Just adding a bit more detail to the second option in Betelgeuse's post above.
Another way is to add the switch to a shortcut.
Current for 1.8b2.
Open the Transcendence game folder. This is the folder which contains the files 'Transcendence.exe' and 'Transcendence.tdb'.
Right-click 'Transcendence.exe'. A popup will appear containing a number of options.
Find 'Create shortcut' and click on that.
This will cause an icon called "Shortcut to Transcendence.exe" to appear in the Transcendence folder.
Right-click on this newly created shortcut. The same popup window will appear. Find the 'Properties' option this time and click on that.
A different popup window will appear. Somewhere in it will be a line of code ending in
It is usually called 'Target', but it will be there somewhere.
You need to add a space and "/debug" (without the quotes) to the end of that line so it reads
You will get an error if you don't put a space in there, and make sure to use the right 'slash'.
Once you have entered that, then click 'Apply' or 'OK' or whichever button closes the popup, not 'Cancel' though.
The shortcut sometimes flickers for a second or two, this is normal.
Double-clicking on this shortcut will start a game in debug mode which gives access to the debug screen which is a very handy feature when modding.. You may like to change the name of the shortcut to "Debug start"or something similar.
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Now you have two options. You can start a normal game by double-clicking 'Transcendence.exe' or you can double-click the new 'debug' shortcut if you want to use the debug screen (you can also play a normal game via the debug shortcut as explained below).
Double-click the new debug shortcut. Once the game has loaded the intro screen will appear (the screen where you can select 'Load Game', 'New Game' or 'Quit').
In the top right corner of the screen there is a debug icon. You can click on this to change between a normal game 'Play' and a debug game 'Debug'. Of note is that all debug games are unregistered (so achievements and scores from a debug game don't count in high score lists/etc).
We can check this by selecting 'New Game'. In the next screen where we start a game, halfway down the right hand side of the screen you will see 'debug game'. If you are playing a normal non-debug game this will say 'registered game' (and if you select any mods it will change to 'unregistered game').
Go ahead and start a debug game. When you are in Eridani and can see the playership press the 'F9' key. A black window will appear on the right hand side of the screen.This is the debug console, also known as the debug screen.
Code can be typed in here to help with modding.
To exit the debug screen and return to playing the game press either 'F9' again or the 'Esc' key.
Enjoy.