Spacecraft are a central feature of Shores of Hazeron. Spacecraft enable players to travel among the stars to explore, trade cargo, transport passengers, and wage war.

This topic describes how to command spacecraft that are crewed by non-player characters. NPCs already know how to operate each control station of a spacecraft. This topic does not describe the details of operating the various control stations of a spacecraft.

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You must be aboard a spacecraft to become the captain. The spacecraft must not already have a captain. If it has an NPC officer, you must be in the chain of command of the spacecraft to become the captain.

To become the captain, open the Comm (F3) window. Select the Intercom channel. If necessary, open the Intercom channel using the list of standard channels.

Use the Request Berth button to request the captain's berth. The ship will automatically assign the captain's berth if it is available. The occupant of the captain's berth is the captain of the ship.

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Many spacecraft can be operated solo. The pilot must know the details of operating every control console. This is a great way to learn how the systems of a spacecraft interoperate but the work load will keep the solo pilot running from station to station.

A competent crew reduces the task of operating a spacecraft to simply issuing orders.

Crew members are loaded from cities. To load crew members, the ship must be sitting on a road slab in a city or it must be stopped within the trade zone of a space station.

Use the Comm (F3) window to board crew members. Crew members are taken from the population of their city of origin.

New crew members move to operate control stations as soon as they are aboard. The Unit Orders (Shift+F3) window is used to issue orders to crew members.

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A spacecraft can have only one captain. Only player characters can occupy the captain's berth of a spacecraft.

A spacecraft can have one or more officers, regardless of whether it has a captain. Officers can be player characters or NPCs.

An NPC officer is the officer in charge when seated at a captain's chair, as long as no other captain's chair is occupied by a player character. A spacecraft may have more than one captain's chair. A spacecraft with no captain's chair cannot be commanded by an NPC officer.

NPC officers are loaded from cities just like crew members. However, each habitable world only deploys one NPC officer at a time, making them a precious resource. Frontier worlds, those in the inner or outer orbit zones, do not produce NPC officers, even if they have habitable environments.

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The mission of a spacecraft is defined in a list of one or more mission orders. The Spacecraft Mission (Shift+F2) window is used to manage the mission of the ship you are aboard.

The mission of a spacecraft can be controlled remotely using the Comm (F3) window. Broadcast mission orders on the Crew channel to communicate with your ship.

The first order in the list of mission orders is considered to be the current order. Crew members attempt to execute the current order.

The officer in charge of a ship must decide when the current order is complete. Some orders require actions to be performed by the officer, such as buying and selling cargo. When the officer in charge determines that the current order is complete, the Mission Order Complete button must be pressed.

When a mission is cyclic, the current order is rotated to the end of the mission order list when it is completed. This is typically used when configuring a trade route for an NPC commanded spacecraft. The mission acts as a repeating cycle of orders to be executed by the officer and crew.

When a mission is do once, the current order is deleted when it is completed. This is typically used aboard spacecraft commanded by humans. The mission acts as a continuous stream of orders for execution by the officer and crew.

When a mission is active, the crew executes the current order. When a mission is inactive, the crew holds the ship at its current position.

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Troops operate the weapon turrets of a spacecraft. Player characters and NPCs can occupy the troop berths of a spacecraft.

Troops are loaded from cities that have military bases. To load troops, the ship must be sitting on a road slab in a city or it must be stopped within the trade zone of a space station.

Use the Comm (F3) window to board troops. Troops are taken from the military bases of their city of origin.

New troops move to operate turrets as soon as they are aboard. The Unit Orders (Shift+F3) window is used to issue orders to troops.

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Chain of command enables players to control spacecraft without occupying a berth aboard those spacecraft. All player characters in the chain of command of spacecraft have authority over those spacecraft.

Chain of command enables one player to command several spacecraft. For this reason, your spacecraft and NPC commanded spacecraft in your chain of command are called fleet spacecraft.

• The captain and officers of a spacecraft are in its chain of command.
• A spacecraft with no berths has only a captain's slot. Such spacecraft are typically utility shuttles. When a spacecraft with only a captain's slot has no captain, all players are in its chain of command.
• The emperor and vice-emperor are in the chain of command of all spacecraft in their empire.
• Sector administrators are in the chain of command of all empire spacecraft in their sector that do not have NPC officers. Sector administrators are also in the chain of command of all empire spacecraft with an NPC officer who is from their sector.
• Solar system administrators are in the chain of command of all empire spacecraft in their solar system that do not have NPC officers. Solar system administrators are also in the chain of command of all empire spacecraft with an NPC officer who is from their solar system.
• Planetary administrators are in the chain of command of all empire spacecraft at their planet and moons of their planet that do not have NPC officers. Planetary administrators are also in the chain of command of all empire spacecraft with an NPC officer who is from their planet or a moon of their planet.

Use the Comm (F3) window to broadcast a Hail message on the Fleet channel to contact fleet spacecraft. Each fleet spacecraft in range will open a separate channel to you with the name of the spacecraft. Use the Fleet channel to issue orders simultaneously to all fleet spacecraft. Use individual channels to communicate with individual fleet spacecraft.