages are:
1: Overview: A 'front page' view of the base, its assets and activities; plus an access point to any fleet present (go to the bottom of the page).. Of note whilst this page is the one other players can see when they find your base they cannot see what you are building on it.
2: Structures: Where construction of buildings is initiated and can be viewed or cancelled. Canceling buildings under construction will give you back 100% of the credits you invested in it. There is a limit of 6 on the number of buildings that can be queued at any time (plus the one actually building). Buildings are only paid for once you start building them, they do not cost to queue.
3: Defenses: Where construction of buildings specific to the defense of the base occurs. Only one building at a time may be built, but the building-queue contents can be mixed between both pages, up to the stated limit of 6. From the lower part of the page you can view any fleets present nearby in the system ; and any fleets that can be fired at will be so marked.
4: Production: Where ships are built. Building ships is a separate process from building structures and the 2 do not interfere with one another. There is no limit on the number of ships or the size of the queue; however ships must be paid for at the time of ordering and canceling gives you back 90% of the credits paid. Again at the bottom of the page you have access to any fleets you own at the base.
5: Research; where you commission technology research on the base and can view its progress. Paying for research is as per buildings, the credits are deducted when the research actually starts, not when it is queued, and a full 100% of the cost is returned if the research is canceled before it is completed (this is important once you have spare cash you want to prevent being pillaged by attacking players).
6: Telepod: This link only appears once a base is capable of teleporting units located there to another astro. This requires significant levels of technological development and will be dealt with later.
There is a further, less obvious, page concerning the base which can initially cause confusion. This is the astro coordinates page (or map position page) for the place on which the base has been positioned. Every astro has such a page, just if it contains a base it can look a bit like your Overview page for the base and cause confusion. Both (the astro page and the base page) are linked to one-another, so it is easy to swap back-and-forth between them.
The issue of finding your way around the mapping system will be covered on the next page.
4: Those First Few Hours (2): The Fleet, Moving it and Founding your Next base.
Once you have sorted out the initial building-program on your first base it is time to use that free Colony ship to found a second base. To do that you need to be able to find a suitable astro with the right resources to suit you, and then you have to move the ship there and turn it into a base.
The Map.
Every astro on the map has a unique set of position coordinates that defines exactly where it is on the map. It is written in the form: X12.34.56.78, the letter defining the Server, the 4 sets of numbers in turn defining the Galaxy, Region, System and Astro. Every single Galaxy, Region, System and Astro has it's own map, linked to each other to make it each to navigate them. The page for an Astro will contain links to its System, Region and Galaxy map pages at the top.
So S04.55.63.10 is the first-position planet in System-63 of Region-55 of the 4th Galaxy in the SPEED server.
- There are 11 Galaxies per server, numbered X00 to X10 where 'X' is the initial of the server (S for SPEED, A for ARGOS).
- Each galaxy is made up of 100 regions numbered 00 (on the top left) to 99 (bottom right). Many of these will be empty depending on the shape of the galaxy.
- Each Region has 100 potential spots for a star and its associated systems, also numbered 00-99. Again many will be empty, some will have many Systems, some just a few.
- Each System has:
0-5 Planets, numbered according to their position relative to the star; 10, 20, 30, 40, 50. (any coordinate whose final numeral is a '0' must be a planet).
0-20 Moons, occupying the same distance system as the Planets but marked 11, 12, 13....., 53, 54 the second digit defining the distance from the planetary slot.
You can only see what kind of Astro is present on a specific site if you have a base or a ship in the same region, or if an ally has a ship or base in the same system as it. Similarly you cannot see any base that might be present if you do not meet the same criteria. Instead you will see a green striped orb without definition (unless it is an Asteroid or a Gas Giant); however you will be able to tell the coordinates that do have astros from the ones that do not. So to scout a region you cannot see requires you send a ship to allow you to do so. Once the ship arrives at its destination you will be able to examine every system and astro there properly, and see any bases that might be there.
That is why Scout ships are important, they can go anywhere and they can go there fast. Other ships are slower (some a lot slower) and some cannot move from one galaxy to another under their own steam.
So to move a fleet you tap the 'move' option after it's name (or tap the name and select move from the row of options therein). A page pops up with the current coords, a blank line to fill in your destination coords and a set of boxes wherein you can choose to send only certain of the ships present to the destination (the rest will stay where they are, forming a separate fleet). At the bottom will appear an estimated duration for the journey and a 'Deploy' button to get going.
Obviously you need a set of coordinates for the destination, that is done by selecting an astro and copying its coordinates (Cmd-C) and then pasting them (Cmd-V) to the destination box on the 'Move page. Then press 'Deploy'.
When you get your Colony Ship to the required (non-occupied) astro you tap the link on the name of the fleet and select 'Colonize' from the same row as before (most of the options are self-explanatory once you know them). A page will pop up asking for confirmation and give you the cost of forming the base (the price doubles for each successive base) and whether or not you can afford it. It will also ask for a name for the base; be imaginative, not everything has to be Rigel-4.
Once you press the 'Confirm' button you will be presented with the 'Overview' page of a new base. Go immediately to the 'Structures' page and (provided you can afford it yet) start building stuff. Always start with factories, so that later developments at the base can be generated this century. Please note that construction buildings generate increases in income as well. at some point your expenditure will cause you to run out of funds, any items queued will just be delayed until the credits are available.
Each successive level of a particular building or research costs +50% more than the last, and this takes 50% longer to complete. So fairly soon you will find yourself building different things you can afford until you can raise the funds for the now more expensive ones. Until you start research you will be limited to a fairly tight range of buildings, to access more you must research what is available. There is a chart of the requirements for each building (and each ship, defense and research type) accessible (go to http://speed.outer-core.com/outercore/help/ships to find this).
- To aide your expansion at the initially small economic level you start at you will need to increase your number of bases.
- To do this requires the technology (Hyperspace-1 < Energy-8 & Aerospike-4) and shipyards (8.) required to produce your own Colony Ships.
- Then you need to build and pay for said ships (unlike buildings and research the price of ships does not esculate with numbers) at $100 a kick.
- Then you need to locate suitable astros (deciding whether energy, minerals, population or local factors matter most amongst the available possibilities; see http://speed.outer-core.com/outercore/help/terrains to understand what astro type does what best)
When selecting a
5: Starting Up; Protection.
1: New Players cannot be hit for the first week they have an account. Take advantage of this; fleet (other than Recyclers) does not produce income at your level, nor do defenses, so leave building them until towards the end of that week.
2: New Bases, no matter what the status of the owning player, cannot be attacked within the first 2 days of their existence. remember this when founding one, but remember that's not a lot of time before you become a target. When you acquire the ability to build Starbases the rules are slightly different.
3: To protect lower-level / newer players from those of us who have been here forever and who have the good luck to have built up massive empires whilst the rest of you didn't even know we existed, there is a limitation on who can attack who.
- (a): In general you cannot attack anyone who is less than 70% of your ranking level (it's displayed on your account page and on everyones public page (which is a cut-down form of your account page) whilst their on their own base or an allied base. On neutral territory or an enemy base they're free game.
- (b): Similarly attacking anyone over 30% greater than you in ranking is restricted. However the issue is different; you can attack but you loose your protection against everyone who is greater than 130% of your ranking level. So it is not a wise move unless it is part of a greater plan.
The net effect is a player of level-30 cannot attack anyone under level-21 on their own ground and will loose his protection if he attacks anyone over level-39.
So think about who you're attacking and where.
6: Starting Up; Joining an Alliance
Once the initial rush to find astros for your bases is over you need to join an alliance.
- Advice from people who've been-there-done-that, directly from the alliance guide pages and through comments made on the boards. Also sight of the battle board, which shows you how well other players manage their combats (or not).
-The protection of name; players prefer to attack targets who don't have friends to rescue them. Don't be the runt of the litter.
- Access to other alliance members' Stargates (SGs); located on the top row of links on the Alliance page once you're in an alliance and enabled. tell the guys that run it if you find you're not enabled; they can't know everything all of the time.
- Access to alliance Probe reports and any group bookmarks members have made.
- Warnings of new or previously unnoticed aspects off the game that one member might stumble across and decide not to alert the whole community about until adequate advantage had accrued.
- As long as you participate in chatter and seem like a mate your alliance-members may be in a position to help you now-and-then (but remember; they have their own game to play). If you have decent defenses and appear to be a team-guy they are far more likely to take attacks on you personally. Cultivate friendships by chatting on the board, and for goodness' sakes please don't whine constantly.