Sector Entry Flow
Not everything that moves in a sector triggers combat. Understanding the difference between player warps and NPC movement is critical to reading the battlefield correctly.
What Triggers the Entry Pipeline
The entry pipeline runs only when a player ship warps into a sector. It does not run when:
- NPCs move into a sector on their own
- A player is already present in the sector and another player arrives
- You log in while sitting in a sector
The Four Steps (in order)
When you warp into a sector, the game checks these four layers in sequence:
| Step | Trigger | What Happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Q-Cannon | Hostile planet with citadel ≥ 3 | Automatic cannon fire. Can destroy you instantly. |
| 2. Fighter Encounter | Any hostile deployed fighters | Depends on fighter mode (see below). |
| 3. Ship-to-Ship PvP | Hostile player ships present | Automatic duels against every hostile captain. |
| 4. NPC Encounter | Hostile raider NPCs present | You choose: attack, flee, or bribe. |
If any step destroys you, you respawn in FedSpace immediately. The pipeline does not continue.
Important: Steps 1 is automatic (Q-Cannon). Steps 2–4 pause for your choice — the fighter encounter modal, the PvP combat modal (fight/flee/surrender/hail), and the NPC combat screen.
Fighter Modes Explained
When you enter a sector with hostile fighters, the mode of those fighters determines what happens:
| Mode | What Happens When You Enter |
|---|---|
| Defensive | You get a choice screen: Attack, Retreat, Surrender, or Pay Toll (if tolled fighters are also present). |
| Offensive | Same choice screen — unless all hostile fighter groups in that sector are offensive. In that case, combat auto-resolves as a surprise attack with no player choice. |
| Tolled | You get a choice screen with a “Pay Toll” option. Toll = 5 credits per tolled fighter. If you can’t pay or refuse, combat begins. |
Tolled Fighter Quirk
Evil-aligned players (alignment ≤ -100) are not tolled by other evil or Fremen-aligned owners. They must fight or retreat — no toll option.
What NPC Movement Does NOT Trigger
NPCs (traders, raiders, patrols) move via a background cron job every 15 minutes. Their movement is a simple database coordinate update — no entry logic runs.
| Event | Fighters React? | Mines React? | Q-Cannon Fires? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player warps into sector | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| NPC moves into sector | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No |
| Player already in sector, another player arrives | ❌ No (only on warp) | ❌ No | ❌ No |
Why Your Fighter Count Doesn’t Change
When Nora the Trader (or any NPC) moves into your sector, your deployed fighters sit unchanged. That’s because fighter encounters are tied to player warp events, not NPC coordinate updates.
The same applies to raider NPCs. When a Sardaukar raider moves into your sector during the 5-minute tick, nothing happens to your fighters. But if you warp into a sector where a Sardaukar is already sitting, you trigger the NPC encounter prompt.
Reading the Sector Header
The sector info bar shows what is present right now, not what will happen on entry:
| Display | Meaning |
|---|---|
🛡 Your fighters: 12,000 (offensive) | You own 12,000 offensive fighters here. They will attack any player who warps in. |
💣 ~500 hostile mines | An enemy has ~500 mines deployed. They will trigger on your next warp into this sector. |
⚔ 2,000 hostile fighters | Another player has 2,000 fighters. They will engage you on your next warp in. |
Strategy: The sector header is a snapshot of static defenses. It does not predict NPC movement — NPCs can wander into the sector after you arrive, and your fighters will not auto-engage them.
Summary
- ✅ You warp in → Q-Cannon → Fighters → PvP → NPCs (in that order)
- ❌ NPC moves in → Nothing. They update coordinates silently.
- ❌ You sit still, NPC arrives → Nothing. Fighters only trigger on your warp, not on arrivals.
- ⚔ Offensive fighters only auto-attack if all hostile groups in the sector are offensive.
If you want fighters to engage NPCs automatically, that would require a new feature — NPC-vs-fighter combat resolution in the background tick. Post in #feature-requests if the beta group wants it.