- ostranauts hire crew starts with improving a candidate’s relationship status.
- Check skills through conversation and the character information panel before committing.
- Negotiate contracts by adjusting salary, sign-on bonus, and death pay.
- Set the roster immediately so crew members work, rest, and repair the right systems.
- Use zones carefully because restrictions can trap crew members or block essential tasks.
ostranauts hire crew: Finding the Right Candidate
Hiring crew in Ostranauts is a relationship-driven process rather than a simple recruitment menu. Potential employees may need to become at least an acquaintance before they will seriously negotiate employment. A hostile or unfamiliar character can reject the conversation before contract options become available.
Start by examining each candidate’s visible information. Age, role, equipment, condition, known skills, and hidden-skill indicators all help determine whether the character is worth your time. A bartender with several hidden skills may still be useful, but you should avoid spending money on a poor fit when another candidate offers stronger ship-related abilities.
Video Highlights:
- How to open the employment conversation with a potential crew member.
- Where to review contract requirements and available negotiation options.
- How to inspect skills after hiring.
- Why direct character selection is safer than rapidly switching between crew members.
- How to send a recruited character back to the ship.
| Candidate Check | What to Review | Hiring Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship | Acquaintance, friend, or better | High |
| Known skills | Mechanical engineering, spaceship, zero-G operations, masonry | High |
| Hidden skills | Unknown skill markers and later conversation reveals | Medium |
| Equipment | Inventory and item condition | Medium |
| Physical condition | Current status before employment | High |
| Role | Current occupation and likely utility | Low to medium |
The most valuable candidates are usually those who can support ship maintenance, repairs, construction, or specialized operations. Mechanical engineering and spaceship-related skills are particularly useful when your crew must keep a damaged vessel functional. Zero-G operations can also be valuable for work outside normal floor areas.
Maintenance Specialist
- Prioritize mechanical engineering
- Check spaceship-related skills
- Assign repair and conduit work
Construction Helper
- Look for masonry or building ability
- Use roster permissions for construction
- Keep repair priorities clearly defined
Flexible Generalist
- Several hidden skills
- Useful when the roster is small
- Inspect performance before expanding duties
Build the relationship before pushing for the final contract. A more favorable relationship can make salary and death-pay negotiations easier.
How to Negotiate a Crew Contract
Once a character agrees to negotiate employment, the conversation expands with advanced options. The contract panel shows the candidate’s requirements, which may include a daily salary, sign-on bonus, and death pay. These costs should be considered together rather than evaluated separately.
Salary and death pay can become immediate financial commitments once the crew member joins. A sign-on bonus is also paid at recruitment and is not recovered if you later decide to fire that employee. This makes the first offer important, especially during the early game when cash reserves are limited.
| Contract Term | Meaning | Negotiation Advice |
|---|---|---|
| Daily salary | Ongoing pay for keeping the employee | Reduce only when the candidate accepts the revised offer |
| Sign-on bonus | Up-front recruitment payment | Avoid paying more than necessary |
| Death pay | Financial obligation tied to crew loss | Lower it after improving the relationship |
| Advanced options | Expanded employment and contract controls | Review before confirming the hire |
The relationship state affects how flexible the candidate may be. Befriending someone can create room to reduce death pay or salary. You may also use an initial hire to improve the relationship, then negotiate a better arrangement later. However, that approach costs money and should only be used when the candidate has skills your ship genuinely needs.
Open the Employment Conversation
Select the candidate and begin the conversation. Continue until the character agrees to negotiate about employment. If the character is unfriendly or too unfamiliar, improve the relationship before trying again.
Review the Contract
Check the daily salary, sign-on bonus, and death pay. Treat the displayed values as the candidate’s current requirements, not fixed universal prices.
Adjust the Offer
Use the advanced contract options to increase or decrease the available terms. A lower death-pay request may be easier to secure after the candidate regards you as a friend.
Confirm Only After Checking Skills
Accept the offer when the employee’s abilities justify the financial commitment. Then inspect the character panel and conversation responses for newly revealed skills.
A practical negotiation sequence is to begin with the candidate’s skills, improve the relationship through conversation, and then return to the employment subject. If the employee accepts a revised offer, confirm the contract and immediately move to roster management.
A sign-on bonus is an up-front cost and is not refunded when the employee is fired. Do not use expensive trial hires unless the candidate’s skills justify the risk.
Crew Setup: Roster, Tasks, and Schedules
Recruitment is only the first half of the process. A crew member who joins without a properly configured roster may perform unwanted jobs, leave the ship, restore parts when you wanted repairs, or follow a schedule that leaves essential work unattended.
Open the roster and configure duties for every employee. Auto-tasking is useful because crew can handle available work without constant manual commands, but permissions should match your current priorities. For example, if the main objective is repairing walls and conduits, disable unrelated restore-parts duties so workers focus on the ship’s damaged systems.
| Roster Setting | Recommended Use | When to Disable |
|---|---|---|
| Repair work | Enable for maintenance-focused crew | When preserving parts or supplies |
| Restore parts | Enable for salvage and restoration tasks | When repairs have higher priority |
| Disembark airlocks | Enable for outside operations | When crew should remain aboard |
| Auto-task | Enable for routine ship work | When assigning precise manual orders |
| Free time | Add before sleep periods | When the schedule is too compressed |
Crew can share a bunk when their sleep periods are staggered. Build overlapping work schedules around each employee’s rest period, and leave free time before bedtime when possible. A schedule does not need to be identical for every character; it needs to prevent everyone from sleeping or stopping work at the same time.
Repair Roster
- Repair walls and conduits
- Reduce unrelated restore tasks
- Keep maintenance workers available
Construction Roster
- Permit building-related work
- Balance construction with repairs
- Review task priorities after damage
Support Roster
- Carry items and manage inventory
- Share bunk time efficiently
- Restrict dangerous areas when needed
Crew members can also serve as mobile storage. Their inventories allow you to move supplies around the ship without personally carrying every item. Use this advantage carefully, since an overloaded or poorly positioned crew member may be difficult to redirect during an emergency.
After hiring, select the new employee and confirm the roster, schedule, task permissions, and current location before assigning more work.
Zones and Movement Control
Zones are useful for controlling where hired crew members may travel. A restricted zone can keep employees away from sensitive areas or prevent them from leaving a designated section of the ship. The main character may still be able to pass through an area that regular crew cannot, so test restrictions from the employee’s perspective.
Use zones sparingly. A crew member blocked from a work area may remain trapped on one side of the ship, fail to reach a repair target, or become unable to access required equipment. Restrictions should support a clear operational goal rather than cover large sections without review.
| Zone Goal | Configuration Idea | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Keep crew aboard | Restrict access toward external routes | May block necessary outside work |
| Protect a work area | Limit regular crew access | Can prevent repairs or construction |
| Separate duties | Give only selected crew access | Requires careful employee testing |
| Remove a restriction | Lift or delete the zone | Restores normal movement |
Before finalizing a zone, select each affected crew member and check whether they can still reach their bunk, workstations, storage, and assigned repair areas. If a character repeatedly reports that they cannot get somewhere, inspect zones before changing the roster or issuing new orders.
Use a temporary restriction first. If the crew member cannot reach an essential destination, remove the zone instead of adding more overlapping rules.
The game’s zone behavior also means you should avoid assuming that one layout works for every employee. Different schedules, duties, and positions can expose movement problems at different times. Review the ship from the perspective of each hired character after making major layout changes.
Crew Management Checklist:
- Confirm the employee's useful skills after hiring
- Review salary, sign-on bonus, and death pay
- Configure roster permissions and auto-task settings
- Create staggered work and sleep schedules
- Test zones, bunk access, and repair routes
Troubleshooting Crew Problems
Crew management can become unreliable when characters are switched rapidly while occupying the same playing field. Selecting crew members directly from the character screen is safer than repeatedly using the crew-switch button. Scene transitions and character switching may produce missing characters, invisible units, or a ship that appears unavailable.
If the crew appears broken after switching, return everyone to the same playing field and use direct selection where possible. Avoid issuing several orders during a visual or scene transition. Once all characters are visible and responsive, send the appropriate crew member back to the ship and verify their location again.
| Problem | Likely Check | Practical Response |
|---|---|---|
| Crew cannot reach an area | Zone restriction or blocked route | Inspect zones and remove unnecessary limits |
| Employee ignores repair work | Roster permissions or task priority | Enable repairs and review restore-parts settings |
| Everyone sleeps together | Overlapping roster schedule | Stagger bunk and work periods |
| Character appears invisible | Scene switching issue | Select directly and return characters to one playing field |
| Employee is outside the ship | Airlock permission or manual order | Review disembark settings and issue a return command |
Crew members can be ordered to return to the ship directly. This is usually more efficient than manually guiding them across the map, especially when the employee is carrying supplies or has been sent to a distant work area.
When debugging, inspect one character at a time. Confirm their location, task, roster, zone access, inventory, and status. This isolates the cause faster than changing several systems simultaneously.
Check location first, then zones, roster permissions, schedule, and task priority. This order helps separate movement problems from assignment problems.
Q: How does ostranauts hire crew work?
Begin a conversation with a potential employee, improve the relationship if necessary, and select the employment subject once the character agrees to negotiate. Review the contract and confirm the hire only after checking useful skills.
Q: What should I look for when hiring crew?
Prioritize mechanical engineering, spaceship-related skills, zero-G operations, masonry, and other abilities that support your current ship needs. Also review equipment, condition, hidden-skill indicators, and the contract cost.
Q: Can I negotiate salary and death pay?
Yes. Advanced employment options can adjust salary, sign-on bonus, and death pay. Better relationships may make reduced terms easier to secure, but every candidate can respond differently.
Q: Why will my crew member not move?
Check whether a zone blocks the route, whether the employee can access the destination, and whether roster or task settings conflict with the order. Remove unnecessary restrictions and test the character directly.