Unofficial fan guide
Welcome to the Verse
A ship of your own, the first launch – and suddenly a whole planet lies beneath you. Here is your way into the Verse, from account to first landing.
Your starting bonus
50,000 UEC
In-game currency for your start – with the Stonehearst code when you create your RSI account.
Referral link: If you buy a package worth 40 USD or more after signing up with our code, we receive a referral point at RSI. Your bonus does not depend on it. Forgot the code? According to RSI you can add it up to 24 hours after creating your account: Referral FAQ at RSI ↗
What to expect
Star Citizen is still in development. You can already fly, trade, explore and set out with other players – bugs, unfinished systems and changes are part of it. Our nav computer takes you through six stages, from your account to your place in the crew. Only one is on screen at a time: once it is done, the next one comes up. Switch it on and let's go.
Switch on the nav computer
Six stages from your account to your place in the crew.
Stage 01 / 06 · BEFORE LAUNCH
What you need before your first launch. Our flight plan “Your Path to the Cockpit” shows every step with pictures.
Waypoint 1 / 5 · Create an account
Create an RSI account. Through our sign-up button the Stonehearst code is already filled in – that gets you a 50,000 UEC starting bonus. Then open the confirmation email; your account is only active once you click the link in it.
Forgot the code? According to RSI you can add it in your account up to 24 hours after creating it.
Waypoint 2 / 5 · Game package
No game package, no game access. It contains the download, a first ship and insurance; there is no subscription. What the current package includes and what it costs is in the flight plan.
Want to have a look first? RSI occasionally runs Free Fly events where you can try the game for free for a few days. You will find the dates on the official RSI site ↗.
Flight plan: your game package →Waypoint 3 / 5 · Ship upgrade
A simple starter ship is enough to learn the basics. You get a different starter ship through an upgrade (CCU) from the ship in your package – you only pay the difference. But fly the loaner ships first, then you will know what suits you.
Waypoint 4 / 5 · Install
Star Citizen needs a powerful Windows PC and an SSD. Check the system requirements first, then download the RSI Launcher, log in and install the game.
Official requirements and the launcher guide are in the RSI “First Steps” section ↗.
Flight plan: install the launcher →Waypoint 5 / 5 · Secure your account
Your RSI account is the key to everything you buy. RSI offers free two-step authentication: email codes are on by default, an authenticator app is recommended. You set it up in the security area of your account settings; keep the backup codes somewhere safe.
More at RSI: Account security overview ↗ and Help if your account was hacked ↗.
“On the station where I grew up, you learn early: anyone who offers you a ship for half price wants something else from you. Usually your account.”
Incoming transmission · Dr. Kyle Reece
“On my first takeoff I took the hangar door with me. Nobody expects you to know everything on your first evening.”
Stage 02 / 06 · THE FIRST EVENING
New Babbage on the ice planet microTech is the home of the Stonehearst Group and a good place to start: easy to find your way around, modern, and with a space station right above it.
Waypoint 1 / 7 · Wake up
On your first start you choose a home city. If you play the tutorial, you wake up in bed in your hab in the Nest Apartments of Aspire Grand in New Babbage. If you skip it, you start right in your own hangar – then carry on at “Get your ship”; the ASOP terminal is right there.
Waypoint 2 / 7 · To the spaceport
From your hab, take the MT Metroloop maglev. The Grand Line connects Aspire Grand, the Commons, Tobin Expo and New Babbage Interstellar Spaceport.
Waypoint 3 / 7 · Get your ship
At the spaceport you retrieve your ship at an ASOP terminal. The elevator takes you to your hangar – in your home city you have one of your own.
Waypoint 4 / 7 · Take off
Sit down in the cockpit, make the ship flight ready and request takeoff clearance (or use Comms in the mobiGlas). Lift off slowly, leave the hangar first, then climb into space.
Waypoint 5 / 7 · Port Tressler
The station sits in orbit right above New Babbage, with a clinic, shops and a hangar – a good first destination. How the quantum jump there works is in Stage 03 · Quantum jump.
Take time in between for the view from the cockpit – the scale is a large part of the experience.
Waypoint 6 / 7 · Land
In front of the station, request landing clearance again and follow the marker to your hangar. Fly slowly; if the approach does not work out, calmly try again. Done – the way back works the same.
Waypoint 7 / 7 · Your first money
You find contracts in the mobiGlas in the Contracts Manager app. “Verified” lists checked, legal contracts nearby; unverified ones can be illegal. Delivery missions are a good start: you need no equipment, and the longer the route, the better the pay. If you would rather hunt, first get the “Tracker Training Permit” bounty licence; it unlocks very low-risk targets.
“Before you take a contract, read where it goes. A delivery on the same station pays little, one across two moons pays more – and you learn the route along the way. That's how I started at twenty.”
Incoming transmission · Dr. Alice Cordell
“I grew up in New Babbage. If you get lost, look for the signs to the Metroloop – the train takes you from every district to the spaceport. My parents still live there; if you ever get stuck, we're sure to know someone who can help.”
Stage 03 / 06 · CONTROLS
Default keyboard and mouse bindings as of Alpha 4.10 (October 2026). Bindings change now and then; you can find your current ones in the game options under Keybindings. Hover over a key to see what it is for.
Waypoint 1 / 5 · On foot
Waypoint 2 / 5 · Flight ready
All at once or one by one in the seat – then request takeoff clearance.
Waypoint 3 / 5 · Flying
Waypoint 4 / 5 · Quantum jump
In this order:
Waypoint 5 / 5 · Land and get out
Incoming transmission · Craig Harker
“Nineteen years in the Navy, and I'll tell you what I told every recruit: land as if someone who doesn't like you is watching. Slow, straight, gear down. You haven't landed until the ship has stopped.”
Stonehearst Group · Star Citizen cheat sheet · Alpha 4.10
| F | Use (hold: interaction mode) |
|---|---|
| F1 | mobiGlas: contracts, map, account |
| F2 | Star map |
| I | Inventory |
| T | Helmet light |
| F4 | Switch camera view |
| Right Alt+R | Flight ready (older binding: R) |
|---|---|
| Left Alt+N | Request takeoff or landing clearance |
| N | Landing gear (hold: auto-land) |
| K | Vertical flight (VTOL) |
| L | Headlights |
| V | Scan mode |
| Left / right mouse | Weapon group 1 / 2 (SCM mode only) |
| Hold Y | Leave seat |
| 1 | F2, pick a destination, "Set Route", close the map |
|---|---|
| 2 | Long-press B: NAV mode |
| 3 | Middle mouse button: quantum mode |
| 4 | Aim at the destination marker; the drive calibrates on its own |
| 5 | Hold left mouse button: jump |
stonehearst-group.com · bindings without guarantee – check them in game under Keybindings
Stage 04 / 06 · EMERGENCIES
No reason to panic – it's part of the alpha. Here is what helps in the most common cases.
Waypoint 1 / 4 · You died
You wake up again in the hospital of your home city. At a medical bed – in a clinic, on a station or in a ship with a medical bay – you can set a different place to wake up. Expect gear you were carrying not to come back with you, and take nothing valuable on your first trips.
Waypoint 2 / 4 · Ship destroyed
At the ASOP terminal you file an insurance claim (“Claim”). Since Alpha 4.8 there are two ways: the manufacturer claim is free, takes longer and returns the ship with its stock loadout. The insured claim is faster, costs aUEC and returns the loadout you saved at the terminal. Ammunition and missiles are not restocked in either case.
Waypoint 3 / 4 · Kicked out (“30k”)
Error 30000 means the server crashed or the connection dropped. Close the game, wait about ten minutes, log in again. Then get your ship back at the ASOP terminal with “Retrieve”, not “Claim”.
Waypoint 4 / 4 · Something is stuck
The elevator doesn't come, a door stays shut, a contract can't be completed: that is part of the alpha. It often helps to walk away and come back, accept the contract again or log in again. Report bugs in the RSI Issue Council ↗.
Incoming transmission · Ivo Brenner
“When the server throws you out, your ship is usually still where you left it. Retrieve it first. A claim makes the old ship unusable – and I'd rather look at what's broken before we write it off.”
Stage 05 / 06 · YOUR PLACE
Three questions, and you know which Stonehearst division fits you.
After the first few flights you will have a better sense of which jobs suit you. In Dr. Kyle Reece's logbook you get to know what Stonehearst does; Alice, Craig, Myra, Ivo and Nadia are on the crew page.
Incoming transmission · Dr. Kyle Reece
“You'll learn the rest along the way – and if you ever get stuck, call. The emergency channel is manned.”
Stage 06 / 06 · DATABASE
To look up when a term or a question comes up.
Waypoint 1 / 3 · Glossary
Waypoint 2 / 3 · Frequent questions
No. For the first flights a starter package with game access is enough. Get to know your ship and try different jobs; later you can upgrade a ship to a larger one. By then you will have a much better idea of what equipment you want.
You do not need a subscription. You buy a starter package once, with game access and a first ship; current prices are in the RSI store and change during sales. If you want a taste first, wait for a Free Fly event: then you can test the game for a few days without buying.
Enter the code when you create your RSI account – the "Sign up at Roberts Space Industries (RSI) with starting bonus" button already has it filled in. If you forgot the code, RSI lets you add it in your account up to 24 hours after creating it.
You receive 50,000 UEC of in-game currency on your new account, which you can spend on gear in the game. We receive one recruitment point once you have bought a starter package; that earns in-game rewards. No money changes hands on either side.
The RSI "First Steps" section has the official system requirements and the launcher guide. An SSD is required. If something gets stuck during setup, RSI Support can help.
On the Spectrum forum you can talk to the community. For the first steps and flights there is also the official getting-started guide. And you can fly with us: our three divisions are under Join Us.
Waypoint 3 / 3 · Help and community
Official system requirements and the launcher guide are in the RSI “First Steps” section ↗; for everything else there is RSI Support ↗.
In the Spectrum forum ↗ you can talk to the community. And you can fly with us: you will find our three divisions under Join us.
