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FAQ
Common questions about Terminal Velocity.
Terminal Velocity is a feature-complete multiplayer space trading and combat game inspired by Escape Velocity. It's played entirely through SSH in your terminal using a beautiful text-based UI.
Any platform with an SSH client! Linux, macOS, Windows (via WSL or PuTTY), even mobile devices with SSH apps.
Yes! Terminal Velocity is open source under the MIT License. You can play on public servers for free or host your own server.
Yes! Terminal Velocity features full multiplayer support including chat, player factions, territory control, player trading, PvP combat, and dynamic server events.
Phases 0-7 are complete (version 0.7.0). The game is feature-complete for core gameplay with 29+ interconnected systems. Current focus is Phase 8: Integration testing and balance tuning.
Connect to a Terminal Velocity server via SSH:
ssh -p 2222 username@server-addressSee Getting Started for full instructions.
Just an SSH client (pre-installed on Linux/macOS, PuTTY for Windows). No other dependencies needed to play!
Connect to a server and select "Register New Account" from the welcome screen. You'll be guided through the registration process.
Follow the interactive tutorial! It teaches you all the basics. Then try your first trade: buy cheap goods, travel to a high-tech system, and sell for profit.
- 5 minutes: Basic navigation and first trade
- 30 minutes: Core mechanics (trading, combat, missions)
- 2 hours: Intermediate gameplay (ship upgrades, quests)
- 5+ hours: Advanced features (factions, events, PvP)
Trading is the primary method:
- Buy commodities at low prices
- Travel to systems where they sell for more
- Sell for profit
- Repeat with bigger cargo holds!
Also: Complete missions, win combat encounters, participate in events.
- Save up credits (see Trading Guide)
- Visit a Shipyard at any planet with shipyard service
- Select "Buy Ship"
- Trade in your old ship for 70% value
- Pay the difference
Turn-based tactical combat:
- You and enemy take turns
- Select weapon to use
- Attack resolves based on range, accuracy, weapon type
- Position matters (use tactical radar)
- Victory earns credits, loot, and reputation
See Combat Guide for detailed tactics.
- Missions: Short, repeatable objectives (delivery, combat, bounty, trading)
- Quests: Longer storylines with branching narratives and major rewards
Both are important for progression!
- NPC Factions: 6 governments controlling territory (reputation system)
- Player Factions: Player-created guilds with shared treasury, territory, and coordinated gameplay
See Multiplayer Guide for details.
- Language: Go 1.23+
- Database: PostgreSQL with pgx
- UI: BubbleTea + Lipgloss (terminal UI framework)
- Network: SSH for secure multiplayer
- Deployment: Docker support
Yes! See Server Administration for setup instructions. Requires:
- Go 1.23+
- PostgreSQL 14+
- SSH port forwarding
To play:
- SSH client
- Terminal (minimum 80x24)
- Stable internet connection
To host:
- 1 CPU core minimum
- 512 MB RAM minimum (1GB+ recommended)
- PostgreSQL database
- Open port (default 2222)
Yes! Use an SSH client app like:
- iOS: Termius, Prompt
- Android: JuiceSSH, Termux
Note: Small screens may be challenging for complex UIs.
- Auto-save: Every 30 seconds
- Server-authoritative: Saves stored on server
- No client saves: Prevents cheating
- Graceful disconnect: Final save on exit
You can disconnect and reconnect anytime without losing progress!
Start with basic food trading:
- Buy Food/Water at agricultural worlds (20 units = 1,000 cr)
- Jump to high-tech industrial system (500 cr fuel)
- Sell for 2,000 cr
- Profit: 500 cr (50% ROI)
Repeat 3-5 times, then upgrade to Courier (40 cargo).
See Trading Guide for detailed strategies.
Prices are dynamic based on:
- Tech Level: High-tech planets pay more for low-tech goods
- Supply: Low stock = higher prices
- Demand: High demand = higher prices
- Events: Random economic events affect markets
Depends on route! Generally:
- Highest margin: Contraband (80-150% ROI, high risk)
- Best balance: Electronics, Luxury Goods (50-100% ROI, low risk)
- Most reliable: Food, Medical (30-50% ROI, very low risk)
Pros: Very high profits (80-150% ROI) Cons: Illegal in many systems, reputation impact, confiscation risk (future)
Only recommended for experienced traders with armed ships.
- Start easy: Accept Easy difficulty missions
- Upgrade weapons: Visit Outfitter before fights
- Learn tactics: Use range to your advantage
- Practice: Combat simulator (future feature)
- Study: Read Combat Guide
Depends on playstyle:
- Best trader: Bulk Freighter (200 cargo, affordable)
- Best fighter: Destroyer (600 hull, 300 shields)
- Best multi-role: Cruiser or Frigate
- Best overall: Battleship (but expensive!)
See Ship Guide for comparisons.
Start with trading to build capital, then:
- Trading focus: Bulk Freighter → Better trade routes
- Combat focus: Gunship → Destroyer → Combat missions
- Balanced: Frigate/Cruiser → Both trading and combat
- Hull repair: Available at planets with repair service
- Shield recharge: Automatic over time
- Fuel: Refuel at any planet with fuel service
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Global (
/global): Everyone on server -
System (
/system): Players in your current system -
Faction (
/faction): Your faction members only -
Direct (
/whisper [player]): Private messages
- Open Faction menu
- View Available Factions
- Request to join (requires invitation or public faction)
Or create your own faction!
Player factions can claim star systems:
- Costs credits to claim and maintain
- Generates passive income
- Provides strategic benefits
- Can be contested by other factions
Consensual by default:
- Challenge another player to duel
- They must accept
- Turn-based combat (same as PvE)
- Winner gets bounty, loser loses some cargo
Faction wars: Faction members can attack hostile faction members in contested territory.
Yes! Player trading features:
- Direct credit transfers
- Item/cargo exchange
- Escrow system (secure trades)
- Build trading relationships
Server-wide time-limited events:
- Trading competitions: Most profit wins
- Combat tournaments: PvP brackets
- Expeditions: Cooperative exploration
- Boss encounters: Epic multi-player fights
- Festivals: Bonus multipliers active
See Events Guide for details.
Track milestones and unlock rewards:
- First trade, first combat, ship upgrades
- Credits milestones, exploration achievements
- Quest completions, multiplayer achievements
- Rewards: Titles, badges, bonuses
Compete in 4 categories:
- Credits: Richest players
- Combat Rating: Best fighters
- Trade Volume: Top traders
- Exploration: Most systems visited
Updated in real-time!
Terminal Velocity is open-ended, but:
- Main quest: 10-20 hours
- All ship tiers: 20-40 hours
- Top-tier ships: 40-60 hours
- Endgame content: Ongoing (events, PvP, faction wars)
- Check port: Default is 2222 (not 22)
- Check firewall: Ensure port is open
- Server status: Is the server running?
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Command:
ssh -p 2222 username@server-address
No problem! Auto-save runs every 30 seconds. Just reconnect and you'll be back where you left off.
- Terminal size: Minimum 80x24 required
- Colors: Try changing color scheme in Settings
- SSH client: Some clients have rendering issues (try another)
This shouldn't happen (server-authoritative saves). If it does:
- Check you're on the correct server
- Check you're logged into the correct account
- Report bug on GitHub
- Connection: SSH requires stable internet
- Server load: High player count may cause lag
- Client: Terminal rendering can be CPU-intensive
See Troubleshooting for more solutions.
Many ways:
- 🐛 Report bugs on GitHub Issues
- 💡 Suggest features
- 📝 Improve documentation
- 🎨 Create content (quests, events, ships)
- 💻 Submit code (see Development Setup)
- 🧪 Playtest and give feedback
GitHub: https://github.com/JoshuaAFerguson/terminal-velocity
Yes! Future features will include:
- Quest editor
- Event templates
- Ship/equipment definitions
- Modding support
For now, contribute via pull requests.
- ✅ Phases 0-7: Complete (all core features)
- 🎯 Phase 8: Integration testing and balance (current)
- 🎯 Phase 9+: Community content, modding, advanced features
See ROADMAP.md for details.
Designed for steady progression:
- First hour: Learn basics, 10K → 20K credits
- Hours 2-5: Courier ship, 50K-100K credits
- Hours 5-20: Hauler/Gunship, 300K-1M credits
- Hours 20+: Top-tier ships, millions of credits
See Economy Balance Doc.
5 difficulty levels with different behaviors:
- Easy: 75% accuracy, poor tactics
- Medium: 85% accuracy, basic tactics
- Hard: 95% accuracy, good tactics
- Expert: 105% accuracy, advanced tactics
- Ace: 115% accuracy, masterful tactics
Each level has unique weapon selection and retreat logic.
Solo: Yes, ignore multiplayer features Offline: No, requires server connection (SSH-based)
You can run a local server for single-player.
- Server-authoritative: All game logic on server
- SSH transport: Secure, encrypted connections
- PostgreSQL: Persistent data storage
- BubbleTea UI: Rendered server-side, transmitted via SSH
No client-side logic = no cheating!
- Frequency: Every 30 seconds
- Scope: Full player state (position, inventory, ship, credits, quests, etc.)
- Trigger: Timer-based background worker
- Final save: On graceful disconnect
- Recovery: Automatic on reconnect
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In-Game: Press
?for context-sensitive help - Discord/Chat: Ask in global chat
- GitHub: Discussions
- Issues: Bug Reports
- Wiki: Explore more guides on this wiki
Happy trading, Commander! o7
- Gameplay Guide
- Trading Guide
- Combat Guide
- Ship Guide
- Quests & Missions
- Multiplayer Guide
- Events Guide
Version: 0.7.0 Status: Feature Complete