Upgrades on Big Bang Smugglers

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.

Upgrades, Drives & Tech

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

Three separate systems live behind the “upgrade” button, and they behave differently.

Stat upgrades are five-tier ladders on holds, shields, fighters and torpedoes. Bound to the ship.
Drives are warp, StarNav and Tesseract. Bound to the ship.
Tech modules are one-per-ship permanent installs. Bound to the ship.

All three die with the ship. There is no salvage.

Stat upgrades

Each of the four stats has a five-tier ladder. The total you can add is a fixed fraction of the hull’s base stat:

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.

v1.21.0 — Tactical Deployables, Defense, and Economy Fixes

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000

v1.21.0 expands tactical options, tightens several combat and defense rules, and removes some stale UI and backend paths that were getting in the way.

This release improves how deployables work in the field, restores clearer upgrade access in port UI, rebalances planet economics, and fixes a cluster of state and defense bugs uncovered after the v1.19.0 and v1.20.0 releases.

Tactical Deployables and Intel

Limpet Trackers are now more usable as an actual intelligence tool instead of a one-off novelty.

v1.18.0 — Planets 2.0

Sat, 13 Jun 2026 14:13:44 +0000

v1.18.0 is the largest planet update in Big Bang Smugglers history, paired with cinematic travel moments, new combat systems, and improvements across trade, navigation, and corporation management.

Planets 2.0 — Claim, Build, and Defend Your Worlds

Planet development is fundamentally richer in v1.18.0.

The planet economy is now config-driven with up to 2.5× production output, so a well-developed world produces far more than before.

Planets can now be taken by force. The new siege combat module lets you assault rival planets and capture them for your own. On defense, build a Barracks to produce fighters and garrison your planet, then cap it with the Citadel — a high-tier capstone structure that boosts both production and defensive strength.

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.

v1.14.1 — Security Hardening and Web Launch Prep

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:00:00 -0400

v1.14.1 is a security-focused release that hardens account protection, improves session safety, and lays the groundwork for the upcoming web launch.

Stronger Account and Session Security

This release adds multiple layers of protection to how the game verifies your identity and safeguards your session.

Client connections now use device-level attestation, session storage is more resistant to common browser-based attacks, and server-side checks are stricter about who can access what. These changes apply across Android, iOS, and the upcoming web client.

v1.13.0 — Progression, Combat, and QoL

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:15:00 -0400

v1.13.0 is a quality-of-life release focused on progression clarity, cleaner combat feedback, and fewer frustrating edge cases in trading, movement, and corporation flows.

Cargo Hold Milestones

Cargo hold upgrades now use a clearer five-tier milestone system.

This makes ship progression easier to understand at a glance and gives hold growth a more structured sense of advancement instead of feeling like a flat list of incremental purchases.

Trading, Wallet, and Upgrade Accuracy

Several economy and upgrade edge cases were cleaned up in this release.

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.

v1.2.0 — Ship Class Overhaul and Upgrade Improvements

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Version 1.2.0 makes ship choice matter more.

Ship Class Identities

Previously all ship classes shared identical shield values at each tier, and the differences between a trading ship and a warship were easy to miss. That changes in 1.2.0.

Trading ships – the Nebula Merchant line and their Smuggling counterparts – now carry significantly more cargo and escape at 55%. They are not built for combat. Their advantage is in moving goods and getting out when things go wrong.

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.