Hi everybody! Here's what we're working on for ALPHA 13! As part of the ongoing push to finish off major technical features, we're adding in "transits points". These will take the form of wormholes and jumpgates that will be strewn around the universe, making for quick travel over long distances. They won't (naturally) be very common. Each transit point can be linked to one other point of the same type. A region can contain one transit point, and will often, at least in the case of wormholes, be their own special regions within a star system. They are big and difficult to miss. Jumpgates are the artificial forms, and eventually players will be able to construct them and place them throughout their journeys. We're still sorting out some of the details, so things like manufacturing cost is still to be determined.
Also in ALPHA 13 will be the unveiling of Star System Conflicts. This is something we wanted to do when missions were first added, but weren't able to finish in time. The core premise of this system will allow player(s) to change the faction that controls the star system through a set of missions. These are good ways to gain (or lose) faction, and make use of the recently released dialogue and mission systems. The way it works: Systems will have "chaos missions" that exist to edge the system towards conflict. When that mission is completed, the player who completed the mission can choose which faction they wish to represent. Once enough chaos points are gained by a specific faction, the system goes into conflict. The conflict will be between the current owners of the system and whichever faction had the points. Existing missions will be cleared, and conflict specific missions and content will be available. Conflict continues until one faction gains enough mission completions to be declared victor. The recently conflicted system will then experience a shift in it's regions' contents over the next few minutes to reflect the outcome of the conflict. Both of these two new major systems are in-game and working, though there's a few minor mechanics we're still hashing out, mostly in form of interface/interaction. A Pre-Release Build may be ready as soon as the last week of April.