Progression is the three-track ladder that paces a single run and the long-term unlocks across runs. A run is a fixed 5-level arc through one planet’s biome (10 levels in Challenge Mode); each played run feeds two meta tracks — a per-hull star tier driven by duplicate pulls, and a per-planet 10-level reward track driven by cumulative XP.
Stats / tables
Run level sequence — normal mode
Run level
Kind
World form
End condition
Difficulty ramp
1
normal
Open biome level
Timed (~4 min)
Normal ramp
2
normal
Open biome level
Timed (~4 min)
Normal ramp
3
mini_boss
Sealed square arena
Boss death
Normal ramp
4
hard
Open biome level
Timed (~4 min)
Pinned at 1.0; basics-only window skipped
5
boss
Sealed square arena
Boss death → run results
Boss tier (2× mini scale)
Run level sequence — Challenge Mode
Unlocked per planet after clearing the final boss of that planet on normal mode. Twice as long with the same per-level difficulty curve. Run payouts are doubled at run assembly.
Run level
Kind
1
normal
2
normal
3
mini_boss
4
normal
5
normal
6
mini_boss
7
hard
8
hard
9
mini_boss
10
boss
Sealed-arena geometry (mini-boss and boss levels)
Stat
Value
Arena footprint
Square, 2 × 1400 world units per side
Wall thickness
2000 world units
Wall containment
Per-frame ship clamp + static cuboid colliders
Boss kind stat multipliers
Applied on top of the encounter’s depth ramp (current run-level / final run-level → ×1.0–×1.5).
Kind
HP multiplier
Damage multiplier
mini_boss
4.0
4.0
boss
8.0
8.0
Ship star progression — XP thresholds and grid
XP for ships is the number of duplicate pulls of the same hull (first pull = ★1 at 0 XP; each later duplicate = 1 XP). Per-star stats are not scaled directly — stars unlock mod backpack grid space.
Each planet has 10 levels gated by cumulative XP. XP sources: completing challenges on that planet (bulk via xp bounty) and completing any run on that planet (base run XP). Players start at level 1; thresholds gate levels 2 through 10. Level 10 caps the track.
Cumulative XP needed to reach the next track level. The per-planet multiplier applies to every entry.
Track level
Base XP threshold
2
100
3
250
4
500
5
800
6
1200
7
1700
8
2300
9
3000
10
4000
(cap)
5500
Per-planet XP multiplier and base run XP
Effective threshold for a planet = base threshold × XP multiplier. Base run XP is added on every completed run on that planet (challenges add larger bounties on top).
Planet ID
Planet name
XP multiplier
Base run XP
12
LANDING SITE
1.0
10
21
SUNRISE CITY
1.5
15
3
THE VOIDSTAR
2.0
20
30
SOLARIS
1.0
10
31
SPEEDWAY
1.0
10
32
EDEN-5
1.0
10
33
OLD EARTH
1.0
10
34
NETWORK STATION
1.0
10
35
DELPHI
1.0
10
36
DESOLATION
1.0
10
37
OBELISK
1.0
10
Per-planet effective XP thresholds (cumulative)
Track level
Landing (×1.0)
Sunrise (×1.5)
Voidstar (×2.0)
All others (×1.0)
2
100
150
200
100
3
250
375
500
250
4
500
750
1000
500
5
800
1200
1600
800
6
1200
1800
2400
1200
7
1700
2550
3400
1700
8
2300
3450
4600
2300
9
3000
4500
6000
3000
10
4000
6000
8000
4000
(cap)
5500
8250
11000
5500
Reward names by planet
Planet ID
Custom event
Global buff
12
Racing Event
Global Defense Boost
21
City Event
Global Speed Boost
3
Void Event
Global Damage Boost
30
Solar Event
Global Fire Rate Boost
31
Speed Event
Global Crit Boost
32
Eden-5 Event
Global HP Regen
33
Earth Event
Global Shield Boost
34
Network Event
Global XP Boost
35
Oracle Event
Global Luck Boost
36
Wasteland Event
Global Armor Boost
37
Obelisk Event
Global Magnet Boost
Level preset → biome assignment
Each planet draws its per-level visual identity and hub/spoke layout from a named preset. Layout numerics are unified across presets (hubSize 0.45, spokeWidth 0.8, density 0.99; hub radius 200; spoke half-width 150); only terrain type, palette, particle and illumination knobs differ.
Preset ID
Display name
Pattern
Terrain
Lantern preset
derelict_station
Derelict Station
chaotic
asteroids
solar_flare
frozen_wreck
Frozen Wreck Field
chaotic
asteroids
dawn
volcanic_rift
Volcanic Rift
rings
pillars
shatter
bio_organic
Bio-Organic Expanse
chaotic
asteroids
dawn
sunrise_grid
Sunrise Grid
chaotic
city
solar_flare
voidstar_abyss
Voidstar Abyss
chaotic
voidstar_mix
shatter
solar_flats
Solar Flats
chaotic
asteroids
solar_flare
speed_circuit
Speed Circuit
chaotic
asteroids
solar_flare
eden_grove
Eden Grove
chaotic
asteroids
dawn
old_earth_ruins
Old Earth Ruins
chaotic
city
dawn
network_grid
Network Grid
chaotic
asteroids
solar_flare
delphi_crystal
Delphi Crystal
chaotic
pillars
shatter
obelisk_pillars
Obelisk Pillars
chaotic
pillars
shatter
desolation_field
Desolation Field
chaotic
asteroids
dawn
Default zone spawn rates (rates in enemies/second before director modulation)
Zone
Base spawn rate
wilds
0.4
spoke (dark)
0.6
spoke (illuminated)
0.2
hub (dark)
0.8
hub (illuminated)
0.1
How it works
A run is bound to a planet. The planet config picks a biome, enemy set, boss, fog density, and a level preset; the level preset supplies the LevelConfig that drives hub/spoke topology, palette, illumination, and zone spawn pools.
The run plays out the 5-level sequence (10 for Challenge Mode). Per level, the engine reads the level kind to decide world form, AI director pinning, and end condition.
Normal levels run for roughly four minutes of biome play on the open hub-and-spoke world with a normal difficulty ramp. The hard level (run level 4 in normal mode) skips the basics-only opening window and pins the ramp at 1.0 for the duration.
Mini-boss and final-boss levels swap the biome layer for a sealed square arena 2800 world units on a side, walled in by 2000-unit thickness and a per-frame containment clamp; the level ends only on boss death. Mini bosses spawn alongside a roster; the final boss has roughly 2× the mini’s combat scale.
The boss-kind stat multipliers stack on top of an encounter-depth ramp that scales linearly from ×1.0 at run level 1 to ×1.5 at the final run level.
Out-of-bounds level numbers (dev-mode beyond the final level) clamp to the boss kind rather than crash; production runs end at the final level and route to the results screen.
Ship stars rise with duplicate pulls of the same hull. The first pull unlocks ★1 immediately; each later duplicate is 1 XP. Reaching ★5 needs 17 cumulative duplicates after the first pull (18 total pulls).
A new star only unlocks a larger mod backpack grid. Hulls do not jump tiers in raw combat stats just because the star rose; per-star stats interpolate between ★1 and ★5 endpoints with t = (star − 1) / 4.
A completed run banks two flows of XP onto the planet track: a fixed base run XP for finishing, plus larger challenge bounties earned during play. Per-planet thresholds and per-planet base run XP scale together so harder planets demand more total XP but pay more per challenge.
The planet track starts at level 1 and caps at level 10. Each crossed threshold awards exactly one reward keyed to that level (1–10) and that planet. Reward types repeat across planets but the names, signature ships, weapons, alt boss, and global buff vary per planet.
The track UI shows an overall fill across all 10 thresholds (pct = xp / threshold[9]) and a current-level fill against the next threshold; at level 10 the bar is fully filled and the level returns 10 with zero remaining range.
Challenge Mode is unlocked per planet after clearing that planet’s final boss on normal mode. The mode plays the same per-level difficulty curve over 10 run levels with payouts doubled at run-assembly time.
Interactions
The planet config supplies levelPreset per planet; that preset (a LevelConfig) feeds the world generator’s hub/spoke precompute and the zone-aware terrain fill on every run level.
The level kind for the current run level drives the world generator and the AI director: normal/hard use the open biome world plus the director’s biome enemy pool; mini-boss and boss kinds load the sealed arena and pin a boss encounter instead.
The encounter system applies the boss-kind HP and damage multipliers (×4 mini, ×8 boss) together with the encounter-depth ramp (×1.0–×1.5 by run-level fraction).
Ship XP feeds the mod backpack grid sizing; the grid gates which mods can be installed for that hull. The hull base stats lerp between ★1 and ★5 endpoints; mid-star pins on a hull break the line on a specific stat.
Run completion credits the planet track with base run XP plus challenge bounties. The planet track stores XP per planet, so progress on one planet does not advance another’s track.
Track level 1 unlocks a planet-specific sub-event that may then spawn during runs on that planet; track level 5 unlocks an alternate boss for that planet; track level 7 unlocks an advanced planet variant; track level 10 grants a permanent global buff that applies on every planet thereafter.
Per-run level-up XP, weapon-chest fractional upgrades, and reward card rolls live on the world / leveling system and feed into a run independently of the run-level sequence; the run-level sequence governs only the world form, end condition, and difficulty pinning.
What it does NOT do
Does not let normal mode runs continue past the final boss level — clearing the final boss routes to the results screen.
Does not change run length based on the chosen hull — the 5-level (or 10-level Challenge) sequence is fixed per mode.
Does not award doubled payouts in normal mode — Challenge Mode applies the ×2 payout at run assembly, not in the per-run-level sequence.
Does not scale ship hull base combat stats directly with star tier — a higher star only enlarges the mod backpack grid and (for hulls with per-hull ★5 overrides) shifts named ★5 endpoints.
Does not award track XP toward other planets — each planet’s track XP is independent.
Does not surface a player level cap on the planet track — the track caps at level 10; beyond level 10 the bar reports fully filled.
Does not progress the track from challenge or run XP earned before reaching level 1 — players start at level 1 with 0 XP; the first threshold unlocks level 2.
Does not gate Challenge Mode by anything other than clearing that planet’s final boss on normal mode.
Does not let the boss-kind multipliers and the depth ramp stack additively — depth ramps the encounter scale to ×1.0–×1.5 and boss kind multiplies that result by ×4 or ×8.
Does not allow mini-boss or boss levels to end on time — the sealed arena exit is boss death only.
Does not let any entity (player, projectile, knockback push) leave the sealed arena footprint — wall thickness plus per-frame clamp plus static colliders enforce containment.
Does not assign different per-level layout numerics per planet — hub size, spoke width, and density are unified across level presets, with only terrain type, palette, and visual flair differing.