These are a range of community collected questions, that most commonly occur. If you have any question that isn't listed here, try the forums or other community platforms! Maybe your question was already answered there. If not feel free to post it!
And now to the good stuff:
General Game Information
What operating systems does the game run on?
- Windows: On Windows all user data is written to %appdata%\Avorion (Roaming folder on the system partition)
- Linux: All user data is written to ~/.avorion
- A Mac version is planned, but there is no release date for it yet.
How is this game different from games like StarMade or Space Engineers?
- Avorion's focus is shifted more towards spending time flying around in your ships, rather than crafting and building.
- It's played in 3rd person and the ships are laid out to be big, so you won't be flying the small one-man fighters, but the larger battleships.
- There's less block micro-management, but in turn more ship management, like crews, energy systems, multiple ships and fighters. Think of your ship as a character in an RPG, that you can customize, upgrade and specialize with various turrets, blocks and system upgrades.
- Avorion has a lot of space combat. Enemies drop loot, resources, different weapons or ship upgrades. There's a trading system where you can haul cargo, smuggle or raid other freighters. You will find NPC traders and stations like factories that buy, produce and sell goods.
- Avorion features procedurally generated space ships and stations. You can even let your own ships be generated by the game or check out the workshop if you're not the building type of person.
- All ships and stations will be made of blocks of arbitrary sizes. This allows for more creative freedom, easier building, less voxels and better scaling of large ships. You will be able to build huge ships without having to use thousands of blocks.
Are micro transactions planned?
- No. We prefer the classical, more consumer-friendly approach where you buy a game and then you play it. We want to keep Avorion micro transaction free!
Do you need help with localizations?
- We'd love that! Our community already started to translate the game into several languages. You are very welcome to join in on translate.avorion.net.
How can I support the game?
- We made it possible to donate via paypal. While donations are welcome, they're absolutely not necessary! Just have fun with the game, give us feedback on our forums or write mods. Also, tell your friends!
Where can I find more info about the game?
- Have look at our Homepage. Here you can find the latest news, trailers and more general information. If you'd love some input from other players check out our community on Discord, our official forum, Reddit or Steam!
Will we be able to land on planets?
- No, landing on planets would require completely new types of content generation and gameplay. We want to focus on the space part of the game, and make that great!
Will we be able to walk around in our ships?
- No, sorry. The efforts of making explorable ship interiors are more or less the same as making an entire second game. We don't think we'd ever get that right in a way we and you would be satisfied with it. As stated above, we want to focus on the flying-around part of the game.
Server
How do I start a server?
- Check the Tutorials section, there is an article on how to start up your own dedicated server.
Why can nobody connect to my server?
- Check if the server is actually running and if you have forwarded the ports the server uses to your computer.
What ports does the game use?
- By default, the game uses the UDP and TCP ports 27000, 27003, 20020, 20021.
Permissions
May I create videos of this game?
- Very much so! Post them on YouTube, on forums, put them wherever you like! If you run into any problems, like licensing issues, drop us a mail at contact@avorion.net! If you need more info about the game, you can take a look at our press kit. For cool Avorion screenshots check out our homepage
Graphical issues and crashes
I have the newest drivers and a compatible graphics device but the game still won't work?
- Sometimes there are 2 drivers/graphics devices active at the same time, especially with Intel hardware. The game may choose the wrong one.
The game says that I have a Intel Integrated graphics card, but I also have a dedicated Nvidia/AMD GPU? How do I get the game to run on the dedicated GPU?
- NVidia: Open Nvidia Control Panel Select Manage 3D-Settings from the list on the left Select Program Settings Pick Avorion from the list of programs or select the executable from your steam install directory: <Steam install>/SteamApps/common/Avorion/bin/Aviorion.exe Select it to always use the dedicated graphics card from the dropdown menu
- AMD: Open Catalyst Control Center Click “Power” and select “Switchable Graphics.” Choose Avorion(.exe) from the list or browse to the installation directory of the game and select it there. Then assign the AMD GPU to the game. You will find Avorion.exe in the installation folder: <steam folder>/SteamApps/common/Avorion/bin/
My game won't start and there are a lot of windows with the title System32 cmd popping up. How do I fix it?
- It is very likely that your settings file is broken. Delete the client.ini and settings.ini files in your %appdata%\Avorion folder on Windows and ~/.avorion folder on Linux.
I am using a 4k monitor and now my UI is off center. Is there a way to fix this?
- You have probably set your windows UI scaling above 100%. If you reset it to 100% it should work fine. Alternatively, you might be able to disable DPI scaling in the properties for the Avorion.exe. You can find it at <Steam installation directory>/SteamApps/common/Avorion/bin/
Community
Is there a discord server for Avorion?
- Yes! Avorion Community Discord Server: Discord.gg/Avorion
Where else can I find the Avorion Community?
- Check out our official forum, the Avorion Reddit or the Steam forum! In all three of them you can ask questions, show off your newest builds and get help if something doesn't work out.
Turrets
How do I set the automatic turrets to fire on their own?
- There is a small icon on every turret group, which contains automatic turrets, above your health bar at the bottom of the screen. Hold shift to use you mouse and click the groups with an icon. Then you can set your preferred firing mode. The mouse stands for manual control and the reticle for automatic aiming and firing.
I can't get my some of my turrets to fire on their own. How do I enable it for all of them?
- Only turrets which have the property 'Independent targeting' are able to fire on their own.
How do I unequip turrets?
- In the build menu you have to select the turret on your ship using middle mouse button and press the red 'X' on the left side menu or by pressing 'Del' on your keyboard.
I can't equip more than 3 turrets. How do I add more turrets?
- To add more turrets your ship needs more turret capacity. To achieve that you have to add the turret control system upgrades in the systems tab of the player menu (Shortcut 'P'). You can see the amount of available slots for turrets in the statistics on the right side of the building menu. If you have added a system upgrade that increases the capacity for 'All' turrets, then the added capacity will be divided to the categories depending on how many turrets you add from each.
Building
How do I upgrade my ship to better materials?
- All blocks at once: Use the "modify entire ship" tool, this will automatically try to upgrade all blocks of the ship. If the block type doesn't exist in the new material it won't be upgraded
- Manually: Go to the blocks menu and select the block type you want to upgrade to. Then select the "transform block" tool and click on the block that you want to upgrade.
How can I place engines in other directions?
- You can only place engines to face backwards. You have to add thrusters to get acceleration/deceleration in other directions.
How do I build custom turret designs?
- Build a Turret Base of any material and select one of it's faces. You can then enter the turret build mode by clicking on "Enter turret design mode" in the menu on the left. A default turret will be build onto the block, and you can modify it to your liking.
I'm no good at building, but want to fly cool ships!
- If you find yourself in this situation check out the Avorion Workshop! Other users upload their builds here and after subscribing you can use them ingame!
I need cool turrets for my awesome ship!
- The Avorion Workshop also contains blueprints for turrets! Search for the tag "Turret".
Stations, I need cool stations!
- The Avorion Workshop is a land of wonders! Go check it out and use the tag "Station"!
Misc
My ship won't fly through gates/wormholes any more even though it appears small enough
- Your ship is very likely too big to fit through the gate with the current checks for the size of the ship.
My ship disappeared. How do I get it back?
- It might be gone for good, but you can try to retrace your steps and visit the sectors you have been to before the ship disappeared. You might find your ship there.
How do I send resources to another player?
- Use the mail system. You can open your mailbox using the envelope button in the row on the top right. Then drag the turrets you want to send from your inventory into the boxes on the right and enter the amount of credits/resources you want to send in the appropriate fields.
How do research stations work?
- The research station takes modules or turrets and produces a new turret or module as output. If you only put turrets/modules of the same type in the five slots at the top, then that give you a turret/module of the same type as output. Mixing different types randomizes the result. Also the amount of input matters for the output. Input 3 turrets and there is an 60% chance to get a higher rarity one, 80% for 4 turrets as input and 100% if you input 5 turrets. The properties and stats of the output turrets/modules are most likely completely randomly generated like normal turret drops.
There is a console open. How do I close it?
- You have openend the developer console and you can close it by pressing the apostrophe key (').
Can I change my home sector?
- You can change your reconstruction site at any Repair Dock. If you do you will be reset to that Repair Dock instead of your home sector.
Can I import ships from other players?
- Go to the Steam Workshop and subscribe to a blueprint you like. Next found a ship and go to the build menu. Open the Saved Designs menu, select the blueprint and press 'Use Design' to apply it to your ship.