Starship:
Collector

Index

Versions - Menu System - Tutorial - Game Modes - Settings - State Restore - High Scores - Star Collection

Versions

Version 1.0.2

Released 05-30-2011: This version includes adding images to, and thus improving, the tutorial, and some other small changes including bug fixes.

Version 1.0.1

Released 03-13-2011: This version includes improvements to the user’s experience of Round mode, and some other small changes including bug fixes.

Menu System

There are two distinct part to the menu system. There is the main section and the information section. Each page of the menu system is refereed to as a "star system".

Main Section

This section provides the ability to select different game modes to play. You can jump to the main information section of the menu from any of the main sections star systems by pressing the "i" button.

Information Section

This section provides access to settings, high scores and the star collection. You can return to the main section star system you arrived from from any of the information sections star systems by pressing the "return" button (when an information page is not being displayed).

Interface

Menu Definitions 1

  • A:The current profile's pilot rank for more information see Star Collection.
  • B: The name of the current profile
  • C: The name of the star system you are currently at. In other wards, the name of the current menu page
  • D: The 'i'/information button. Tap this to go to the information section of the menu
  • E: The short name of a star
  • F: The difficulty setting chooser
  • G: The nub telling what difficulty setting is currently set
Menu Definitions 2
  • H: The help button. Tap this to get context sensitive help on different stars. This will only become visible when specific stars are selected
  • I: The green/go/power button. Tap this to activate the currently selected star
  • J: When activated a yellow star will take you deeper into the menu system to a new page
  • K: When activated a white star will preform an action such as starting a game mode, setting a property, or showing a message
  • L: When activated a red star will take you back a level in the menu system to a specific page, and not to the previous page you were last at
  • M: White stars with a green star in the center act the same as white stars (see item K) but they tell if a setting is on, or if the connected item has been completed
  • N: This white star is currently the selected star. To select a star just tap it, or you can double tap the star to activate it without using the green button. Selecting a star will let you see if there is any help message about it (See item H)
Menu Definitions 3
  • O: The red/return button. Tap this to go back to the main menu section from the information section or close an information message (as is the case in this image)
  • P: An information message that can show anything from help to high scores. Tap anywhere on the message area to close it (or move to the next page in the case of the tutorial)

In-Game Interface

In-Game Definitions

  • A: Your credit total/score
  • B: The pause button. Push to pause, and doing so lets your abort/stop the current mission
  • C: The current combo count
  • D: The last type of star collected which is also the star type for the current combo
  • E: The progress meter. This doesn't have a real meaning for every mode, but in general you want it to fill up
  • F: The fuel meter, which also tells how much time in the mission is left. Some modes do not have a hard time limit so form them this meter will remain full
  • G: The time gauge/with exact time left read out. This tells how much time is left before the star field will automatically adjust and refill. The gauge will always be full in puzzle mode
  • H: The speed meter, which helps to give you an idea of the current difficulty level. This does not directly affect the speed in which the ship travels in the star field
  • I: The amount of credits that will be given for the current bounty sequence
  • J: The current bounty sequence which shows which stars have already been collected, and what is the next one needed. Both the yellow ones have been collected and the next one needed is a blue star in this example
  • K: The control stick used to move the ship around the star field. Tap or press (no need to preform a drag gesture) to move the stick to the direction you want the ship to move. Think of this as a control pad on a control with an up, down left, and right button
  • L: Your starship
  • M: A black hole

Tutorial

Basics

This is a simple text based tutorial. To start the round tap a star you want to start at and you will warp to it. To quit Practice (or any other) mode, just tap the Pause button, then when the Abort slider appears slide it all the way to the right.
How to abort a mission
Drag your finger to the right slowly.

Mission

Your mission is to earn as many credits as you can by collecting stars. Each star color is worth a different amount, but try to avoid black holes. Star Values:

  • (Blue) New Star: 2 credits
  • Yellow Dwarf: 4 credits
  • Red Giant: 6 credits
  • White Dwarf: 10 credits
  • Black Hole: -10 credits

Combos

You can earn even more credits by collecting the same type/color star as the one you previously collected. This action is called a combo. While three Yellow Dwarfs are normally only worth 12 credits when, you collect them right after the other you have earned 24 credits. Add a fourth Yellow Dwarf and your total is now 40 credits!

Bounties

Besides trying to get large combos you should also be on the look out for bounties. By collecting the stars in the order shown for the current bounty sequence you earn a bonus amount of credits when you finish the sequence. When you collect a bounty the bonus amount will increase for the next available bounty.

Star Field

The star field contains a max of 100 stars. You must navigate your starship so that you maximize the credits that you earn. However, you must move fast because you have a limited time before the star field adjust. When the star field adjusts, it will be refill with stars and your current combo and work on the bounty will be reset.

Difficulty

There are four difficulty levels:

  • Easy
  • Normal
  • Hard
  • Insane

The difficulty level is connected to how fast your ship moves. As the speed gauge increases, the distribution of star types in the star field will also change. Note: The speed gauge does not affect the speed of your ship’s movement in the star field.

Warping

If you are stuck or want to be somewhere else in the star field you can warp there. First touch the star you want to warp to (the star you are touching will appear bigger). Then touch anywhere else on the screen with another finger to activate the warp. While this is very useful it will also reset your combo and your work on the bounty.
In other words to warp you need to press and tap.
How to warp step 1
First select which star you want to warp to.
How to warp step 2
Press the star you have picked. The star you are pressing will grow to show your selection. If the wrong star is selected move your finger around until the right one is.
How to warp step 3
Tap with another finger anywhere on the screen. This could be on the star field or on the dashboard.
How to warp step 4
You will need to keep your first finger on the screen until you have finished tapping. The lifting of the second finger will trigger the warp to the star that is currently selected.
How to warp step 5
After you have finished tapping with the second finger the starship will warp to the selected position.
Also note that you can use this more precise warping gesture at the star of the mission if you prefer it.

Practice

You have now finished the tutorial. To start Practice mode just press the green button in the upper right corner now or at any time while viewing the tutorial. You can change the Tutorial star into a Practice star with a setting. To get to the settings click the blue “i” button when it is visible then pick the Settings star.

Game Modes

Endurance

Endurance missions test your stamina as you try to keep flying and collecting stars as long as you can. When you collect a star as part of a combo the progress meter fills up. Every time the star field refills the progress meter goes down. Your mission will be over when the progress meter gets completely empty.
Endurance mode

Time

Time based missions are very simple. You just collect stars until time runs out. There are four time lengths available: 2, 4, 6 and 8 minutes.
Time mode

Out of Control

Being out of control is different from other missions. Your ship is \"Out of Control\" and is always moving forward. It is your job to keep the ship on the best path until it runs out of fuel. Also note that warping is not available. You can start with a full or half tank of fuel.
Out of Control mode

Round

There are 20 rounds to clear and they get harder as the round number gets higher. Your goal in each round is to collect your star quota by collecting stars that add to the current combo. You can choose to skip easier rounds, but you will miss out on large round completed bonuses.
Round mode

Puzzle Modes

To complete a puzzle you must collect all the stars in the star field in one continues sequence. If one of the stars is in the puzzle is a black hole you must collect it last. No warping is allowed. There are three different modes to try to solve the puzzles in.
Puzzle mode

Normal Puzzle Mode

When facing a puzzle in the normal mode you can take as much time as you need to solve it. It doesn't matter how you solve it or how long you take. It just matters that you solve it.

Score Puzzle Mode

If you want more of a challenge then the normal mode provides, you can try to solve the puzzle with the highest possible credit total. So there is more to solving the puzzle then just collecting all the stars in the star field.

Out of Control Puzzle Mode

For a real challenge, try to solve the puzzle when you cannot stop and think. Your ship is out of control and all you can do is change the direction the ship is going as you try to solve the puzzle. If this is still too easy for you? Try a higher difficulty setting, which will make your ship move faster.

Practice

This mode has no goal and just lets you practice collecting stars as long as you want.

Settings

Most of the settings are implemented with a check box type of system.
Star check states

Right Handed

This setting determines if the controls are setup for use with a right or left hand. When this setting is on the dashboard and controls will be on the right hand side, when it is off they will be on the left hand side.
Right hand side
This shows the default of the dashboard on the right side of the screen.
Left hand side
This shows the dashboard on the left side of the screen.

Practice Visible

This setting determines if the Practice or Tutorial star is shown in the Main Star System. When this setting is on Practice will be visible. Access to both practice and the tutorial will always be available in the Main Star System regardless of the state of this setting. You can access the tutorial from the Practice star by using the Help button, and you can start up Practice mode with the green button at anytime while viewing the tutorial.

Quick Resume

This setting determines if a mission that was interrupted by using the 'Home' button will automatically load the next time the App starts. When this setting is on the mission will automatically resume and when it is off a new star for resuming will be in the Main Star System. Also, when this setting is on, the current star system will also be restored if you are not inside a mission. For more information about resuming a mission after the 'Home' button is pressed see the State Restore section.

Sound Settings

You can adjust the sound volume levels independently for the background music and sound effects.
Note: The sound volume is based on the device’s setting. So if you want the sound loader try increasing the device’s volume.

Profile

There are five profile slots which can be used by different users of the application. A profile is used to link high scores and statistics to a specific person.

Quick Profile Switch

This setting determines if there will be a star in the Main Star System that will bring you to the star system where you can change the current profile. When this setting is on the profile switch star will be in the Main Star System. This is useful when there are multiple people sharing the same device.
Switch profile star
This shows the profile switch star in the Main Star System.

State Restore

When the 'Home' button on the device is pressed or the application is stopped by accepting a call the current state of the game will be saved so it can be restarted later. The saving of the state does not always happen, for example if you are at the end of playing a mode or have not yet started a mode it will not be saved.

Normal Restore

During the normal restoring, the menu state is never saved and to restart the mission where you left off you need to use the "Resume" star on the Main Star System. However, starting a different mode or changing profiles will prevent you from resuming this specific mission.
Please note that you must finish or abort a mission that can be restored in order to have it update your stats.
Resume star
This shows the resume star in the Main Star System.

Quick Restore

When the quick restore setting is on the mission will automatically resume when you next start the application. If you were still in the menu system when the application was last quick the menu page you were last on will be returned to on startup instead of the default Main Star System.
Please note that when accepting a phone call the state that is saved will alway be saved in quick restore mode even if you have this setting off.

High Scores

The top 10 high scores are collected for the five different modes and their different sub modes on a difficulty basis. However, the high scores for the puzzle modes are stored a little differently because a profile can only hold one high score on each sub mode list and the difficulty level is not a factor.
High Scores
When viewing a high score page you can use the difficulty chooser to specify which difficulty you want to see high scores for.
There is currently no way to upload or view high scores of others besides looking on their device. So to put some high scores out their here are my best scores:
Mode Sub-Mode Easy Normal Hard Insane
Time 2 Min   009725    
Time 4 Min   015621   010193
Time 6 Min   039425 026431 033971
Time 8 Min 035399 034959 029177 030015
Round   257549 134917 254389  
Endurance   144197 222297   062523
O.O.C. Half   006329    
O.O.C Full   013341   011631
Puzzle Score 147100
Puzzle O.O.C. Insane

Star Collection

Your star collection contains achievements that you have collected in your missions as well as stats and information on those you have not yet achieved. There are ten different stars to collect, which are used to determine your pilot rank.
Can you collect them all?

Pilot Rank Based on Stars in Collection:

  • 0: Pilot Trainee
  • 1-2: Copilot
  • 3-4: Pilot
  • 5-6: ???
  • 7-9: ???
  • 10: ???

Star Collection

Pay Day

Earn at least 25000 credits on a single flight in Endurance mode.

Mission Complete

Complete round 20 in Round mode.

Time Traveler

Complete all 4 of the time lengths in Time mode.

Puzzle Master

Solve all 40 puzzles.

In Control

Get through a full tank of fuel in Out of Control mode without collecting a Black Hole.

Combo Royalty

Achieve a combo of at least 20 stars. Combos in Practice and Puzzle modes do not count.

Bounty Hunter

Collect at least 10 bounties in one flight. Flights in Practice mode do not count.

Frequent Flyer

Log at least 5 hours of flight. Flight time from Practice mode does not count.

Collector

Collect at least 25000 stars. Stars collected in Practice mode do not count.

Millionaire

Collect at least 1000000 credits. Credits from Practice and Puzzle modes do not count.


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