Getting Started
Ship Detection - FastTrek Docs
Set up ship detection so FastTrek can identify your ships and their status.
Arguably the most important part of FastTrek’s setup, Ship Detection matches up the position of your docks in the game so that FastTrek can correctly identify which ships you have available to use and what status they are currently in.
Ship detection may need to be checked whenever:
- You first set up FastTrek
- You unlock new ship docks in the game
Initial Detection
If you have never run Ship Detection before, the Setup Wizard will automatically open Ship Detection for you. Otherwise, you can open Ship Detection at any time from the main FastTrek window by clicking Ships/Docks on the ‘Start’ tab.
FastTrek will automatically work out what you have by looking at your screen. Your game will need to be on a screen where docks are visible to be able to do so.
If everything is fine and all ships show the status you expect, you can close the dialogue and start using FastTrek :)
If it hasn’t detected anything, try or manually select the elements that compose your dock.
If you make changes, pay attention to the ship status reading below each dock: ‘Unknown’ means that effectively you cannot use that dock, even if configured, because FastTrek doesn’t know what that ship is doing. It wouldn’t be able to make any accurate decisions for that ship.
Unlocking additional docks
Whenever you unlock another dock, come back to this screen and update it. This ensures that FastTrek knows what it is playing with and which ship tabs to show you.
How to run Auto-detect
Auto-detect can be used if, despite accurate selection, ship status is still wrong. Auto-detect will select each ship in turn and check where exactly it is shown on screen.
Ensure all ships are crewed (have at least a captain), then on the ship detection screen, use the Auto-detect Ships button to start the detection process.
FastTrek will now press the ship number keys (1, 2, 3, etc.) to select each dock in turn, noting which ships are present. This might take a couple of seconds per ship, please be patient.
For best results
Manually set your game to the System screen (Stock: F3 / Mod: H) before starting Ship Detection,
ideally ensuring that the bottom edge of the screen is nice and dark.
You are aiming for maximum contrast between the selected ship dock and the background.
So things to avoid:
- Flare from the station shield
- Bright elements such as stars, mining nodes, text
- Bright and flaring systems, such as Transogen, Icy Asteroid systems, singularities, etc.
Troubleshooting
Auto-detect fails to find any ships
If Ship Detection fails to find any ships at all, please check that the setup wizard passes.
It gets stuck in the ship management screen
Make sure that all your ships are crewed (have at least a captain assigned). Uncrewed ships will open the ship management screen, which Ship Detection cannot handle.
Some ships are not detected
Ensure that the game window remains visible even behind FastTrek and try running ship detection again. If you have enough space on your monitor or have a second monitor, try moving the game (or FastTrek) so that it is fully visible.
Ships show as ‘Unknown’ or incorrect status
Once auto-detect completes, it may take a few seconds for ship status to update on the Ships/Docks window. If ships are listed, but remain as ‘Unknown’ or with incorrect status, please restart FastTrek, then check back again. If status still doesn’t show correctly, please use the ‘Screenshot’ button to take a screenshot of the game and get in touch for further assistance, sending both the screenshot and FastTrek’s log file.
Side Chat & Resizing the Game Window
If you frequently use side chat in the game, this effectively reduces the width of the playable area, which in turn changes the positioning of the docks along the bottom of the screen.
To avoid having to re-run Ship Detection every time you open side chat, FastTrek automatically recalculates the dock positions when the game is resized or when side chat is opened or closed, so you should not need to re-run Ship Detection again unless you acquire a new dock.
This should work for most ship configurations, but if you encounter erratic behaviour or incorrect ship status recognition, unfortunately this option may not be suitable for your setup. You will then need to check Ship Detection every time you chang the game window width or open/close side chat.
You will also want to disable the option in FastTrek’s settings, which can be found under:
Settings > Advanced > Auto-adapt docks to game window width