Captain rank
Each quarter the player is evaluated in five different categories: mission objective, crew morale, ship improvements, resource production, and microbe research. Different actions contribute to leveling up these categories, which in turn increase the captain's rank based on the average of all five categories. As the player progresses in each of these categories, they obtain higher captain levels. The player's current rank can always be checked in the captain menu, but ranks are only calculated at the end of a quarter. The specific points needed to reach the next level are not visible to the player, in this view.
Experience
Each category has a cap of experience points, meaning any points earned beyond this limit in a single category do not carry over to other categories. Achieving a new captain rank requires accumulating 5,000 experience points, which can be earned through various activities across different categories, provided the category is not maxed out. The points awarded for different actions vary, with tasks like completing a mission yielding more points, while catching a single microbe gives fewer points, ensuring balanced progress across all categories.
Aside from the tasks listed below, players can select a yearly bonus at the end of the New Year's Eve party, providing 300 experience points to the chosen category. However, players cannot choose the mission objective category for this bonus.
Mission Objective
For mission objective, the bar increases every time the captain completes a main story quest, achieving progress toward their primary overall mission.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Complete a Primary Mission | 417 exp |
Crew Morale
Crew morale rises when the player interacts with crew members for the first time each day, gives gifts, or completes bulletin board quests for them. This essentially increases with any action that boosts friendship points, earning the trust of the crew by building meaningful relationships.
Friendship points scale based on the value of the gift given. Higher effort or value items result in more friendship points, thus earning more crew morale experience. If a player spends a significant amount of time crafting a unique item or gives away a valuable item, they will receive more friendship points than they would for a less valuable item. This system encourages players to invest in creating or acquiring high-quality gifts to maximize the crew morale experience. For example, giving a crew member a diamond, even if it is not their favorite item, will yield more friendship points than giving them scrap metal.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Earn a Friendship Point | 1.5 exp |
Ship Improvements
Ship improvements progress as the player fixes improves various areas of their ship or their own tools. The player will earn ship improvement experience when they upgrade their ship or house, restore objects using the restoration ray, or when the player upgrades their tools.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Restore objects using the restoration ray | 12.2 exp |
| Upgrade House | 305 exp |
| Upgrade Ship | 250 exp |
| Upgrade Tools | 62 exp |
Resource Production
Resource production grows as the captain creates items, harvests crops or Xeno products, and collects items produced by machines like recyclers or refiners. Placing machines or panels on the deck does not add experience to this category.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Craft a recipe from the kitchen or workbench | 5.8 exp |
| Produce a Crop | 2.9 exp |
| Produce from Xeno | 2.9 exp |
| Produce from Machine | 2.9 exp |
Microbe Research
Microbe research advances each time the player successfully catches a microbe using the microbe detector, thus monitoring the health of the ship's microbiome by capturing these items for research. The type of microbe nor the value of microbes matter for this category, it is solely based on the amount of microbes caught. The player needs to roughly catch 300 microbes to max out their microbe research experience, not including any bonuses the player may choose.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Catch a Microbe | 34 exp |
Ranks and Rewards
Achieving a new captain rank requires accumulating 5,000 total experience points, which can be earned through various activities across different categories, assuming the category is not already maxed out.
| Rank Number | Rank Name | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Trainee | |
| 1 | Novice |   |
| 2 | Rookie | |
| 3 | Junior |  |
| 4 | Skilled |  |
| 5 | Intermediate |  |
| 6 | Seasoned |  |
| 7 | Experienced |  |
| 8 | Lead |
|
| 9 | Senior |  |
| 10 | Captain |  |
Emails
As the player gains ranks, they will be sent emails from the Space Alliance Headquarters.
| Captain Rank 01 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
| |
| Captain Rank 02 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
| |
| Captain Rank 03 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
| |
| Captain Rank 04 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
  | |
| Captain Rank 05 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
| |
| Captain Rank 06 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
| |
| Captain Rank 07 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
| |
| Captain Rank 08 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
| |
| Captain Rank 09 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations on advancing your Captain Level. You're now on your way to becoming a full Captain. Enclosed is a small bonus as a token of our appreciation for all your hard work. | |
| |
| Captain Rank 10 | |
|---|---|
| From: Space Alliance Headquarters | Subject: Congratulations! |
| [PLAYER], Congratulations! You have officially graduated your captain's training program and are now an official captain in the Space Alliance fleet. Enclosed is your custom-made Captain's Hat. Welcome to the Captain's Club. | |
| |