Getting Started

So you want to board the Artemis and protect the quadrant? Great! Lets get you setup and ready to go.

## Read the Wiki?

We get it - having your entire crew read a wiki to learn how to play a game is boring - and we agree! **However, whoever is the Captain should read up!** If the Captain has a solid grasp on the game and all the consoles, they can explain it to their crew in their own unique way, or even offer guidance to players while playing as a sort of "learn as you go" method.

As Captain, you should know how the main five stations work, and what your objective is. You can leave the rest to figure out and explore on your own!

## Setup

1. Gather up your friends and their computers - Artemis works best with real players together in the same place.
	* Artemis is a fairly basic program, so it can run on many machines, even those that you may not normally run a game on! Because of this, you may be able to provide computers for friends by borrowing your dad's/mom's/roommate's laptop or tablet for a bit.
2. Make sure everyone has a copy of the game. The FAQ page has an explanation on what the various methods of obtaining the game are. Whatever method you use, make sure everyone is running the same version. The version number is displayed on the title screen.
3. Connect everyone to the same network. Wi-fi works and can usually handle Artemis' bandwidth requirements.
4. Run the server and check the settings. One common issue is that the "network update speed" is set to something high like 250 ms. Change that to as low as you can set it if everyone is on the same local network. The gameplay modes/settings are listed below.

## Game Modes

When you start the server, you're given a few options: Solo, PvP, Co-op, Mission, or War Server.

* Solo is the most common mode. The game will randomly generate a sector of space based on your difficulty settings, and you must protect all friendly stations from enemy attackers.
* PvP is for multi-bridge battles. Great if you have enough people for two bridges
* Co-op is for multi-bridge scenarios. Great if you don't want to fight the other guys.
* Scripted Mission are for those running a Mission.
* War Server is for those wishing to join a War Server.

If you selected **Solo or Co-Op**, you have a few more options for you to use and change.

* Difficulty is for wide sweeping changes to the difficulty. The higher the difficulty means more ships and more variety of ships, less space stations, stronger enemies, and higher energy consumption.
* Scenario is for determining where the enemy ships are attacking from.
	+ Siege: Enemies attack from all sides, stations will be located roughly near the center.
	+ Single Front: Enemies attack from one side, stations will be located roughly near the opposite side.
	+ Double Front: Enemies attack from two sides, stations will be located roughly in the opposite of the two sides.
	+ Deep Strike: You are in the enemy sector and have no friendly bases.
	+ Border War: One side has your ships and stations, the other has the enemy ships and stations. The middle is a sort of DMZ. Once the set time is up, war begins and ships will begin crossing the DMZ.
	+ Infestation: Your sector will be flooded with BioMechs. Destroy them before they grow and reproduce.
* Sector options follow. The options are None, Few, Some, Lots, and Many.
	+ Terrain: Controls normal terrain like nebulae and asteroids.
	+ Lethal Terrain: Controls lethal terrain like Black Holes and minefields.
	+ Friendly Ships: Controls how many friendly ships spawn in the sector. Note: The type of ship (and if they're armed or not) is controlled by the difficulty settings.
	+ Monsters: Controls how many monsters (friendly or not) spawn.
	+ Anomalies: Controls how many anomalies/upgrades spawn.

If you're unsure what to set these at, we recommend: Terrain: Some, Lethal: Few, Ships: Lots, Monsters: Few, Anomalies: Few.

* Time Limit is for setting a time limit, surprisingly. If you're unsure, leave it at 00 which means no time limit.
* Customize has a few extra options that probably don't need to be changed with the exception of Network Update Speed, which should be set to as low as you can.

## Finishing Setup

Once you're done with settings, players are free to join (they can actually join at any time after you click Start Server, but it's easier for you if they wait and see what you set everything to)

Once players join, they can select the ship and then select their station. Please note only one player is allowed to be use Helm, Weapons, and Engineering at a time, so if you need to switch stations, make sure the other player leaves the station first. There can be multiple players connected to Science or Comms.

If a player is ready and have selected their station, make sure they click "Ready to Play" on the bottom right of their screen. On the main screen, it will show a list of ships and some numbers next to the ship such as "5 / 4" The first number is the number of connected clients and the second number is how many players have selected "Ready" Once the numbers match, all connected clients are ready and you can hit "Start" on the main screen's computer to begin the mission!