How do I hire new crew members?

Some shops offer crew members, and some do not. You'll have to visit another shop if you wish to purchase crew.

You can also get crew from certain events, like encountering a slaver ship or finding a lone survivor of a failed colony. These events aren't guaranteed to give you a crew member, but they're still frequent enough that you'll end up with a good number if you keep your eye out for them.

Some shops have equipment and some have crew. You will need to visit another shop.

The most reliable way of obtaining a large crew is to defeat hostile ships by killing all the crew (i.e. leaving the hull intact) whenever possible. This gives you lots of chances to pick up additional crew members, and also yields more scrap, weapons, and ammo, enabling you to purchase more crew when you come across them for hire at a station.

The most effective way of doing this is to teleport your crew onto hostile ships and engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat, so invest in a teleporter at the earliest opportunity.

There are also a few things that give you access to blue options in certain situations, occasionally increasing your chances of obtaining more crew:

• Sensors 2
• Teleporter 2
• Med bay 2
• Have a slug crew member

Those are the ones I know of - there might be others.