SynSpace Tips

CONTROLS

The first thing anyone should do is adjust the Zoom, and Camera Angle. To do this:

Use the Arrow Keys to navigate:

What you are looking as is what I call the "customization screen", although its really just called the "Toy Preferences" or sometimes "Options". I'm going to explain all of this, but first let me tell you how the "Ship Powerups" (Or "Pups") work:

Each ship begins with 6 Pups. These can be assigned to your 3 stats (Weapons, Engines, and Shields) in any way you choose. Throughout the game you are going to pick up bonuses to each of these stats, but you can never get more than 4 Pups ON TOP of what you have started out with. So, if you start out with 6 engines, you will max out at 10 engines, and since the other stats only started at 0, they will max out at 4. Choose carefully...

The area outlined in Blue is what I just explained. This is where you will choose how many of your initial pups will go to what. The empty spaces just show what you will max out at.

The area outlined in Red are the moderator options. When you are moderator they will be set to what you have checked off. On the right are what the current moderator has them set to.

The area outlined in Green are more personal settings. The Show Emotions checkbox will turn off the faces zooming up to your screen when people change their face expression. The Show Marquee being turned off will result in game messages no longer being displayed ("Volte6 found a weapon upgrade"). The Fixed Grid checkbox changes your view to where it will either rotate with the ship, or stay still while your ship rotates. Play with the options and you will have a better idea of what I am talking about.

Now you should be all set up to play. Just click the New Ship button and you should be in the game. It is located at the bottom left of the game screen and looks like this:

The area in Red represents your current Weapon, Shield, and Engine level. Easy enough...

The area in Blue is where you will find your ship. The lines around it forming a circle represent your radar. The yellow line on the radar always points to the sun, and the white line always points to north on the level. Any other lines that appear on the radar will be enemy ships. When you have selected an enemy ship to lock onto with your missiles, their line will appear slightly longer than the other ships on the radar. Happy hunting...

The area in Magenta are merely all the weapons and equipment you currently possess. To select one, just press the Fkey associated with it.

The area in Green is your E(nergy), C(harge), and T(emperature). Energy is essentially how much damage you can take. This is a bar indicating how much is left. It is also displayed in a % format above. Charge is power available for special use, such as stopping suddenly, using warp, and things like that. Temperature increases when you over fire a weapon (or weapons). If you overheat your temperature you will have to wait a while before you can use your weapons again. Both Charge and Temperature will improve condition over time.

Plasma Rounds (Unlimited, Damage = 100)- These are your basic weapon. The Velocity of the ship is added to that of the plasma round when firing. Be careful not to overheat!

Homing Missiles (2 Per Pack, 10 Maximum, Damage = 200)- When fired at a target, these will follow the target for about 30 seconds or until the hit a ship. To target somebody, click their name on the player listing, then fire. They travel at a speed barely faster than an engine level 10 ship.

Proximity Mines (2 Per Pack, 10 Maximum, Damage = 200)- When used, these are placed as stationary objects in space. When you get close to one the base becomes a darker shade of red. When you get TOO close to one it will blow up and damage you a great deal. These look almost identical to the normal Pups except they have a redish/orangish base instead of white. They will NOT harm the person who laid them.

Warp Coil (1 Per Pack, 10 Maximum, Damage = N/A) - When one employs the Warp Coil, He is within seconds teleported to another location. Just press the Fkey associated with the weapon to activate it. This WILL consume 1/2 of your charge meter. To other people it just appears as though the ship got a terrific boost of speed and took off. (Well, it IS warping, so i guess it DID...)

Plasma Shield (1 Per Pack, 10 Maximum, Damage = N/A) - The Plasma Shield creates a powerful force field around your ship, preventing any enemy fire from reaching you. Need I say any more?

The strategy with these that I have come up with is not necessarily the best, and relies upon my understanding of the syncing system in the game (which is very little understanding). This may be completely incorrect, but here it is:

When you have a certain velocity (Speed and Direction) it is transmitted to everyone. Their computers GUESS each subsiquent position you will be in until the next "update" of positioning. I *BELIEVE* it is something like 500ms between updates. Thats 1/2 of a second. So, if an opponent is NOT changing their course (just flying in one path the whole time), your computer will constantly be "Guessing" the correct positioning of their craft. When this is the case, always shoot to hit their ship.

When a ship is constantly changing course, your computer doesnt know where their craft really is in that 1/2 second delay (or whatever the delay REALLY is). For this reason, try to see a pattern in their flight (maybe they are circling you to fire at you) and aim in front of their path. This is because while YOUR computer thinks they are at position A, they are really at a position slightly removed from that due to their REAL path being different than the GUESSED path. Here are a couple pictures I hope will help to understand this:

When using homing missiles remember that anyone with engines of 10 can out run them, if given enough of a distance. The missiles WILL slowly gain on a engine level 10 ship, but it is such a small amount that it doesnt really matter. The best strategy is to shoot them when coming head on, not when they are flying away. I suggest never using homing missiles unless you have at LEAST 4 of them. As the engine level of the ship decreases, the chances of hitting it of course get higher and higher.

Another strategy (and one i would NOT suggest using if you care about your reputation, but is fair i suppose in times of war) is to always lock onto people who have low speed. This is very unsportsmanlike and may be frowned upon.

Finally, another strategy to nail somebody with homing missiles is to fire at them while they are on the run, and then reverse course, and fire at them in the other direction. Sometimes, when a player is busy outrunning a missile in one direction, you can nail them from the other way.

For a defensive strategy, and an idea that is contrary to many peoples belief, Homing Missiles CAN be dodged. It might be tough, and maybe easier some times than others (depending upon cirumstances) but it CAN be done. Heres how to do it:

Here I am dodging a missile. Notice the "V" (or "U" shape of my smoke trail as I immediately change course. The missile is passing just by the nose of my craft. In this picture I am doing it with an engine speed of only 6, and I suspect I could do it at even less. You can do it too!

There isnt too much strategy to something like this (YET. This may change once there are obstacles and stuff that must be navigated). I would suggest to players who are already maxed out with Pups, to place mines near other ones, just to keep other players from getting them. Another semi-strategy would be to stand still, lay a whole bunch of mines down, and when an opponent does a run at you, if he flies THROUGH you, he will hit the mines. Sometimes your ship will obscure the opponents vision to the mine.

Whenever you are in a tight situation, use it. make sure they arent firing directly at you however, because there is about a 1 or 2 second delay before the teleportation takes effect, and you could take damage even though the screen is blurry. The one strategy I can suggest for this item is to use it to find other Pups. What you can do is travel very slowly, or stay still, and use it. If you are teleported near to other Pups, collect them. Then warp out again. Repeat until you are satisfied, but I would suggest always having one on hand JUST in case you need it. It can save you from the sun and predators. It also could be beneficial to have on you when too many Pups have gathered near the sun. Just fly in and grab them, and when you are pulled into the sun, merely Warp out.

Okay boys and girls, listen closely to this tip. When an enemy is firing a weapon at you that you wish to avoid, USE THE PLASMA SHIELD!