Navigation on Big Bang Smugglers

Navigation & Travel

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Moving

Sectors are connected by links. Most links are bidirectional grid adjacency; about one sector in five also carries a diagonal link, and a fraction of those diagonals are one-way. A galaxy also gets a handful of long-range Federation highways connecting the core to distant regions, and a handful of one-way smuggling routes running out of pirate and rim space toward distant sectors.

A move to a linked sector costs 1 turn and runs the full arrival stack:

The Galaxy & Territory

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

How a galaxy is built

Every season generates a brand-new galaxy from a seed, in seven deterministic passes: topology, ports, planets, hazards, wormholes, named NPCs, landmarks. Nothing is hand-placed and nothing repeats between seasons.

Sector count is free-form per season — the default is 500, the admissible range is 20 to 65,536. The old game’s four fixed sizes are gone.

Default densities: 15% of sectors have a port, 10% a planet, 6% a hazard. Three landmarks and twelve named NPCs per galaxy — five pirates, five Federation officers, and two merchant princes.

Scanners, Cloaks & Intel

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

StarNav 2002

The passive scanner. Once installed it runs continuously, costs nothing, and takes no turns.


Install	100,000 cr
Upgrade	100,000 cr × the new level — L2 200k, L3 300k, L4 400k, L5 500k
Gates	Each level has its own season-ladder gate, mid-early at L1 to deep at L5
Max level	5

Range is min(level, 3) hops. Level 4 and 5 do not see further — they see better.

v2.3.0 — You Asked, We Built It

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 20:00:00 +0000

Most of this release came straight from the Discord. Thank you to everyone who reported, tested and argued about it.

Planets

Auto-collect. Each production cycle’s output now goes straight into your planet’s storage, up to its cap. No more flying around every cycle to press Collect. If a planet’s storage fills up, the planet screen and your “while you were away” summary tell you so.
Planet XP. Building structures now earns experience. The amount scales with the structure and the level you reach: a level-1 warehouse pays 60 XP, and a level-5 citadel pays 900. Colonizing pays 1 XP per worker.
Fixed: missions that asked you to upgrade a planet could never complete.
Fixed: leaving a season now releases your planets for others to claim.
Fixed: collecting right after a cycle boundary could skip a cycle’s production.

Mines

Each captain can now deploy up to 500 mines across the galaxy, up from 50.
Sectors where you own a planet allow 50 extra.

Smuggling rebalance

Market-priced contraband. Black Market prices now follow the local market instead of a flat rate. Selling back to the same fence earns a modest, safe profit. The big money is still in lawful space, at real risk.
100 per purchase. You can buy up to 100 units of any contraband type in one purchase.
Hidden compartments stay hidden. When a patrol catches you over your hidden allowance, it now takes only the overflow. The fine is based on what that cargo cost you.
NPC traders now charge more than a Black Market for contraband, never less.

Alignment

Jettison workers is live. Dump mining workers from your hold for −10 alignment each. It’s the fast road toward the pirate side.

Combat

Defenders loot. Beat someone who attacked you and you take a cut of their wallet. Banked credits stay safe.
Bounties pay both ways. If a wanted captain attacks you and loses, you collect their bounty.
No self-sieges. Corps can’t siege their own ports.
No sieges under immunity. Captains under immunity can’t siege ports or plant limpets.
Cloaks break when you act. Sieges, raids, Black Market deals, banking and ship purchases now drop your cloak.
Fixed: equipped hull plating was increasing hull damage instead of reducing it.
Fixed: mines could hit your replacement ship right after a fatal ambush.

Warps charge their full cost up front. If you’re stopped partway, the turns for the hops you didn’t fly come back.
Fixed: warp interrupts with no contact.
Fixed: arriving hidden after a wormhole jump while landed on a planet.
Warp exploration now counts toward missions and goals.

Fixes you reported

Corp bank. Deposits and withdrawals now show up instantly for the whole crew.
Tavern intel. Results no longer run off the screen.
Buying a ship. Hulls with bonus cargo space no longer destroy cargo that would have fit.
Prices you’re shown now match what you’re charged, including StarNav and drive faction discounts, trade fees, and the port price board.
Screens now show real numbers. Wormhole destinations are real, ambush recaps no longer invent “50% even odds”, and planet production rates are correct.
Corps. Rosters update live, and you no longer appear offline while connected.

Under the hood

Security hardening around docking and port services.
Console improvements: bulk bans, and version updates from the Broadcast desk.
Cleanup: idle, never-played seats now free themselves.
Many smaller consistency and race-condition fixes.

v2.2.1 — Bug Sweep

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

A bug sweep from captain field reports.

Combat & missions

Defeating an NPC that ambushed you — mid-move or mid-warp — now counts toward mission objectives and goal ladders (Scourge of Pirates, Terror of the Lanes). Previously only fights you initiated counted, even though the kill showed in your stats.
Made of Money now progresses: bank deposits were never counted toward the goal, for anyone.

Ship & inventory

Supply shop purchases (Sentry Drones, mines, turrets, buoys, cloak fields) appear on the Ship screen’s Ordnance card immediately.
Recalling your own nav beacon returns it to inventory, as the confirmation promised. Destroying someone else’s still grants nothing.

The Nav tab lists every ship in your sector, including offline captains (shown dimmed, still targetable) — it now agrees with sector scans and StarNav counts.

Stats & leaderboards

The Settings player stats card shows real season numbers — K/D, missions, goals, bounties, trades — instead of zeros.
Planets claimed, distance traveled, and streak milestones are now tracked, count toward lifetime career totals, and the planets season award is winnable for the first time.
Overall leaderboard scores are labeled with XP and credits.

Counting starts from this release — earlier kills and deposits show in your stats but predate the counters.

v2.0.5 — StarNav Restored

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000

A quick follow-up patch, same day.

Your StarNav 2002 works. The long-range sector sweep was stuck at “Scanning…” forever — the display was never connected to the new engine. It now renders the full picture: connected sector routes, territory colors, hostile contact markers, and your own sector at the center of the sweep. Higher StarNav levels reveal more detail at greater range, as intended.
Scan intel is honest: sectors your device can’t fully resolve show as unknown rather than empty.
If a sweep ever fails, you’ll see a retry button — not an eternal spinner.

Fitting that the fix ships the same week StarNav installs themselves were unblocked. The device earns its 100,000 credits now.

v1.20.0 — Limpet Tracker and Deployable Mines

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000

v1.20.0 sharpens the deployable layer and ships a batch of critical fixes from v1.19.0.

The headline is the Limpet Tracker — the first device in the game designed for intelligence gathering rather than direct combat. Proximity mine behavior also closes a long-standing warp loophole, and the Hangar gets a proper home as a visitable location with better trade-in terms.

Limpet Tracker

The Limpet Tracker is a new deployable available for purchase at ports.

v1.18.1 — Cinematic Transitions

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 16:55:57 +0000

v1.18.1 finishes what v1.18.0 started: every placeholder in the cut-scene system is now replaced by a purpose-made image.

Cinematic Transitions — Now Complete

19 custom scenes (1024×1536, navy/teal palette) are wired into every major moment in the game: docking at a starport, landing on a planet, entering any store, warping through a system, falling into a wormhole or black hole, winning or losing a fight, buying a new ship, accepting and completing missions, leveling up, joining a corp, and the season-end screen.

v1.17.2 — Season-End Stability

Fri, 08 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000

v1.17.2 is a stability patch addressing two issues uncovered after the Red Dwarf beta season ended.

Blank Screen on Season End

The app could briefly show a blank screen when launched after a season had closed, then loop back to the recap screen repeatedly. Both issues are resolved; the app now navigates correctly to the season recap on first open.

Post-Season World Cleanup

After a season ends, sectors, ports, planets, and player galaxy links are supposed to be cleared automatically. A missing function registration meant this cleanup job was never deployed and never ran, leaving old world data in place indefinitely. The registration has been corrected; ended seasons will now be fully cleaned up and archived as intended.

v1.17.0 — StarNav Usability Polish

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 18:46:00 +0000

v1.17.0 focuses on making StarNav 2002 feel more readable, interactive, and trustworthy in day-to-day navigation.

This update tightens the expanded scanner experience, reduces compact-map clutter, and makes upgrade information easier to understand before you spend credits.

Expanded StarNav Is Easier to Use

The expanded StarNav map now stays inside Android safe areas so the map and legend remain visible above the system navigation area.

Sector taps work again in expanded view, and pinch zoom now responds correctly so dense local space is easier to inspect.

v1.16.2 — StarNav 2002 Scanner

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:58:00 +0000

v1.16.2 introduces StarNav 2002, a new ship scanner upgrade path, and includes the follow-up improvements needed to make the scanner feel like a real navigation instrument.

Install StarNav 2002 in the TriStar Shipyard, upgrade it across five levels, and use the Nav screen to read nearby sectors with much better clarity.

StarNav 2002 in the TriStar Shipyard

Ships can now install StarNav 2002 as a dedicated upgrade in the TriStar Shipyard.

v1.15.0 — Trading, Repair, and Beacon Travel Fixes

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 17:59:00 +0000

v1.15.0 improves several of the most common day-to-day actions in Big Bang Smugglers: trading, repairing, navigating, and moving between beacon locations.

This release also clears out a cluster of state-sync issues that were making some screens look wrong even when the underlying game data was correct.

Better Trading Max Calculations

Port trading Max buttons now respect both available hold capacity and current port stock.

That means the buy flow stops overfilling the quantity field with values your ship cannot actually carry.

v1.14.4 -- Combat, Intel, and Sector Stability

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 22:01:00 -0400

v1.14.4 is a bugfix release focused on keeping moment-to-moment sector play cleaner and more predictable.

This update fixes sector traffic clustering, duplicate pirate encounters after wins, overlapping combat result screens, broken Sector Intelligence reveals, missing Federation reputation gains, stat cap mismatches in the shipyard, and missing player and ship detail in sector presence displays.

Sector Traffic Cleanup

Federation patrol ships now distribute correctly instead of crowding into a single sector.

v1.12.2 — Season & Trading Fixes

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:00:00 -0400

v1.12.2 is a stability and accuracy pass across seasons, trading, combat, and exploration.

Season Setup Accuracy

Season setup screens now display correct counts, combat stats, and Past Seasons data. Previously, certain values could drift out of sync — this release ensures the numbers you see match your actual season record.

Trading and Pirate Combat Fixes

Edge cases in trading and pirate combat that could mis-handle cargo quantities or credit totals have been resolved. Transactions and combat loot now settle correctly in all scenarios.

v1.10.3 — Scanning, Factions & Pricing

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 19:00:00 -0400

v1.10.3 brings faster scanning, faction-driven economics, and a round of scan reliability fixes.

Instant Scan Sector Results

Sector scans now return results immediately with richer detail. The bridge flow is faster — no waiting, no extra taps. You scan, you see what’s out there.

Faction Reputation Pricing

Your faction standing now directly affects your wallet. Ports controlled by factions you’re aligned with offer discounts on trades and purchases. Hostile factions mark prices up. NPC traders follow the same rules — reputation matters everywhere you spend credits.

v1.9.6 — Bounty & NPC Follow-Up Fixes

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 21:50:00 -0400

v1.9.6 is a focused follow-up patch for the new NPC engagement and faction bounty systems.

This release cleans up a few important edge cases found after the broader bounty and interaction overhaul shipped.

Pirates No Longer Spawn in Federation Territory

Pirates were still able to appear in Federation-controlled space under some conditions.

That behavior is now fixed so Federation territory behaves the way the region rules intend.

Sector Validation Added to Remaining NPC Interaction Functions

Four remaining NPC interaction paths were still missing proper sector validation.

v1.8.0 — Combat Overhaul

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 21:58:00 -0400

v1.8.0 is a major combat overhaul release.

This update reworks how combat feels across the game. Ship tier still matters, but fighters, torpedoes, shields, stealth, environment, faction behavior, and NPC interactions all matter much more than before.

Combat Formula Rebalance

The underlying combat formulas have been retuned so consumables and loadout decisions are decisive instead of marginal.

This includes:

reduced ship base power dominance
much stronger fighter, torpedo, and shield weighting
shield-based attrition reduction
torpedo shield penetration
fighter superiority shifting win odds before the main combat roll

The result is that stocked ships, better prep, and better tactical choices matter much more.

v1.5.1 — Bridge Tab Polish

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000

v1.5.1 is a polish pass on the Bridge tab and a fix for warp drive route calculation hanging on long distances.

Warp Drive Route Fix

Calculating a warp route was timing out for long distances. The pathfinding was making a separate database read for every sector it explored — in a large galaxy that’s hundreds of sequential round trips, easily pushing past the timeout limit. The fix loads all sector connections in a single batch query and runs the pathfinding entirely in memory. Warp route previews and navigation should now be instant regardless of distance.

v1.2.2 — Web and Screen Data Fixes

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Version 1.2.2 is a hotfix for regressions introduced in v1.2.1’s performance pass.

What Broke

The v1.2.1 performance update removed unnecessary authentication token refreshes from every cloud function call. During that cleanup, three composite data endpoints were accidentally rewired to call the wrong backend functions. Each one returned a different data shape than the screen expected, causing silent failures.

The navigation screen went blank. The starport showed “Unavailable.” The ship screen failed to load. All three issues had the same root cause.

v1.2.1 — Performance, Warp, and Combat Fixes

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Version 1.2.1 is a performance and bug fix release. The game should feel noticeably faster across the board.

Performance

Every cloud function call – moving, trading, scanning, combat, warp, everything – was force-refreshing the authentication token before executing. Firebase tokens are valid for an hour, so this was an unnecessary server round trip on every single action, adding roughly half a second to a full second of latency each time. That is removed. The whole game is faster now.

v1.1.2 — Mine Triggers and Deployed Mine Tracking

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Two mine system fixes that should have been there from the start.

Mine Triggers Now Work

Mines were not detonating when an enemy ship entered a mined sector. The trigger logic is now in place. When a player moves into a sector containing enemy mines, each mine has a 60% chance to trigger, dealing 30 to 50 damage. Up to 3 mines can trigger per move. Triggered mines are consumed – they are gone after they fire.

Planets, Warp & Trade

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 12:00:00 +0000

The third track from February 6th covered the planet system, warp drive, and trade. A lot of backend was there — UI wasn’t keeping up.

Planets: Backend Ahead of Frontend

The planet system had real depth on the backend. Functions for deposits, withdrawals, daily production ticks, collection — all implemented, all undocumented or mis-documented.

What we found in the audit:

The planet-system built doc claimed 100% complete. It was not.
FUNCTIONS_INDEX.md was missing 5 planet functions entirely
PlanetsScreen.md wasn’t in SCREENS_INDEX.md
Documentation for planetDailyProductionTick, planetProductionCollect, planetWithdraw, and planetDeposit were all missing
The production ready flag existed in backend data but wasn’t surfaced in the UI
No garrison management function implemented
No planet transfer or ownership change function
No population growth over time
No planet defense or raid combat system

The backend team had done solid work. Docs and UI just hadn’t caught up. We filed the tickets, corrected the specs, and built the planet roadmap from scratch.