Quick tips
- Each system has four rows of four parts. Every working row counts, so a system with one broken part still runs at three-quarters.
- A shunt plugs a gap in a row so nothing worse happens, but the row adds nothing until a real part goes in.
- Some systems have a special slot. A concentrator in the guns' slot adds 40% to your laser; one is enough.
- With no working warp row you get "Warp engines blown" and can't jump at all. Damage short of that doesn't change your jump odds.
- Black-market parts (concentrator, decloaker, cloaker, ground scanner) cost about five times their value.
- A ground scanner in the pilotage special slot lets you land at any city on a planet, not just its starport.
The SunDog
A one-man star freighter in three parts: the cockpit module at the front, two thrust modules joined to it by heavy pipework, and the detachable cargo pod docked between them. Drag to turn her and scroll to zoom, or pick a system to see where it sits and what it's made of.
Six systems, four rows each
Every system is four parallel rows of four parts. Each working row adds to the system's status, up to 16 for all four rows. A broken part takes its row down; a shunt fills the gap but adds no capacity. One slot in some systems takes a special part.
Model based on the manual's line drawing and David R. Darrow's box art: concept art made with ChatGPT, turned into 3D with Tripo, finished in Blender. Marker positions show roughly where each system is housed.
At the starport depot
The depot at your starport refuels the ship, sells spare fuel for the cargo holds, patches the hull, and does engineering work. It only serves the ship that's parked at that starport. Prices depend on the system, so it pays to know where to fill up.
Fuel
Sold by the sixteenth of a tank. Law and wealth push the price up, and tech brings it down. Outside Enlie, the cheapest fuel is in Lafser.
Hull repairs
The more damaged the hull, the more each repair costs. Low tech makes repairs up to 2.4 times dearer, and rich systems charge more. Outside Enlie, the cheapest repairs are in New Shoot.
Engineering
One upgrade on offer raises your maximum jump from 8 to 9 units. That's exactly what it takes to reach Enlie, which always sits 9 units from its nearest neighbour.
| System | Law | Wealth | Tech | Fuel per ¹⁄₁₆ tank | Repair cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enlie | 1 | 4 | 7 | 100 Cr | ×0.87 |
| Lafser | 4 | 6 | 9 | 121 Cr | ×0.85 |
| Sosai | 6 | 12 | 15 | 135 Cr | ×0.82 |
| Woremed | 1 | 8 | 6 | 135 Cr | ×1.27 |
| Ferr | 8 | 9 | 13 | 142 Cr | ×0.71 |
| New Shoot | 12 | 5 | 12 | 150 Cr | ×0.57 |
| Jondd | 12 | 8 | 14 | 157 Cr | ×0.58 |
| Hepa | 9 | 8 | 11 | 157 Cr | ×0.82 |
| Shoot | 10 | 7 | 7 | 185 Cr | ×1.08 |
| KalManDaa | 14 | 8 | 10 | 200 Cr | ×0.91 |
| Jadul | 13 | 14 | 14 | 207 Cr | ×1.10 |
| Glory | 15 | 13 | 8 | 257 Cr | ×1.88 |
Cheapest fuel first. "Repair cost" is relative to a system with tech 12 and wealth 11. Fuel prices are worked out from the code but haven't been checked against an in-game quote yet open.
How it works
The depot works out one number, law + wealth + (16 − tech).
- Fuel costs 100 × that ÷ 14 per sixteenth of a tank. A full tank holds 255, and you can't go over it.
- A hold of spare fuel costs 100 × that.
- Hull repair starts at 250 × ((16 − hull) ÷ 4 + 1), where the hull runs 0–16. It is then scaled by comparing 12 with tech, and then by comparing wealth with 11, using the usual price step: × (8 + |a − b|) ÷ 8 when a ≥ b, or the inverse.
- The engineering upgrade sets the maximum jump to 9 if it's currently 8.