Mechanics

The minimap is the fastest way to see where your fleets are and where you can send them next. Opened from the toolbar without leaving whatever screen you are already on, it stacks three views in one panel — the sectors of your current system, the systems of your current region, and the regions of the wider galaxy — each drawn on the same 3x3 grid the universe itself is built on, so you can read your position at any scale and jump straight to a destination with a click.

Commander creation is your first order: choose a universe and a race, then launch three kibby mining tugs at Helios Nexus with 50 credits and a first contract.

Sector movement means ordering a ship across a system's 3x3 grid, watching it advance one sector every 5-second tick, guided by the presence rule.

Extraction is how you mine an asteroid belt: one ore unit into your hold every three ticks, climbing a six-mineral ladder from sand to voidglass.

Station trading, buying and selling, resolves the instant you confirm it, no tick wait, and hauling ore from more dangerous space pays more at the counter.

Combat drains shields before hull, spills cargo from destroyed ships, limits return fire to armed ships with riposte on, and rarely spares an unescorted miner.

Contracts post at every station's board: repeatable freight, sales, and hunt jobs worth a few credits up to well over a thousand, cargo lost if your ship is.

Autopilot plots up to five waypoints, lets your ship route itself through gates one step per tick, and loops the route into a hands-free patrol.

Fleets auto-group ships sharing a region, system, sector, type, and status; any ship can opt out to fly solo, and armed ships can assist in a fight.

Gate travel jumps a ship between systems and lands it next tick, one of 198 gates across the galaxy, with only two exits from the safe Ethereal Expanse.

Your bridge shows four live displays: the sector view, ship telemetry, the captain's log, and the contracts journal — everything a commander needs mid-tick.