First steps

Estelar Online runs in the browser, on computer and mobile, with nothing to install. You start in the Solar System, next to Aurora Station, in orbit around Earth, with a Multipurpose ship and 250 credits (¢). The OBJECTIVE panel guides your first minutes: nine short steps that teach you to fly, scan, land, collect, dock and hunt.

Getting in

Open estelaronline.com/jogar and sign in with email and password or with your Google account. You need to check that you’ve read the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.
Choose your pilot name: 3 to 16 characters, only letters (accents allowed), numbers and spaces. It’s unique and can’t be changed later, so think it over. See the full rules in Rules and support.
Press START FLIGHT.

On the home screen, Install adds the game as an app on your computer or phone. On a phone, play in landscape: in portrait, the game asks you to rotate the screen.

Your progress is saved on the server. Signing out (Esc menu › SIGN OUT) takes you back to the home screen, and the ship stays where it was.

The training

Until the training is done, the OBJECTIVE panel shows the current step with a hint. Each completed step shows a notice on screen and unlocks the next one. The keys below are the defaults; all of them can be changed in SETTINGS › KEYS (see Controls).

Step	What to do
1. Lock a target	[T] locks the nearest target and [Tab] moves to the next. The amber marker shows the target.
2. Warp to a planet	With a planet as the target, press [G]. The ship lines up, accelerates and brakes on its own.
3. Scan the planet	Near the planet, press [F] and stay close until the bar fills. That records the discovery and unlocks landing.
4. Land	With the planet scanned, press [L]: warp to the landing site, automatic approach and landing.
5. Collect an item on the surface	Walk up to a glowing item (ore, container or artifact) and press [F].
6. Take off and dock at a station	[F] near the ship takes off. Then lock a station, [G] to warp and [F] to dock.
7. Hunt at a pirate spot	[M] › ⚔ HUNT shows the system’s spots. Pick a white one (at your level), warp there and take down a pirate.
8. Accept a contract	In a station’s MISSIONS tab, accept a contract. It shows up in OBJECTIVE and pays when delivered.
9. Visit Sol Arena (optional)	Sol Arena is in orbit around Earth. That’s where the MATCHES, the daily leaderboard and the week’s winners are.

When you finish the eighth step, the training pays 300 ¢. The ninth is optional: you can skip it and play matches later, from anywhere, with [J].

If you already know the game, you can press SKIP TRAINING on the OBJECTIVE title bar. The remaining steps disappear and don’t come back; the controls are still in SETTINGS ([H]).

After the training: the Census

Once the training is done, OBJECTIVE starts showing the game’s story, The Census: five chapters in which you work for the Stellar Survey Institute, measuring stars and planets up close. Each chapter pays credits when delivered. See Planets and discoveries.

What to do in the first hour

Explore the Solar System. Every body scanned for the first time pays credits and experience, and so does every system visited for the first time. The planets are the real ones, in their real positions. See The real universe.
Land and walk around. Landing sites have ore, containers with credits and scrap, and artifacts. Being the first human to set foot on a planet earns 500 ¢, 300 experience and your name on the honor board.
Complete contracts. Up to three active missions at a time, accepted in the stations’ MISSIONS tab: survey, pirate hunting, ore and delivery.
Level up. Kills, discoveries and contracts give experience; every level gives attribute points. See Progression.
Watch your fuel. Warp burns 0.5 per second. Refuel at the stations’ MARKET. See Fuel.

If something goes wrong

Ship destroyed: you respawn at your last save point (the last station you docked at, the last kiosk you entered or your base). See Damage and repair.
Out of fuel: the Esc menu has the EMERGENCY TOW, which takes your ship to the respawn station.
Lost: the map ([M]) shows the current system, the neighbors and the nearest kiosks.
Not sure: SETTINGS ([H]) has the list of controls, and the Esc menu has SUPPORT.