How to avoid raids in Rimworld

Select a colonist and right-click on the comms console; there should only be one option, "open communications". Select it. They will walk over to the console and start fiddling with it, at which point a window will pop up asking which ship to open communication with. If there are no ships in range, they'll still try to use the console but that window will instead say "there is no-one in range to communicate with".

If the "open communications" option doesn't appear or the colonist refuses to use the comms console, check:

• That the console has power.
• That the colonist can reach it; some pieces of furniture, like potted plants, block pathing.
• That the colonist is capable of social interaction. (To check, select the colonist, click "Character" in the lower left, and look at the "Incapable Of" section to see if it includes the word "social".)

If all of these requirements are met and you still can't communicate, you've probably hit a bug; Rimworld, being pre-alpha, has these in abundance.

Build all of things in the ship tab, but make sure that they are all directly adjacent to each other. Also, the cryptosleep chamber has to be connected to the structural beam. Once built, select some colonists and make them go into the cryptosleep chambers, then press on the ship computer core and press launch. The game will warn you if you're missing a component.