Space Pod

Where Space Pods are born!

Space Pods are the 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 as well as the mining outpost. There are other docks in deep space, and of course you can always stop near interesting places and take a spacewalk.

How to build the damn thing is a different story. Grab your welding mask, put on some mechanic's overalls and get cracking!

Before the Pods, there was nothing

Certain pod bays are equipped with 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.

Pieces of the Pod

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

Construction

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.

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 shuttle, 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.
Custom Pod Armor		Depends	Crafted with the help of the arc smelter. Speed and durability depend on materials used.

MiniPutt Armor

MiniPutts use the same armour plating as the larger pods, but cannot be upgraded in any way. However, they have a small cargo hold and a specific weapons array installed by default.

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Weapon	Description
Light MiniPutt Armor		30 Sturdy Metal, 20 Conductive Material	Phaser	A couple of civilian putts are parked on the station at the start of every shift, but they aren't particularly speedy or durable.
Heavy MiniPutt Armor		30 Sturdy Metal, 20 Dense Metal	Disruptor	A fast and heavily armored attack craft.
Syndicate MiniPutt Armor		N/A	Assault Laser	The Syndicate's version, which is standard equipment for their operatives.
Industrial MiniPutt Armor		25 Dense Metal, 10 High Energy Conductor, 5 High Density Matter	Metal Foam Sprayer	While this model is slow and defenseless in combat, it can dispense large amounts of metal foam to repair hull breaches without the need for a space suit. Available to the engineering department.
Strange MiniPutt Armor		N/A	Assault Laser	Heavily armored and well armed.
Gold MiniPutt Armor		N/A	Laser	The fastest MiniPutt by a considerable margin.
Custom MiniPutt Armor		Depends	Phaser	Crafted with the help of the arc smelter. Speed and durability depend on materials used.
Strelka		N/A	Prismatic Laser	Usually found parked on a derelict Soviet space station. Cannot be assembled by hand.
IridiPutt		N/A	Artifact Laser	An experimental vehicle based on the Syndicate's IRIDIUM project. Cannot be assembled by hand.
Escape Pod		N/A	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. Cannot be assembled by hand.

Secondary Systems

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Cargo Hold		20 Sturdy Metal	Standard equipment of all pods. Use the Secondary System in the pod tab to load/unload. Can also load by dragging a crate onto the pod. Can be used on crates, closets, canisters, air pumps, scrubbers, space heaters, large artifacts and bots.
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.
Tractor Beam		N/A	Pulls one item (small or large) towards the pod. The tractor beam is controlled through the Secondary System verb: select a target to activate the beam, or use the command again to shut it down. A couple of tractor beam modules can be found in the security pod bay.
Syndicate Explosive Entry Device		N/A	This upgrade turns the pod into a flying bomb. Once activated via the Secondary System command, it will explode on impact with any obstacle, such as the station itself. Remember to bail out in time!
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.

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
Plasma Cutter System		10 Power Source, 10 Dense Metal	Shoots bolts of plasma that dig up asteroids. Available on the mining outpost.
Rock Drilling Rig		N/A	A weapon system that only works at pointblank range, but does a good amount of damage. Great for digging up asteroids.
Dual Phasers		15 Sturdy Metal, 15 Conductive Material, 15 Crystal	A pair of weak phaser weapons.
Linked Taser Array		N/A	Pods shooting tasers! Complementary equipment for security's command pods. In addition to stunning humans like a regular taser, it's also useful to disable the systems of hostile crafts.
Linked Laser Array		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.
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, identical to the AI's defensive turrets when set to lethal. Where you buy this is another quest.
Linked 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 Assault Platform		N/A	This autocannon fires explosive shells akin to pipe bombs. Devastating to pods, station, and personnel alike. Try not to fire it point-blank to the pod, dumbass.

Engines

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
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, and is slightly faster than a standard engine.
Helios 3.0 Engine		20 Dense Metal, 20 High Energy Conductor, 5 Power Source	Produces more energy, and is slightly faster than a Helios engine.

Other

Item	Image	Resource Cost	Description
Pod Locking Mechanism		5 Crystal, 10 Conductive Material	Controlled through the Access Main Computer panel. The user can lock the pod from the ship's main computer 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 guide: Construction

Upgrading the Pod

To add extras, use a crowbar on the south west corner of the pod and add any system. 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.

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 pod with plasma.

Flying the Pod

Getting inside the pod is easy enough. Simply right click on it and select Board. The engine and life support start turned on. Steer with the arrow keys, keeping in mind that the pod will experience some inertia. The process is as follows:

• A basic direction change requires two presses of the directional key. The first only makes you face the desired direction, you'll still go careening where you were headed until you hit it again.
• Doing a 180 requires three presses: the first changes where you face, the second stops your pod, and the third gets you moving again.

While inside a pod, you get a new tab called, surprisingly, Ship, with some important commands. This tab is available to both the driver and passengers. Most are self-explanatory, some are a little more complex:

• Access Main Computer will show you the components of the pod, and the status of the fuel and life support tanks. Components of the pod can be activated or deactivated via this panel.
• 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.
• 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.
• Use Secondary System lets you control secondary pod components such as the cargo hold or a tractor beam.

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 (except for the IndyPutt obviously, why would you even go out into space with that?), 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.

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.