FAQ
This article answers some commonly asked questions and addresses common points of confusion.
Gameplay
What does this item do?
While playing the game, you may come across some items or equipment that are not explained. Often, these items are part of systems that Introversion is still developing.
How can I move crew members, resources, or items between ships?
There are two ways to transfer items between your ships. Firstly, you can transfer items via drones using the logistics menu. This will allow you to transfer all items except crew members.
The second method is to dock your ship. Once connected, you can use the logistics menu to transfer items between your ships, including crew members. In this case, your crew will carry them over instead of the drones.
Note: Your fleet only requires one FTL Drive. When activated, all ships—even those without fuel, engines, or crew—will enter FTL travel.
How can I get crew to newly purchased ships?
Before you purchase anything else for your ship, select the newly purchased ship and buy a matching number of crew members and space suits. If you purchase other items first, they will be stuck in the queue without anyone to move them. If you don't buy space suits, the crew members will refuse to leave the shuttle.
You may also dock your old ship to your new ship and using the logistics menu transfer your crew over. They will automatically put on a spacesuit if there is no atmosphere in the other ship.
Can I dock my ships?
Yes. Using the tactical screen, align the two diamond-shaped dots outside your docking ports. When done correctly, the docking port extends and connects to the other ship.
Note: You can only transfer items from the selected ship to others. If you want to transfer fuel from Ship A to Ship B and oxygen from Ship B to Ship A, you need to select Ship A to transfer the fuel, then select Ship B to transfer the oxygen.
Can I sell a ship?
No. The only way to remove a ship is to target it with your weapons in the Tactical view and destroy it. Make sure to sell all items and resources on the ship first, as you can only loot boxed equipment, and some items may be lost after the ship is destroyed.
How can I repair damage on my ship?
To repair the hull on the ship, visit a Shipyard, then use the Construction menu → Shipyard → Repair. Drones can do a patch-up repair that will restore some hit points. To do this, you need a Drone Bay and some Logistics Drones. Once that system is set up, you must enable Repair in the Orders menu. A crew member will load Drones into the Drone Bay for repairs.
Crew members will repair equipment on your ship. Sometimes, due to a bug, they will not repair equipment. In this case, dismantle and reinstall the item to remove the damage. Note: Dismantling tanks destroys their contents.
How can I build habitation? How do I add on to my ship?
Travel to a system with a Shipyard, then use the Construction menu to add habitation, hull, floors and walls.
How do I loot derelict ships?
To loot derelict ships, you need a Drone Bay and some Logistics Drones. Once that system is set up, you must enable Gather Resources and Gather Salvage in the Orders menu. A crew member will load Drones into the Drone Bay to gather the loot.
The shuttle is docked to my ship, nothing is being unloaded, and it won't leave
A lack of storage space typically causes the shuttle to refuse to undock. There are things left that the shuttle needs to unload, but it has no room to place them anywhere. Use the Storage menu to assign general storage so crew members can continue unloading the shuttle. If lack of storage is not the issue, ensure that your crew is not prioritizing other tasks.
Why can't I place floor tiles?
To place floor tiles for your ship, the area in which you place them must already be covered in hull.
What can I do if I run out of FTL charges or fuel and am stuck?
If you are stuck in a system without access to the Trade menu and don't have enough fuel for power or FTL charges to make it to another system, you can cheat by editing your save file. Instructions for this are provided in the save file article.
Note: Only one ship in your fleet needs a working FTL Drive. All other ships will jump with it.
Known Bugs
Why do I have negative money or items?
Alpha 2 has some bugs that cause your money or items to show negative values. While we wait for a resolution, here are some things you can try:
- Save your game and edit the save file to correct the quantity.
- If you have items you can't sell because it shows a negative value, save, quit, and reload the game. Then, try to sell the items again. You might need to repeat this multiple times, but it should work.
- This will only fail if you have too much money. Keep the cash well below 2.142 billion, or the money bug will become an issue.
I sold a spacesuit and my crew member disappeared
This is a graphical bug in Alpha 2. The crew member is still available and will continue to perform jobs. They are simply invisible.
I earned money in Hyperspace, but it disappeared after I exited
There is a known issue with the Analyse contract rewards. In some cases, the reward money will be given while you are in Hyperspace, but the money will disappear when you exit Hyperspace. We are currently unaware of a fix for the issue.
Why can't I deliver all Tiddlets?
There is a known bug in the Trouble with Tiddlets contract that leads to Tiddlets not being delivered. This can only be fixed by manually editing the Save file.
System issues
Why doesn't my sewage pipe work?
The sewage pipe must be placed beneath a habitation block, and there must be a sewage pipe for each separate habitation block.
Why does a system say it is "blocked"?
Systems such as the CO2 Scrubber or Air Reprocessor can sometimes become blocked and stop processing. This happens when there is no place for the system's output to go, either because a tank is full or because the system it is feeding into is not processing quickly enough.
Why don't my thrusters work?
When docking ships, it is necessary to do fine control using the Tactical view. Thruster controls do not appear to work when game time is sped up. Resetting game time speed to 1x should resolve the issue.
Preferences
Where can I find a list of keybindings or controls?
All known keybindings are listed on Controls.
My monitor displays a "video signal lost" message when I start the game
This typically happens when the game incorrectly detects your resolution. The resolution is too large or too small for your monitor to handle. You can generally exit the game from this state by using Alt + Tab. End the game's process and follow the instructions below to manually change the game's resolution or switch to windowed mode.
How can I change the game's resolution or play in windowed mode?
You can change the game's resolution or enable windowed mode by modifying the preferences.txt file.
You can increase or decrease the zoom level of interface elements by using the - and + keys.
Streaming, modding, community
Is streaming the game allowed?
Yes! Introversion has encouraged streaming the game.
What community resources are available?
Aside from this wiki, there is a Discord server and a subreddit.
Is there modding support?
There is currently no official modding support.
That said, the main.dat file in the game directory is a standard ZIP file that contains most game contents. The configuration and save files are plain text in a plaintext format.
To make modifications, turn off automatic updating and modify these files. If you want to update the game, backup your changes, update and manually transfer your modifications to the updated files.
Development
Can I play the game on Linux or Steam Deck?
The game runs properly on Steam Deck. There is no information on a Linux port at this time.
Where can I leave feedback or report bugs?
The best place to leave feedback and report bugs is on the Steam discussion boards.
Will there be multiplayer?
Introversion has stated that plans for multiplayer are still unclear. If multiplayer were to be introduced, it would be late in the Early Access period.
Is the game based on Deep Space Industrial?
Loosely. Deep Space Industrial is the main predecessor to The Last Starship, but the game is based on several ideas explored in Chris Delay's FAIL Masterclass.
How can I view changelogs?
Official Introversion changelogs are available on the Steam announcements page. We also host the changelogs on the Version History page, which may include further notes from the community.