Navigation & the Galaxy

The Sector Map

The galaxy is a hex grid. Every sector has up to six directional exits to its real neighbors, plus one optional wormhole — a "seventh exit" that isn't geometrically adjacent and can even cross into a different plane (see below). A one-way link is possible: a sector pointing at another doesn't guarantee that sector points back.

A universe can have more than one plane — a full separate galaxy layer with its own sector range, its own topology, and its own StarDock. Sector numbers are unique across the whole universe (Plane 1 might hold sectors 1-500, Plane 2 continues at 501, and so on). From the cockpit, crossing planes feels exactly like taking any other wormhole — you just end up somewhere with a different local neighborhood.

Every plane's own Stability Factor (set once at generation, 25-100) is the single dial behind how "warped" space actually feels to fly through: 100% is dense and mostly two-way, with short hops and few dead ends; 25% is a sparse maze of long, unpredictable, heavily one-way jumps. Two galaxies with the same sector count can feel completely different to navigate depending purely on this one number.

Moving: Warp and TransWarp

• Warp — move along one of a sector's real exits (or its wormhole). Costs 1 turn. This is the only free-form way to move; you can't warp somewhere you're not actually linked to.
• Course Plotter — plans a route for you to any sector, even ones you've never visited. Through space you've actually scouted it uses your real, confirmed exits; through anywhere else it has no choice but to assume every geometric hex-neighbor is passable, since it's never actually seen that sector's true connections — "the most optimal known course," not a guarantee of the truly optimal one. It's a planning tool, not a shortcut: each hop still costs its own turn to actually fly, engaging the route re-validates every hop for real as you go, and a guessed hop through unscouted space that turns out wrong just drops you out of warp there instead of teleporting you past a connection that was never real.
• Inter-Sector Warp (TransWarp) — requires a Jump Drive (Corvette, Star Runner, Marauder, and most hulls Tier 5 and up — see Ships & Combat for exactly which). Jumps anywhere on your current plane, ignoring adjacency entirely, for double the turn cost (2 turns). The catch: if the destination sector has an active beacon, your ship is destroyed outright, no roll, the instant you arrive. A normal adjacent Warp into a beacon sector does not carry this risk.

The Personal Transporter

Every hull carries a Transport Distance rating (2 to 10 sectors, see Ships & Combat) that isn't about moving your current ship at all — it's about switching which ship you're commanding. If you own more than one ship on the same plane, the transporter beams you directly into another one within range, using the same route-finding the Course Plotter does (through space you've actually scouted), for 1 turn, no matter how many hops away it actually is. Standing right where a ship is already parked (say, docked at your own Citadel) is the zero-range case — you can just step aboard for free. A ship parked at a Citadel that's flagged Corporate can be taken this way by any member of the same corporation, not just its owner.

Fog of War — What You Actually Don't Know

The shape of the galaxy is never hidden — every sector's position and connections are visible on your map the moment you can see it exists. What's fogged is content: a sector you haven't personally flown through shows as an empty tile until you do, hiding whether it holds a port, a planet, or a wormhole, and which of its exits actually lead anywhere. "Your Known Universe" (the Onboard Computer) reports how many of the plane's sectors you've actually scouted versus its total.

Safe Zones

Every plane's home sector — where you start and where you respawn — sits inside a safe zone, a small cluster of sectors immune to passive hazards. Entering one, you skip mine detonations, deployed-fighter attacks or tolls, and armed-planet retaliation entirely; deploying your own mines or fighters there is blocked too. It's a haven from ambient danger, not a lobby — deliberately attacking another ship there still destroys you outright, so it isn't a place to pick a fight either.

Beacons

Releasing a beacon consumes one from your ship's own supply and leaves your message pinned to that sector for anyone who passes through to read — no credit or turn cost. Destroying someone else's beacon (Combat menu) costs 1 turn, clears it, and mails the original owner exactly what happened and who did it; destroying your own skips the notification. The one real danger a beacon poses: blind-TransWarping into a beacon-marked sector destroys you instantly (see above) — a normal adjacent Warp into one doesn't carry that risk.

Turns

Every commander gets a fixed pool of turns that refills once a day — 250 by default, though the host running your universe can set it differently. Turns are the real constraint on how much you can do in a sitting; they're spent on movement and violence, not commerce.