Chapter 2 of 11 · Verified for Beta Patch 2
Controls, camera and settings
Play in Chrome or Edge on a desktop, and spend two minutes on the camera, cursor and graphics settings before your first flight.
Citadel runs in a desktop web browser with nothing to install; a downloadable client is planned. A few settings make your first flights much smoother.
Browser and performance
Use Chrome or Edge; some players find Edge smoother. If you would rather avoid Chrome, the devs suggest Vivaldi over Firefox. Mobile loads, but it is not supported.
There is no hard minimum spec, and the game runs on modest machines with graphics turned down. In the faction-war maps, Cloud Wake and The Gallows, lower the render distance.
If a strong PC still gets low FPS, the browser may be running on the integrated GPU:
- In Windows, go to Settings > System > Display > Graphics.
- Set the browser to High performance.
- Restart the browser.
Stuck on "Deploying to the Citadel" or a black screen? The first load can take a while, depending on your device, your connection and your distance from the server, which is in the US.
- Refresh and give it time.
- Restart the PC if it persists.
- Switch to Chrome or Edge.
- Turn off any VPN. VPNs have caused sign-up and loading problems.
- If none of that works, press F12, right-click in the Console tab, save the log and post it in the bug channel.
Beta Patch 1 fixed several loading deadlocks. Beta Patch 2 sped up startup, and a hub that won't load now moves you to another instance of it within 30 seconds.
Warning
Keep the game tab in front. Since Beta Patch 2, a tab left in the background for more than a minute disconnects, so don't switch away in the middle of a breach.
Keys to learn first
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| P, or the button at the top of the screen | Opens settings |
| H or middle mouse | Unlocks and recenters the cursor |
| Tab | Locks a target, nearest your cursor first. Tab again within 0.5 s cycles to the next; Tab on your locked target unlocks it |
| Right click | Harpoons: once to connect, again to let go or retarget |
| Hold left click | Opens the ping wheel. On another player's ship it opens the radial menu with Request Trade |
| Q, while hovering a target or mineral fragment | Sends out [[Drone |
| R, while dragging a module | Rotates it while you are fitting |
Settings worth changing early:
- If the camera makes you dizzy, set it to not track ship rotation.
- The FPS and ping display is under Accessibility settings.
- UI scale is adjustable, and hotkeys can be rebound.
- Hold Z on an item tooltip to see each modifier's roll range next to its value.
Camera modes
Five camera modes frame your own ship. Press a mode's key again to go back to the normal camera, and rebind any of them in Controls settings.
| Key | Camera |
|---|---|
| B | Tracks the target you're hovering or have locked; selected objects also have a TRACK button |
| M | Orbits your ship |
| J | Side view |
| G | Low chase camera behind your direction of travel |
| N | Nose view you can look around from |
Aiming
Aiming is mostly automatic. Lock a target with Tab and your turrets track it on their own; your job is flying so they stay on it. When you lock with Tab, enemy players come first, then NPC ships, mines and boss mounts, then attack drones, though targets near your cursor always win.
Some weapons are aimed manually: missile launchers aim at your cursor. Shots can miss: you will see "miss" in the damage log.
Controllers
The game is controller compatible, and a PlayStation controller is confirmed to work. There is no in-game list of controller bindings yet, so expect some trial and error.