Pre-alpha codex — written from the build in internal testing. Systems, numbers and features can change before launch. · Found Your Empire

Galactic structure at a glance

• Bulge — the bright, dense core. About one system in ten lies within 6,000 LY of the centre.
• Four spiral arms — spirals that wind out from the bulge and carry most of the stars: more than four systems in five.
• Halo — a thin, even scatter of stars across the whole disk that fills the gaps between the arms.
• Rim — the disk is 45,000 LY in radius. The arms and the halo thin out toward it, and a few stragglers lie beyond it.

Star colours

Star colours follow six spectral classes, O, A, F, G, K and M: bright blue O-types are rare, and dim orange and red K and M stars make up about three in five of all stars. Brightness scales with rank — lower-rank stars are larger and labeled at high zoom.

Influence overlays

• Yours — claimed systems are rendered in cyan, with a Voronoi-like influence halo that fades out toward the edges.
• NPC — the thirteen empires hold their space in their own colour, and a diamond marks each imperial capital. Their systems carry real garrisons — spy first, then strike. Their borders never move.
• Other players — claimed systems by other players use their faction-derived colour.
• Unclaimed — neutral stars use plain stellar colours with no halo.

Beacons

• Capital beacon — your homeworld.
• Surveyed beacon — stars you've surveyed.
• Charted beacon — stars you've discovered but not surveyed.

Fleet markers

Animated fleet icons appear on top of the map for moving fleets. Their shape and colour come from the fleet's role (war / science / trade / industrial) so you can spot threats and traders at a glance.

Hyperlanes

Hyperlane edges fade in as you zoom closer. They are the roads fleets fly: a fleet moves lane by lane, and the router picks the route with the fewest hops, not the shortest distance. A jump between two warp gates counts as a single hop however long it is, so long hauls tend to ride the gate network.