Tips and FAQ’s

Don’t get blown up!

It is best to travel with at least one of your cargo bays full, if only with a canister of water. That way if you have to surrender to pirates, they will find at least something to steal and won’t resort to extorting you. Besides, when one of the pirate ships in a system has robbed you, he will probably have sent the message to the other pirates in the system that you are picked clean, and in all likelihood the others will leave you alone after that.

Special situations in a system, like war, a cold spell, or boredom, last a while. It may be worth your while to bring such a system the goods they require from neighboring systems, since you can sell them with great profit. The LEN (local electronic news, like the newspapers of old Earth) may give information on special situations on nearby systems and are usually worth the pittance it costs to purchase.

When you find two systems close to each other which require goods which the other one produces cheaply, you might find it tempting to keep traveling between them. However, since it will take a while before the stock of a system is replenished, this usually works only for a few short days. After that, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Be warned that when you become richer, you will attract stronger types of pirates. Also, when the police starts to consider you a real villain, they will send more and stronger ships after you.

Sometimes you get an offer to go on a special assignment for someone. You should remember, that if this assignment would be easy, the person who offers it to you would probably do it himself. So don’t be too eager to follow up on such an assignment, unless you are fairly sure that you can stand your ground when things get a bit troublesome.

Don’t be a hero. You only have one life. Fleeing is an option.

How do I get quests?

Sometimes on the System Information screen (the first screen that is shown when docking at a new system) in the lower right-hand corner there is a button marked “Special”. Tap on this button to access special features, like quests. Note that most quests have special requirements and you only see the button if you meet these requirements. Notably, most quests are not given to criminals (since they aren’t trustworthy). On the other hand there are also a few quests which only criminals can get.

How to damage the Scarab?

This is explained in the game, but some people miss this. The Scarab can only be damaged by Pulse lasers. On Beginner, Easy and Normal level, this will solve your problem. On Hard and Impossible level you may find that Pulse lasers are a bit too weak to best the Scarab. However, the game offers you a solution which I will leave for the player to discover.

How do I claim a moon?

The moon is a quest. You get it just like the other quests. The previous answer explains how. Incidentally, there are four systems in the galaxy that sell a moon. You need to be worth at least 400,000 credits to get the offer, though. The moon itself costs half-a-million credits. When you have bought a moon, you have to travel to the Utopia system to claim it, by tapping the Special button when docked there.

Where can I buy a moon, sell tribbles or find an exterminator? Sorry, we can’t tell you. This is decided randomly at the start of the game. However, four systems sell a moon (if your net worth is at least 400,000 credits) and three systems buy tribbles (if you have them on board) and three systems offer exterminator services. So if you just coast from system to system you are bound to encounter one of them eventually. LEN (aka newspapers) may give information on where to find a moon seller, tribble buyer or exterminator.

Where is professor Digby?

He should be on some Hi-Tech system, but it’s determined randomly which system. If you can’t find him, just surrender to the aliens, and they will take the artifact from you without harming you any further.

How do I get rid of tribbles?

The best way to get rid of them is to find a place to sell them. Three solar systems in the galaxy enable you to do that, and they can bring great profits. You can also get rid of them by selling or destroying your ship, but that’ll cost you. It’s up to you to think of a way to reduce those costs considerably.

How do I get rid of fleas?

The only way to get rid of them is to find an exterminator. Three solar systems in the galaxy offer that service.

How do I buy weapons for my ship? How do I get to the bank?

The Commanders PAD (Personal Activity Display) This allows access to all Hyper WARP’s functions, including buying and selling of equipment, the galactic chart and the bank.

What does the scoring percentage mean?

It’s an indication of how well you played the game. It is tuned so that when you win the game by claiming a moon in average time with an average amount of money on Normal difficulty level, you score 100%. If you play on Beginner or Easy level, you will probably never reach 100%. If you play on Hard or Impossible and win the game, you will probably score a lot higher than 100%.

This game is too hard!

That’s why there is a difficulty level which you can set from the New Commander screen. “Beginner” level is definitely easy, indeed, it’s too easy and it’s only meant to get a feeling for the game without dying every few days. “Easy” level is a bit challenging for new players, but after a game on this level you’ll probably want to switch to “Normal”. “Normal” is the way the game was originally implemented, before the difficulty levels were added.

I can’t make any money!

The best way to make money is to use the special events which sometimes occur in solar systems. For instance, when there is a drought people pay a lot for water, when they lack workers they pay huge prices for machinery and robots, and when it’s very cold, they crave furs. The User’s Guide gives the specifics on all the trade goods in this respect.

How do I get rid of crook/criminal/villain/psycho rating?

Being a villain or psycho can be tough. The police will send strong ships after you. But you deserved it: you attacked police ships or innocent traders. And not just one, a whole lot of them. Your police record will slowly revert back to clean over time. However, if you are a psycho this can take something like three game months (and a lot longer on Hard or Impossible level). So what can you do? Apart from stopping attacking police ships and traders (every attack will hurt your record), your best bet is to go hunt pirates. Every pirate you kill will help your record. If you are lucky, you might encounter a hacker who is willing to reset your record to clean for a price. And if all else fails, surrender to the police and you will be punished, after which you can resume your life as an honest trader. Psycho’s don’t have that last option, though.

Wow, this game needs a lot of interaction!

Hyper WARP is a complex game and consequently has many different screens, which leads to many screen changes and therefore a lot of interaction on the player’s part. Check under “Individual Pilot (Game) Settings” as there are numerous automation features to reduce the amount of interation needed.

Developed, published and supported by: MeachWare

Version: 1.0
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