Commander,
You have been granted command of a single home colony, a KESTREL-9 scout fleet, and whatever the surrounding dark still hides. This Compendium is compiled from every system we understand at time of transmission — colony management, diplomacy, the chain of command you may build beneath you, and the deeper engineering work now within reach.
It will not tell you everything. Some regions of the galaxy, some deposits beneath worlds you already hold, remain outside our instruments until the right work is done. That is not an oversight. It is the frontier.
Findings are yours to keep or discard. The mission is not.
CONTENTS
1 · THE MISSION
Somewhere in this galaxy lies the long-forgotten Kestrel System — held, still, by whoever or whatever has kept it since before your colony's founding. Find it. Deal with its holder, by treaty or by force. Then colonize the world it guards: Solarus.
Everything else in this Compendium — mines, fleets, advisors, invented devices — exists to get you there. None of it is the point. Solarus is the point.
2 · COLONY & ECONOMY
Your home world starts as a single colonized body with nothing built on it. Nine resources move through your empire: Ferrite, Crystallite, Silicon, Titanium, Hydrogen, Isotopes, Biomass, Power, and Research — plus, once an Academy is standing, Influence. None of these nine sit idle: Silicon builds Scouts and Satellite Carriers, Titanium builds Battleships, Hydrogen fuels Cargo Ships, Isotopes fund Power Plants, and Biomass sustains Academies.
Native Mines
Every planet and moon has one native resource. Colonize it, then build the matching mine — this is always the first thing a new colony can build, since it needs no other mine to exist first. The mines are the Mining Facility (Ferrite), Crystal Extractor (Crystallite), Silicon Refinery, Titanium Drill, Hydrogen Collector, Isotope Extractor and Biomass Harvester.
Every native mine also trickles +1 Ferrite and +1 Crystallite per tick as a byproduct. Each of those two trickles stops adding once that stock passes 200, so it is a safety net rather than real income.
Utility Buildings
Four building types are not tied to any one world's native resource, and can be raised at any colony once you have at least one mine running somewhere in the empire:
| Building | Produces | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Power Plant | Power | Power for techs and devices (the Advanced Collection tech adds +50% to Power Plant yield) |
| Research Lab | Research | The Tech Tree |
| Academy | Influence | The Advisors system, and hiring/promoting and sending an advisor to study a Field of Expertise (§6) |
| Engineering Lab | — | The Devices system (needs Engineering Fundamentals tech first) |
Any built building can be demolished from its colony's panel for a 50% resource refund. Power also trickles in at 0.02 per tick even with no Power Plant built. Click any resource in the Resources panel for its exact quantity, its source building and a short description; it closes on the next click or after 10 seconds.
A Second Deposit
Some worlds hold more than their surveys first show. A colonized body may carry a second, hidden resource beneath the one you already know — invisible to every instrument until the matching Engineering Device is invented (see §7). Once it is, that world can raise a second native mine alongside its first.
3 · FLEET & EXPLORATION
| Ship | Role | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| Scout | Reveals systems, makes first contact | — |
| Cargo Ship | Carries resources for trade with allies | — |
| Satellite Carrier | Deploys orbital recon | Orbital Satellites tech |
| Battleship | Combat | Battleship Hulls tech |
Send any docked ship to a system you've discovered, or click a planet or moon once inside a system to target it directly. Ships in transit move visibly across the map — nothing teleports.
Cargo Ships trade at 1.5 units of Ferrite/Crystallite (split evenly) for every unit of cargo traded away. A docked ship can be moved to another planet or moon in the same system instantly with its Reposition dropdown in the Fleet panel.
Satellites
A Satellite Carrier can Load Satellite while positioned on one of your colonies (it carries 3, plus 2 with Extended Satellite Racks), then Deploy a satellite at any planet or moon it is orbiting, empty or alien-held. Deployed satellites report live in the Intel window. Deploying one over a still-neutral alien system carries a real risk (see §5).
Recalling a Ship
Each ship in transit has a Recall button in the Fleet panel. The ship turns around on the same road and flies back to where it came from, taking as long as it had already spent travelling. Useful when a system turns hostile.
Stellar Roads
Ships normally travel along Stellar Roads, the drawn connections between systems. The Interstellar Drive tech (§4) lets ships jump directly between any two known systems with no road, but slowly. The Road Builder Device (§7) lets you lay a new, permanent road between two known systems: start on one system and finish on another, from its map context menu, or with the B key while centred on a system.
Hidden (Locked) Regions
A galaxy's farthest 12 systems are split into four locked clusters of three, set aside at galaxy generation. A locked system is not merely unscouted — it doesn't render on the map, can't be searched for, can't be routed to, and no scout can reach it. As far as the game is concerned, it doesn't exist yet.
Each cluster is revealed, all at once, by inventing its matching Deep-Space Relay Array Device — see §7, Region Access. There is no other way to reach one early. This is deliberate lategame content, not a trap: your home system and the Kestrel System are never placed in a locked cluster, so the win condition never depends on inventing anything.
4 · THE TECH TREE
One Research Lab job runs at a time, empire-wide — same pacing as any other build queue, just funded by Research and Power instead of Ferrite and Crystallite. Every tech is visible from the start; none require a prerequisite you can't see coming.
| Tech | Needs | Grants |
|---|---|---|
| Improved Thrusters | — | Fleet travel time −25% |
| Efficient Mining | — | Native mines yield +50% |
| Advanced Collection | — | Power Plants yield +50% |
| Scout Hulls | Improved Thrusters | Scouts travel 15% faster |
| Orbital Satellites | Efficient Mining | Unlocks the Satellite Carrier (orbital recon) |
| Weapons Systems | Scout Hulls | Battleships gain +5 attack |
| Battleship Hulls | Weapons Systems | Unlocks the Battleship |
| Engineering Fundamentals | Weapons Systems | Unlocks the Engineering Lab and the Devices system |
| Interstellar Drive | Engineering Fundamentals | Direct jumps between known systems (slow), and unlocks the Road Builder Device |
Two techs matter beyond their immediate stat grants: Battleship Hulls opens your war fleet, and Engineering Fundamentals — sitting at the same depth in the tree — opens the Engineering Lab and everything under §7.
5 · CONTACT & DIPLOMACY
A scattering of systems are alien-held. First contact — any ship of yours arriving there — opens a Meeting. Met factions can also request one of their own occasionally, or you can open one any time via the Meet button on a contacted system's panel — negotiations are never a one-shot, first-contact-only affair.
What a Meeting actually offers depends on your current relation with that faction:
| Option | Available when | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Exchange Gifts | Any relation | Small flat Ferrite/Crystallite gain |
| Sell Surplus | Not at war, you hold a real surplus | Converts a spare resource into Ferrite/Crystallite |
| Pool Knowledge | Not at war | Ferrite/Crystallite → Research |
| Sell Star Charts | Not at war, off cooldown | Sell your map to them for Influence/Research |
| Propose Non-Aggression Pact | Neutral, no pact yet | Cuts satellite-espionage discovery risk to a fifth — see below |
| Offer Alliance | Neutral | Opens their worlds to peaceful colonization |
| Request Military Aid | Allied, off cooldown | A one-time Ferrite/Titanium gift |
| Trade Star Charts | Allied | Buy a look at nearby unscouted systems |
| Exchange Maps | Allied | A cheaper mutual swap — fewer systems revealed, but a small resource kickback too |
Outside a Meeting, a contacted system's own panel also offers Propose Alliance and Declare War directly. War is never free — leave one unresolved and the holder will raid a colony of yours from time to time, destroying a building or stealing resources, until you press the fight or sue for peace.
Once at war, a system's panel also offers Sue for Peace (costs Ferrite and Crystallite). A Non-Aggression Pact ends the moment you declare war, and also when a satellite of yours is caught and the faction goes to war with you.
Diplomacy History
The Intel window lists every Meeting you have concluded, newest first (up to 50): the date, the faction, the system, and the choice you made. Deployed satellites report there too.
Espionage Risk
Deploying a Satellite in orbit at a still-neutral alien system is not risk-free. There's a real chance the faction notices it watching — and if they do, contact turns to war outright, no warning shot first. Satellites over your own colonies, or over an already-allied, conquered, or already-hostile system, carry no such risk — there's nothing left to provoke.
6 · ADVISORS
Five posts stand open to whoever an Academy's Influence can fund. Each rises through three ranks — Novice, Expert, Master — hired and promoted with a mix of minerals, Influence, and Research. Training takes real time; nothing is instant.
Economy Advisor
Every native mine in the empire yields more — 10% at Novice, up to 35% at Master.
Military Advisor
Battleship attack rises with rank — 15% at Novice, up to 50% at Master.
Research Advisor
Research Labs specifically yield more, same scale as the Economy post.
Diplomacy Advisor
Alliance and peace cost less, and war raids grow rarer — both by the same percentage.
Exploration Advisor
Scout travel time falls — 10% at Novice, up to 35% at Master.
Fields of Expertise
Rank alone isn't the whole story. Every hired advisor also carries four Fields of Expertise, each scored 0–10 — for the Military Advisor, that's Tactics, Fleet Command, Weapons Engineering, and Defense; every post has its own matching set. A freshly-hired advisor doesn't start blank: they arrive with an uneven, fixed mix — one strong field, two modest ones, one still at zero — the way a real hire would.
Promotion checks these fields, not just the usual resource cost: every field must clear 3 before Expert, and 6 before Master. The Advisors panel shows exactly which fields are still short whenever that's what's holding a promotion back.
The only way to raise a field is to send that advisor to study at an Academy — a course focused on one field, costing Influence and Research and taking real time based on that field's own current level (both climb as the field gets higher). While away, that advisor can't be promoted or sent to study again until the course finishes. Only one advisor, empire-wide, can be at the Academy at a time — and none of this is available at all until an Academy building actually stands somewhere.
Fields aren't just a promotion gate — a growing list of real actions across the Tech Tree, buildings, ships, diplomacy, and Devices each lean on one or two specific fields directly, whether or not that advisor has ranked up at all. An advisor never hired (or hired but never sent to study) sits at 0 in everything, so these can lock a path off entirely until you invest in the right post. Hit one and the game names the exact field and level still missing.
| Action | Requires |
|---|---|
| Scout Hulls (tech) | Exploration · Navigation 2+ |
| Orbital Satellites (tech) | Exploration · Astrocartography 2+ |
| Weapons Systems (tech) | Military · Weapons Engineering 2+ |
| Engineering Fundamentals (tech) | Research · Applied Engineering 2+ |
| Interstellar Drive (tech) | Research · Innovation 5+ and Theoretical Science 3+ |
| Engineering Lab (building) | Research · Applied Engineering 3+ and Data Analysis 2+ |
| Battleship (ship) | Military · Fleet Command 2+ |
| Satellite Carrier (ship) | Exploration · Astrocartography 1+ |
| Propose Alliance | Diplomacy · Negotiation 1+ |
| Declare War | Diplomacy · Statecraft 1+ |
| Sue for Peace | Diplomacy · Negotiation 2+ |
| Resource Access Devices | Economy · Industry 3+ |
| Region Access Devices | Exploration · Astrocartography 4+ |
| Transport Devices | Economy · Logistics 2+ |
| Military Devices | Military · Weapons Engineering 3+ |
Consult & Advice
Once hired, every advisor offers two buttons beyond Promote. Consult opens a running list of prepared questions about their domain — more unlock as they rank up, Novice through Master — each with a fixed, written answer; nothing here is generated on the fly, it's canned knowledge the advisor already has. Advice instead reads your empire's current state and hands back a short list of concrete next actions in their domain specifically — "build a Titanium Drill at Vega Reach I," "research Efficient Mining" — recomputed fresh every time you open it, never shown unless you ask.
7 · ENGINEERING & DEVICES
A separate track from the Tech Tree entirely, funded by minerals mixed with Influence. Once at least one Engineering Lab stands, Devices can invent — see the callout in §2 for how Lab count scales both invention speed and how many can invent in parallel. If every Engineering Lab is destroyed, queued inventions wait; they do not run at 1x. Twenty-one Devices exist in five families:
Resource Access
Unlocks a hidden second deposit on an already-colonized world — but never a resource you could mine anywhere else. Xenite, Voidglass, Chronosteel, and Aether Dust are exotic resources that exist nowhere as a world's primary native resource; the only way to touch any of them is a Resource Access Device revealing one on a world you already hold. Each feeds a specific part of the Advisors/Engineering economy in turn — Xenite funds Advisor-teaching Devices, Voidglass funds Advisor promotion to Master rank, Chronosteel funds Military Devices, Aether Dust funds Region Access Devices.
Region Access
Some clusters of distant systems are simply not on your map yet — not unscouted, absent. Four Devices, one per cluster, bring a group into existence the moment each completes — each one also spends a little Aether Dust. This never touches the Kestrel System itself; the mission is never gated behind an invention you might not make.
Transport
Rapid Cargo Freighters (+50% cargo capacity), Extended Satellite Racks (+2 satellite capacity), Reinforced Hulls (-10% travel time, fleet-wide), Automated Docking (-20% ship construction cost), and Road Builder (lay a new Stellar Road, see §3).
Military
Plasma Warheads (+25% battleship attack), Orbital Shields (raids favor stealing over destroying), Rapid Repair Yards (a chance for a damaged ship to retreat instead of being lost), Advanced Targeting (steadier combat rolls, less variance).
Advisor Teaching
Four Devices — Economic Treatise, Tactical Simulator, Archive of Lost Sciences, Diplomatic Codex — each instantly promote the matching, already-hired advisor one full rank the moment invention completes. They cannot hire an advisor from nothing; a Novice must already be in place. If the advisor is mid-promotion when the Device completes, the lesson is kept and applied once that promotion finishes.
8 · UNSCHEDULED EVENTS
Roughly every few minutes of play, something happens on its own — a derelict cargo pod salvaged, a trade caravan passing through, a raid on an undefended colony, once in a great while a meteor destroying a building outright. These are weighted deliberately: the good outnumbers the bad by about 3.5 to one, and the worst outcomes are the rarest of all. Every event is also written to the Event Log (click the event ticker in the header).
The effect always applies the instant it happens, but the pop-up announcing it is more polite than that: it only ever interrupts the galaxy view with nothing else already open. Trigger one mid-orbit-scene, or with another panel open, and it queues silently instead — the moment you return to the galaxy view or close whatever's in front of it, the notification appears (several queued at once show one after another, never all at once). Diplomatic Meetings follow the exact same rule.
9 · PACING & PAUSE CONTROLS
Ticks run at an adjustable speed, 0.05×–20×, via the header's rewind/back/pause/forward/fast-forward controls. Two different pauses are on offer, and they're not the same thing:
| Control | Stops ticks? | Blocks the rest of the game? |
|---|---|---|
| Still (⏸) | Yes | No — orders, entering systems, every panel stays fully usable |
| Hard Pause | Yes | Yes — a full overlay blocks every click and keyboard shortcut until pressed again |
Both toggle back on when pressed a second time, resuming at whatever speed was running before.
Pause Indicator
The speed readout in the header says why time has stopped:
| Readout | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Paused · Still | You pressed Still |
| Paused · Hard Pause | You pressed Hard Pause |
| Paused · Meeting | A Diplomatic Meeting is open |
| Paused · Event | An Unscheduled Event popup is open |
Opening a Meeting or event pauses time and restores your previous speed when you close it. A pause you chose yourself is not undone by a Meeting or event closing.
Keyboard, Map & Context Menu
- Backspace steps back one level: moon to planet, planet to system, system to the galaxy overview.
- S sends a Scout to whatever is currently centred or highlighted. B, while centred on a system, starts or finishes a Stellar Road (§3; requires the Road Builder Device).
- Shortcuts do nothing while a window is open or while Hard Pause is on.
- Right-click (or long-press on a phone) a system, planet or moon to open its context menu: Enter, or Send Scout / Send Cargo / Send Sat. Carrier / Send Battleship, which dispatches the first idle ship of that type.
- The map has zoom in, zoom out and 100% reset buttons, and the Search box jumps to any known system by name.
Windows, Settings & About
- Esc closes every open window at once. The Diplomatic Meeting window is the exception: it has no close button on purpose, and the game stays paused until you decide.
- Settings > Close windows by clicking outside them is optional and off by default. When it is on, clicking the dimmed backdrop closes a window. Clicks inside a window never close it.
- About: click the Kestrel Frontier logo in the upper-left. It shows the game version (1.0.0), the save format version (1) and a change log.
- Settings also has: whether How to Play opens at launch, sound and music volume, and Simple Mode (Advisor Fields of Expertise never block anything).
- Every window and button has a hover hint. Hover over any button or section heading to see what it does.
10 · RECORDS & SAVE FILES
Ten named slots, kept in this browser. Each can be exported to a file and re-imported later, or into a different browser or machine entirely. Saving into an occupied slot, or loading over unsaved progress, always asks first.
Galaxy Management
The Galaxy Management window (formerly "Legend / Seed") holds the map legend, the galaxy seed, New Galaxy, Save Game, Load Game, Import and Export.
- Export downloads the current game as a
.jsonfile. - Import reads such a file and asks which of the 10 save slots to put it in. Then use Load Game to load that slot.
- Export followed by Import restores the same game.
11 · REACHING SOLARUS
Ally with or conquer the Kestrel System's holder, then found a colony on Solarus. That is the whole condition. Everything in this Compendium is in service of getting a fleet there able to do one or the other.