FEATURES

What the game does. Each doc answers four questions: what is this, what are the rules and numbers, what does the player do, where does the code implement it.

When the documented numbers and the code disagree, the code wins; surprising numbers are flagged inline.

This is also the only place where implementation status is tracked. The other doc sets (ARCHITECTURE, API, DATA_MODELS, OPERATIONS) describe the target design; status notes (shipped, partial, design-only, known bugs) live next to the relevant feature in this folder. See "Status convention" below.

Index

Definitions

• definitions.md — Consolidated terminology, game rules, resource types, ship types, and galaxy components glossary.

Gameplay

• gameplay/player-journey.md — Lifecycle: first login → early/mid/end-game loops, pacing milestones.
• gameplay/turns.md — Turn allocation, regeneration, action costs.
• gameplay/first-login.md — Onboarding dialogue, ship-claim flow, starting state.
• gameplay/ships.md — Ship lifecycle, maintenance, upgrades, insurance.
• gameplay/ship-systems.md — Hull/engine/shield/cargo/sensor/weapon/drone/genesis/maintenance — upgrade vs equipment architecture.
• gameplay/combat.md — Ship/drone/planet/port combat, damage model, fleet battles.
• gameplay/fleet-tactics.md — Formations, morale, supply, role assignments, fleet-vs-fleet outcomes.
• gameplay/ranking.md — Military rank progression and personal-reputation alignment.
• gameplay/factions-and-teams.md — NPC factions vs player teams; how they differ.
• gameplay/faction-lore.md — Faction profiles, ideology, territory, ally/rival matrix.
• gameplay/missions.md — Faction missions, random missions, daily quests, rewards.
• gameplay/bounties.md — Bounty creation, tracking, collection, expiration.
• gameplay/regional-governance.md — Elections, policies, treaties, regional citizenship.
• gameplay/aria-companion.md — Mid-game ARIA: predictions, route optimization, trust/consciousness, trading-pattern evolution.

Economy

• economy/lifecycle.md — Credit sources, sinks, tax rates, faucet/sink balancing.
• economy/trading.md — Port classes, dynamic pricing, transaction flow, faction modifiers.
• economy/haggling.md — Numerical and narrative haggling, 5 port personalities, anti-exploitation.
• economy/port-ownership.md — Player station acquisition, tariffs, 9 upgrade types, takeovers.
• economy/tradedock-shipyard.md — Premium hubs, 12-slip shipyards, construction events.
• economy/contracts.md — NPC and player delivery missions with deadlines and rewards.
• economy/black-market.md — Illegal goods, contraband detection, stealth routes.

Galaxy

• galaxy/generation.md — Region → cluster → zone → sector → contents pipeline.
• galaxy/sectors.md — Sector defense, warp tunnels, navigation.
• galaxy/warp-gates.md — Player-built warp gates: construction, tolls, access control, destruction, upgrades.
• galaxy/quantum-resources.md — Quantum shards and crystals: gathering, refining, nebula yields.
• galaxy/genesis-devices.md — Genesis Device tiers and planet creation.

Planets

• planets/colonization.md — Claiming planets, colonist flow, lifecycle phases.
• planets/production.md — Resource production rules and allocation.
• planets/defense.md — Multi-layer planetary defense.
• planets/citadels.md — Citadel levels, storage, safe vault.
• planets/terraforming.md — Habitability improvement.
• planets/professions.md — Colonist profession system (12 professions, training, bonuses) — 📐 Design-only.

Status convention

Implementation status is tagged inline next to the feature it describes, using a four-status convention:

Marker	Meaning
✅ Shipped	Implemented and reachable end-to-end.
🚧 Partial	Some pieces in code, some pieces still missing.
📐 Design-only	Documented intent; no code yet.
🐛 Bug	Known runtime defect against the documented behavior.

Notes are written like:

Status: 🚧 Partial — short note. Pointer at where the target spec lives if cross-cutting (e.g., "see ARCHITECTURE/auth.md").

Cross-links

• Data models: ../DATA_MODELS/ (entities, schema, FK relationships).
• API surface: gameserver auto-publishes Swagger at <api-host>/docs and OpenAPI JSON at <api-host>/openapi.json. WebSocket protocol design lives in ../SYSTEMS/realtime-bus.md.
• Architecture: ../ARCHITECTURE/ (services, deployment).