The HUD

There’s no cockpit frame: the view is the whole screen, with a green crosshair at its center.

Readouts

In the bottom right, each readout is an icon and its value:

Readout Shows
Hull Hull points left. Amber below half, red and pulsing at a quarter.
Shields The shields’ strength left, as a percentage. Amber below 50%, red below 25%.
Kills Morgons you’ve destroyed.
Thalorite Thalorite carried, out of the hold’s capacity, such as 12/50.
Sector The sector you’re in, such as H8.
Morgons In amber, the Morgons in your sector now. Hidden when there are none.
Station In a sector with a station, its hull left. Red while it’s under attack, LOST once destroyed.
Energy Your energy. Red while the ship has run out, counting up to the restart.
Speed The speed the throttle is set to.

The damage control line

Under the readouts, one icon for each of the ship’s eight components: photons, engines, shields, tracking computer, cargo hold, hyperdrive, sector map and fuel cell. Each is lit like a gauge from the bottom up to its health: white-blue above 50%, amber at 50% or below, and red and struck through when destroyed. A component switched off is gray. Tap the photons, engines, shields or tracking computer to switch them off or on (see Controls).

Markers

Marker Means
Orange brackets The Morgon the tracking computer is following, with its range. They thicken and read LOCK while the computer is aiming your guns at it.
Orange arrow at the edge The way to turn toward that Morgon when it’s out of view.
Small orange diamonds Other Morgons in view.
Cyan ring Outside an asteroid field, the nearest point of the nearest field, with its range.
Yellow square The sector’s space station, such as STATION E3 1.2 km. Gray and crossed out once it’s a wreck.
Green brackets Within 800 m, the station’s docking bay, with its range, your speed and what docking still needs.
Green corners In a Morgon base’s sector, its trench entrance, then the reactor port.
White ring Your destination, with its sector and range.
Red ring or red chevron A collision warning (below).

Looking back, only the crosshair shows.

Collision warnings

The tracking computer warns of rocks on a collision course: those that, if you both hold your courses, will hit hard enough to cost hull within 3 seconds. A rock in view gets a red ring, and one out of view a red chevron at the screen’s edge pointing the way to turn, each with the time to impact, such as 1.8 s. Marks pulse faster as impact nears. There’s no mark within 12° of the nose, since you’re already looking at it. The warnings cover the hits you can’t see coming: sliding after a knock, rocks drifting in from the side, debris from behind. They never steer for you, and they look less far ahead as the computer is damaged.

The message log

Every event shows in the message log, up to five lines under the crosshair, newest at the bottom: Thalorite collected, damage, kills, sectors entered, warnings. Warnings are amber and critical ones red. Repeats merge (+12 THALORITE becomes +19 THALORITE), and the log fades after 15 seconds of quiet. A hyperwarp or a docking tow holds its line while it lasts. Each warning also sounds through the cockpit’s speaker, each with its own tone: a klaxon as Morgons arrive, an alert for a component damaged, a master warning for one destroyed, a radio call for a station attacked in another sector, falling pips for low energy, a double beep on LOCK.

The log button, top left, opens the run’s whole history, with the time each message showed.

Message When
MORGONS INBOUND Morgons arrive in your sector, or a base in your sector launches.
SPOTTED BY A MORGON SCOUT A scout or miner has found you, and warriors will come.
STATION E3 UNDER ATTACK Morgons reach a station’s sector, wherever it is.
STATION E3 DESTROYED A station is destroyed, wherever it is.
E3 CAPTURED, E3 RETAKEN The Morgons take a sector, and you free it.
ENGINES DAMAGED, SHIELDS DESTROYED A component damaged or destroyed.
−8 THALORITE Damage to the hold spilled some of your load.
ENERGY LOW Energy below 25%.
HULL CRITICAL Hull down to 25.