The creative mode can be entered from the main menu by using the "Creative mode" button. You can then either create a new game or load an existing savegame.

In general, every savegame can be loaded and edited. A savegame doesn't contain any information whether its created or edited with the creative mode.

The process of creating or loading a game isn't very different from the standard procedure. One difference is that you can choose more world types than normal when creating a game.

Even in the creative mode, you are not able to manipulate world options of existing savegames, as this would change the structure of the world and cause incompatiblilites with the saved data.

From this point on, this guide explains the ingame creative menu. It's only visible when you created or loaded a game using the correct buttons from the main menu.

You can easily detect, whether you are in the creative mode, by looking for the rainbow-colored "Creative mode" button on the bottom of the screen. You can extend the creative menu by clicking on that button. By doing so, the creative menu becomes visible. You can hide it by clicking the "Close" button in the bottom left.

Important:
The creative mode enables you to pause and unpause the game loop separately from the default "pausing" of the game (the one using the hotkey "P"). Like it says it pauses the game loop from executing in its default tick rate. The game loop is paused when entering the creative mode so you can start working on the world before it advances on its own.

Each time you trigger an action, let's say a "change", in the world, the game loop is unpaused to execute exactly one tick. This can be you placing a building, saving the game, creating a spaceship or interacting with the world in any way.

Some elements in the creative menu are enabled or disabled, based on whether the game loop is paused or not. If they are disabled, a red overlay is displayed above them.

A few things like the drones transporting items between buildings can visually bug out if the game loop is paused while they're on their way. This is temporarily and they behave normally again after a short time.

Linked to the "Pause game loop" option is the "Pause bots" option on the general tab. When checked it disables the bots (if any are in the game) from being executed. It's also enabled from the beginning. By utilizing this option you can run the world while the bots remain idle. It also serves as a "safety lock" because the game loop is executed when you interact with the world.

The "General" tab contains elements to edit overall stats in the game.


It displays the total play time (in seconds) the game was played and allows you to reset it to 0.

It also allows you to edit the name of the required scenario to load this game. Use this option with caution, as it can make a savegame unable to load without a scenario of that name.

You can view the basic statistics of all active factions. You can also edit the amount of credits for each faction, while the game loop is paused.

The "Planets" tab shows a list of all planets and allows for manipulation of the planets stats.



As you can see in the list each planet has a name. Upon creation each planet gets a name which it will have when colonized. When a planet is owned by any faction, its name in the list is colored in the factions color.

First of there is a "Jump to planet" button to easily find the currently selected planet. "Selected" means clicked in the planets list.

As long as the game loop is paused you can change the orbital and self rotation of the planet. Yes, you can move multiple planets into each other. This can cause weird behavior of the spaceships and in some cases visual glitches.
We also can't rule out the possibility for crashes regarding the spaceship routing around those weird constructions, as we never accounted for planets being this close to eachother. So be warned.

You can also change the planets name and, as long as it is colonized and there are multiple factions in the game, its owner. Selecting another faction in the combo box triggers an owner-change instantly.

The "Spaceships" tab allows the inspection and manipulation of all spaceships in the game. Manipulation is only possible if the game loop is paused.



Once again, on the left there is a list. It shows all spaceships and indicates their owner faction by colorizing their name.

When their name is "Empty" it's most likely because their name is indeed empty. This has to do with the start spaceships having an empty name. To allow players an easier orientation at the start of the game, spaceships with empty names are shown as "<your_name>s ship". To check whether a spaceships name is actually empty, you can click it and check whether the "Name:" text field is indeed empty.

You can also change the owner of the spaceship or destroy it instantly.

The "Create spaceships" tab allows you to create spaceships with a mouse click.



On the left there are all spaceship types listed. This also includes spaceship types introduced by mods. To allow for a better distinction their type IDs are shown instead of the language keys.

Note: While you are in the "Create spaceships" tab you are creating a spaceships with every mouse click in the world. You can click somewhere in the space between the planets or somewhere on planets to create a spaceship instantly.

Before creation you can set a name for the new spaceships. Leaving the text field empty will cause the game to select a random name.

You can also set the owner faction, so you don't have to change their owner faction afterwards.

The "Notifications" tab allows you to inspect and remove notifications for all active faction.



On the left you can select the faction you want to see the stored notifications from.

Beneath that the "Clear all" button clears all notifications of the currently selected faction. You would want to do that for each faction once in order to clear all notifications of all factions.

The notifications list shows their individual titles. Clicking it will reveal their icon (not colored), title and describtion on the right. It also reveals the "Remove" button to remove individual notifications.

The "Dyson swarm" tab allows you to see and edit the number of dyson probes each faction owns.


It shows the total number or probes on the top right and a slider for each faction.

You can draw the slider to increase or decrease the individual amounts. As the total number or dyson probes is capped at 2000, you can't increase it if the maximum is reached.

You can edit item stacks in spaceships and colonies (meaning the inventory you see when clicking spaceports, warehouses and depots) to change the amount of contained items. In spaceships you also change the type of item of each slot.

To do this you have to hold one of the Control keys (Ctrl) and right-click on the item slot you want to edit. A popup will open, showing you the current item type and contained amount.

Note: This is only possible while the game loop is paused, as item stacks could change while you are in the popup.

To change the item amount just change the value in the spinner in the popup.

For spaceships you can change the item type by clicking on the item texture in the popup and select the new item type. To empty the item stack you simply set the amount to 0 and press "Apply".

While the whole diplomacy system also works in the creative mode, there is a more simple way to set the diplomacy state.

As you open up the diplomacy menu you first are shown the "overview" as shown in the next picture:



Just like in the picture you hover the relation you want to change. Once again, just like with the item stacks, you hold one of your "control" keys (Ctrl) and right-click it. A popup will open looking like this:



In there you can set the current diplomatic state (war, peace, trade or alliance) and the "opinion" value for these two factions. The diplomatic opinion is mainly utilized by bots to give them a sense on how much they "like" the other factions. For human players it can serve as an orientation.

Keep in mind that you are technically still controlling a faction while in creative mode. So if you colonize a planet its still owned by "your" faction at first. We recommend finishing a planet to you liking and then transferring it to the correct other faction via the "Planets" tab in the creative menu. You can also "take" a colonized planet from another faction to manipulate it and give it back afterwards.


As in every good creative mode there are no construction costs. You don't require the credits or items to build buildings or construct spaceships or rockets. Also they are not drawn if they are present.


In contrast to the default Planet S experience, you can enjoy a fully unlocked building menu! 🎉


To make it easier to colonize planets while in creative mode, the default spaceport building is inserted into the building menu. So you don't have to fly a spaceship to each planet (or spawn one) in order to colonize it via the spaceship.

Instead, you can find the default spaceport in the building menu. Its located here:
Open building menu --> "Common" --> "Public buildings" at the top --> Most left slot