Maneuvering a spaceship is the most difficult task to undertake for anyone, even with experience around their belt. There are so many things that can go wrong in an instant. In Starminer, a wrong move can destroy a module of your ship almost immediately. Since you will be doing a lot of ship traveling, navigating between asteroids, learning about the movement can be a huge help in bypassing the obstacles and getting to the destination safely without things blowing up in the background. Here is a complete beginner’s guide to ship movement in Starminer.
All Ship Movement Options in Starminer
There are many parts to ship movement than just pressing the movement keys. We are going to cover all of them to help you get started and list out details of all the features that you can use to strengthen your ship maneuver capabilities further.
Camera Movement
There are 2 modes to set up the camera in Starminer: Pilot mode and Normal mode. Here’s how they operate, along with the differences between the two.
Pilot Mode
Pressing V on your keyboard will enter the pilot mode. Once in Pilot mode, hold the RMB to rotate your camera without moving the ship. Here you can use the scroll to zoom in and out.
Note: If you are in Pilot Mode, the bottom-right of the screen will have no information. If you are in normal mode, then you will see a text notifying you about activating pilot mode as an option.
Normal Mode
If you turn off the Pilot mode by pressing V on the keyboard, you enter the Normal mode. What happens here is that if you now press the RMB, you will be able to rotate your ship, but you will lose all the precision of the pilot mode.
I would advise switching to Pilot Mode whenever you want to angle the ship in the right direction. There are plenty of times you will see your ship upside down floating in space; it will be difficult to angle the ship at any destination if you are not aware of any sides of the ship.
Launching the Ship
- Activate the Engine: Press G or click on the Energy Grid icon at the bottom of the HUD to activate the ship’s energy. It will power up the ship to move. Once the power is back up and running, it’s time to undock from the main ship.
- Dock/ Undock: After activating the Energy Grid, you will get the option to Undock and Merge at the ship’s rear. Both Docking and Undocking have an icon of their own, marked with red. Click on the icon to release the ship from the main ship.
Ship’s Control Movement
While camera control helps you set up the ship’s camera, moving the ship is a whole different ball game.
- Directional Movement: Press W/S/A/D – The usual buttons you will press to move your ship forward, left, right, and back.
- Up and Down Movement– Press Q to move up or ascend the ship upwards, and pressing E will help descend the ship downwards.
Proper Movement Control: About Linear Dampers
Pressing W will start the ship’s throttle, and it will soon start to move forward, but the second you stop pressing W, the ship will stop immediately. This is an act of Counter Force being applied by Linear Dampers, allowing for sharper control when the ship comes to a halt. Linear Dampers do consume energy; we have the option to turn them off.
But if you want to cruise with the ship, then you can turn off Counter Force by disabling Linear Dampers by pressing T. Now, when you stop the ship after moving a few meters, instead of stopping, it will keep going a few more meters. This will greatly help when trying to mine materials in Starminer.
I will advise that if you are floating in an open space, turn off the Linear Dampers, but if you are navigating between harsh areas, where movement matters, then turn the dampers back online.
Rotation
Pressing the directional keys (W/S/A/D) will move your ship in all four directions, but you will not be able to rotate your ship. Movement keys don’t rotate the ship. If the ship is looking north, it will be facing the same angle; only the position of the ship will change with the movement keys.
- Ship Rotation: Press Shift + W/S/A/D to rotate the ship in all directions. You can also press Shift + Q/E to roll the ship either to the left or right for more control.
Proper Rotation Control: About Angular Dampers
Just like Linear Dampers, the ship also has Angular Dampers. The job of Angular Dampers is the same as that of Linear Dampers, but instead of influencing the movement of the ship, Angular Dampers focus on the rotation. You can enable Angular Dampers by pressing R on your keyboard, then rotate your ship by pressing Shift+W for proper precision control.
In short, when you let go of the rotate buttons (Shift + W/S/A/D), the ship will stay at the same location or spot where you stopped pressing the button. Disabling the Angular Dampers will allow the ship to still rotate after letting go of the rotate button (Shift + W/S/A/D).
Check the Ship’s Direction or Angle
If you want to check the direction of the ship, where it’s facing, and where it is, the ship will start moving when you press the throttle key. Here, press N, and you will see a large circle around the ship with a red arrow. This function is called the Orientation Tool. The red arrow will indicate the front end of the ship. When you start the throttle, the ship will move in the direction of the red arrow. Use the N key to know the direction of the ship’s movement. It will also come in handy during the docking and undocking of the ship.
Auto Pilot Mode
Press V to pilot mode. Here, you will also unlock the option for autotravel or autopilot. Once in Pilot Mode. Pressing the left mouse button on any asteroid or desired location at a distance, you will get the option to
- Rotate to: Angle your ship to the object
- Fly to: Start the automatic travel process
- Cancel: does nothing.
Note: While in Pilot Mode (Pressing V), you can press Right Mouse Click to rotate your ship without using Shift + W/S/A/D, as we do without the pilot mode.
When you are flying to a desired spot, I will highly recommend turning on the Linear Dampers, as they will help you stop at the destination when you arrive at the stop, instead of taking you further. While auto-travel stops your ship at the destination, but not entirely. Without Linear Dampers, your ship will always be moving a few meters from the destination without any input. So turn on Linear Dampers when you are setting the autodrive in Starminer.
