The telescope and the sky
How to look through a telescope, join constellations, catch shooting stars and find worlds.
The telescope opens no window: it replaces the sky of the world. You stand at the telescope, turn your head — and move the crosshair in the middle of the screen across a real starry sky.
Hands-on
| What to do | How |
|---|---|
| Start observing | at night, under the open sky — right-click the telescope |
| Aim | turn your head: the crosshair is always in the middle of the screen |
| Zoom | mouse wheel |
| Pick a star | aim at it and left-click |
| Draw a constellation line | with a star picked, aim at the next one and click: the selection moves to the second star, so a figure can be drawn in one go |
| Clear the selection | right-click |
| Look at the Moon or a planet | aim at it and hold the left button until the image is sharp |
| Catch a shooting star | aim at it and left-click before it burns out (a constellation star right under the crosshair comes first: the click picks it) |
| Ask for a hint | the hint key, when the telescope offers one |
| Finish | sneak (Shift) |
Constellations
The figures are real, and you cannot guess them all: the Big Dipper takes seven lines, not six — the bowl is closed. A finished constellation flares up, its stars lighting one after another; the journal records it, and new stages open after it.
Stardust and hints
When you are stuck — staring at a constellation without new lines for a long time or making two mistakes in a row — the telescope offers a hint: a plate with a key and a price. A hint reveals one line, and you draw it yourself. You pay in stardust; stardust comes from shooting stars caught in the crosshair and from discoveries in the sky. In creative mode hints are free.
Worlds in the sky
The Moon, the planets and distant bodies are not visible to every telescope: the refractor, reflector, astrograph and graviscope each see further. The journal records a body you have found, and then you can fly to it. Where to look for each body is hinted by the journal itself — the wiki does not give these answers away.
The sky is visible through glass, while mountains, houses and mobs block it — just like the real one. With a shader pack the telescope sky is drawn over the frame and still works.
What next
- A world you have found can be visited: “Rockets and flight” — fuel, the launch pad and the first flight.
- “Spectral laboratory” — the spectrograph on a telescope and recipes from identified substances.
- “Radio telescope” — the same sky, in radio waves.
- The instruments of the other two roads are the “Riftscope” and the “Magmascope”.