Terrain
Terrain are celestial "geography" that mainly impacts the strategic campaign level and also the combat level should combat begin in the terrain.
A significant amount of terrain has an effect on Sensors and Combat readiness.
Asteroid Belt & Field
| An orbital zone / A volume of space abundant with asteroids. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
Asteroid Belts are found orbiting a big planet or the system's main gravity well. Asteroid Fields can be found orbiting the main gravity well, with its orbit sometimes being in L4 or L5 position in relation to a Gas Giant or Ice Giant.
When moving through an Asteroid Belt / Field, it is possible to impact an asteroid on the Drive Bubble, briefly knocking the fleet off course. It can also impact a ship directly, dealing some damage to the ship.
Smaller fleets are able to avoid bigger impacts, while slow-moving fleets will avoid impacts altogether
Slow-moving or stationary fleets will have their sensor profile reduced by 75%.
In combat, Asteroids are individual, destructible objects on the battlefields that can block most weapons fire and most movement (excepting fighters and phased ships),
Ring System
| A dense disc of dust or ice which causes a great deal of sensor noise, aiding a fleet hiding within. The medium is not of sufficient density to meaningfully slow down ships. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
Ring Systems are found orbiting a big planet or the system's main gravity well.
Unlike Asteroid Belt / Field, a Ring System will not slow down or impact with a fleet.
Slow-moving or stationary fleets will have their sensor profile reduced by 75%.
In combat, small celestial bodies similar to Asteroids will be present on the battlefield, but much smaller.
Debris Field
| Debris left behind after a battle, a salvaging operation, or simply drifting together at a gravitationally stable location.
This particular field appears stable and is unlikely to drift apart any time soon. / This particular field is unstable but should not drift apart for at least two weeks. |
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–In-Game Description | ||
- Main article: Debris Field
Debris Fields are space trash that can be salvaged for loot that comes in 2 variations:
- Stable, which is generated as part of the Sector procedural generation and is marked on the map.
- Unstable, which is generated after combat with a sufficiently large enough fleet or salvaging certain objects.
Stable debris fields can be found all over a system, from orbiting a planet or a star, to being in empty space, to surrounding a Gate.
Slow-moving or stationary fleets will have their sensor profile reduced by 75%.
Nebula
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| Intestellar clouds of hydrogen, helium, and dust that cause significant sensor noise that may aid a fleet hiding within. The (relatively) think medium also interferes with drive field operation. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
Nebula are often found in younger systems in varying clumps, often further away from the main gravity well.
Reduces the sensor profile of fleets within it by 50%.
Slows down the travel speed of fleets within it by up to 50%, with bigger fleets more harshly impacted.
In combat, patches of nebula are present but do not present an issue to affect ships in any meaningful manner.
Magnetic Field
| A strong magnetic field which traps high energy charged particles. It's extremely difficult to get any sensor readings on a fleet lurking within. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
Magnetic Fields are mainly found around planets, often around Barren Worlds or Gas Giants / Ice Giants, but they can also be found around other objects like Neutron Stars.
The player can use an Active Sensor Burst while within a magnetic field to scan it and contribute +5 points to Hyperspace Topography, if the field is from a Gas / Ice Giant, then it will also scan the planet too for another +5 points.
Reduces the sensor profile of fleets within it by 75%.
Magnetic Storm
Magnetic Storms are magnetic fields that has been excited by some external factor, usually by the system's main gravity well(s) such as a Neutron Star.
Reduces the sensor profile of fleets within it by 100%, but also reduces sensor range by 90%.
Magnetic storms are rather unreliable to use as "cover" for a fleet due to its fluctuating & temporary nature. The sensor strength reduction also makes it hard to see any fleets outside, making it easier to just accidentally run headfirst into a hostile fleet.
Corona
| A halo of high temperature plasma which surrounds a star; most ships are not built to withstand prolonged exposure to the extreme radiation bombardment from the corona and will take damage if they remain within it. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
Corona surrounds every star, with bigger stars with more energy such as Blue Giants having bigger corona while small stars like Brown Dwarfs having really small ones.
Corona will reduce the combat readiness of all ships in the fleet at a steady pace.
The heavy solar wind will also make it more difficult to approach the star, and nigh impossible if Sustained Burn is active.
Using Active Sensor Burst while inside the corona of a Neutron Star to scan it will net +10 points to Hyperspace Topography.
Solar Flare activity will increase these detrimental effects further.
In combat, it will reduce the peak performance time of ships & increases combat readiness degradation while also having a background visual effect.
Event Horizon
| The gravitational flux near the event horizon of a black hole is extreme. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
Event Horizon surround every Black Hole, and will reduce combat readiness of all ships in the fleet at a steady pace.
The black hole will also actively pull any fleet towards it, necessitating the use of Emergency Burn to effectively move away from it.
While the player is inside the Event Horizon, they can conduct an Active Sensor Burst for a long-range scan to get +15 points for Hyperspace Topography, or within the "halo" of the black hole as a short-range scan for +40 points.
In combat, it will reduce the peak performance time of ships & increases combat readiness degradation while also having a background visual effect.
Accretion Disk
An Accretion Disk is a ring of material that orbits a black hole, and is functionally the same as a Ring System, they can also be of different sizes.
Slow-moving or stationary fleets will have their sensor profile reduced by 75%.
In combat, small celestial bodies similar to Asteroids will be present on the battlefield, but much smaller.
Pulsar Beam
| A relativistic, magnetized jet combined with intense radiation. Commonly emitted by neutron stars. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
Pulsar Beam are massive jets of energy emitted from a Neutron Star that covers the entire system.
Being in the beam will actively reduce the combat readiness of all ships at a rapid pace, while also blowing the fleet off-course away from the neutron star. The magnitude of the effect drops off rapidly with distance from the source.
Fortunately, Pulsar Beams can be blocked by other celestial objects, even other Neutron Stars. As such, it can be safer to enter a Neutron star system by the gravity well of a Gas Giant or Ice Giant, or by Transverse Jump on the nascant gravity well of a planet, or by jumping onto the star itself.
Emergency Burn can't always take the player's fleet out of a pulsar beam due to its sheer size & power. When getting onto the otherside of a Neutron Star, it is better to Emergency Burn across it as the beam only extends from its edge.
Using Active Sensor Burst while inside a Pulsar Beam to scan it will give the player +25 points for Hyperspace Topography.
In combat, it will reduce the peak performance time of ships & increases combat readiness degradation while also having a background visual effect.
Deep Hyperspace
| This volume of hyperspace is particularly chaotic, hindering the performance of even hyperspace-calibrated equipment. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
- For more information on Hyperspace in general, see Hyperspace.
Permanent parts of Hyperspace are Deep Hyperspace, which can be recognized by lighter coloured "clouds" similar to nebula, and is also similar in its effects.
Reduces the sensor profile of fleets within it by 50%.
Slows down the travel speed of fleets within it by up to 50%, with bigger fleets more harshly impacted.
Hyperspace Storms
| Some commanders are known to use this to gain additional speed, and to save fuel - a practice know as "storm riding". | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
Deep Hyperspace itself will fluctuate into Hyperspace Storms, which are of even ligher colour and accompanied by "lightning" effects.
On top of all the Deep Hyperspace effects, fleets caught in a storm strike will suffer both damage & combat readiness loss, with bigger fleets attracting more.
These strikes will also toss the fleet's drive bubble violently, usually in the same vague direction that the fleet is heading.
This can be used for "hyperspace storm surfing" to move quickly & save fuel (because fuel cost is capped at 20 burn speed) at the cost of hull damage & combat readiness loss.
Slow-moving fleets do not attract storm strikes.
Slipstream
| A flow in hyperspace, akin to currents navigated by ancient seafarers back on Old Earth.
Most slipstreams are temporary, and in recent memory their ebb and flow has been unusually synchronized with the standard Domain cycle. |
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–In-Game Description | ||
- Main article: Slipstream
Slipstreams are "currents" within Hyperspace, where traveling within it will use 50% less fuel. Additionally, traveling above burn level 20 is also more fuel efficient.
Slipstreams are also closely tied to Hyperspace Topography, with most of its bonuses / unlocks being related to it.
Abyssal Hyperspace
| Abyssal hyperspace, nearly impenetrable to sensors and exerting an enormous pressure on the drive field. The subject of many an old spacer's tale, more easily laughed off in the comfort of a dockside bar. | ||
–In-Game Description | ||
- Main article: Abyssal hyperspace
Abyssal Hyperspace is a special hyperspace that surrounds the entire Sector, while also cutting into it from the bottom-left corner marked as the Orion-Perseus Abyss.
Fleets inside it will have their sensor range, sensor profile and maximum burn reduced by 75%. These effects are gradual and based on how "deep" the fleet is into this space.
The Navigation skill is of little use, and doesn't provide its benefit in countering terrain-specific speed penalties.
If the player ever find themselves in combat, the top speed of the ships is reduced by 20%, while the top speed & range of missiles is reduced by 20%.
Change History
0.9
- Hyperspace storms:
- Fixed tooltip
- Removed sensor profile penalty and speed penalty
- Changed CR drain effect to powerful "storm strikes" hitting random ships
- A strike reduces CR and deals armor/hull damage, but can't destroy a ship
- Larger fleets attract more powerful strikes
- Some strikes will not deal any damage - at most 1 every 5 seconds (on average) will
- Each strike gives the fleet a speed boost in a direction determined by the fleet's position relative to the storm cell and its speed
- Speed beyond burn level 20 does not cost extra fuel
- While speed-boosted, the fleet may briefly lose steering control
- Emergency Burn allows control while boosted
- Strikes are synced up with the "cloud lightning" visual/audio effects
- Entering an active hyper cell will cause a flurry of storm strikes - i.e, the timing is predictable
- Overall:
- Potential for more severe damage to individual ships
- Much less expensive in total, and lower per-day costs since not all ships are affected
- Situationally useful for faster travel
- Deep hyperspace:
- Now slows down larger fleets more than small ones
- Nebula:
- Now slows down larger fleets more than small ones
- Removed in-combat effect on ship speed
- Asteroid belts/fields:
- Do not slow down fleets directly
- Chance of "asteroid impacts" on the drive field, briefly knocking the fleet off course
- Heavier impacts on larger fleets
- Navigation skill helps mitigate impacts
- Magnetic field:
- Now reduces the range at which a fleet within can be detected by 75%
- When in magnetic storm, range is reduced by 100%, and the sensors of the fleet have their range reduced by 90%
- Goal: useful for sneaking around and hiding in
- In general: terrain that slows down fleets is where smaller fleets can run to get away from larger fleets