Artifact Hunting
Introduction:Artifact hunting is the process of flying into uncharted space and searching for pieces of alien civilizations that have been left behind.
What You Need:
A full spacesuit.
A spacesuit jet.
A spacesuit navaid.
A starship with adequate charge.
NAVI
GMU
Artifact storage container (not required but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
What To Do:
Basically, type NAVI in your control room and pick a direction. You will arrive outside of local space when you are 50 LY away from one of the known sectors of human space. When your computer announces the presence of an artifact, STOP your ship.
NOTE: Using triggers for this is illegal. Please see POLICY 4.
Retrieving an Artifact:
Move your ship as close as possible to the artifact. Now go into your airlock, CYCLE it, and step outside for a spacewalk. LOOK at your NAVAID and take note of the direction the artifact is in. Now spacewalk to it (this is accomplished exactly the same way as manual navigation in a starship) and GET the artifact. Now return to your ship (ENTER it normally) and continue your journey.
Types of Artifacts:
Passed 6,000 lightyears, you may discover more advanced and valuable artifacts. These trinkets are known as deep space artifacts, and are otherwise indicated by their increased value, although some may have functionality that is useful, entertaining, or inexplicable beyond being exchanged for a reward in known space. There is no up-to-date list of deep space artifacts. Commonly, quests you embark upon or aliens you meet may request a mixture of short-range and deep space artifacts.
Dangers
Going out of local space or out of comms is not without its dangers. Unexplored sectors are often home to large objects that cannot be detected early enough to avoid, thus causing damage to any component they may encounter. Another obstacle is the dreaded anomaly, which renders sensors barely functional and causes a general mess with navigational systems. Another navigational pitfall comes in the form of nebulae (see HELP NEBULA). As you fly further into uncharted territory, you may begin to encounter starships. Be they friend or foe, nobody knows...
Help, I'm Out of Charge!
No need to panic. Luckily, escape pods have an enormous FTL range and can return you to civilization. If you want to someday come back for your ship with another ship, type ESCAPE. This will launch your escape pod and leave your ship intact. If you doubt you'll ever find your ship again, type SELF-DESTRUCT to destroy your ship and return home.
Getting Paid
Now that you're back in communications range, you will need to find an artifact research center. Once you do that, type RESEARCH CONTAINER to research your artifact storage container. If you didn't buy a container, RESEARCH the artifacts one at a time.
Alternatively, if you wish to split one container with multiple people, ensure everyone you wish to share the container with are in your group. Type "research container" as normal, and you will be prompted if you wish to split the container with the entire group. Note that this will evenly split both credits and points.
Related Topics: Activities | Manual Navigation | NAVI | Galactic Map Unit | Nebula