Star Control: Origins – Tips & Tricks
1) While traveling in Hyperspace, you can see undiscovered Space Stations only in your Minimap, but not on the Global Map. They will become visible in the Global Map after you dock and activate them the first time. Same rule applies to solar system travel.
2) Minimap zoom depends on how good your installed Sensors are. Better Sensors will mean the minimap being more “zoomed out”, allowing a greater view of traveling Ships and undiscovered Stations.
3) You can only see other Ships’ icons in the Minimap, but not in the Global one.
4) Using the Autopilot function to reach another Solar System will allow you to pass through planets, stars, and also other solar systems eventually on the way. It is way quicker than manually avoiding all these things. Hostile or hailing ships will still block your path even with Autopilot.
5) You will not consume fuel if you stand still while in Hyperspace.
6) Fuel consumption in Hyperspace is calculated per-meter traveled. This means having a faster Hyperspace Device will not consume more or less but will simply consume fuel faster as the distance will be covered in a shorter time.
7) Every time you visit an undiscovered Space Station, a new part will unlock in the Station Shop to be purchased. Such parts will also become available to purchase in all other space stations and most traders.
8) Some traders will offer unique items sold only by them. Even if discovered, such items will not be available in other places but only from that specific trader.
9) Going inside stars while navigating a solar system will not damage you: you will bounce off or scan the star if on manual drive or pass through if on Autopilot.
10) If you run out of fuel while in space, a friendly spaceship will be called and eventually rescue you, but this will take some time, and while this happens, some less friendly ships may come to you.
11) The damage inflicted on a Lander when failing to land in the “safe area” while attempting a planetary descent is proportional to the distance you landed from the safe zone. A landing quite near it will knock out some crew members, while a landing very far will destroy the lander in most cases.
12) You can mark important places on your Global Map using markers of various colors and even rename them by clicking the “crosshair” icon when selecting a solar system. They will be collected in a handy list on the right side of the Map. This function is extremely valuable in marking planets with rare resources to get, later on, traders and other things. Frequent use is suggested.