Alpha build 57 is live. It adds three things to do every day: fleet mining, daily orders with a login reward, and Tide incursions.
This is a required update. The server restarted at 05:46 UTC and refuses Alpha build 56 and earlier. Exit Steam completely and start it again to get the new build. Nothing was wiped.
Fleet mining
Asteroid fields now stand round some planets and out on the sector map. Deploy a fleet and right-click inside a field's ring: it flies there and starts mining, up to three asteroids at a time.
- A hold fills in about 15 minutes with minerals, 30 minutes with helium-3 and 3 hours 45 minutes with antimatter, whatever the size of the fleet. A bigger hold brings home more.
- The cargo is yours only once the fleet is back in its bay. Press RECALL: the fleet flies home, docks and unloads into your stores.
- A fleet that is beaten loses its cargo. Beaten by another commander, it goes into the winner's hold. Beaten by the Tide, it is gone.
- Richer fields are guarded by the Tide. Beat the guards to mine there. They are back 30 minutes later.
- To start with there are six fields: three on the sector map and three round planet 102.
RECALL is now a flight home
For every fleet, mining or not: RECALL no longer brings a fleet back in an instant. It flies home, and it can be attacked on the way. A fleet destroyed in battle still comes straight home as wrecks.
Sector space is still free for all, so a fleet mining out in the sector can be attacked by anyone. A field round a planet follows that planet's rules.
Daily orders and a login reward
Press the new button at the bottom right of the screen. Every day has three orders, the same for every commander: one for your base, one for battle and one for mining. Finish one and press CLAIM for 1,500 to 2,500 coins, some with resources on top, and claim all three for a 5,000 coin bonus. New orders arrive at 00:00 UTC.
The same screen has a seven-day login reward. Claim once a day; day 7 pays 10,000 coins. Miss a day and it starts again at day 1.
Tide incursions
One of the Tide's three flagship fleets breaks into the sector for 45 minutes, and every commander is told. Attack it like any Tide fleet. It is fought one battle at a time and keeps the damage, so commanders wear it down one after another.
A pot of up to 80,000 coins plus minerals, helium-3 and antimatter is shared by damage done: the whole pot if the fleet is destroyed, part of it if it gets away. If you are offline when it ends, you are paid at your next sign-in.
During the alpha we start incursions ourselves, so there is no timetable yet. We will say here when one is coming.
Also in this build
- The bar of fitted modules on the Outfit screen scrolls sideways, so every module of a large ship can be reached.
- The MARK page of a module says what the next Mark needs and everything that is still missing.
Help us test it
A new test round, Alpha Round 12, is open on the test plan page. We most want to know whether mining is worth the trip and the risk, whether the daily orders are the right size, and whether an incursion is clear and fair in what it pays.
Every number here is a starting value and may change. The rules are in the Player's Guide: Fleets and mining, Combat and incursions, Daily orders. The changelog has the full list.