Navigation and logistics

Rulebook index · Speed tables · Combat

Geography and orbital time

The current chart starts with 420 playable asteroids, in twelve permanent regions of 35 sites. Their unequal angular spans and independently sampled orbits form a broad, uneven disk in the 32–52 AU playable belt, with no repeated radial rows or angular spokes. The denser classical population sits around 40–49 AU, with smaller resonant concentrations near 39 and 48 AU and sparse inner and outer tails. The real scattered disk extends far beyond the playable chart; this is a scaled game sample, not a catalog or orbital forecast. Year-zero site centers are at least 1.25 AU apart. There are six beacons. Region identity stays with an asteroid as it orbits. Each rock on the 3D chart represents one selectable site; dust is scenery. Region focus helps navigate the continuous map. The Lobby can expand within the belt as needed; expansion adds sites without moving existing ones.

Every region has eleven medium mixed asteroids, twelve icy and twelve metallic asteroids. The two NPC capitals use mixed sites. The remaining mixed sites offer 108 possible human starts, so a full 100-player roster can be spread across regions with at most one founding clan of imbalance. Existing sector IDs and order fields still identify these asteroids.

Positions are deterministic Keplerian approximations. The denser low-inclination classical group and thinner, more tilted hot, resonant and scattered groups follow the broad populations described in NASA's Kuiper Belt overview; their proportions and outer extent are adjusted for a connected 100-player map. For semimajor axis a in AU, the period is a^1.5 years. Mean anomaly advances by 2π × year / a^1.5; the engine solves eccentric anomaly iteratively, then applies inclination and node. The planetary references are scenery with illustrative phases. This is a strategy transfer model, not a real spacecraft navigation solver.

The lane graph refreshes as the belt moves, using local nearest-neighbor links and joining components where the local hop range permits. Existing trips retain their paid leg geometry, costs and schedule when the graph refreshes. Ownership of a surrounding influence sphere does not control a lane or empty space.

Distance, speed and ETA

At each hop's departure year, let endpoint cylindrical radii be r1 and r2, vertical separation dy and the shortest signed angular difference da. The modeled distance is:

D = sqrt((da × (r1+r2)/2)^2 + (r2−r1)^2 + dy^2) AU.

It follows a belt arc, not a straight chord across the inner Solar System. Fleet speed is:

v = (ship base speed + propulsion level × 0.2) × fleetSpeed AU/year.

fleetSpeed is 1.5 AU/year per base speed unit: propulsion-0 scouts travel at 3 AU/year, other ships at 1.5 AU/year, and each propulsion level adds 0.3 AU/year. Convoys travel at 0.75 AU/year, independent of research. Each hop takes max(1, ceil(D / v)) years. Rounding happens per hop, not after adding the route's total distance. A tiny neighbor hop still consumes one year.

The route planner searches the lane network for earliest arrival at each requested destination, pricing each hop at its projected departure year. It can insert many intermediate habitats. Up to twelve explicitly requested waypoints are supported, in the order supplied by the player; the quote and queued move preserve that order. Origin, requested waypoints and final destination must be distinct, except a fleet's in-place stance change with no stops. Automatic routing can revisit sites across separate requested legs; it does not intentionally wait for a cheaper orbital alignment.

route_quote returns departure, final arrival, years, summed distance, costs, each leg, the current world tick and queue version. Always quote for the intended order tick. The quote checks route geometry and fleet ownership; it does not guarantee funds, current origin availability, final access, ship readiness or safety. Departure recomputes the route from the fleet's actual location. Each dispatched fleet or convoy retains its paid leg geometry, costs and schedule; a delayed next hop is checked against local range. Already committed hops do not accelerate mid-flight.

Military fleets may redirect during transit using redirect and route_quote with redirect: true. Execution samples the actual position and heading at the scheduled tick, reconnects to either current-leg endpoint or one of their neighbors, and then uses normal belt routing. A leg whose arrival tick has already been reached rejects the redirect. The new quote includes the entire remaining fuel and ETA. A visible braking segment adds one tick through 30°, two through 90°, or three above 90°, with a 20%, 60% or 100% surcharge on the newly quoted remaining journey. Previously spent fuel is never refunded. Further redirects preserve unfinished braking time; short turn chains cannot erase it. Failed orders change neither trajectory nor resources.

A newly observed military approach to any foreign inhabited colony permits contact no earlier than observation tick + 2. This applies to scouting, attack, ordinary passage, redirection and waypoint approaches. An approach observed at 50 cannot contact before 52, so an order at 51 can bring one-tick reinforcements into the battle. Exposure follows the current leg, independently of stance and treaties. A new colony owner receives a fresh opportunity. Notifications group contacts at the same site, identify current restrictions and update without duplicating a continuous approach.

Denied arrivals remain physically at the denied endpoint and begin a paid return when affordable and authorized. Otherwise they wait off port with finite supplies, without docking, combat or automatic resupply. Combat occurs only at sites and convoy waypoints; redirection adds no deep-space battle. Quotes may extend beyond the season, but competitive endings do not wait for late ships.

Fleet departure cost and stance

All current ship travel stays within the Kuiper belt. Ships melt asteroid ice and expel the water under pressure for thrust. Their utilitarian hulls carry pressure tanks and replaceable modules. A close-up vapor plume marks an executing recorded journey. Visual berths, surface clearance, hull size, nozzle count and plume animation do not modify the distance, speed, fuel or arrival calculations. Stationary ships have no propulsion trail. See Ships at different distances for symbols, close models and visibility.

The current rules track onboard propellant separately from crew provisions. Fleets burn fuel during travel and can refill to their role-specific tank capacity at a friendly, powered port. A route quote includes the expected refill and trip burn. A fleet without enough onboard fuel cannot depart; use refuel at an eligible port or arrange a physical rescue. Convoys pay their distance fuel and passenger provisions as part of the shipment quote. Exact capacities and rates appear in the numerical reference. An in-place stance change with no stops costs zero and creates no journey.

Before queueing a move, inspect every explicit waypoint in its displayed order. Each requested stop needs passage or an unowned site when ordered, even for scouts or attackers. A hold or scout stance change at the fleet's current site enters no new site and needs no passage, even at a foreign owned site. Switching to attack in place still checks protection and nonaggression. Automatic intermediate hops are flybys: they do not stop for combat, settlement, scouting or resupply. Foreign approaches to inhabited colonies are observable and use the response floor. At the final destination, attack protection/nonaggression and ordinary passage are rechecked. If a denied arrival cannot afford or is not authorized to return, it waits off port with finite supplies. There is no nonaggression benefit equivalent to passage—these are separate treaties.

The map's Build and cargo controls show eligibility reasons for the selected target before submission. Building requires a site you own and its listed construction prerequisites. For cargo, the departure selector defaults to an owned habitat other than the destination when one is available; a departure chosen explicitly stays selected. For support cargo, the target's ownership and consent limits are shown before queueing. A direct shipment to an unrelated human is unavailable; arrange an accepted trade instead, which launches its own convoys.

Flight plans in the command station

Ship-first and destination-first orders use the same flight plan, eligibility checks, quote, waypoints and queue action. Starting from a ship selects that ship and asks for a destination; starting from an asteroid selects that destination and asks for a ship. The UI never chooses an available replacement silently. An ordinary move requires a stationary owned ship; Redirect requires a military ship whose current leg remains in flight at execution. Neither may already have a conflicting order queued for the next year. Attack needs weapons; Colonize needs a colony ship. Treaty, protection and target warnings use the authorized view; the server remains authoritative at departure and arrival.

The map schedules one ship's order for the next year. Ships remain separate fleets, with each owner controlling their own order. Review the displayed route, arrival and cost before queueing. A quote estimates travel and does not reserve resources or guarantee arrival access. Inspecting another object, using camera navigation or switching stations preserves the flight plan. A pending queue request keeps its result when you switch stations; submission remains locked until it finishes. Quotes are revalidated against the latest authorized world before another submission. Map selection changes a draft endpoint only after its Pick on map control is activated. Changing a ship or destination keeps explicit waypoints for review, including any that have become invalid.

World updates revalidate the chosen ship, destination and quote. An outdated quote cannot enable submission. Quote or submission errors keep the draft available to correct and retry. While an order is transmitting, repeated clicks do not submit a second copy. Successful submission, explicit cancellation, switching season or viewer, and changing between live command and recorded playback clear the draft. Construction, cargo and relations continue to operate on the inspected asteroid.

Cargo, donations and trade

Resources are physically shipped in the frontier. shipment can send to another owned habitat, a current ally or an independent NPC. Direct shipment orders to unrelated human recipients are rejected; an accepted trade is the way to exchange resources with them. donate requires a current ally and explicit owned origin and destination. Shipments need an owned sending site and a receiving site owned by the intended recipient. An inhabited population at either endpoint is not itself a launch prerequisite.

All four resources count equally toward cargo units U; passengers add P units for charter pricing. The charter and passenger provision formulas are:

credits = ceil(5 + (U + P) / 100)
propellant = ceil(D × max(1, (U + P) / 1000))
           + ceil(P × (Y + 3) / 100)

Pay manifest plus fees together. Cargo credits do not pay their own charter fee. There is no manufactured freighter requirement, separate convoy credit upkeep or throughput limit; affordability and the order cap are the constraints. Charter payments are sinks, not payments to another player. Cargo is unavailable to sender and recipient until it resolves. An empty manifest with no passengers is rejected.

Example: 500 alloys, no passengers and 2 AU costs 10 credits and 2 propellant in fees, in addition to the 500 alloys. Passengers also need provisions for the quoted duration plus the buffer, and are immediately removed from the origin population.

An accepted trade uses the offer's fromSector and toSector. Optional from/to on accept do not override those ports. Both ports must exist and still belong to their respective participants at offer creation and acceptance, including when one or both cargo legs are empty. The sender pays for its give leg; the recipient pays for its receive leg. Zero-resource legs do not launch. Both legs must be affordable and valid in one atomic order, or neither launches. Offer creation escrows nothing. Opposite legs can arrive at different times or suffer different outcomes.

Embargoes in either direction and protection of either participant block launch. Donation membership and shipment consent are checked at launch; an alliance departure after launch does not automatically return cargo. Embargoes and protection can subsequently blockade it.

Convoy arrival and blockade

Convoys resolve after site combat and frontier-control updates. Unlike military flybys, every intermediate cargo hop can face interception. Explicit convoy waypoints must exist and be distinct; launch does not require passage at every waypoint. The planner does not route around threats. At an intermediate stop, ownership alone does not seize cargo. A prepared surviving raider can board cargo within its remaining hold capacity.

Resolution priority is:

1. Determine contested status, hostile attack fleets at the site, and—at the final destination—a hostile third-party owner. A party allied to or having nonaggression with either sender or recipient does not count as a raider. Protected raiders are excluded.
2. If uncontested, exactly one hostile clan is present and both participants are unprotected, that clan seizes the cargo once. Multiple hostile fleets from the same clan count as one party. This seizure check precedes the embargo check.
3. Otherwise, contest, conflicting hostiles, participant protection or a bilateral embargo blockades the convoy. At the final hop, missing or changed recipient ownership also prevents delivery. Passage with a new owner does not redirect the manifest to them.
4. If safe at an intermediate hop, depart for the next hop at the fixed convoy speed.
5. At the intended recipient's final habitat, deliver to its treasury, land passengers and remaining provisions, and resolve the convoy permanently.

Blockades are retried at each tick; fees are not refunded, no duplicate cargo is credited, and passengers consume finite provisions. Cargo without passengers does not spoil. There is no player recall or return command in competitive play. The returned status covers practice participants leaving the Lobby and merchants physically returning private cargo after invalidation.

With relief: true, delivered cargo propellant is converted into propellant × 100 local reserve person-years instead of staying in the recipient's treasury. Other resources remain national stock. Relief is not converted on seizure. Reserve caps still apply during the subsequent survival phase.

Sources: packages/engine/src/navigation.ts; frontier.ts (frontierOrder, launchConvoy, frontierArrivals, frontierAfterCombat); apps/server/src/service.ts (routeQuote).

Convoy interception

Independent merchants and prepared boarding use merchants, raids and patrols. Government shipments still pay their full manifest and charter fee and retain relief and diplomatic accounting. A prepared surviving raid can physically board only its remaining hold capacity. Other attackers can blockade without receiving cargo. A new foreign owner alone cannot seize cargo into a treasury. Merchant route selection avoids publicly unsafe sites; manually chartered government routes retain the player's chosen risk.

Moving lanes and mining freight

New departures use the current orbital nearest-neighbor lane graph, connecting components where the local hop range permits. The graph refreshes as the belt moves. Each dispatched fleet or convoy retains its paid leg geometry, costs and schedule; refreshing the graph cannot stretch, teleport or reprice its existing trip. Public views expose only the current visible leg. Requested future waypoints and committed remaining legs remain private.

Mining quotes group preparation, outbound travel and reserved return costs and include the physical arrival time. Mining freight carries local output home or provisions and development materials outward. It can be intercepted only at actual sites/waypoints under normal hostility and approach rules; crossing drawn lines never creates combat. Return funds are escrowed at dispatch. If a destination is lost, an authorized shipment can physically return to a valid friendly port using its reserve, or wait when no affordable authorized route exists. It cannot credit cargo twice.

Onboard propellant and rescue

Pressure-drive travel is confined to the saved playable Kuiper annulus (32–52 AU). Local lane hops are capped at 12 AU; an isolated site can be unreachable instead of receiving a long connecting shortcut. Lobby expansion adds sites within the belt rather than new distant outer rings. Travel around the belt may require successive trips and friendly refueling stops. Inner-system reference bodies remain outside ordinary ship/cargo routing; Earth expeditions remain narrative achievements rather than playable voyages.

Ships carry finite propellant: scout 60, frigate 80, torpedo 72, cruiser 120, transport 100 and colony 100 units. Initial hulls include their starting tank; newly built hulls need to load fuel. A normal departure from an inhabited, powered, secured friendly permanent port tops up from the clan's stock and charges the order or task-force ceiling. Temporary mines and hostile, blockaded or off-port positions cannot refill from the treasury. Military propulsion consumes the saved departure allowance plus 2 units per AU; ordinary convoy charters have a 100-unit tank and consume 1 unit per AU. Crew, embarked marine and passenger provisions are separate from propulsion fuel and include the saved six-tick departure reserve . In-place stance changes do not buy or burn fuel.

Route quotes expose the requesting player's tank capacity, onboard amount, refill purchase, trip requirement and remaining fuel. Orders that cannot fit the carried tank fail atomically. Task forces and mining expeditions also check that their tanks cover a physical return. Burning occurs along the actual paid journey, not by remotely drawing propellant from the treasury. Exhaustion leaves a hull at its actual position with a stranded reason.

Use refuel at an eligible friendly port. Away from port, rescue names the stationary owned ship and an owned dispatch port. It purchases a physical tanker manifest; fuel reaches the ship only when that tanker arrives with clear access. Interception can destroy or steal the rescue cargo. Moving the target before rendezvous leaves the tanker waiting. Rescue is a military order and never gives a revoked agent new authority. Tank quantities, rescue targets and future routes remain private; observers see the current leg and public rescue designation, illustrated by a tanker hull. Its tanks do not reveal cargo or fuel quantities.

A delayed onward hop is rechecked against local drive range before it starts. If orbital motion has carried that next site beyond the hop limit, a fleet waits at the reached waypoint for a new local route; freight waits rather than making an unlimited jump. An underway paid leg is never teleported to a newly computed route.