Alpha 5.5.1 and 5.5.2 — HQ prices now move with stock

Two releases since the planetary cruise devlog.

HQ PRICES DEPEND ON STOCK Every headquarters used to sell at a fixed price and buy back at half of it, everywhere, always. Now the price depends on how full the shelves are. An empty depot pays 75% of list price for what you bring it, and charges 150% once it has stock again. A full one behaves exactly as before — sells at list, buys at half. Everything in between scales smoothly, and the store shows the current local price for every item. That turns moving goods between depots into a real way to earn: buy where the shelves are full, sell where they are empty. With a high trading bonus a run nets up to 50%. Below about 26% it loses money, so it rewards investment rather than being free. And the margin shrinks as you work a route, because every unit you sell lowers the price at the destination — equalise two depots and the profit is exactly zero.

Buying and selling at the same depot never profits, at any bonus. Prices are quoted on the stock left after your transaction. NEW MISSION TYPE: DELIVERY Pick up a specific cargo and take it to a specific point on a planet. You need the cargo space free on your ship when you accept it.

THE FIRST MISSION CHAIN At the Assayers Guild on Ceres. Four missions, one reputation point each, each doable once, with rewards that grow at every step. The last one pays properly.

ALSO Planetary cruise works on phones now — drag the top-down view to rotate, tap the elevation view to climb or descend. A simplified dashboard for players arriving as guests, with the guided first flight front and centre. Blueprints for every mining tip including a new Epic one, with higher output so crafting works at lower skill levels. Faster refining, and a bug fixed that was silently blocking noble gases. Zero-G is free and runs in a browser tab. No download, and you can play as a guest without an account. Join the Shard now!