iAye Help and
Strategy Guide
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Overview
iAye is, at heart, a "space trader" style game. The object of this game is to amass as much wealth and power as you can without getting killed in the process. There are a variety of ways you can do this:
- you can trade your way to wealth by buying commodities on one planet and selling for a profit elsewhere;
- you can complete missions to increase both your wealth and prestige;
- you can pillage civilian ships, which poses risks but also yields significant rewards;
- you can become a privateer, attacking the navies of other governments for profit and recognition;
- you can hunt pirates--an extremely dangerous but rewarding job;
- or, you can employ a combination of the above techniques with your own particular style.
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Your First Ship
Your first ship isn't much to look at--you won it in a low-stakes game of poker, after all. Don't expect to be able to accomplish much with this ship, at least not right out of the gate; while she has a bit of space for expansion, she doesn't have any upgrades installed at first, and you're likely to come out on the losing end of any firefights you may get into.
Because of this, your best course of action--at least to start--is probably going to be to keep your head low, stick to systems with secure airspace (see the
Using The Map section for more information on airspace security,) and engage in some legal means of earning money, such as trade and trade-related missions, to bulk up your ship before you venture too far into hostile territories.
It's a good idea to invest in a hull upgrade or two as soon as you can, if not right away. Not only do hull upgrades improve the performance and abilities of your ship, but they help shield the main hull from damage. Repairs to upgraded sections of your hull are relatively cheap; repairs to your main hull are quite expensive by comparison. You can encounter hostile ships even in safe areas, so it pays to be prepared! (See the
Ship Upgrades section for more information adding to your main hull.)
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Getting Around the Port
When you first begin the game, you find yourself in one of the most secure, most well-connected systems in the galaxy. This is useful: it allows you to travel to neighboring systems in relative safety, and it allows you to easily travel to a variety of different destinations.
Ports are where it all happens. In a port, you can engage in any of the following activities:
- Trading and selling goods. You can buy and sell cargo by pressing the "Trade" button. Prices in green denote "good" prices; prices in red denote "bad" prices. (Note that a green "buy" price will always be a red "sell" price, and vice-versa.)
- Accepting, aborting, and completing missions. While you're in the trading screen, you can press the "Missions" button to peruse currently available missions. Missions highlighted in green indicate missions you've accepted and are working on. If you accept a mission, remember that you always need to complete the mission by fulfilling the mission parameters, selecting the mission in the Missions screen, and tapping "Complete".
- Reviewing the status of your ship. From the main port screen, you can tap "Manage Ship" to view your ship's overall statistics. You can tap on specific sections of your ship to get information about particular hull upgrades; to return to the full-ship view, tap the aft (far left side) of the ship.
- Repairing your ship. If your ship is damaged, you can repair it by tapping the "Repairs" button in the manage ship screen. Note that you can elect to repair only specific hull upgrades, if money is tight; simply select the hull upgrade in question before tapping "Repairs".
- Upgrading your ship. You can buy a whole new ship's hull or upgrade any given part of your ship by tapping the part of your ship you wish to upgrade and tapping the "Upgrade" button.
- Recruiting new crewmen. By tapping the "Bar" button on the main screen and then tapping "Recruit", you can pick and choose from six swarthy lads to add to your crew. Each crewman has four attributes that can improve or diminish the overall running of your ship: Navigation, Gunnery, Engineering, and Marketing. The higher the number, the bigger the bonus that crewman grants; negative numbers detract from your ship's overall performance in that area.
- Managing your existing crew. While you're in the bar, you can tap "Manage Crew" to view your current roster, move crewmen to different parts of the ship, and fire anyone who no longer tickles your fancy.
- Drinking heavily. Hey, it's not all work, management, and deadlines! Blow off some steam, get hammered, and see what happens. Results vary from the mundane to the bizarre. Note that once you get hammered, you'll be kicked out of the bar for the duration of your stay in the port, so take care of your HR needs before you hit the sauce.
- Taking off for other ports. Once you've finished your business in port, you can tap "Take off" to travel to a new port. When you're starting out, pay particular attention to the "Security" level at your destination port--flying through anything that isn't "Completely Secure" or "Heavily Guarded" is flirting with trouble.
Each of these topics are discussed in greater detail later in this strategy guide.
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Using the map
When you select "Take off" from the port screen, you'll be taken to the map screen. The map screen contains a large amount of information in a very small space.
The map
The most prominent section of the map screen is the map itself. On the map, you'll see green gridlines marking off 100-parsec grid spaces; double-tap any of these grids to zoom in for a closer look. You'll also see a number of circles; each circle represents a system you can visit. These circles can have different highlighting and coloring to them. Here's a list of what these different appearances mean:
- A grey, empty circle indicates a system that has not yet been visited.
- A filled, colorful circle indicates a system that has been visited at least once; the circle's coloring matches the appearance of the main planet for that system in the port screen.
- A bright green, four-corner highlight indicates the system you are currently in.
- A red four-corner highlight indicates the system that is currently selected. Tap on a planet icon to change your selected planet. (The planet icons may seem somewhat small to tap successfully, but you'll find that it's fairly easy to tap the desired planet without missing.)
- A dull yellow square outline indicates a system associated with an active mission.
- A thick colored ring indicates that a system is the capital system for a major government.
In addition, you'll notice that much of the map starts out dark and is revealed only as you visit new systems. Pay attention, too, to the faint color of the revealed background space:
- Plain black space indicates territory that is not controlled by a major government. Actions taken in these areas will only affect your reputation in the closest system.
- Space with a faint background color indicates territory controlled by a major government. Actions taken in these areas will affect your reputation in the nearest system; they will also affect your reputation in all systems owned by that government, though to a lesser extent.
- White space indicates territory that is under your control.
The information panel
Directly beneath the map is the information panel. The information panel provides you with with some crucial data regarding a system and your current route.
- Distance to target: the distance, in parsecs, between the current system and the selected system.
- Maximum jump range: the farthest distance your ship can travel without stopping at a port. For a quick and cheap boost to this figure, hire crewmen with a high navigation skill.
- Security: the relative safety of travelling through this system's airspace. There are several different levels of security, which we shall discuss momentarily.
- Government: The government in control of this system. While many systems are independent, various governments control large swaths of the universe. Government-controlled airspace tends to be safer than independent airspace, though your actions in government-controlled space will have greater repercussions than they would in an independent system.
- Reputation: Your own personal standing in this system. Completing missions, attacking pirates, and engaging in trade will raise your reputation in most cases; attacking civilian ships, attacking naval ships, and failing to complete missions will generally lower your reputation. If your reputation sinks too low, naval ships will attack you on sight. A very high or low reputation can unlock special mission options.
- The "Go!" button: when this button appears, you have enough fuel to jump from the current system to the selected system. Tapping this button will start your trip to the selected system.
- The "Cancel Jump" button: if you select the system you're currently in, the "Cancel Jump" button will appear. Tap this button to return to the port screen.
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Security
Of special importance early in the game is the security of a system's airspace. In general, closely-packed and government-controlled systems enjoy higher security; isolated and independent systems tend to be less secure. While less secure routes are risky, you can get better deals on ships and upgrades in less secure systems, thanks to lower taxes and a lack of workplace safety regulations in the shipyards.
- Completely secure: in these systems, there are no pirates, period. You'll find nothing but civilians and lots of navy patrols.
- Heavily protected: these systems have a very strong naval presence and are quite safe to travel in; all the same, pirates can be encountered on rare occasions in these systems.
- Well patrolled: while you're still in fairly safe airpace, these routes have more civilian traffic than naval patrols; thus, braver pirates will dart into these systems on the hopes of picking off unfortunate cargo vessels. Best to have a few hull upgrades in place before spending too much time in these systems.
- Lightly guarded: these systems, though patrolled, suffer from far fewer naval resources than they need to keep the peace. While the majority of traffic in these systems are still civilian ships, pirates will appear with increasing frequency. Be prepared.
- Risky: these systems have only nominal naval resources at their disposal. As such, pirates tend to rule the skies, though they're still outnumbered (though not outgunned) by civilian ships.
- Dangerous: naval resources are conspicuously absent from these systems. Pirats roam freely, attacking the diminising flow of civilian vessels and anyone else foolish enough to stumble into these systems without some heavy armament at their disposal.
- Lawless: these largely failed systems are ruled by privateers, bounty hunters, or whoever happens to weild the largest gun at the time. Very few civilian ships dare to enter these areas; you're all but certain to meet with hostile ships.
- No Man's Land: these systems don't even benefit from despotic rule. They are completely infested with the dregs of space and have little redeeming value, save for the fact that there's so much salvage and so little wealth in these systems that upgrades are dirt cheap.
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Transit And Encounters
When you jump from one system to another, it takes time to travel. Engine upgrades and skilled navigators in your crew will reduce the time it takes to get from point A to point B; some heavier modules can increase your travel time. The faster you travel, the less likely you are to encounter other ships.
When you encounter a ship, you'll be given a side-view display of the encountered ship, the type of ship you've encountered, and its affiliation (naval, civilian, or pirate.) You can get a sense of a ship's strengths by examining the side-view display. Larger ships with more upgrades will be more powerful in general. Sections with heavier armor plating can sustain more damage. Sections with more red-barreled gun emplacements can bring more firepower to bear, and thruster sections with yellow-hued exhaust indicate greater speed and evasive ability. Blue portholes mark crew quarters; the larger the crew, the more capable the ship, in general.
At the start of every encounter, you are presented with three options:
- Attack: engage the ship with guns blazing. Bear in mind that attacking naval and civilian ships will lower your reputation, regardless of whether or not you destroy that ship.
- Flee: fire up the engines and leave the scene as fast as you can. While this is a useful strategy for avoiding hostile ships, it's worth noting that naval vessels will often give chase if you flee regardless of whether or not you're wanted, which lowers your reputation.
- Ignore: continue on your merry way without deviating from your current course. The sensible option for friendly vessels, though considerably less sensible when dealing with pirates or an unfriendly naval vessel.
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Orders And Battles
If you attack another ship, or if another ship decides to attack you, you'll be given a chance to issue orders before you enter the fray. You'll see both ships on the screen at once; your ship is the top ship, the enemy ship is the bottom ship. You can tap on different sections your ship just as you would on the ship management screen to give section-by-section orders and targeting directives.
Depending on your ship's crew distribution and the selected hull section's capabilities, you'll be able to issue the following commands:
- Damage Control: if the selected section of the ship contains crewmen with engineering skill, you can instruct that part of the ship to focus on repairing damage. The more engineering skill, the faster and better the repairs to this part will be. Damage control can be absolutely essential for protracted battles.
- Evade: if the selected section of the ship has thrust capability, you can order that section to focus on evading enemy attacks. This will decrease the enemy's chance of hitting you.
- Attack: if the selected section of the ship has weapons, you can order that section to fire those weapons at the enemy ship. You can further indicate a target for these weapons by tapping the section of the enemy ship you wish to target (or, again, tap the aft, or back, of the enemy ship to target the entire ship in general.)
Once you're happy with your orders, tap the "To Battle" button to engage the enemy ship in combat.
As combat progresses, you'll see the health bars on your ship and your opponent's ship begin to drop. As they drop lower, they turn yellow (50% health), red (25% health), and finally grey (0% health). Once a ship upgrade hits 0% health, that upgrade is rendered completely inoperative until it gets repaired in port--no thrust, no guns, no damage control, nada. Furthermore, bad things can happen to inoperative upgrades: during battles, an inoperative section can suffer a hull breach, which results in the loss of all crew and cargo from the sections. It's even possible to have the section blown completely off your ship, resulting in its total loss.
If you no longer trust your ability to defeat your opponent, never did trust said ability, or if you just want to get the heck out of there, tap "Flee". Note that the size and speed of both ships play a factor in whether or not you can escape successfully; a large, slow ship will have trouble escaping from a small agile ship, whereas a small, agile ship will have a relatively easy time escaping from a large, slow ship. You may need to attempt escape several times before you succeed in evading your opponent, so don't wait for the last minute to bail. If you wish to alter your commands, tap the "Issue Orders" button.
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Trading Tips
Trade is fairly straightforward: buy things, then sell them. You can choose from a variety of commodities. Food, machinery, raw materials, and electronics are all regular commodities with varying prices and availability. Trading in medical supplies will improve your reputation faster than other goods. Spice is extremely rare and extremely valuable; you'll generally only find spice in the salvage of certain battles. Herb and Weapons are both contraband; though you'll make a lot of money trading them, your reputation will suffer, and you may attract the attention of passing naval vessels.
When trading, it pays to remember which systems have increased supply and demand of which goods.
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Mission Tips
Most missions are fairly straightforward: deliver X amount of Y goods to planet Z within a set time limit. When delivering goods, remember not to sell them in regular trading when you arrive at the planet; instead, tap the "Complete" button on the mission screen to deliver these goods.
Other missions entail destroying things. Generally, when conducting these missions, you'll encounter a large number of your target vessels upon reaching the destination system. Be prepared to face a large number of hostile vessels in a single trip for these missions!
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Ship Management Tips
When upgrading your ship, consider what type of ship you want to be flying. Do you want a speedy courier to complete rush jobs and avoid encounters? Do you want a heavily-armed warship, capable of tearing through hulls like butter? Do you want a lumbering hulk of a ship that can take any kind of beating? Do you want a ship that can haul entire planets with ease?
Each ship part has the following statistics:
- Firepower: guns, man! Guns! Higher firepower means more damage dealt to your enemy in combat.
- Armor: an essential part of every upgrade, a part's armor determines how much damage it can take before it is rendered inoperative. Bear in mind that losing certain critical systems in battle, such as engines, can make the remainder of a trip painfully slow.
- Speed: how much faster (or slower) a particular part makes your ship travel. Heavy-duty armor sections will generally decrease your ship's speed, so be sure to offset this with engine units.
- Fuel: the amount of fuel a ship upgrade carries. Each additional unit of fuel translates into an additional parsec of travel per jump.
- Cargo: denotes how much extra cargo you'll be able to carry in this particular part of your ship.
- Crew: the number of crewmen this ship part can carry. The more crew you carry, the greater crew bonuses you'll enjoy. This is a key statistic for any ship, but it comes at a cost.
Remember that when repairing a ship part, you'll pay a fraction of the total purchase price of that part. Thus, repairs to your main hull are extremely expensive, while repairs to various hull upgrade sections are much cheaper. Fortunately, you won't sustain any damage to your main hull until all your upgrade sections are incapacitated.
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Crew Management Tips
Running a good crew is essential to your success as a captain. By default, any unfilled crew positions are occupied by Auto-Pirates, which don't provide any bonus to your ship.
Crewmen are paid a salary based on their relative skill levels. Multi-talented crewmen pull down far more money than moderately-talented crewmen, but provide you with better bonuses (if you can afford them.) The four statistics of a crewman are:
- Navigation: the ability to steer a boat effectively through the heavens and parallel park upon reaching your destination. The navigation skill influences total ship range, ship speed, and evasion in combat situations.
- Gunnery: the ability to shoot at other ships--and hit them. Gunnery improves the accuracy and damage of your weapons.
- Engineering: the ability to fix what's broke, and not break what doesn't need fixing. Engineering increases overall armor levels. In addition, a crew skilled in engineering will slowly repair your ship in transit and in combat--a vital asset in protracted battles.
- Marketing: the ability to make people feel good about paying too much for things they don't need. Marketing increases your selling price and decreases the cost of goods when trading, decreases the cost of repairs and upgrades, and increases your monetary compensation from missions.
When calculating bonuses in combat situations, the crewmen residing in the main hull provide bonuses for the main hull but
not any hull upgrade sections. Crewmen residing in the hull upgrades lend their bonuses to both the main hull and the hull upgrade in which they reside. While it may seem like a better idea to stick crewmen in hull upgrades, consider that you risk losing these crewmembers when those hull upgrades are damaged to the point of incapacitation; even if you don't lose them, you lose their bonuses until their section of the ship is repaired.
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