Space Pod

Where Space Pods are born!

Space Pods are the ship's/station's pilotable support craft, capable of holding one pilot, a number of passengers depending on the pod's armor, and a variety of fun gizmos.

Pods can dock in the many Pod Bays on the station/ship as well as well the Mining Outpost, Research Outpost, and many other off-station locales. Of course, you can always stop near interesting places and take a spacewalk/seawalk.

How to build the damn thing is a different story. Grab your welding mask and get cracking!

Note: On the Roleplay and Roleplay Overflow servers "RP Mode" is on, meaning pods spawn locked. You can randomly get the codes for them sometimes when your character spawns. Speaking of codes, other times, you may spawn knowing a code for one of the pods at the Space Diner.

Flying the Pod

The pod's HUD.

Getting inside the pod is easy enough. Either drag-and-drop yourself onto the pod or left-click on the pod and select the icon of a little stick figure entering something that says Board. The engine and life support start turned on.

Steering depends on whether or not your pod uses has treads, though in both cases you should be mindful of inertia. You should also try to avoid running into any solid objects; if you collide into something, you'll damage both your pod and the thing you smashed into, depending on the angle of the collision and the speeds at which you and the other object collided. To brake and stop yourself from smashing into something, hold SHIFT.

Regular pods without treads are pretty intuitive. You press up, the pod goes up. Press down, the pod goes down. Press up and left, pod goes northwest. Let go, and you'll continue moving in the same direction by inertia.

• A basic direction change requires one press of the directional key. You'll still go careening where you were headed by inertia unless you press the same key again. So, if you're going left and you press down, you'll go southwest, and if you press down again, you'll go straight down.
• Doing a 180 requires at least two presses: the first changes where you face, the second stops you but eventually gets you moving again. A third press will accelerate you much faster.

Pods with treads are a bit different, because directional controls are separated from movement controls. Up moves you forward in whatever direction the pod's facing, while down moves you backward, opposite the direction the pod's currently. It might be northward, it might be downward, it might be southwestward, again, it depends on the direction of the pod. Left and right turn your vehicle counterclockwise and clockwise, respectively, rather than going east or west. It takes a bit of practice, but turning is much easier:

• A basic direction change requires just pressing either left or right. Even better, you smoothly turn and maintain speed rather than awkwardly careening in the previous direction, and diagonal movement is more like moving along an actual diagonal instead of going up/down & left/right really quickly.
• Under ideal conditions, a 180 requires only holding down one of the directional keys. In tighter areas, you might have to press left or right again a few times to quickly turn the pod around.

While inside a pod, you can access the controls easily through the HUD interface or by left-clicking on the pod. Most are self-explanatory, some are a little more complex:

• Access Main Computer will show you the components of the pod,hust use the HUD icons instead.
• Create Wormhole is how you reliably get places. It will list existing navigation beacons, including some strategically placed on the main station and in the debris field. Once you select a location, it will create a portal to the beacon of choice right in front of your pod. Your pod must be stationary for this to work.
• Perform Scan gives a list of living people, critters, other pods, and hostile drones within 30 tiles of you, as well as their location relative to you and, if they're a drone, a threat level.
• Return To Station sets a course for the station Z-level, and will send you there the next time you cross the border of the map.
• Toggle Hangar Door lets you open hangar doors by remote control. Type in their full name to open or close, not just the number like it tells you. Or you can just click the door control panel while inside the pod, provided your pod's comm system is online and of the correct type. Syndicate and Soviet ships for instance will be denied access to all hangars on the station.
• Star Lights are basically headlights but IN SPACE! (or UNDERWATER! if you're on Oshan Lab or Manta). Space itself and the seafloor are both pretty bright and well-lit; the Trench, the dark derelicts, and abandoned stations open to it, not so much. Bigger pods light up more area.

If you think you'll end up in space for any amount of time outside your pod, wear a spacesuit, breath mask and oxygen tank. You'll be able to explore more and you won't die as fast. This should be obvious, but most people will just jump in a spaceship without much thought.

Dogf- er, Podfighting

Going out into space without an idea of where to go - indeed, your first trips will probably consist of figuring out where to go - will usually see you encountering some enemies, often in the form of Syndicate drones. Space is a wide-open area with a lot of room to chase, and critters oh so love to chase you; unless they get stuck on an obstacle of some sort, they'll hound your pod relentlessly - even into hangars that don't have the doors closed (or don't have doors at all!). This is very bad, as critters aggro pods like any other player, even when empty. Coming back from raiding a derelict only to see your pod reduced to scrap and the drone waiting to ambush you is a nightmare scenario in space.

Thus, your best option when encountering an enemy in space is to destroy it on sight. Some enemies don't have ranged attacks, but most of them do, and they like to be cheating bastards and shoot you diagonally while you can only shoot in four directions. But don't worry, in most cases your pod will be way more durable than the target, so hammer away at them with whatever weapon your pod of choice came with, and move on once it's destroyed. Note that some enemies have mean tricks that can mess with your pod in ways other than direct damage, so watch out for that. The important thing to remember is to fire while strafing and reversing. Once you get the hang of it, most Drones aren't really a threat anymore.

Other players, on the other hand, can give you a hell of a time. Opposing players can be smart and try to board your pod with you in it: in most cases there's nothing you can do to shoo them out and then can fuck with your pod's systems and movement, so practice some basic vehicle security and lock the damn door when you're piloting. Especially common in nuke rounds, but otherwise rare, is having to fight an enemy pod with your own. Most Syndicate pods will heavily outgun you, but it's not impossible to beat them if you have some good piloting skills (or steal one of their pods if they fail to practice aforementioned basic vehicle security).

You'll know a pod has taken a lot of damage if it sets on fire, and is near-death if it explodes. If it explodes a second time after that, then it's officially dead and you'll be ejected in a flaming heap before the pod detonates fully. Staying in the pod and waiting for the eject is bad, as the final explosion can hurt quite a bit, but if you're feeling spiteful then you can kamikaze into the thing that ruined your ride (Syndicate operatives in particular hate this). On the other hand, should you and your pod survive and you want to repair it, it's a simple as hitting it with a lit welder from the outside.

Pieces of the Pod

Note: See Guide to Mining for an overview of the ore classifications.

Upgrading the Pod

Before you add or replace any components, you first must open the maintenance panel by left-clicking the pod and choosing the jumbled circle icon that says "Show Parts Panel". To add a part, click on the pod with the part in your active hand while the panel is open. To replace an existing system (like the engine), click the pod with an empty hand while the maintenance panel is open to bring up an interface for adding and removing installed systems. The maintenance panel cannot be manipulated if the pod is locked, however, or if someone is in the pod.

You can also change the gas mix used for the engine and the gas mix used for the pod's life support system, though this doesn't have much of a use other then to suffocate the people in the craft with plasma.

Pod Armor

You can't replace a pod's armor once it is already built, so consider the options carefully.

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Light Pod Armor		30 Sturdy Metal, 20 Conductive Material	Standard hull plating available to civilians. Light pods move faster than most other models, but can carry only one passenger. Numerous pods can be found in the main hanger and elsewhere on the station.
Heavy Pod Armor		30 Sturdy Metal, 20 Dense Metal	Heavier armor for prolonged dogfights. Pods equipped with this armour can carry two passengers. Law enforcement has access to command pods in the security hanger, along with everything needed to stop those spaceborne criminals.
Syndicate Pod Armor		N/A	Almost exactly the same as the green variant. These pods have a large amount of armor, allowing them to take a decent amount of hits before going down, and can carry up to two passengers. The only readily available pod equipped with this armor is usually located on the Syndicate Battlecruiser, where its owners use it for dastardly deeds. This armor kit automatically installs a hatch locking mechanism.
Industrial Pod Armor		25 Dense Metal, 10 High Energy Conductor, 5 High Density Matter	Even stronger armor, at the cost of low speed. The miner's pods are equipped with this armor, and can carry three passengers.
Strange Pod Armor		N/A	Stolen prototype NT armor system. It is stamped with the Nanotrasen symbol and a lengthy list of classified warnings. Neat. Found in deep space in a dark, damp place of a very seedy establishment.
Gold Pod Armor		N/A	Bling. Golden pod plating. Golden pods can move faster than all other pods. Also found in deep space.

MiniPutt Armor

MiniPutts use the same armour plating as the larger pods, and can be upgraded with the same components.

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Light MiniPutt Armor		30 Sturdy Metal, 20 Conductive Material	A couple of civilian putts are parked on the station at the start of every shift. They are equipped with a phaser cannon, but aren't particularly speedy or durable.
Heavy MiniPutt Armor		30 Sturdy Metal, 20 Dense Metal	A fast and heavily armored attack craft.
Syndicate MiniPutt Armor		N/A	The Syndicate's version, which appear in the Nuclear Operatives' Syndicate Battlecruiser. This armor kit automatically installs a hatch locking mechanism.
Industrial MiniPutt Armor		25 Dense Metal, 10 High Energy Conductor, 5 High Density Matter	Slow and sluggish in combat, but quite sturdy. Available to the engineering department.
Strange MiniPutt Armor		N/A	Heavily armored.
Gold MiniPutt Armor		N/A	The fastest MiniPutt by a considerable margin.
Strelka		N/A	Usually found parked on a derelict Soviet space station. Comes with a prismatic laser array by default, but cannot be assembled by hand.
IridiPutt		N/A	An experimental vehicle based on the Syndicate's IRIDIUM project. Cannot be assembled by hand.
Escape Pod		N/A	Escape pods are custom-built from random bits and pieces left over in the hangars to make sure escapees are carried away from the confines of the station. Unlike regular putts, the escape pods all have autopilots. When the escape shuttle is in transit, they have a chance to join it, allowing for a brief but treacherous jump over to the main shuttle...and an smaller chance to catastrophically fall apart and explode. Cannot be assembled by hand.
Emergency Pod		N/A	A surprisingly sturdy pod created by emergency pod fabs. Don't let the Examine text or startling appearance to escape pods fool you; they won't explode or malfunction upon use, are still fully controllable, and can be used multiple times. While they can't be repaired or outfitted with extra/different components, they are much faster than regular models.

Minisubs

The Oshan Lab version of miniputts. In addition to the usual components, they also come an extra "locomotion" slot for treads, so their controls are a little bit different from what you're used to. All the other components otherwise use the exact same parts as space-faring pods. Also, if a minisub collides into a wall or other obstacle, it damages the sub a bit. If a minisub collides into a person at high speed, it damages the person and can very briefly stun them.

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Minisub		N/A	The generic yellow submarine, with a modest 100 health and room for one driver and two additional passengers. By default, it has no weapons or secondary systems, not even a cargo hold.
Civilian Minisub		N/A	Standard hull available to Research & Service personnel, ostensibly designed for transport. Comes with a cargohold and space for one driver and two passengers.
Engineering Minisub		N/A	A tinsy bit slower than the rest, though not by very much, and still as durable as standard models. Starts with industrial utility arms for heavy-duty construction foam spraying.
Mining Minisub		N/A	At 130 HP, this sturdier-than-average sub can tank more fishdrone attacks and collisions into walls than normal minisubs, a great boon down in the Trench. The Miners start with two in their department hangar, and each one can fit all three of them.
Security Minisub		N/A	Robust 150-HP armor for more prolonged sub-on-sub action, though still just as fast as the standard models. Because they by default are equipped with a Robustco Security Communication Array, they can open ALL hangar doors, i.e., they can enter the Security Dock, which other subs cannot. Fits three people and comes equipped with pod tasers.
Syndicate Minisub		N/A	This black, red, and evil all over sub replaces two of the regular Syndiputts on the Syndicate Battlecruiser during Nuclear Operative rounds on Oshan. It fits three people, comes with a Pod Locking Mechanism, and boasts 150 HP with standard sub speed.

Cars

A special subset of minisubs that shares the same control scheme. Like minisubs, they can readily turn to and move in all 8 directions, cross station, space, and seafloor tiles, and collide into people, walls, and other solid objects. Unlike minisubs, they use wheels instead of treads, so they can only turn while in motion (i.e. moving forward or backward), making entertaining screeching sounds in the process.

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Truck		N/A	A Toriyama-Okawara AV-92 personal mobility vehicle, aka a truck. Has 90 health. Pretty rare. If you see one, it means that the driver's gone a shopping spree in an underwater mall, that the driver has nabbed it from underwater racetrack, or that someone is up to shenanigans.
Security Patrol Car		N/A	A car that be ordered by gang members for a considerable sum of gang points, meaning the driver is most likely someone who isn't a cop. It has 110 health and is equipped with pod tasers. In addition, in lieu of the usual Star Lights pod light system, it has Police Lights that flash red and blue and go weewoo.

Secondary Systems

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Cargo Hold		20 Sturdy Metal	Standard equipment of all pods. Use the HUD icon to load/unload nearby cargo. You can also load/unload items by drag-and-dropping them onto the pod or an adjacent tile respectively. The cargo hold accepts crates, canisters, air pumps, air scrubbers, space HVACs, large artifacts, bots, mop bucket, dead bodies, and the nuclear bomb.
Small Cargo Hold		N/A	Standard equipment of all putts. Works the same as the larger model, but can only store one object at a time.
Ore Scoop/Hold		20 Sturdy Metal, 10 Conductive Material	Heavy-duty version of the ore scroop with a maximum capacity of 300 pieces of ore. Install and activate the system, fly over ore to collect it, drag & drop the pod onto an adjacent tile to empty out the hold when necessary. This component spawns near the mining pods.
Tractor Beam		N/A	Pulls one item (small or large) towards the pod. The tractor beam is controlled through the secondary system HUD icon: select a target to activate the beam, or use the icon again to shut it down. A couple of tractor beam modules can be found in the security pod bay.
Ship Navigational GPS		N/A	Displays your current coordinates.
Syndicate Explosive Entry Device		N/A	This upgrade turns the pod into a flying bomb. On contact with the station, it will crash through a limited number of normally impenetrable (for a pod) obstacles such as walls, windows or regular floor tiles and then blow up, creating a sizable explosion. The pilot can either bail out before impact or chose to rely on the automatic ejection system. Once activated, the SEED cannot be shut down or disarmed.
Medusa Stealth System 300		N/A	More Syndicate hardware. Takes a huge chunk of power to run, but will cloak your pod from the naked eye. Other pods, cyborgs and people with thermals can still see you.

Comm Systems

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Robustco Comm Array		N/A	Default communication array for most pods and putts.
Robustco Security Communication Array		N/A	The default communications array for Security pods, putts, and minisubs. Lets the pods interface with all of the station's pod bay hangar doors, including the Security Dock's, which most other pods cannot go through.
Radioarbeiten Comm Array		N/A	Used by Syndicate ships and the Strelka. Cannot interface with NT pod hangar doors.
NT Magnet Link Array		10 Sturdy Metal, 20 Conductive Material	Remote control for the mineral magnet (7 tile range) intended as an upgrade for mining pods. This array doesn't have a built-in radio or external speaker.

Sensors

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Standard Sensor System		N/A	It's a basic sensor system that comes standard with all pods and putts.
Conclave A-1984 Sensor System		1 Power Source, 5 Crystal, 2 High Energy Conductor	Essentially the same as the standard sensors, with the added bonus of upgrading the pod with optical mason scanners and a geological scanner for mining asteroids.

Main Weapons

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Mk.1 Combat Taser		N/A	Pods shooting tasers! Complementary equipment for security's command pods. Taser shots disable the random systems in hostile crafts and stun the driver, making them useful for stopping pod-borne criminals. They, of course, stun people on the ground/not in pods too.
Mk 1.5 Light Phasers		15 Sturdy Metal, 15 Conductive Material, 15 Crystal	A pair of weak phaser weapons.
Mk.2 Scout Laser		N/A	Pods shooting lasers! The Head of Security (or people who find their own way in) has access to a couple of these in the armory.
Mk.3 Disruptor		N/A	Pod-mounted variant of the disruptor gun. Deals a minor amount of burn damage and also stuns people, even if they're in a pod, so it effectively combines the characteristics of the phaser and taser.
Svet-Oruzhiye Mk.4		N/A	Better known as the prismatic laser. The Soviet version of Nanotrasen's phaser array.
SPK-12 Ballistic System		N/A	A pair of linked guns firing kinetic cluster shot. Basically dual shotguns. Available to nuclear operatives.
Assault Laser Array		N/A	A slow-firing pair of heavy lasers, which set people on fire and can destroy walls. Where you buy this is another quest.
Heavy Disruptor Array		N/A	Fires heavy disruptor shots. Its power roughly matches that of the assault lasers, but doesn't cause unintentional damage to walls.
40mm Grenade Launcher Platform		N/A	This autocannon fires explosive shells akin to pipe bombs. Unlike other pod weapons, it requires ammunition (namely 40mm grenades) but comes with 14 shots by default. To check the current ammo count or reload the weapon, open the maintenance panel and insert grenades if necessary. Devastating to pods, station, and personnel alike. Try not to fire it point-blank to the pod, dumbass.
Industrial Utility Arms		N/A	Consists of two systems. The foam nozzle (activated by default) dispenses a small patch of metal foam to repair hull breaches without the need for EVA gear, whereas the cutter blades are useful for mining or as a general-purpose weapon. To select between the two, left-click on the pod while you're in it and choose Access Main Computer icon and click on the underlined Industrial Utility Arms entry. Available in engineering.
Mining Phaser System		N/A	Shoots weak phasers that can break rock in two hits but can barely damage ore-bearing rock, people, fish, or monkeys. Starting equipment for the minisubs of Oshan's Mining Department.
Plasma Cutter System		10 Power Source, 10 Dense Metal	Shoots bolts of plasma that instantly dig up asteroids. Available in the ship component fabricators.
Rock Drilling Rig		10 Power Source, 10 Dense Metal, 20 Extraordinarily Dense Crystalline Matter	This IS a drill. As in one that quickly digs up asteroids, albeit one row at time unlike the plasma cutter. Surprisingly decent in cutting up other pods (and people)too. Available in the ship component fabricators and a rare find in abandoned crates.

Engines

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Warp-0 Engine		N/A	The engine used in the pod/sub those with the Pilot trait start with. It cannot make wormholes.
Warp-1 Engine		N/A	The standard engine of all pods and putts. Will be equipped automatically when you install the engine manifold component.
Helios Mark-II Engine		20 Sturdy Metal, 10 Dense Metal, 15 High Energy Conductor	Produces more energy, giving you more power for better weapons and upgrades, and is slightly faster than a standard engine.
Hermes 3.0 Engine		20 Dense Metal, 20 High Energy Conductor, 5 Power Source	Produces even more energy for high-end pod weapons and modules and is slightly faster than a Helios engine.

Locomotion

An extra slot found only on minisubs. They can't drive if this slot has nothing in it.

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Treads		N/A	Common to all the minisubs of Oshan Lab. Vehicles with treads can travel on both station and seafloor tiles and face all 8 directions, allowing for easier, narrower turns. However, the controls are...a bit unusual.
Wheels		N/A	Standard equipment for cars. Handle similarly to treads, but the sub can only turn while moving forward or backwards.

Other

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Pod Locking Mechanism		5 Crystal, 10 Conductive Material	Controlled through the HUD interface. The user can lock the pod and set a four digit code for the lock. Players can leave a locked pod without issues, but must click on the pod with an empty hand and enter the four digit code to unlock the hatch. Pods can still be dismantled while they're locked, so don't park your shiny new ride in a bad neighbourhood, or it'll be stripped on blocks by the time you return.
Paint Job Kit		N/A	Pimp My Space Ride! Simply apply the kit to a finished pod or putt. A variety of kits are available from different space merchants.

Building the Pod

Main article: Construction#Space Pod

Certain Pod Bays are equipped with a ship component fabricator capable of manufacturing the parts needed to make a space-worthy pod. However, this is not your average puzzle or toy building blocks set! This dirty, hard and laborious process requires patience and a bit of materials.

Try and keep the hanger doors closed when you are building the pod itself, unless you wish to suffocate. If pods are flying in and out of the hanger when you are working in said hanger, there should be a button on a wall in the room somewhere (Not the one right next to the hanger doors that looks like some kind of microchip. You can only use those when in a pod.) which opens/closes the doors. With this, you can close the doors as soon as a pod leaves/enters to minimize air loss.

Construction Parts

These miscellaneous circuits and gadgets are essential for constructing your very own space pod. They are all manufactured at a ship component fabricator.

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Pod Frame Kit		30 Sturdy Metal	The most basic part of the craft is the frame. A mass of jumbled-together metal bars and beams that need assembled to produce the frame of the pod. You start your piloting career here.
MiniPutt Frame Kit		15 Sturdy Metal	Ditto.
Pod Circuity		5 Crystal, 5 Conductive Material	A box of electrical components needed for the pod to work.
MiniPutt Circuity		2 Crystal, 2 Conductive Material	Ditto.
Engine Manifold		10 Sturdy Metal, 5 Conductive Material	Needed to propel the pod.
MiniPutt Engine Manifold		5 Sturdy Metal, 2 Conductive Material	Ditto.
Pod Control Interface		10 Crystal, 10 Conductive Material	Can't fly a pod well without controls, right?
MiniPutt Control Interface		5 Crystal, 5 Conductive Material	Ditto.

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