Mega Projects
Mega Projects are the empire’s long-horizon goals: enormous structures built in sequential phases, each phase taking many real-time hours. They are not all-or-nothing. Every phase you fund delivers a partial bonus immediately on completion, plus a one-time milestone reward — so a half-built mega project is still pulling its weight.
There are three mega projects in v0.10.0:
| Project | Theme | Final Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Orbital Foundry | Component production | A late-game Tier 4+ component engine, beyond any asteroid Assembly Plant. |
| Dwarf Citadel | Population | Raises the empire-wide dwarf population cap. |
| Stellar Extractor | Stellar harvest | Passive Fuel and Exotic Materials income that scales you into the galaxy-expansion endgame. |
Manage them from the Projects panel.
How Mega Projects Work
- Unlock. A project becomes available once its requirements are met (see each project below). Starting it creates the first phase in funding state.
- Invest. Pour resources into the current phase’s cost. You can invest partially and over many sessions — progress is saved and never refunded. Affordability is checked against your empire-wide stockpile and drawn from your asteroids (home asteroid first).
- Build. Once a phase is fully funded, its wall-clock build timer starts. Build timers advance even while the game is closed — see offline progression.
- Complete. When the timer finishes, the phase’s cumulative bonus is applied and its reward is granted. The next phase opens automatically in funding state. Finishing the last phase completes the project.
Phase costs do not accumulate. Each phase is paid in full when it starts; later phases do not re-charge you for earlier ones.
Bonuses are cumulative totals, not deltas. The bonus number listed on a phase is the total effect active after that phase completes (it replaces the previous phase’s value rather than stacking on top of it).
Reward Types
A milestone reward may grant any of: Credits, a cosmetic, an extra expedition slot, a one-time event, a recipe unlock, a production-rate boost, or an accommodation-capacity bonus.
Orbital Foundry
The empire’s dedicated component factory. Each phase raises the component production rate, and the final phase turns the Foundry into a standing producer of Components and Station Parts.
- Unlock: Assembly Plant at Level 3.
- Final effect: Produces advanced Tier 4+ components at a rate no asteroid Assembly Plant can match — the primary engine for late-game mega-project costs and Station Parts.
| Phase | Name | Cost | Build Time | Cumulative Bonus | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frame | 5,000 Steel · 500 Components · 10,000 Cr | 12 h | Component rate +10% | 10,000 Credits |
| 2 | Power Core | 3,000 Fuel · 800 Components · 500 Electronics · 20,000 Cr | 18 h | Component rate +20% | Cosmetic (foundry glow) |
| 3 | Assembly Line | 800 Components · 1,200 Machine Parts · 300 Station Parts · 50,000 Cr | 24 h | Component rate +30% | — |
| 4 | Automation | 500 Electronics · 400 Components · 200 Station Parts · 100,000 Cr | 36 h | Component rate +40% | +1 Expedition slot |
| 5 | Full Output | 200 Station Parts · 800 Components · 1,000 Electronics · 250,000 Cr | 48 h | Component rate +60% | Passive production: +0.8 Components/s, +0.15 Station Parts/s |
The Orbital Foundry’s
componentRatebonus values (10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 60%) are canonical from the design document. Reaching Phase 3 is also a prerequisite for the Stellar Extractor.
Dwarf Citadel
A monumental home that lifts the empire-wide dwarf population cap, letting you recruit beyond the base limit.
- Unlock: 3× Habitat at Level 5 and 30 dwarves hired empire-wide.
- Final effect: Increases population capacity across the whole empire.
| Phase | Name | Cost | Build Time | Cumulative Bonus | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundation Stones | 8,000 Steel · 1,000 Components · 15,000 Cr | 16 h | Population cap +5 | 15,000 Credits |
| 2 | Grand Halls | 3,000 Components · 600 Station Parts · 40,000 Cr | 24 h | Population cap +15 | Cosmetic (citadel banner) |
| 3 | Residential Warrens | 5,000 Components · 1,200 Station Parts · 80,000 Cr | 36 h | Population cap +30, +2 empire training-queue slots | Accommodation capacity +2 |
| 4 | Throne Room | 8,000 Components · 2,500 Station Parts · 200,000 Cr | 48 h | Population cap +50, empire morale +10% | +1 Expedition slot |
| 5 | Citadel Complete | 15,000 Components · 5,000 Station Parts · 500,000 Cr | 72 h | Population cap +75, all production +5% | Legendary dwarf recruitment event |
Stellar Extractor
A star-harvesting megastructure. Each phase grows passive Fuel income (and, from Phase 2, Exotic Materials), deposited automatically into your home asteroid. It is the economic backbone of the galaxy-expansion endgame.
- Unlock: Orbital Foundry at Phase 3 and the Star Charting research node (Void Navigation).
- Final effect: Harvests energy from a nearby star for passive Fuel and Exotic Materials income that scales the empire into the endgame galaxy-expansion layer.
| Phase | Name | Cost | Build Time | Cumulative Bonus | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collector Array | 6,000 Steel · 1,500 Components · 25,000 Cr | 20 h | Fuel income +0.10/s | 20,000 Credits |
| 2 | Focusing Lens | 4,000 Components · 800 Electronics · 60,000 Cr | 30 h | Fuel +0.35/s, Exotic Materials +0.02/s | Cosmetic (stellar glow) |
| 3 | Thermal Regulators | 6,000 Components · 1,500 Electronics · 1,000 Station Parts · 150,000 Cr | 48 h | Fuel +0.85/s, Exotic Materials +0.07/s | Recipe unlock: Deep Delver’s Ale |
| 4 | Plasma Conduits | 12,000 Components · 3,000 Electronics · 2,500 Station Parts · 400,000 Cr | 72 h | Fuel +1.85/s, Exotic Materials +0.22/s, cargo fuel cost ×0.80 | +1 Expedition slot |
| 5 | Full Extraction | 25,000 Components · 8,000 Electronics · 6,000 Station Parts · 1,000,000 Cr | 96 h | Fuel +3.85/s, Exotic Materials +0.62/s, galaxy research cost ×0.75 | Galaxy-unlock acceleration event + cosmetic (stellar beam) |
The passive Fuel and Exotic Materials totals are cumulative — the value shown on each phase is the full per-second income active once that phase completes.
Strategy Notes
- Funding is incremental and permanent. Drip-feed resources into a phase whenever you have a surplus; nothing is lost between sessions.
- Build timers run offline. Fund a phase before logging off and the timer ticks down while you’re away.
- Component-hungry. Two of the three projects (and most later phases) lean heavily on Components and Station Parts — the Orbital Foundry exists precisely to keep that supply flowing.
- They chain. Orbital Foundry Phase 3 gates the Stellar Extractor, whose Fuel/Exotic income then bankrolls deeper galaxy expansion. The Dwarf Citadel’s population cap is what lets you crew everything else.
Balance note: apart from the Orbital Foundry’s component-rate bonus, all mega-project costs, build times, and bonus magnitudes are first-pass values and may change in balance passes.
See also: Stations · Research Tree · Production Buildings · Progression