Star Atlas Overview

To start, Star Atlas is a grand-strategy, space exploration, massively multiplayer online role playing game built in Unreal Engine 5 and backed by the Solana Blockchain. The first Star Atlas mini-game, Faction Fleet, is available in web bowser. SAGE will also be playable in a web-browser mini-game by the end of 2022. Currently, the UE5 virtual environment of ships you own is available on the Epic Games store. Eventually, the full game will be released as a downloadable client from the Epic Games store.

Major breakthroughs in recent technology created an opportunity for a futuristic science fiction experience that is entirely new and groundbreaking. Real-time graphics technology using Unreal Engine 5’s Nanite allows for cinematic quality video game visuals. Blockchain technology using the Solana protocol established a largely serverless and secured gameplay experience. Non-fungible tokens obtained and traded within Star Atlas creates an economy that replicates the tangibility of real world assets and ownership. That’s the basics about the new video game, Star Atlas, and what you need to know before playing.

1. Downloading A Wallet

Since Star Atlas is a blockchain game, it requires a cryptocurrency wallet to store your digital tokens and in-game currency.

Step 1 — In any web browser download and install a Solana wallet that is compatible with Star Atlas. We recommend Phantom — How to add a Phantom Wallet

Optional — Hardware Wallet
We strongly recommend taking the extra step in security and using a hardware wallet in conjunction with your Phantom wallet. This acts like two factor authentication and can help prevent your funds from accidentally being drained.

Step 2 — Add Funds to You Wallet

Star Atlas is built on the Solana ecosystem, hence you will need to add the Solana ($SOL) cryptocurrency to your wallet. This can be accomplished one of two ways.

Shorter Method: You can buy Solana or USDC directly in your Phantom Wallet.

1. Open your Phantom Wallet and hit Buy
2. From there, select either Solana or USDC
3. Select how much you want to deposit
4. Select your provider

• Coinbase Pay links to your Coinbase account.
• If you don’t already have a Coinbase account, we recommend MoonPay
• DO NOT use FTX Pay. FTX is now bankrupt.

5. You should see your funds in your account now!

Note — Star Atlas Ships are bought in ATLAS or USDC. If you already know what ship you want to buy, we recommend getting USDC directly.

Longer Method: First, you can purchase Solana from a Centralized Exchange (CEX) like Coinbase or Binance. You can then send Solana tokens from your CEX account directly to your Phantom Wallet. You will need your Phantom Wallet public address or wallet address and it looks something like this:

6XFpQc7H4MRjTDLmEW5q41gsQ8VwV5QNKUohqTjdTrxu

From your CEX account, select how much you want to transfer to your wallet and hit send. Make sure that you input your own wallet address, not the one above!

Note — Depending on your CEX and how long you’ve have funds with them, it may take 1–2 weeks before you’re authorized to transfer your funds out of the CEX

2. Accessing the Game

As of now, Star Atlas exists in two different formats. Faction Fleet, and eventually SAGE, are web browser based mini-games. The Star Atlas Showroom is an Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) client from in the Epic Games store.

Faction Fleet and SAGE

Faction Fleet, and eventually SAGE, can be accessed at play.staratlas.com. This will take you to the main page where you will be asked to connect you Phantom Wallet. If you aren’t automatically asked, there is a connect wallet button in the left menu at the bottom.

Congratulations! You’ve just officially taken your first steps into the Star Atlas metaverse!

Note: The link above is a referral link for the game. If you do end up purchasing a ship from Star Atlas, we receive a small recruiter bonus. There is no obligation to do so and if you’d rather use the normal link, you can do so here, play.startlas.com.

3. Buying A Ship

If you’ve played any kind of MMO game before, then the Star Atlas Marketplace will look pretty familiar to you.

If you already know what you want, don’t let us stop you. But if you’re not quite sure what to buy, we recommend starting out with a ship available in the XX-Small category.

As you can see, there are several to choose from. Click through each one to find out more about it. For this example, we’ll go through the newest ship in this category — the VZUS solos racer.

Clicking the VSUZ will take you to a page where you can see all available buy and sell orders. At the top you can see a list of available sellers. At the bottom is a list of buyers. The market works just like a regular buy/sell order market. You can also swap between USDC and ATLAS denominations depending on what currency you have available.

The teal Star Atlas name denotes ships being sold by the company itself. Eventually, player IDs will replace the random wallet address you see.

Once you find the ship you want, click it and a new window will pop up. If the ship you’re trying to buy is greatly overpriced for current market value, several warnings will pop up. The game actually will prevent you from buying an overpriced ship unless you acknowledge the price.

Once you hit buy, you’ll be asked to confirm your purchase in your Phantom wallet. Hit approve and voila, you are now the proud owner of a brand new ship!

Where’s my ship?

Your ship is technically stored on the blockchain with a visible representation of its status in your inventory.

You can also find any of your other Star Atlas game items in your inventory. This will be important when it comes time to buy resources to stock your ships with.

4. Choosing A Star Atlas Faction

Before you can enlist your ships in Faction Fleet, you will first have to choose a Star Atlas faction.

There are three Star Atlas factions and they are:

• Oni
  The ONI faction is a harmonious consortium of diverse species. The people of the Om sector, Segal, Akenat, and Neuno systems collectively set aside their differences in the hopes of a more bountiful life in space.
• Mud
  Manus Ultimus Divinum, The Last Divine Hand, is a spacefaring faction of humans originating from their home planet of Earth. After uniting under a common cause inspired by a benevolent Photoli scout, humans harnessed Earth’s resources to set off for the stars.
• Ustur
  Ustur cybernetic sentient beings have an origin shrouded in complex mystery. One legend tells of a Dyson sphere-powered supercomputer harnessing the energy of a magnetar class neutron star. The energy throughput allowed the installed AI to advance beyond its physical location and withdrew from the parent machine without a trace.

Important: Your faction selection is tied to your wallet! You cannot change it later.

Think of your wallet as an account. The only way to change your faction is to create a new wallet (account) and go through the selection process again.

If you do decide to change factions later, you can always transfer assets from your old wallet to your new wallet. However, any perks associated with your account will not be transferred.

Selecting a Faction

As of writing, there are no gameplay advantages to any faction. The faction selection process will show you where each faction gains certain bonuses, but the extent of those bonuses are currently unknown. Some known bonuses have been stated by the developers but are currently not implemented in the game.

Known Bonus:

• Factions should gain loyalty points quicker with their Faction Aligned Companies (FACs)

At present, selecting one faction over another can come down to personal preference or guild preference. If you’ve already joined a Star Atlas guild, or are considering joining one, they may have faction restrictions in place.

When it comes to flying ships, factions do not restrict your ability to pilot a ship.

5. Playing Star Atlas Faction Fleet

Once you’ve selected a faction, you’re ready to enlist your ships in support of your faction’s cause.

Before you can enlist your ships, you’ll need to make sure you have enough Food, Fuel, and Ammo in your inventory. Eventually, you’ll need Toolkits for repairs when your ships run out of health.

If you click on the Enlist Ship button, you’ll see:

If you don’t already have resources in your inventory, go back to the Star Atlas marketplace buy the resources you need. Make sure to remember how much you need.

Resources are generally sold in ATLAS, the game’s in game currency. You’ll need to pickup some ATLAS, or ask someone to give you a small amount to be able to buy your resources.

Generally, the Star Atlas DAO seller will have the lowest prices. Buy enough, Food, Fuel, and Ammo for your ship. We also recommend picking up toolkits if you have enough ATLAS as well.

Back on the Enlist Ship page, once you hit Enlist Feet your ships will be sent on their mission. Depending on the ship, you will have to continually supply it with resources. As a reward, your ship will earn you an income of daily ATLAS so long as its supplied.

Once your ship is enlisted you should see something like this:

Resupplying Ships

Once it come time to resupply your ships, hit the Manage Fleet button.

That will bring up a page like this. From here you can choose to either resupply each ship individually or resupply everything at once. Remember to have enough resources in your inventory beforehand.

Conclusion

Again, congratulations! You are now a veteran space explorer within the Star Atlas metaverse. By 2022, Star Atlas intends to release their next mini-game, SAGE, where players will compete for territory on behalf of their chosen faction. Players will eventually be able to craft, mine, and create ships of their own. Additionally, Star Atlas will continue to expand upon their Unreal Engine 5 Client for fully immersive gameplay.

If you found this guide helpful, leave a comment below. Also don’t forget to hit follow and subscribe to get notified when we release our future Star Atlas SAGE guides!

If you need additional help, hop into the Star Atlas Discord.