Learning to Survive Scenario
In this scenario you restore an asteroid outpost to act as your base of operations, and explore the remains of what a once thriving industry left behind. Learn about space engineering, and finally, prove yourself in a boss battle, this is where your career begins!
You can gain up to four Steam Achievements for completing it, and the achievements will also appear as a badge on your game start screen. This scenario was created by Keen Software House.
Should I play it?
This is typically the second scenario that beginners start -- at the same time, it’s not the second scenario that players complete.
This long, in-depth scenario gives you the opportunity to show everything that you've learned in the The First Jump Scenario. It asks you to solve a series of engineering tasks of varying difficulty, and it gives even beginners a lot of opportunity to learn, experiment, and build.
A beginner can aim to obtain the first Steam Achievement by completing all obvious tasks at the highlighted locations. The final objective is rather advanced, requiring preparation and creativity: You not only repair pre-built spaceships and bases, but have to build your own solutions.
Many players post-pone the advanced achievements and play some Sandbox Games first.
Spoiler Free Overview
You can complete the tasks in any order and with no time limit. It’s recommended to leave yourself GPS markers as reminders of incomplete tasks.
Even though it looks like a tutorial, this scenario is a full survival game with Autorespawn and Autosave on, so always make sure that you have a respawn point (Survival Kit or Med Room) close by — otherwise you’ll need another ship to fly back to your ship.
Inventory size, grind speed, and weld speed have a favourable multiplier, jetpacks are allowed, and progression is switched off. You may have Random Encounters with passive NPCs (if you prefer piracy), but there will be no Trading Outposts. You will be able to explore asteroids, the Earthlike Planet, and the Moon, but the planet will have no weather.
You can continue playing in this world after completing all tasks, there is no timer nor limitations. You can even change the World Settings and add mods or more planets later.
Steam Achievements (minor spoilers)
Completing the engineering tasks unlocks the final objective (boss battle) with an opportunity to complete three more Steam achievements. The scenario will give you a clear hint about the final objective to gain the second Steam achievement. The third and fourth achievements are awarded for “excellent execution” of the second. You will have to replay the scenario if you've missed the last two achievements.
- Engineering Degree - Finish all tasks of the Learning to Survive Scenario. The tasks are marked with beacons.
- Promoted Engineer - Complete the final objective of the Learning to Survive Scenario. After completing all scenario tasks (that means, you have completed the "Engineering Degree" achievement), you'll get the necessary instructions for the final objective automatically.
- It Takes But One - Complete all scenario objectives without dying.
- Planetesphobia - Disable the final scenario objective without entering the atmosphere.
For more detailed spoilers, read Steam Achievements.
Locations (minor spoilers)
New task locations are revealed as you progress. It is possible to be out of broadcasting range of further away task markers. If you have the impression you missed a task, first return to the central platform and try retracing your steps to find the marker again.
If you still need help to find a task location, copy the respective GPS line (or even the whole list) into your clipboard. In game, open the GPS screen and click Paste from Clipboard. Then double-click the grey GPS entry to save it to the list and make it visible on your HUD!
Note: If it takes too long to reach certain locations, make sure you make use of what you have learned at the Jump Drive task.
GPS:Task - Platform:117.43:-122.94:9.03: GPS:Task - Ship Tools:-35.18:-17.77:-304.78: GPS:Task - Ship Mining:418.05:-422.75:176.55: GPS:Task - Ship Building:1639.22:-5160.58:346.65: GPS:Task - Remote Control:-4689.24:2500.14:-12970.86: GPS:Task - Projectors:2834.52:-12933.56:5642.88: GPS:Task - Production:-1065.83:154.26:-5053.13: GPS:Task - Pressurization:-2025.72:3647.36:-2689.91: GPS:Task - Jump Drive:-727.54:-13699.34:-2168.35: GPS:Task - Hydrogen Thrusters:-4524.03:-3513.79:-7745.26: GPS:Task - Combat:-2274.89:-7135.61:11151.88:
Community member Vagrant326 has also created a great 3D visualisation of the locations here: https://www.geogebra.org/3d/zyeyynkg
Summary (Spoilers!)
You can complete the main tasks in any order, but travel time and distance are also a factor.
| Location Name | Available Systems | Tasks | Loot | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform (Start) | Survival Kit, O2/H2 Generator, Solar Panels | Refill health and bottles, repair damaged power and conveyor system, mine ore, refill generator with ice, undock ship, fly the ship to the next location. | Gun&ammo, spare parts, bottles, ores.
Starter Ship with Survival Kit |
Enable the Survival Kit on the starter ship. You can process stone to produce some spare parts in the Survival Kit. |
| Ship Tools | Assembler, power generation, ship grinder, ship welder | Repair and use a utility ship, use an H2 Engine to produce power, use welder/grinder to force-open doors | Utility ship
Uranium, spare parts, medical components |
Also enable the Survival Kit. |
| Ship Mining | Ship drills | Repair a ship, use ship drills | Miner ship
Ores |
Get ores here. |
| Ship Building | H2 Generator, H2 Tank, cryo pod | Add blocks to a ship frame to finish it | Ion fighter ship
Medical components, ammo, thruster components |
Also enable the Survival Kit. |
| Remote Control | Drones | Control a drone | Drone Blueprint | Send drones while you stay safe. |
| Projectors | Projector | Use a projector as a 3D Printer | Ammo | Use this method to print drones. |
| Production | Refinery, Assembler | Refine Ores, repair a factory, produce components | Spare parts, iron ingots | Use factories to produce all the parts you need. |
| Pressurization | O2/H2 Generator | Pressurise an airtight room | Spare parts, ice | Use this method to extend your life support. |
| Jump Drive | Jump drive, gravity generator | Repair the jump drive to fly to the revealed coords. | Jump Ship
GPS of Hidden Base |
Use this method to travel long distances. |
| Hydrogen Thrusters | Hydrogen Thrusters | Mine ice | Hydro Miner Ship | Restock ice |
| Combat | Gatling turrets | Disable the defenses and get into the location | GPS of final Objective | - |
GPS:Hidden Base:-9353.0:-11490.0:-14000.0: GPS:Above Final Objective:1522038.99:-2925222.69:-3695180.38: GPS:Final Objective:1546221.43:-2923818.16:-3719838.18:
Tips (Spoilers)
- Long travel times? Use a ship with Jump Drive.
- Too much back and forth travel? You are not tied to the pre-built task locations! After completing a task, you can dismantle any locations and rebuild the machines wherever they would be easier to reach for you.
- Running out of power? Switch off e.g. Gravity Generators to save power. Jump Drives need more power the higher the mass of the ship. Hydrogen Engines need huge tanks, and reactors have more mass than Solar Panels but produce power much faster… Experiment and get an intuition for the right balance for each situation.
- It’s useful to have a central base or mothership that can do “everything”. But a base cannot travel, and you wouldn’t want to fly your one mothership into battle... Think about specialisation: With your goals and in your situation, what is better done at the base, and what is better done by a ship? And what is better done by remote controlled drones?
- More food for thought here