Decay

This section has details missing or obscure mechanics that need clarification by Haxus. Description: There are things about decay that I don't know. Haxus you may have to help with this. Item decay? Solar system decay? Sector decay? And of course check what I wrote. ^^; If you know the answer, please edit this page or state it on the talk page!

Everything in the universe decays over time if it is not visited or used. Commodities dropped on the ground will decay, unless placed on Static Display. Spacecraft slowly decay when they are without a captain or officer. Cities decay when they become deserted. Even whole solar systems can decay and revert back to their original state.

Sector Decay

Sector decay occurs when the master server is restarted, which happens at unscheduled intervals. At that time, certain maintenance processes can be safely and reliably run on the universe database, before any other activity is permitted.

Sectors are examined at that time to remove the ones that are not needed. A sector where every solar system exists in a star-field-only state is eligible for decay, unless it is a perimeter sector.

A perimeter sector is one that is needed to provide the star field around a sector that contains a fully generated solar system.

Solar System Decay

A solar system will decay if it has no units, spacecraft or buildings for over a week and isn't on an active avatar's land.

When a solar system regenerate after having decayed, it will generate as it did last time it was generated. This means that if a world was destroyed by an asteroid before the solar system decayed, it will appear again when it is regenerated.

City Decay

Cities and buildings both can decay.

Building abandonment begins three days after: 1) an avatar on line was last present in its solar system or 2) it stops being protected by the land designation of an avatar.

Probability of decay increases as the negative morale modifier from abandonment increases.

Up to three abandoned buildings in a city will decay at each city report cycle. Decayed buildings are listed on the city report. When a building decays due to abandonment, it is completely destroyed. Decay conforms to city build rules so bases will decay before cities, on any given world. The final city report from a decaying city does not expire in the mail queue. It is marked with a highlighted icon.

City Abandonment

The most common cause of city decay is abandonment, if the solar system containing it isn't protected by a land designation and an avatar hasn't visited in at least three days.

For more information, see the Abandonment page.

Spacecraft Decay

Environmental Decay

Spacecraft slowly decay in the form of environmental damage when left abandoned in unsuitable environments.

If a spacecraft is inside an atmosphere it will very slowly take damage from the environment reported as weather corrosion. This includes worlds with no atmosphere density, such as moons, but it is instead reported as meteor hits.

A spacecraft in space without power will be unable to withstand the cold void of space, slowly taking damage until the hull fails.

To prevent environmental decay:

• Have a NPC officer or an avatar on the spacecraft's roster and have it landed at an airport terminal
• Park the spacecraft in orbit and make sure it has fuel to maintain its power plant
• Store the spacecraft in a hangar

Crew Mutiny

All spacecraft need to be hailed once every 4 weeks or the ship will be lost to mutiny. Which ends with the officer ordering the spacecraft to self-destruct.

Since last hailed by command

Days	Ship log message
0 - 6	The crew has high spirits. Every day seems filled with anticipation.
7 - 13	More than a week has passed since we were last hailed by command. The crew is quiet, intent on their work as they attend to their duties.
14 - 20	More than two weeks have passed since we last heard from command. There have been some tense confrontations between the crew members.
21 - 27	More than three weeks have passed since we lost contact with command. Some of the crew have become surly and insubordinate. Fighting among them is a daily occurrence.

Officer Homesickness

If all cities on an officer's homeworld is lost, either to decay or captured by an enemy empire, the officer will commit suicide.

When committing suicide, the officer will self-destruct the spacecraft on which he is stationed, unless there is another officer or captain on the spacecraft's roster.

Commander-less Officer

If there is no avatar in charge of the homeworld of an officer, it will commit suicide.

The spacecraft the officer was stationed on will not be harmed.

Item Decay

Items dropped on the ground will decay slowly, taking ??? durability damage every ???. The decay is significantly increased when there is no online avatar near the item.

Items placed on Static Display will not decay, and they will even stay on a ship after it has been respawned.