Jumpgate

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1. 2026

2. Devlog · October 16, 2026

   Version 8.1: demand-driven production

   Built as decided. A production queue opens from an "N queued" chip: each request with its chain from ore, its progress and time left, up and down buttons to reorder and a cancel that refunds as ore. Queued requests progress at once and deliver in queue order. The smelter's and constructor's recipe pickers are gone, since they now make whatever the queue needs. Research stays paid in compute only. Old saves turn spare items back into ore.

   • Only ore is stored; parts are made on demand.
   • The production queue and the cost card.
   • The burner Off / Auto / On, burning raw ore.
   • No recipe pickers on the smelter and constructor.

3. Devlog · October 16, 2026

   Version 8.2: Chapter One, twice as long and short on compute

   Research in Chapter One costs twice as much or more (the engine 90 to 220 compute), builds and processing take twice as long, and repairs 12 seconds. The damaged core makes less compute and holds only 6 until it's repaired, which is saved as the relief for later. Compute stays at or below zero for all of the chapter's research, and a hint names what's eating it. The test bot now takes about 28 to 36 minutes; a first-time player perhaps 45 to 60.

   • Research costs doubled or more; builds and processing twice as long.
   • A damaged core: less compute, and memory for only 6 until it's repaired.
   • A hint that names what's using your compute.

4. Devlog · October 16, 2026

   Chapters, one new mechanic each

   A plan for Chapter Two in four acts became chapters of their own, each introducing one mechanic with a goal, a place and a small story beat, all at Chapter One's slow pace. The draft: First Flight (built), Salvage, Assembly, Overclock, The Long Scan, Light, Point Defense, Cold Mind and Training Run, after which the map opens in every direction. Names and numbers are placeholders.

   • Chapter One is named First Flight.
   • No acts: every chapter after it brings one new mechanic.
   • A nine-chapter draft, from salvaging the first wreck to training the AI for a second drone.

5. Devlog · October 16, 2026

   Version 8.3: the dust cloud is gone

   The dust cloud on the first crossing came out: its haze, its sound, its chatter and its sensor cut. Debris on the move stays, at a flat rate that gives about the same number of hits as before (around 15 on the crossing). Dust storms also left the chapter plans for now.

   • No dust cloud; debris at a flat rate while moving.
   • The sensor sphere never shrinks.

6. Devlog · October 16, 2026

   Ten answers for Chapters Two to Four

   Ten questions, one at a time, to steer the next build. Salvage: the laser cuts wreck pieces like rocks into scrap, sometimes with a data core whose research reveals a short log and a reward. Assembly: an assembler that combines two parts, making repair kits, with an Auto repair switch on the core, and from here a module at zero hull is lost. Overclock: per-module upgrades that speed the bottom of the chain most. No cards between chapters, just a small title fading in. All three were built within the next half hour, as versions 8.4 to 8.6.

   • The plan for Chapters Two to Four (Salvage, Assembly, Overclock), all at the copper field.

7. Devlog · October 16, 2026

   Version 8.4: Chapter Two, Salvage

   Chapter Two starts where the first flight ends: five pieces of a hull at the copper field, cut open from the outside. The laser cuts them like rock into mixed iron and copper ore, and two pieces release a glowing data core halfway through. Decoding the first takes 620 compute and writes a short log to a new Logs panel in the menu; it also marks a supply cache 1.5 km away, with fresh rocks and a smaller wreck holding the third core. The chapter's goal is repairing your own core: a 160-compute research, then plates and wire, after which the core makes about 3 compute a second instead of 1.7 and holds 20 instead of 6. Chapters now flow into each other with a small title fading in, no cards. The storage module moved to Chapter Four, and Chapter One's research costs rose again to keep it near 30 minutes. The test bot takes about 26 to 33 minutes for Chapter One and 26 to 31 for Chapter Two.

   • Cut the wreck at the copper field into mixed iron and copper ore.
   • Data cores: expensive research that unlocks a log and a reward.
   • A Logs panel in the menu, and a supply cache to fly to.
   • Core repair: more compute and room to hold it.
   • Chapters flow with a fading title; storage moves to Chapter Four.

8. Devlog · October 16, 2026

   Version 8.5: Chapter Three, Assembly

   Chapter Three decodes the second core, which brings the assembler: the first module that combines two items, and its one recipe so far is a repair kit (an iron plate and a copper wire, 10 seconds). Repairs now use kits, and an Auto repair switch on the core, on by default, queues them whenever something is damaged. A short debris shower arrives with the repair-kits step so there's damage to patch. From here a module at zero hull is destroyed and leaves a wreck the laser can cut back into about half its cost; a lost smelter or constructor can always be rebuilt from iron ore, so the game can't lock up. The test bot takes about 20 to 35 minutes for the chapter.

   • The assembler, combining plates and wire into repair kits.
   • Auto repair on the core, on by default.
   • Modules can be destroyed now, leaving a wreck to cut for ore.
   • A debris shower to practise on; no way to get stuck.

9. Devlog · October 16, 2026

   Version 8.6: Chapter Four, Overclock

   Chapter Four grows the station instead of adding to it. First the storage module, which raises every ore's cap from 20 to 100; then the first upgrades, taking the smelter to twice its speed, the constructor to 1.5 times and the assembler to 1.2 times, so the bottom of the chain speeds up most and the queue's times drop. The big build is Engine II, 30 plates and 10 wire, more than the old stores could ever hold. Decoding the third core reveals a faint signal about 11 km out, and the chapter ends on "Chapter Five: The Long Scan, coming soon" and free play. The test bot takes about 26 to 34 minutes a chapter, about two hours from waking to free play.

   • A storage module: every ore's cap from 20 to 100.
   • Level 2 upgrades: smelter 2x, constructor 1.5x, assembler 1.2x.
   • Engine II, the first build too big for the old stores.
   • The third core points to a faint signal; then free play.

10. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Version 8.7: Chapter Five, The Long Scan

    The first chapter where you choose where to go. A long research (1,500 compute) and a refit give the scanner a second level, and it finds a hidden silicon field, Glass Reach, 6 km out. You set the course yourself and make the longest crossing yet, with a hint about putting cheap modules on the bow. The field sits at 6 km rather than the planned 10 because the battery can't carry the station further, even with the burner on. Test bot: about 26 to 29 minutes.

    • Scanner level 2: research, then a refit from the core panel.
    • A hidden silicon field to find, and your own course to it.
    • Saves waiting at "coming soon" carry on into the new chapter.

11. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Version 8.8: Chapter Six, Light

    Silicon refining, then solar arrays. They're weak this far out but free, they work under way, and the light grows as you head toward the faint star: about 60% at the wake and over 110% at Glass Reach. A battery module adds storage, and the goal is 45 energy from sunlight, with the burner on Auto as the backup. At the field there's a buoy someone else left. Fixes: rocks of whatever ore the objective needs keep drifting in, and the patching step can no longer stall. Test bot: about 29 to 31 minutes.

    • Silicon refining and wafers.
    • Solar arrays whose output grows with the light.
    • A battery module for more stored energy.

12. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Version 8.9: Chapter Seven, Point Defense

    The first fleet ship. The constructor makes iron rounds, and the assembler builds an escort that flies just ahead of the bow and shoots down most of the debris (80%, a round a hit). It reserves a slice of compute, so research slows: the trade-off. The queue keeps its 16-round magazine full on its own. The chapter is the crossing to an ice field, Hoarfrost, with a live count of hits stopped and taken. Test bot: about 27 to 29 minutes.

    • Iron rounds from the constructor.
    • The escort: built at the assembler, flies ahead, shoots debris, costs compute.
    • A hits stopped / taken count on the crossing.

13. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Version 8.10: Chapter Eight, Cold Mind

    Ice melting, then the first data center: racks of wafers that add compute and memory as long as they have power and water to stay cool. The queue keeps a little water aboard and the smelter melts ice for it. The goal is to hold research at 3 compute a second for two minutes, and the next round of upgrades opens. The far signal gets clearer, and it repeats. Test bot: about 29 to 39 minutes.

    • Ice melting into water.
    • The data center: more compute and memory while it's powered and cooled.
    • Upgrades II unlocks.

14. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Version 8.11: Chapter Nine, Training Run

    The AI gets an upgrade. You stage a training set of wafers, wire and plates, then a long training research (3,800 compute) turns AI-7 into AI-8 and raises the drone limit to two. A drone bay research follows, and the assembler builds the second drone. Both dock before every burn, and the chapter ends with the crossing to the signal. Fix: a queued drone now claims its whole cost up front. Test bot: about 29 to 30 minutes.

    • A training run: AI-7 becomes AI-8.
    • A second drone, built at the assembler.
    • The crossing to the signal.

15. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Version 8.12: Chapter Ten, The Graveyard

    Claude's own draft, since Kraig asked for it built without more questions; his notes will reshape it. At the signal: a line of scorched hulls, as if a fleet died there. Two more data cores to cut out and decode, one carrying the design for the manufacturer, the first module with a three-input recipe (a wafer, two wire and a plate make a circuit board), and one with a log that points somewhere new. The first board goes into the core, you set a course toward the faint star, and as you leave, something in the wreckage isn't quite dead. Then Chapter Eleven, coming soon. Test bot: about 26 to 34 minutes; Chapters One to Ten take it about five hours.

    • The dead fleet, two more data cores and a log.
    • The manufacturer and its first recipe, circuit boards.
    • A course toward the star, and Chapter Eleven next.
    • The tools bar wraps to two rows.

16. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Versions 8.13 and 8.14: fixes to the built game

    Kraig's answer to a list of fixes and design ideas after the overnight build. First the fixes. A hidden chapter select in the logo menu starts a test game at the beginning of any chapter, on the test player's own ship, while your real game is saved and kept. Research reads as minutes at your current compute ("~9 min left"), not raw compute. Before every flip and burn a trip planner sets the energy the trip needs against the battery, the sun on the way and what the burner could make: green, amber when you'll need the burner or the sun, red when it won't make it, and a red trip needs a second tap. The escort became easier to see, with tracers and a flash for each shot, drones are numbered once there are two, and the build bar is grouped into Production, Power and Ship tabs.

    • A chapter select for test games, keeping your own save.
    • Research time in minutes.
    • A trip planner before every burn.
    • A visible escort with tracers; numbered drones.
    • The build bar in tabs.

17. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Dune, the Rocinante, and keeping the outlines

    Four quick mock-ups of the station drawn as solid, hard-lit shapes, nothing changed in the game. Kraig didn't like them, so the outline look stays, and any art work from here polishes it instead.

    • The Asteroids-style outlines stay.
    • Art work polishes the outline style rather than replacing it.

18. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Versions 8.15 and 8.16: a twist, a payoff and a choice in every chapter

    Each chapter from Two on now has a twist tied to its mechanic, like a wreck that tumbles away, a giant rock that tests your stores, a debris band mid-crossing or something passing in front of the star. Each one ends with a payoff: the battery topped up, memory filled and a "Chapter complete" line naming what you gained. From Chapter Three each chapter also offers one lasting either/or choice, as two cards under the objective that never block you. Armor or faster repairs, wider stores or faster lines, more battery or a lighter frame. The test player also learned to rebuild lost modules.

    • A twist in every chapter from Two.
    • Strain, then a payoff at every chapter's end.
    • One either/or choice per chapter from Three, kept in saves.

19. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Version 8.17: side finds, the signal's pulse, and being watched

    From Chapter Five, five lone derelicts sit off the story's route as unknown pings. Each holds a data shard that decodes into a small perk and a line of lore, and none is required. The signal you're following is now a faint two-note pulse in the music every 9.1 seconds, louder as you get closer. And after the dead fleet a small sign stays on screen that something has been watching.

    • Five optional derelicts with data shards, perks and lore.
    • The signal as a pulse in the music.
    • A quiet sign that you're being watched, into Chapter Eleven.

20. Devlog · October 16, 2026

    Version 8.18: outline polish and longer modules

    Every module is now a slightly longer hexagon, stretched a quarter along the station's fore-aft axis, with the lattice stretched to match so what touches still touches, and the engine is suggested at the stern. The three polish ideas he said yes to: edges facing the faint star drawn brighter and thicker, a faint inner frame and clearer inner lines for each type, and motion, with joints pulsing in the item's colour as items cross, a soft glow on working modules and a flicker on damaged ones. The engine can no longer be destroyed, since losing it mid-flight would strand you.

    • Longer modules along the ship's axis.
    • Star-lit edges, inner frames and clearer icons.
    • Joint pulses, working glow and damage flicker.
    • The engine can't be destroyed.

21. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    The idea: a probe, a drone swarm and a gate

    Claude boiled it down to one line: a tiny probe arrives at an asteroid belt with a minimal seed package; drones mine, process and build; the base grows into a factory able to build a jump gate; the goal is the gate opening so humans can come through. Jumpgate is the working title.

    • Set in space, in an asteroid belt: factory automation, resource collection and base building.
    • Start simple: one probe with a minimal package, and everything done by drones.
    • The goal is to build the jump gate for the humans who sent the probe.
    • The process, from the lesson of the first game: one topic at a time, the smallest playable and fun core first, and story only after the core loop is fun.

22. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Drones are the logistics

    No belts. One pool of general-purpose drones sits idle until any job needs them (mine, haul, build, repair), as in The Crust. The swarm grows two ways: build more drones, and upgrade them for speed, cargo and range. Mid-game unlocks Factorio-style logistic chests that the drones serve automatically.

    • One pool of drones, each doing whatever job is waiting.
    • Two ways to grow the swarm: more drones, or better drones.
    • Requester and active-provider chests come mid-game.

23. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    One main base, far satellite outposts

    Drones handle local logistics. Between the main base and distant outposts, a dedicated long-haul link (high speed, high capacity) is unlocked later. The form of that link is still open.

    • Local logistics by drones; a special high-capacity link for long distances, later.

24. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Requests and provides on every building, from the start

    Every building gets its own small store that requests a set amount of each input and provides its outputs; drones, each with a little cargo space, carry from providers to requesters on their own. Plain storage chests provide what's in them. The start: the probe lands with 2 drones, mines iron and silicon, places a smelter, and its plates build more drones. Claude built the first five minutes next.

    • Each building requests what it needs and provides what it makes.
    • The opening goal: six drones and twenty plates in the first five minutes.

25. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    No tiles

    The first prototype was built on tile-like positions. Everything became continuous: positions in metres, buildings placed anywhere on the rock with simple circle collision, an organic asteroid drawn as a smooth rocky body, and ore deposits as clusters of rocks at free positions.

    • No grid anywhere: free placement with circle collision, an organic asteroid, drones flying straight between points.

26. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 1: the first five minutes

    The first playable build, written in about half an hour after the design talk: the rules first, with a test player that plays the opening without graphics, then the drawing and the interface. You land on a textured asteroid with two drones, mine iron and silicon, place smelters and storage chests, and make plates that build more drones.

    • Core: stores that request and provide, a drone dispatcher, smelters and a drone bay on the probe.
    • Drawn: space, a rocky asteroid, ore deposits, machines, and drones carrying cargo.
    • Interface: panels, a pulsing hint ring, a goal card, item cards, a playtest recorder, and phone layout fixes.
    • Placement snaps beside the ore deposits.

27. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Peaceful, for now

    Claude offered options for whether there should be enemies. Kraig picked option 1, no enemies: the challenge is the factory puzzle and the long build toward the gate, which fits the feeling of a lonely probe. Pressure, if any, comes later from the environment: impacts, storms and limited power.

    • No enemies for now; the difficulty is the factory and the distance.

28. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Geometric shapes, and one moving factory ship

    The look became simple vector geometry like Asteroids: outlines and few colours. The player's base is one slow factory satellite that travels between objectives and resource patches, like Homeworld's mothership, running Factorio-style production. This replaced the base sitting on a big asteroid.

    • Asteroids-style vector look instead of textured rock.
    • One moving factory ship, Homeworld by way of Factorio.

29. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Vast, sparse and bleak

    A huge, mostly empty play area with few resources, far apart, so scarcity is the early challenge: make do with little, choose carefully what to build, and travel to find more.

    • Resources are few and far apart at the start.

30. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Modules on the ship, one per job

    Every job gets one module (smelter, assembler, storage) attached to the hull like habs, and you upgrade it instead of building a second one. Drones move all material, and how many you can run is capped by the AI's compute.

    • One upgradable module per job, docked on the main ship.
    • The drone count is capped by compute, not just by plates.

31. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    A mining building

    A miner hab, one per ship like the other modules: a thin beam reaches rocks in range, ore collects in a small store and is provided like any provider. Drones no longer mine; they are pure logistics. Claude had the probe arrive with a level 1 miner already attached, so the first thing you see is the beam on the lone rock.

    • Mining is a module with a beam, a small store and upgrades for rate and range.
    • Drones carry only; they don't mine.

32. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    The core becomes the AI, and keeps a reserve

    Everywhere the player reads it, the hexagon core is now "the AI": habs attach to the AI, you move the AI, and the drone cap is its own compute. The opening line became "AI-7 online. 4,212 years out. Nothing here. Find enough to build the gate." The reserve: the AI holds a total storage and, for each building resource, an amount the player sets aside; drones only take what is above it, and the reserve is spent only on building.

    • The core is the AI: the player is the ship's mind.
    • A reserve per building resource, set on the AI's panel and fitted inside its total storage.

33. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 2: the geometric AI ship

    One moving hexagon, the AI, with small habs docked round it. Self-sustaining is the goal: three drones, a level 2 smelter, a storage hab and a stock of plates, which the test player reaches in about 5 minutes.

    • Asteroids-style vector drawing: the AI hexagon with docked habs, a mining beam, drones, rotating rocks, a scanner, edge markers and dust streaks while drifting.
    • Interface: the AI's reserve panel, a Move flow, and a phone layout with larger touch targets.
    • Core: one moving ship with docked modules (miner, smelter, storage), upgrades, the AI's compute cap, sparse fields and drone range.

34. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Homeworld with factory logistics; rivals later

    "Peaceful" holds for now only. Later, rival factory AIs build their own factories and compete for the same scarce fields. Nothing for them in the build yet: the core loop comes first.

    • Rival factory AIs are planned, not built.

35. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Two phases: mine, then travel

    The rhythm became an extraction phase (parked at a field, mining and processing) then a travel phase, when the whole ship moves slowly, can't mine, and the factory keeps running on what it stored. Fields are mostly a single resource, so finishing the iron means going to copper, not to more iron.

    • Extraction phase, then travel phase, with the factory running through both.
    • Mostly single-resource fields; mixed fields are the exception.

36. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Power: burn what you don't need

    Early on a burner turns surplus into energy, very inefficiently. Any item counts as salvage, and in an emergency you can scrap a drone or a hab into the burner to limp to the next field. Low energy slows the engines but never stops them. Solar comes later and costs a lot.

    • Every item can be burned for energy.
    • Low energy weakens the engines instead of stopping them.
    • Scrapping something expensive is the worst-case way to make a trip.

37. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Chapter One: a slow, guided tutorial

    Chapter One is an ordered list of objectives, one active at a time, each teaching one thing and slow on purpose. The arc: repair the drive, get just enough systems to sustain yourself, upgrade the scanner to find somewhere worth going, stock up for the crossing, make it, and at a set distance a slow-burn story beat fires: a new pocket of resources and a derelict with one line hinting that someone else was here. The map has no edges: seeded cells generate fields as the AI travels and scans.

    • Nothing is unlocked or shown before its objective.
    • A generative, endless map from a seed: mostly empty, mostly single-resource fields.
    • The chapter ends at the derelict, with no enemies shown.

38. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    You are the AI; escorts, combat and the gate

    The player is the AI with a remote view that controls everything, Factorio-style; the drones stay automatic. Later, not now: an escort fleet of small ships with their own modules that stay close to the AI and are built and upgraded rather than piloted, shields, and Expanse-style weapons (railguns, nuclear missiles, point-defense guns and flak). The end goal is the jump gate; along the way come a logistics network, defending the area, and a resource-rich planet with a space elevator and maybe a Dyson sphere for the gate's power.

    • The game speaks to the player as the AI.
    • Combat and the escort fleet are planned for later.
    • The jump gate is the one direction in an open sandbox.

39. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Four resources, compute, and getting stranded

    About 20 to 30 minutes for a first-time player. Iron, silicon, copper and ice, each in its own field; ice becomes water that every kilometre of travel uses as reaction mass. Compute is the main advancement metric: the AI arrives with a damaged core and a trickle of compute that runs drones and research, and repairing it unlocks the rest. Getting stranded is allowed and is the player's puzzle, and there is no game over for now.

    • Four resources and what each is for.
    • Research from a trickle of compute; each drone reserves a slice.
    • Random finds while drifting, and mysterious scanner signals.

40. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 3: Chapter One

    The first chapter as a guided tutorial of 17 objectives, one at a time, from the AI waking damaged beside its lone rock to a crossing and a derelict. The test player finishes it in about 19.5 game minutes and a first-time player should take 22 to 30.

    • Station layout: habs dock face to face on a hexagonal lattice, so the station is a layout you design, and touching habs pass items straight across with no drone.
    • Energy with a bar on the top line, a burner with salvage settings and a scrap option, and a damaged drive that limps at 40%.
    • Compute and research: a damaged core, one drone to start, and a short list of technologies filled from the compute trickle.
    • Move: pick the AI, tap a destination, one speed, with a dirty red-orange exhaust and dust streaks.
    • The scanner: pings with unknown signals that resolve as you get close, an endless generated map, and a drift find now and then.
    • The story beat: a hull older than you, cut open from the outside.

41. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Rocks that break apart, and everything drifting

    Two changes queued for the next build. The miner's beam cracks chunks off the rock, and drones fetch them to storage; the miner no longer holds ore. And everything drifts slowly: some rocks sit still, but the one you mine moves away, so the station can lock on and match a target's drift.

    • Mining makes pieces that drones collect.
    • Slow drift for fields and rocks, with a lock-on.

42. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    The AI's swarm voice, one continuous zoom, never quite enough

    The placeholder voice for the AI is a collective of sub-agents talking in terse terminal lines, like [core.0] ore.lock(R-14) :: 36u and [swarm] ack ack ack, rare and understated. The view becomes one smooth zoom from drones and chunks out to systems and a galaxy, turning abstract past a threshold, with a very quiet interface. And a tuning principle for everything: resources are almost never enough, and cleverness is what speeds things up.

    • Swarm chatter in a binary, terminal register for the AI and the story beats.
    • A continuous zoom to an abstract galaxy view; a minimap is fine for now.
    • Everything is possible, but starts slow and hard; layouts and routes are the reward.

43. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    The arc: from empty space to an enemy-held planet

    This replaces the idea of starting in the home system. The game starts in the void between systems, almost no matter, with solar power slowly rising as the ship nears a sun. Debris hits the front of the ship while it travels, a worry in the tutorial run, which teaches that a point-defense escort is needed. The mid-game is finding the planet and getting there; the endgame is there: the Dyson sphere, the uplink to the homeworld, the space elevator and logistics up and down the gravity well, all toward the jump gate. The enemy occupies the planet with its strongest defenses, and has to be cleared out.

    • Early game: the void between systems, scraping by.
    • Mid-game: finding the planet and getting there.
    • Endgame: the planet, the Dyson sphere, the uplink, the space elevator and the gate, against fortified enemy defenses.

44. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Chapter One is the awakening

    First an idea to move by jettisoning matter, then Kraig took it back: the burner stays. The AI wakes with its solar broken and just enough battery to begin; early on it builds the burner for power; the last objective is a crude engine to crawl toward the copper. On the way debris and dust hit the bow, with no warning and no way to stop it. The hits damage the station a lot but can never destroy it. Repairs and forward defense follow in Chapter Two.

    • No solar at all in Chapter One; a dying battery, then the burner.
    • A crude engine as the last step before leaving.
    • Debris as a surprise you can only take, which never destroys the station.

45. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Normal moves, and flip and burn

    Travel became The Expanse's flip and burn: the whole station turns as one body to put its engine behind it, burns to the midpoint, flips 180 degrees in a slow visible turn and burns to a stop on the target. A new destination or a stop mid-trip first kills the speed you have, so straight runs are the efficient ones, and the course preview shows the extra energy and time before you commit.

    • Select the AI, tap anywhere, and it goes there, like an RTS.
    • Flip and burn: accelerate to the midpoint, flip, brake to a stop.
    • Momentum: changing course or stopping mid-trip costs energy and time.

46. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Refining and constructing; work costs power, autonomy costs compute

    The chain got a second step: the smelter only refines (ore to iron, copper, silicon; ice to water) and a new constructor makes parts from what it refined (plates, wire, wafers). Every module draws a little power idle and more while working, the laser most of all; anything that runs on its own, like the drone or Auto mining, reserves compute. Compute got a readout beside the battery, every stat opens a card that explains it, and items crossing between touching modules show as small coloured dots.

    • Smelter refines, constructor makes parts; a good line puts them side by side.
    • Idle and working power draws on every module; drones and Auto reserve compute.
    • A compute readout, and a detail card behind every number.
    • Materials visibly flow between modules.

47. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 4: Chapter One, the awakening

    Chapter One rebuilt from the design talk after version 3. The AI wakes between stars on a dying battery with its solar broken; the first rock drifts in and you mine it by hand; research unlocks each new piece (the smelter, the burner, automation, the crude engine); every module starts idle until you pick what it does. The last step is a crude engine: charge to full, then flip and burn toward the copper, where unannounced debris hits the bow and damages the habs but never destroys them. A range circle shows how far a full battery reaches. The test bot finishes the chapter in 20 to 22 game minutes.

    • A dying battery, the burner for power, and the crude engine as the last step.
    • The laser cracks chunks off rocks; the drone flies out to collect them.
    • Everything drifts slowly; modules start idle until you pick a recipe.
    • Flip and burn with momentum, a range circle, and charge to 100% before leaving.
    • Debris on the move, with integrity per hab that never reaches zero in Chapter One.
    • Drones fly in formation in front and to the sides, never in the plume.
    • Swarm chatter, a continuous zoom out to an abstract map with a faint star, and generative music.

48. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 4.1: never stuck

    A playtest deadlock: every store full and the battery full, so nothing could move. The burner now vents when the battery is full, you can throw out what's above your reserve, and no store ever just says "full": it says what to do. A test now checks that the ship can never deadlock.

    • The burner burns even at a full battery, venting the energy.
    • Jettison from the AI and the storage hab.
    • Every full store says what to do about it.

49. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Music, and a sound overhaul

    A generative score in E minor: parked, a slow detuned drone, long pads and a cold note far off; on a real trip it lifts with a hopeful turn, a rising motif and a soft pulse that follow the burn, resolves on arrival, and plays a tiny triumphant phrase at the end of Chapter One. The effects are synthesized to sit with it: laser charge and pulse, chunk cracks, drone blips, dock clunks, burner crackle, engine rumble and flip servos. After Kraig's note the mining sounds dropped 12 to 20 dB, darker and a little different every time.

    • A generative, lonely, droning score that lifts when the station moves.
    • A full synthesized effects set, with Music and Effects sliders.
    • Mining sounds far quieter, and quieter still on Auto.

50. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 5: the hub wakes alone

    A slower, more cinematic opening. The hub drifts dark in the void, its systems come online one by one, and a sensor sphere grows out from the hull until it finds the first rock; then the laser's reach extends. The miner module is gone: the hub has a crude pulse laser built in that targets, charges and fires one pulse per chunk, and you aim it by resting the cursor on a rock. The rock drifts through your reach and out again, so mining it by hand is a race. While it approaches, a free System reboot brings compute online and unfolds the one drone. Lock-on is gone: before the engine you can't move at all, and the story sends rocks one at a time.

    • The hub alone, dark, booting system by system; the interface fades in as it's needed.
    • A pulse laser in the hub instead of a miner module; hover to mine by hand.
    • The first rock is a race; a free reboot wakes compute and the drone.
    • No lock-on and no moving before the engine; only the rocks the story sends.

51. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 5.2: just getting by

    Power and compute became stores with flows: a capacity, a generation and consumers, with the signed net rate in the top bar. Empty never stops anything, it only slows it. A working drone draws compute, so running it visibly slows research, and early Chapter One hovers around zero on both. Each working module traces its progress around its own border, and the core was redrawn as a mind: a breathing node, a ring that lights as compute fills, a point orbiting for the drone.

    • Compute and power as stores with a generation, consumers and a net rate.
    • A working drone costs compute; research is harder; both start in deficit.
    • Progress traced around each module's border.
    • A new core: a node, a compute ring and an orbiting drone.

52. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 5.5: a design pass, and a dust cloud

    The look stayed vector lines on black, made consistent: one palette (cyan for compute and the interface, one warm amber for energy and the engine), one type scale, distinct icons for every module, rocks with a faint ore tint, chunks as small tumbling shards and a sparser starfield. Then a dust cloud across the first crossing, where debris came thickest and the sensors shrank. It was taken out again in version 8.3.

    • One palette and type scale; module icons with working, idle and damaged states.
    • A dust cloud across the first trip (removed in version 8.3).
    • The camera starts closer, so the station reads larger.

53. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 6: one ship inventory

    One shared hold in the core, with storage modules adding room to it and modules keeping only a tiny working buffer. One status says whether you need to do anything, with a one-tap fix when you're stuck. Items are claimed in a fixed order: builds first, then research, then processing, then the burner. Blueprints can be placed before you have the parts and are built in order. Chapter One uses only iron and copper.

    • One ship inventory and an inventory panel with one status line.
    • Priority claims instead of a safety stock.
    • Queued blueprints, built in the order placed.
    • Silicon and wafers moved to Chapter Two.

54. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Touching modules pass; one drone does the rest

    Proximity is the big layout bonus: modules that touch pass items instantly, and anything else is a drone trip. The drone also builds and repairs, so every job draws on the same drone, in a fixed order Kraig picked: repair, then build, then haul, then collect. Chapter One has one drone the whole way and it never improves; more drones come later, one per AI training run.

    • Touching modules pass items instantly; everything else goes by drone.
    • The drone's job order: repair, build, haul, collect.
    • One drone for all of Chapter One, with no drone upgrades.
    • Later drones come from training the AI (AI-7 to AI-8).

55. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 6.1: debris, damage and repairs

    Kraig picked these one at a time from a few options each: debris comes from the direction of travel, so the bow takes the hits while accelerating and the engine end takes them after the flip, leaving the middle as the safe spot; a damaged module works slower in proportion (60% integrity, about 60% speed); repairs cost a few iron plates and drone time; every module and everything in the hold adds mass, so a bigger station travels slower and costs more per trip. Built together with one drone on its fixed job order and instant transfers between touching modules. Repairs start below 90% integrity.

    • Debris hits the bow, then the engine end after the flip.
    • Damaged modules slow down in proportion to their integrity.
    • Repairs: a drone job costing up to 3 iron plates.
    • Mass: modules and cargo make every trip slower and costlier.
    • One drone with the fixed job order; touching modules pass at once.

56. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 7: bigger shapes tried, then any module moves

    Version 7.1 added scrap and rebuild (half the cost back, floating out for the drone) and a placement preview that colours the modules a new one would touch. Version 7.2 tried modules in shapes (a smelter three cells long, a triangular constructor) where any flush edge connects; after playing it Kraig sent them back to single cells, keeping the flush edges and the preview. Then any module can move: a Move button, then tap another module to swap or an empty spot that keeps the station connected; the drone carries it.

    • Scrap and rebuild, and a placement preview showing what touches.
    • Module shapes tried in 7.2 and taken back in 7.3.
    • Move or swap any module, as a drone job.

57. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 7.4: the top bar, cleaned up

    The top bar lists every resource again, ore then refined then parts; the drone moves into the core's card; sound, new game and help go behind the logo as a menu. Warning chips sit at the far right, digits are fixed-width so nothing bounces, and one chip shows the whole hold, used over room.

    • Every resource back on the top bar.
    • The logo opens a menu; the drone's status lives in the core.
    • Fixed-width numbers and right-hand chips, so the bar never jumps.
    • One hold chip: used / room.

58. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 7.10: one look for power and compute

    Module upgrades moved out of Chapter One, so there the layout is the only lever (13 steps now). The rates show the true net, generation less demand, so an empty store reads negative and a full one positive. Then power and compute became one design: an icon, a bar the same size and a coloured rate, with power as a lightning bolt on a green, yellow or red bar and compute staying blue. The stored amounts moved into the hover cards.

    • Upgrades out of Chapter One.
    • Rates show the true net, even at empty or full.
    • Power and compute readouts unified: icon, same-size bar, coloured rate.

59. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 7.11: the first burn

    The first flip and burn gets a short cutscene, once a game and skippable: letterbox bars, the camera moves in close, the engine ignites and the stars begin to streak. Every trip now has a small readout beside the ship: the phase (align, burn, cut and coast, flip, braking burn, arrive), speed, acceleration and a trip bar with the midpoint marked, with thruster puffs and a hiss on the flip. The dust streaks by the ship are gone, module icons stay upright as the station turns, and debris hits became tiny, quiet ice ticks.

    • A first-burn cutscene, about 5.6 seconds, skippable.
    • A flip-and-burn readout by the ship: phase, speed, acceleration, trip bar.
    • Thruster puffs and a hiss on the flip; stars streak with speed; no dust streaks.
    • Module details stay upright; the engine icon points along its plume.
    • Debris hits sound like fine ice on a windscreen.

60. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Version 7.16: readable research, thruster hops and a Move toggle

    The research block under the objective became taller, in rows: a label and the time left, the full name, what it unlocks, the bar, and what's next; when compute is starved it says so. Each research choice shows a one-line description and labelled numbers. Short hops inside the drone's range use thrusters only, slow and cheap, with no flip and burn; tapping the core just selects it, and travel happens through a Move toggle (on the tools bar, the core's card or the M key). A module at its stock limit now names it instead of wrongly saying there's no ore.

    • A taller research block in rows, and research choices with descriptions.
    • Thruster hops inside the drone's range.
    • Selecting the core only selects; Move is a toggle.
    • Fixed: a stocked module says so instead of "no ore".

61. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Versions 7.20 to 7.23: drifting, and a drone that's never left behind

    In transit the drone rides the hull and patches damage as you go, never the engine or anything in the plume. A Cancel burn button leaves the station drifting on at its heading and speed, with a DRIFT readout, until a new course or Stop. Setting any course first calls the drone home to dock, and the burn waits for it, so it can never be stranded. The opening now shows a quiet "press to skip" only after a first press, and the inventory stays hidden until it ends.

    • The drone repairs while under way.
    • Cancel burn: drift at your current heading and speed until Move or Stop.
    • The drone docks before every burn; no more stranded drones.
    • A quieter opening: "press to skip" after a first press, no inventory yet.

62. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Always processing, tried and rolled back

    Version 8.0 made every module process all the way up whenever it could, with the burner as a simple switch. Within minutes Kraig turned it around, so it was live only briefly: the game went back to the version 7.19 build and the idea was parked on its own branch. The new direction is the opposite: keep raw ore in bulk and make the higher items only when something asks for them.

    • Version 8.0 (always process) rolled back to 7.19.1, its saves still load.
    • The new direction: ore in bulk, everything else made on demand.

63. Devlog · October 15, 2026

    Only ore is stored; every spend is a queued request

    Decided one question at a time: mining always runs, and a full store just leaves the extra chunks floating; the core stores ore only, each ore with its own cap of 20, raised to 100, 250 and 500 by a storage module and its upgrades; refined items and parts are never stored, only made for a request. A request can be queued only when your ore covers its whole chain, and tapping one you can't cover opens its cost card, short numbers in red, without greying anything out. The burner gets Off, Auto (burns ore above 90% of a store) and On.

    • Ore-only storage: 20 of each ore, then 100, 250 and 500.
    • Every spend is a queued request that makes its chain from ore.
    • A cost card broken down to ore, coloured by enough or short.
    • A reorderable queue; the burner Off, Auto or On.