Rule summary

And so we have the game: a flat galactic map, a flat solar map. Each turn the solar maps change to reflect the new planet positions, but within the turn the solar map remains the same. All orders are issued for a system turn and all are processed at the same time. Ships damage and so on does not have an effect during the turn, but only at the start of the next turn. All weapons damage happens during the turn when the tide flows - but the damage has no effect until next turn. All space battle are small fleet battles, and colonising of planets is as simple as firing a drone.

It's worth noting now that every solar system can play at a different rate. As soon as all the orders are in for a system the turn will run on the server and the turn reports will be available. This means certain combats will happen very quickly, while others can take longer if players submit turns less frequently. The maximum turn delay is 5 days, after which the server will run the system for those orders that have been submitted. If a player misses two turns then the server will jump their ships out of the system.

The galactic map will process movement and jump-in for undamaged ships as soon as you send orders in. Other damaged ships are processed at the same time as colony revenue - every 6 hours.

Fighting

The only weapons are Drones. The attack drones carry a payload of offensive nano, which will start to destroy systems when it reaches the target - 1 per turn until the power of the nano is used up. Ships being eaten by attack nano can create antibody nano which combat the attack nano. All drones need 1 combat mass to be created, as do the antibodies. If more mass is put in then the number of warheads increases and multiple hits are scored.

EMP drones are also good in combat, disabling ships for a turn.

Death and Jumping out

If all habitat on a ship is destroyed then the crew are dead and the ship is wrecked, and slides into RipSpace forever. However, a ship may leave a system at any time providing it is at least 20 hexes from the nearest planet and it has a ship DarkLight greater than 0. Leaving a system while there are enemies in the system will decrease a ships DarkLight level by 1, and increase the nearest enemy ships DarkLight by an amount dependant on it's class. Destroying a ship will double the DarkLight gain.

If you miss two turns yours ship will automatically be jumped out on the 2nd turn. Even ships within 20 of a planet will be forced from the system, but they will suffer damage.

Repair

Ships may repair damage providing they have combat mass in the cargo hold, plus active factories to manufacture components. If they do not then they may only repair by leaving the system. Ships on the galactic map have their habitats repaired and recrewed by Nova shuttles from the homeworld at a rate of 1 habitat per galactic turn. Other damaged systems wil be repaired by the Nova shuttles after all habitat is repaired. Note that repair drones can be used to repair other ships.

When in a solar system habitat can not be repaired unless in the gravity well of a colony or your homeworld.

The ship class will determine how much combat mass is needed for the repair.

Jumping a damaged ship into an empty solar system will fully repair it. The crew can work in non-combat conditions and repair it all very quickly.

If you win a victory, driving all enemies from a solar system, then a grateful homeworld sends a nova fleet to repair all your ships in-system.

Mass Scoops

A ships mass scoops must be powered up and will only work in open space - not in a gravity well. They fill the hold with combat mass. Combat mass is needed to produce drones, antibody nano, damage repair and manufacture new ship units.

DarkLight

A ship has a current maximum DarkLight. By sitting in a gravity well the DarkLight will 'fill' at a rate equal to the gravity well. DarkLight can be allocated to drones and movement. For drones it can be up to the number of drone racks allocated, and for movement it can at most double the move rate. For example, an attack drone has 2 drone racks allocated and could have 2 DarkLight added to it to create an attack drone. This is done as the drone is designed and launched.

Home systems

Your home world is invulnerable to attack by other races. Note you may share your homeworld with other races/nations who will share the benefits with you. Home worlds produce no goods but have a huge population and can never be conquered by enemy races. Colonies in your home system suffer higher taxation.

If your ship is in the gravity well of your home world (or a large colony) it can repair its habitat. i.e. shuttles from the planet carry new crew up to the ship. Also new ships manufactured by your home world will appear on the galactic map, near the home system. You can design new ships when your fleet support derived from colonies is more than your fleet cost.

Locked systems

Your ships may enter systems connected by RipCurrents, and if the ship class does not exceed the points limits determined by the fleets in system! These restrictions are designed to encourage a variety of small fleet battles, where new players can compete with established empires. Some systems with lots of planets are always open - it's fairly obvious from the galactic map.

Ships can fire lock down drones which prevent further ships from entering the system.

System tide rates - how often the turn is processed.

All systems process as soon as all the orders are in for the system - i.e. every player has submitted orders for at least one of their ships in the system. If you forget, or are away then there will be a maximum wait time for a system of 5 days. For example, 3 races are fighting in a system, all submitting turns and uploading the results every 20 minutes. One player then gets called away for the week, and so the turns stop processing. That player is too busy (say) and so 5 days pass. The game server will now schedule the turn even though no orders have been submitted.

Galactic tide

Ships which are not in-system will have move and jump in orders processed as soon as they arrive at the server, providing the vessel is not damaged. Damaged ships have their orders processed every 6 hours. The positioning of your fleet upon the galactic map will effect the size of the force you can commit and the systems which you can get to in time. Ships can move up to 20 per turn upon the galactic map.