In Parsector, you can move between planetary systems by using your Warp fuel. Since the solar system maps of Parsector are dynamic, the distance between any two planets is always changing. Before you select a mission, you must first select a planet by using the solar system map.

In the diagram below you can see that most planets are heliocentric in orbit, meaning their orbit is centered around the sun. Each planet orbits at a different speed, meaning that the distance between the planets is constantly being reconfigured.

However, you\'ll also notice that one planet, Taranis, has an orbit that takes it into and out of the solar system! This is meant to represent how a comet might behave, although in reality most comet orbits are elliptical, we\'ve chosen to simplify our orbits to circular in order to make it easier to understand and more consistent.

An example of planet orbits as detailed in our previous update:

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\nIn real space travel, it is commonplace to design missions based on ideal timing windows, such as when Mars and Earth are nearby each other, it becomes much more cost-effective and expedient to make the transfer. When they are far apart, it is a clear waste of resources and time to make the transfer.

You begin the game in low planetary orbit of Shala, the green orbit in the diagram above. At certain times, the orbit of Fornax ( shown in red nearest the sun ) will bring it within a quick warp-jump of Shala. At other times, Fornax and Shala will be on opposite sides of the sun, requiring an expensive multi-jump.

The above diagram shows a top-down view of the solar system, however to fully understand the mechanics of moving around the solar system and eventually, galaxy, you have to also look at it from the side; it starts to become clear that various conjunctions of planets will form obvious opportunities to make \"cheap jumps\"...just don\'t get stranded at the edge with no warp fuel or you\'ll have to call roadside assistance.

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So, with all of that laid out, explaining the inter-planetary and (eventually) interstellar travel becomes very simple. Your \"warp fuel\" cost is calculated by the realtime distance between your origin and destination. If you really need to go mine a methane blizzard on Taranis, you\'ll still want to wait until it\'s not at the actual literal edge of the heliosphere.

Unfortunately, the resource-gathering on Taranis is best when it\'s coldest. The leeward side of Taranis at the maximum extent of its orbit is the coldest spot reachable by any ship, so a particularly greedy gatherer has two choices. \n\nThe easier method unfortunately requires a top-end capital ship and a colossal amount of warp fuel. The benefit is you can time your warp-in as Taranis reaches aphelion ( the furthest it will ever be from the sun in that cycle of orbit ). Then you can warp out again after Taranis begins to warm up and the resource quality begins to drop.\n\nThe other method involves jumping to Taranis when it wanders through the inner planets towards perihelion ( nearest point to sun in the orbit ), and riding it for one full cycle out of the solar system and back in again. This is what one might call a \"low probability of survival\" endeavor, and certainly not popular among those who appreciate having more birthdays in the future.

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In the diagram above, Taranis has reached its nearest point to the sun. In this configuration, warp jumping to Taranis from Shala, Fornax, or Aeolius is inexpensive due to the momentary configuration of planets.

For comparison\'s sake, the above scenario represents an ideal time to warp between Shala and Fornax, as they are also adjacent. Jumping between Aeolius (yellow) and Iris (purple) requires traversing the entire diameter of the solar system and multi-jumping around the sun, prohibitively expensive.

This simple mechanic for moving around the \"game map\" consistently provides the player with interesting and meaningful choices, with a dose of semi-randomness to keep things spicy. It also serves a very important purpose; minimizing \"travel time\" in a game that\'s mostly about action and strategy. We give the players \"Warp Fuel\" as a resource that, true to scifi, makes spacetime irrelevant for a little while; long enough to go somewhere very far away, and hopefully, back again safely.

Editor\'s Note: We fully admit to leaving the \"map\" screen up on our PCs as a screensaver, much to the dismay of our GPUs that are wondering why humans love staring at pretty circles.

In this update, we\'re going to explain what to expect in the first release of Parsector and what makes Parsector an \"Early Access\" game. In short, early access exists for us to put the core game loop into the hands of actual players on day one. \n\nFor the initial launch, we\'ll have 3 core missions available, each with a different set of objectives in a variety of \"astro-biomes\". Each planet\'s sector has a distinct environment, as you can see from the list of current planets you can already visit below. Planets are all named after a a deity or legend from global mythologies of the First Terrans, and given a nickname that represents their orbit and position in the solar system.

[img src=\"https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/45704100/c351ddcdc5f77dea210a66df37d5fcc42cbc2006.png\"][/img]A wide-angle view of a lonely solar system at the edge of a big bright galaxy.

Taranis, the Wanderer \\[ Cometary Planetoid ]: Your first ( but certainly not last ) encounter with the comet-world of Taranis will be in its icy tail, where you can find incredible riches if you manage to avoid the myriad of hazards inherent to such an inhospitable zone.

Routine hazards like methane blizzards with exploding hail that give a new meaning to a\"storm blowing thru\" are to be expected, compounding the already-dangerous and nearly-invisible h2o icebergs bigger than a capital starship.

The orbit of Taranis is the only one not centered around the Sun; its orbit brings it into and out of the solar system like clockwork. At its furthest and coldest, Taranis is nearly unreachable by anything but the biggest capital ships. However, when the orbit of Taranis brings it into proximity of the inner planets, you can expect a significant \"gold rush\" and as a result, competition.

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Shala, the Wellspring \\[ Earth-Like ]: The jungle utopia planet of Shala is sparsely populated by humans, its surface containing almost nothing of value beyond basic food and liquid water. Spacecraft and aircraft are generally discouraged from making a landing on Shala and are instead instructed to remain in orbit to skim chunks of h20 ice streaming off the leeward side of its northern pole, or to gather volatiles in the high atmosphere of one of Shala\'s small forest moons.

The orbit of Shala and its moons are heliocentric as are most in Parsector, and it orbits at a medium distance from the sun, sitting at the far edge of what are considered \"inner\" planets. This distance accounts for the temperate, Earth-like weather of Shala and it\'s moons.

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\n\nAeolius, the Trickster \\[ Gas Giant ]: In your first mission on Aeolius, you\'ll fly within a stable cloudless layer of calm winds between two layers of volatile gaseous clouds. The main appeal of these Gas Giant \"calm layers\" is the abundance of civilian merchants and services available.

There are relatively few resources to collect here, and almost no hazards aside from the occasional Imperial Enforcer Drone bumbling through.

The orbit of Aeolius remains far from the center of the system, weaves above and below the central plane of the solar system, and its axis of rotation is tilted 90 degrees, with its three moons locked in equatorial geostationary orbit.

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\nIn addition to the above three biomes that will be available at launch, we have quite a few other planets in the works. Some examples:\n\nFornax, the Crucible \\[ Molten & Rocky ]: The lava planet of Fornax and its three molten moons orbit the sun at an uncomfortably close distance. Ships typically need heat treatments in order to spend any significant time in proximity to these four fiery bodies, but are rewarded by chunks of recently-solidified metals in abundant quantity. If you can\'t take the heat, get outta the sector.

Raitaro & Fulgora, The Storm Twins \\[ Runaway Greenhouse Planets ]: Two worlds, each wrapped in stormclouds and in a binary orbit with one another, at near-medium distance to the sun. Constant electrical discharge around and between the Twins can obliterate a small ship in a millisecond, but well-insulated cargo vessels can soak up a steady supply of electrically-separated rare elements while charging up their batteries via ambient inductive currents.

The two planets seem to have a persistent electromagnetic link between them that appears to keep them locked in binary orbit around a central point...but why?

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Iris, the Royal Messenger \\[ Ringed Gas Giant ]: Tracing a distant heliocentric orbit , the gaseous mixture of Iris\' atmosphere gently refracts the dim sunlight, wrapping the planet in a glowing robe of royal purple. Iris is encircled by a series of concentric annular accretion discs, forming the appearance of a radiant sapphire set within a golden ring.

IMAGE: The orbital map of all planets in Parsector\'s first solar system, seen from the top-down. Taranis is the large blue orbit. The Storm Twins can be seen tracing a gear-like pattern just outside the orbit of Fornax, shown in red. Aeolius, the Wanderer, is visible on the bottom-right side of the diagram in orange, and Shala, the Wellspring is illustrated with a green orbit. Iris, the Royal Messenger is shown in its signature purple.

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Since this game is set at the outer rim of a massive galaxy, new solar systems can be added to avoid crowding the existing solar system, which supports about 20 individual zones. Given that a galaxy can support a huge quantity of stars, we do not anticipate needing to add a second galaxy :)

We\'ve already had a ton of fun flying through the methane storms of Taranis, drifting thru the cloudless layer on Aeolius, and resource-gathering in low planetary orbit around Shala and we think you\'ll have a ton of fun too!

Be sure to follow Parsector here on Steam, and if you\'re a curator or content-creator, reach out to us for some exclusive scoops :)

Editor\'s Note: All images shown are of actual gameplay. No portion of the content above was generated using AI. An actual human assembled these scenes, took screenshots, and wrote this update message. He says \"please buy our game, i am so hungry, they only feed me bread and CPU coolant. Send help, or food.\"