Exploration and the galaxy map

The galaxy is a hex map. Every tile is a hex; every hex is one of seven terrain types. What you can see, where you can move, and what’s worth visiting is the heart of every campaign.

The map at a glance

Each hex is a single, addressable tile. A fleet on hex A can move to any of the six neighbouring hexes — assuming it has the movement budget for that terrain.

Galaxies are vast, and the systems worth visiting are scattered thinly across them. Even a small galaxy is a wide field of mostly empty space with star systems spread far apart; the largest are enormous, separated by long, quiet stretches you will spend real time crossing. A bigger galaxy means more room to expand, more distance between you and your rivals, and a longer campaign. You pick the size when you start a game, from small (quicker games) up to epic (sprawling, long campaigns); the map seed is generated randomly unless you pin one.

When a new campaign begins or a save opens, the camera starts on space your forces know. Resizing keeps your current view whenever it still includes the map, and safely returns to known space if the view would otherwise be lost. Turn playback follows action only in charted space; enable Scroll Lock when you want to keep your planning view fixed. Fit Galaxy restores the whole-map overview at any time.

The frame keeps orientation on the left and commands on the right so the centre stays open for the galaxy. On desktop, the minimap sits beneath the six navigation destinations, while the selected object’s details and a brass End turn latch share one fixed command edge. The latch always prints its current state and queued-order count; any advisory appears directly beneath it. On a phone, those destinations form a six-way bank along the bottom, the selected-object preview rests above it, and the latch keeps a full-width home between them. A short landscape window uses a compact command instrument on the right instead, leaving a clear lane for the map.

The camera controls stay together on that frame edge: zoom in, zoom out, fit the galaxy, fit one selected hex, lock or unlock scrolling, and open the map-layer sheet. Every layer is written as On or Off as well as marked by an icon; in multiplayer, the required fog boundary is shown as locked on. The minimap frames the whole galaxy inside its inset and brackets only the part currently on screen. You can click or drag across it to recenter, or double-click it to move and zoom in one action. Closing or collapsing these instruments never changes what your scouts can see.

Point at a known hex to read its terrain, movement cost, route cost, resources, and any anomaly on one shared map card. The card stays inside the window near an edge and never intercepts map input. Interface controls keep generous touch areas on narrow screens, and motion-heavy flourishes stop when reduced motion is enabled in your device settings.

Fog of war

You don’t see the galaxy as it is. You see it as your scouts have left it.

Three states for each hex:

1. Unexplored — black. You’ve never seen this tile. You don’t know what’s on it.
2. Explored, not visible — dim. You’ve seen it before, but no fleet of yours is currently within sensor range. The terrain is shown, but enemy fleets, recent population changes, or new structures are hidden.
3. Visible — fully lit. A fleet of yours has line-of-sight on this hex right now.

Sensor range depends on the ship — a Scout Corvette sees further than a Heavy Cruiser. Stationary sensors at each colony keep its system and nearby space visible up to three hexes away.

Territory borders and colony markers follow that same view on both the main map and minimap. Fleet contacts on the main map obey the same sensor rule. Your colony sensors keep your own systems visible; a rival’s current ownership or fleet appears only while the hex is in sensor range. A dim, previously explored system keeps its remembered terrain but does not silently update through the fog.

Map marks and the fog layer use the same current sensor picture. When contact is lost, current fleet information disappears with it; remembered terrain can remain, but it never carries hidden fleet details forward.

Surveying star systems

When one of your fleets containing a Scout Corvette is on a star system, select the fleet and choose Survey. The action is shown only when that fleet and system are eligible.

A survey resolves when you end the turn. It permanently charts the system, the fleet’s sensor footprint, and the nearest perimeter beyond it, so the terrain remains on your map even after the fleet leaves. Once a system has been surveyed, you can consider settling any open habitable planet there.

Scouting strategy

Three principles:

1. Scout early. Knowing where the systems are is more valuable than colonising the wrong one. A first-turn scout move that reveals two adjacent star systems pays for itself within ten turns.
2. Scout the borders. The hex between you and your nearest neighbour is the highest-information tile on the map. Park a corvette there.
3. Don’t scout into death. Black holes and ion storms damage fleets that enter them. A scout corvette can survive an ion storm; it cannot survive a black hole.

Terrain in brief

The seven terrain types and what they mean for movement:

Terrain	Movement	Notes
Deep space	Cheap	Most of the map
Nebula	Slow	Hides fleets; Vanguard ignores the penalty
Asteroid field	Slow	Mineral-rich; settle adjacent to harvest
Ion storm	Slow + damage	Avoid unless you have shielding tech
Star system	Cheap	Settleable; almost always worth visiting
Black hole	Impassable	Do not enter
Wormhole	Free jump	Links to a paired wormhole; great shortcut

For the full strategic notes on each, see Terrain types.

Wormholes

Wormholes come in pairs. Entering one takes you instantly to its partner — no movement cost. They’re rare (typically two pairs per galaxy) but transformative when you find one.

Implications:

• A wormhole between you and a distant ally cuts your effective travel time in half.
• A wormhole an enemy controls is a knife at your throat — they can deploy a fleet in your back yard in one turn.
• Capturing both ends of a pair gives you control of the shortcut.