1. The Map Window
   • Controlling The Camera
   • Selection And Orders
   • Ship Commands
   • The Radar

Giving ship-commands is a two-step process: first you need to select the type of order in its context menu. Once you have done that you will notice how the mouse-pointer changes appearance, and now has an icon attached to it, according to the ship-command that you selected. This symbolizes that additional interaction is required. To finalize the ship-command you need to do pick a target!

For instance if you give the ship-command Colonize Planet you also need to select the planet that you want to be colonized. Simply hover the mouse over the desired object - A route should be plotted from the ship to the target, plus a tooltip should pop up notifying you about the distance and the “estimated time of arrival” (ETA) at the target. This is calculated according to the ships-speed.

Here’s a list of ship-commands that can be issued:

• Move To: you can move to a planet or a sun, but you can also move to another ship, which will essentially follow the other ship. This way you can escort your own ships, or you can follow your opponents ships to see where they are going.
• Attack: same as move to, except the ship will start attacking once it reached its target. Please note that you can only attack ships/planets with which you are at war!
• Scout: will move the ship to the specified sun. Once the ship has reached its target it will automatically continue scouting by flying to the next nearest unexplored sun, and so forth. The scout ship-command only accepts suns as a target. Once all suns are scouted it will continue to scout that sun, that has not been scouted for the longest period of time.
• Hold Position: this will stop the ship right where it is and remove any ship-commands. The ship will hold its position until a new ship-command is issued.
• Colonize Planet: will move the ship to the specified planet, and once it reached its target it will colonize the planet. This will “destroy” the ship, or rather the colony module aboard the ship will form the planets’ first colony, and the ship-crew will turn into the planets’ first citizens. Only ships fitted with a Colony Module can be given this ship-command. The colonize planet ship-command only accepts unsettled planets as a target.
• Conquer Planet: will move the ship to the specified planet, and once it reached its target it will conquer the planet. This will “destroy” the ship, or rather the troop-bay aboard the ship will form the planets’ new headquarter, and the ship-crew will be added to the planets’ citizens. Only ships fitted with a Troop Bay can be given this ship-command. The conquer planet ship-command only accepts planets that you are in war with as a target.

Please note that certain ship-commands only accept targets that satisfy the necessary requirements. For instance only ships or planets that you are at war with can be attacked.

If the ship-command rejects the target the mouse is hovering over, then the mouse-pointer will change into the “no” pointer, plus a tooltip will inform you why the target is refused. Please also note that no preliminary route is plotted from your ship to the target.