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GETTING STARTED / VISUAL FIELD GUIDE

Your first session: supplies before space

Start in your hangar or hab, find food and water, learn to use them and check your suit before departure.

Start hereSolo or a friend15 min read
Your available starter ship
01
STEP 1 OF 11

Start from where you actually appear

Your first goal is to prepare yourself and reach a ship with supplies. Leave the first flight for the next lesson.

If you skip the new-player tutorial, RSI currently describes a start in your personal hangar beside an ASOP ship terminal. Stay on foot: use the hangar elevator to reach the spaceport and its public concourse before looking for supplies. A tutorial or returning session can put you somewhere else, including a hab. Follow the branch that matches what you can see.

  1. 1

    If you start beside your hangar terminal

    Separate controls: F

    Find the pedestrian elevator, interact with its panel and select the spaceport or lobby destination. You can retrieve the ship after shopping; do not start by flying an unfamiliar ship out just to find a shop.

    What you should see

    You reach the public spaceport area with shops, signs and a way back to your hangar.

    That did not happen

    A freight elevator moves stored items. Use the passenger elevator with location buttons to leave the hangar on foot. If you reach the wrong floor, use the same panel to return.

    RSI Getting Started in the Verse, updated 24 July 2026
  2. 2

    Get out of bed if you are in a hab

    Separate controls: Y

    Tap Y, then use W, A, S and D to move. Look for the door panel.

    What you should see

    You are standing and can walk around the room.

    That did not happen

    If a tutorial is active, follow its current prompt. If the key differs, use the visible exit interaction or inspect your binding.

    RSI Getting Started in the Verse, updated 24 July 2026
  3. 3

    Open a door or use an elevator

    Separate controls: F

    Face the panel, move close enough to see its prompt and press F. Hold F for available interaction choices, then select the labelled destination.

    What you should see

    The door opens or the elevator travels to the selected floor.

    That did not happen

    Read the destination before selecting it. A panel out of reach can highlight without accepting the interaction.

    RSI Getting Started in the Verse, updated 24 July 2026
  • I know my city or station name.
  • I can open a door and recognize the elevator controls.
Read the complete guide as text

The same published instructions in one readable view. Use the steps above for controls and practice panels.

Start from where you actually appear

Your first goal is to prepare yourself and reach a ship with supplies. Leave the first flight for the next lesson.

If you skip the new-player tutorial, RSI currently describes a start in your personal hangar beside an ASOP ship terminal. Stay on foot: use the hangar elevator to reach the spaceport and its public concourse before looking for supplies. A tutorial or returning session can put you somewhere else, including a hab. Follow the branch that matches what you can see.

If you start beside your hangar terminal

Separate controls: F

Find the pedestrian elevator, interact with its panel and select the spaceport or lobby destination. You can retrieve the ship after shopping; do not start by flying an unfamiliar ship out just to find a shop.

Expected result: You reach the public spaceport area with shops, signs and a way back to your hangar.

If it did not work: A freight elevator moves stored items. Use the passenger elevator with location buttons to leave the hangar on foot. If you reach the wrong floor, use the same panel to return.

Get out of bed if you are in a hab

Separate controls: Y

Tap Y, then use W, A, S and D to move. Look for the door panel.

Expected result: You are standing and can walk around the room.

If it did not work: If a tutorial is active, follow its current prompt. If the key differs, use the visible exit interaction or inspect your binding.

Open a door or use an elevator

Separate controls: F

Face the panel, move close enough to see its prompt and press F. Hold F for available interaction choices, then select the labelled destination.

Expected result: The door opens or the elevator travels to the selected floor.

If it did not work: Read the destination before selecting it. A panel out of reach can highlight without accepting the interaction.

  • I know my city or station name.
  • I can open a door and recognize the elevator controls.

Read hunger and thirst before leaving

Nutrition tracks hunger; Hydration tracks thirst. Both fall during play. If neglected they can cause damage and incapacitation. Buying food does not restore either meter until you consume it.

Check your personal condition

Separate controls: F1

Open mobiGlas and inspect your personal status for Nutrition and Hydration. The helmet HUD can also show these meters.

Expected result: You know whether you need food or water now.

If it did not work: Use the status screen if HUD indicators are hidden. Recheck during a long session rather than assuming the starting levels last indefinitely.

Nutrition
Your food reserve. Eating restores it.
Hydration
Your fluid reserve. Drinking restores it.
aUEC
The in-game currency used at these shops. The prices here are not real-world money.

Field note: Our first-session recommendation: top up when needed while you are safely indoors, and carry a small reserve. This is preparation, not a timed survival challenge.

Find a shop on your way to the ship

Look for a food counter, drinks stand or Kel-To shop in the city or spaceport. Use local signs and the map instead of walking into the hangar first and discovering you have no supplies.

New Babbage: Kel-To, Aspire Grand. Reported Vestal Water 4 aUEC and Citrus Beef Burrito 18 aUEC each. Reports: 2026-09-16; patch 4.10.1.

Area18: Cubby Blast for water; Kel-To at Riker Memorial Spaceport for the burrito. Reported Vestal Water 4 aUEC and Citrus Beef Burrito 18 aUEC each. Reports: Water: 2026-08-29; food: 2026-10-09; patch Water: 4.10.0; food: 4.10.2.

Lorville: Noodle Bar for water; Kel-To at Teasa Spaceport for the burrito. Reported Vestal Water 4 aUEC and Citrus Beef Burrito 18 aUEC each. Reports: 2026-09-12; patch Water: 4.10.1; food: 4.10.0.

Orison: Kel-To, Cloudview Center. Reported Vestal Water 4 aUEC and Citrus Beef Burrito 18 aUEC each. Reports: 2026-08-29; patch 4.10.0.

Field note: UEX reports were fetched 13 October 2026 and may lag your server. These are examples, not a requirement to cross town for one brand. Read the local product name and price.

Plan three stops, then follow the signs

Our starter route has three stops: a nearby food or drink seller, a Storage Access kiosk if the purchase went into local storage, and the ship terminal or your personal hangar. You do not need to tour the whole city.

For a city trip, remember the spaceport name shown on signs: Riker Memorial at Area18, Teasa at Lorville, and August Dunlow at Orison. In New Babbage follow the spaceport signs on local transit. The shop examples above identify destinations, not a verified turn-by-turn map.

Choose the shortest useful shopping trip

Look around the public concourse first. If a seller has a suitable drink and food item, use it. Only take city transit when the supplies you need are unavailable here.

Expected result: You know which seller to visit and where you will return afterward.

If it did not work: Do not follow a different city name from a video. Read your current location and the destination written on the station signs.

Check the transit destination before boarding

If you need transit, read the platform destination. At each stop read its name before leaving. On the return trip, look for your spaceport destination rather than assuming every vehicle goes there.

Expected result: You can describe your return route before leaving the spaceport or shop.

If it did not work: If you get off at the wrong stop, stay in the public station and read the departure board. Do not try to cross outside the city on foot to correct a transit mistake.

  • Seller chosen
  • Purchase destination understood
  • Return spaceport or hangar identified

Buy a little, then verify where it went

For a short practice outing, we suggest two drinks and two food items: enough to learn the process and keep a spare, without filling storage. At the example prices, 2 x 4 plus 2 x 18 is 44 aUEC. This excludes equipment and does not guarantee a particular number of hours.

Already full? Save the food for later. If an item has additional effects, read its description; a meal is not automatically a substitute for water.

Buy a displayed item

Separate controls: Hold F

Look at the bottle or food item, hold F and choose the displayed BUY option. Check its name and price before confirming.

Expected result: The purchase completes and you can locate the item in your hand or the stated destination.

If it did not work: If money did not change and no item appeared, check whether the purchase completed before clicking BUY again.

Or buy through a kiosk

Separate controls: F

Use the shop screen, select food or drinks, set quantity and inspect Choose Destination before confirming.

Expected result: The purchased quantity reaches the destination you selected.

If it did not work: Items sent to Local Inventory need collecting from a Storage Access kiosk. They do not automatically travel with your character.

Put supplies on your character

Local storage belongs to this location. Carried storage belongs to the gear you are taking. A bottle left in the city is no help after you depart.

Open storage and transfer your purchases

Separate controls: F

At a Storage Access kiosk, open the inventory. Move your food and drinks from local storage into available carried storage, checking the destination pane.

Expected result: The items are visible in storage carried by your character.

If it did not work: If they do not fit, reduce the amount or equip compatible storage. Do not assume every backpack fits every torso.

Check what you really carry

Separate controls: I

Away from the kiosk, open your personal inventory and locate your supplies again.

Expected result: You can see the items without relying on the city storage pane.

If it did not work: If they are missing, return to the kiosk and check the original purchase destination.

Field note: Use equipment you already own for this exercise. A costly full armor set, rifle or backpack is not required just to learn shopping and consumption.

Remove your helmet only where you can breathe

Eating and drinking require removing your helmet. Practise inside a breathable hab, shop or station. An open hangar, exterior pad or unpressurized ship is not a suitable place to guess whether the air is safe.

Put the helmet safely into storage

Separate controls: I

In the inventory, move the equipped helmet into available storage. Check that the helmet slot is empty and the helmet still exists in the destination.

Expected result: Your character is no longer wearing the helmet, and you know where it is.

If it did not work: If storage has no room, make space or use a nearby storage kiosk. Do not discard your helmet to free your hands.

Consume it and watch the meter change

Hold the food or drink in your hand first. Merely seeing it in the backpack does not consume it. Our current input reference uses LMB for the consume action.

Put one item in your hand

Separate controls: I

Select the food or drink in your inventory and use its equip or carry option, or drag it into the hand position. Close inventory.

Expected result: You can actually see the bottle or food being held.

If it did not work: If another item occupies the hand, stow it first. If the item remains in storage, do not assume it was equipped.

Eat or drink

Separate controls: LMB

Consume

With the helmet removed and the item held, use LMB. Holding LMB continues drinking; release when you want to stop.

Expected result: A consumption animation plays and the appropriate Nutrition or Hydration value increases.

If it did not work: If nothing happens, confirm the helmet is fully unequipped and the item is held. You can also inspect its interaction menu for Eat or Drink. Do not repeatedly buy more to solve an equip problem.

Confirm the result

Separate controls: F1

Recheck your personal status after consuming. Stow any usable remainder and dispose of the empty container appropriately.

Expected result: The meter changed, rather than only an item disappearing.

If it did not work: If the animation completes but the value does not change, note the item and patch for a bug report. A full meter may not show further improvement.

Put the helmet back and check your reserve

An undersuit is the base for normal armor and helmet equipment. The inventory can refuse those items when the undersuit is absent. Clothing and armor have different equip requirements.

Re-equip your helmet

Separate controls: I

Locate the helmet you stored. Use Equip, double-click it, or place it in its equipment slot. Inspect your character and the helmet slot.

Expected result: The helmet is equipped again before any move into vacuum.

If it did not work: If it will not equip, check the undersuit and compatible equipment. Do not leave the breathable area until the gear is correctly fitted.

Count your carried supplies

Check the food and drinks remaining on your character. Buy a replacement if you used the last one during practice.

Expected result: You have a usable reserve accessible during the outing.

If it did not work: Increase supplies for a longer planned session only after confirming capacity. Two items are a practice recommendation, not a universal expedition loadout.

  • Nutrition and Hydration checked
  • Helmet visibly equipped
  • Supplies in carried storage
  • I can repeat the consume process

Now go to the spaceport and retrieve your ship

Follow city signs or transit to the spaceport. If you already started there, stay inside until your preparation is done. Use the vehicle terminal to retrieve your available ship, then take the elevator to the assigned hangar.

Read the retrieval result

Separate controls: F

Open the ASOP terminal, select your ship and use the offered delivery or retrieval action. Wait for its result and note the assigned hangar.

Expected result: The terminal identifies where your ship is available.

If it did not work: A claim or delivery timer is not an instant retrieval. Read the state instead of pressing unrelated buttons.

Enter the assigned hangar

Separate controls: F

At the hangar elevator panel, select the hangar named by the terminal. Find the ship entrance and use its interaction prompt.

Expected result: You have reached your retrieved ship with your supplies.

If it did not work: If this is not the assigned hangar, return to the terminal and check the assignment again.

Field note: Continue with First Flight for cockpit setup, clearance, takeoff and a safe return. Avoid accepting a time-limited mission while still learning those steps.

Fix the specific missing step

This guide is a source-reviewed teaching draft, not a claim that SC Nomads tested every starting city on this build. A useful peer correction includes location, exact item, patch and the visible failure.

I bought supplies but cannot find them: Check the purchase destination, then the local Storage Access kiosk. A city purchase can still be in local storage.

Food is in my inventory but I cannot eat: Move it into your hand and fully remove the helmet while indoors. Then use the consumption control or item interaction.

My helmet disappeared after removing it: Check the destination inventory and filters before leaving. Confirm an equipped helmet rather than trusting a shortcut animation.

This shop does not have the listed product or price: Use another displayed food or drink and read its label. The community shop report is dated, and stock can change.

Version history

Sources & guide information

Starting flow checked 14 Oct 2026; controls and dated shop examples checked 13 Oct 2026. Reference information, not a claim of current-patch playtesting.

RSI Getting Started in the Verse, updated 24 July 2026RSI Shopping in the VerseRSI Equipping Your Character, updated 10 June 2026Star Citizen Wiki: firsthand Alpha 4.8 survival survey, 1 June 2026Extracted CIG bindings: 4.9 LIVE data checked against 4.10 PTUUEX community water prices, fetched 13 October 2026UEX community Citrus Beef Burrito prices, fetched 13 October 2026RSI Ships and Vehicles: retrievalRSI Locations in Star Citizen, updated 27 July 2026; checked 14 October 2026