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Professions
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When you start a game, your first command decision is a choice of profession. In the world of Flatspace, the profession you choose determines the ship and equipment you will begin with. Note however that you, as captain, are free to play the game in any way you want to. You are not tied to any particular path or job. As you experience life in Flatspace, you can upgrade your ship or equipment whenever you want to, and can afford to do so.
Set the profession from the Character Selection screen.
Below the profession, you can also choose between Death Means Death or Undead. If you select Death Means Death, any save games for that character will be deleted when the game is over so the game is more difficult. If you choose Undead, you can reload old games even after your character has died. Note that the game can only be completed if you select Death Means Death, the galactic hyperdrive components are not present in Undead mode. Also you can only enter the graveyard, the hall of remembrance for fallen heroes, if Death Means Death.
A brief guide to the professions now follows.
Trader
As a trader your primary task is to buy cargo from one space station and sell at another. A trading scanner is provided to every trader. Trading ships are generally large in capacity but weak in combat roles, however some initial stock and a reliable means of making a profit balances out any of the weaknesses.
Mercenary
A mercenary is ideally suited to missions or detective work. Mercenaries start with enough money to start customising the ship right away, as well as a tracking scanner to allow mission targets or wanted criminals to be tracked on the map. Mercenaries make excellent taxi or delivery drivers.
Bounty Hunter
The bounty hunter is a desirable but difficult profession. A bounty hunter can instantly make money by being able to scan and identify criminals, and then destroy them to claim any reward. Bounty hunters start with a ship large enough to trade with and agile enough for combat. No radar is provided however, making it difficult to locate other ships, and the process of seeking and attacking pirate ships is inherantly dangerous.
Pirate
Pirates start in a well armed agile attack craft. The best hope for instant reward is to attack ships to try and locate criminals without the benefit of a scanner to tell the innocent from the guilty. This strategy is dangerous, and will probably incur the wrath of the police, but compared to the bounty hunter a pirate has superior weapons, a radar and better craft speed and agility.
Police Officer
Like bounty hunters the police start with a scanner capable of identifying criminals, but this time much more equipment is provided. The police often start with a stun weapon and a passenger scoop, allowing live capture of the people inside the spinning yellow and black lifepods. The police can also request back up using the radio. In the game, buy a police vessel to join the force.
Scavenger
Scavengers start with a spacious ship and a cargo scoop, and they can make an instant profit by scooping small asteroids and selling the mineral cargo. Scavengers can also scoop cargo from the pods released by trading ships, and the start vessel is ideal for starting an alternative career in trading.
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