You may move the character on the screen with arrow keys or the numeric keypad. To halt your character's steps with the keypad, press number 5, or press the last used direction key again. Do not hold the direction key.
Game speed control
At times it may be useful to slow down the speed of the game animation in order to negotiate a tricky section, or observe something more carefully. In Space Quest 1 EGA, speed is controlled by selecting a choice from the Speed menu, using the mouse or arrow keys.
Short cuts
[F1]
Help
[F2]
Toggle sound on/off
[F3], [Spacebar]
Repeat previous command
[F5]
Save game
[F7]
Restore saved game
[F9]
Restart game from beginning
[Tab]
Inventory
[ESC]
Show menu bar, Pause game
[Ctrl-C]
Cancel typed command line
[Ctrl-I]
Inventory
[Ctrl-J]
Callibrate joystick
[Ctrl-Q]
Quit game
Interacting
You can generally interact with the game by typing simple commands consisting of as little as a noun and a verb. For instance, the command get into the escape pod can be shortened to get in pod. Unless otherwise instructed, follow all commands with ENTER. Space Quest 1 EGA will understand many common verbs, such as look, get, read, load, pry, climb, push, play, tell, use, ask, give, take and so on. You can repeat a command by pressing [F3].
And finally...
It can be handy to take notes as you discover clues and information. It may also be useful to draw a map. Keep an eye on the clock and remember which events happened at what time. Make sure to look everywhere and pick up everything, and go back to places you have previously visited as things change over time. And finally: SAVE YOUR GAME OFTEN.