Eyttyrmin Pirates
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Last Updated: Year 25 Day 170
Asteroid Fields
Asteroid Fields are a collection of asteroid clusters of different sizes. Asteroid Fields can be found in deep space. Asteroid Fields can contain lucrative deposits of materials, that can be prospected and mined.
A ships sensor package will warn pilots of nearby asteroid fields. You can click on the asteroid warning to highlight nearby asteroids.

Squares marked with a purple shroud or with "Asteroid Field" tooltip are considered asteroid fields.

Asteroids occlude regular sensors, and flying within asteroid fields can be a blinding experience. Each asteroid square in a vision ray path will reduce further sensor power by half.

A Dangerous Asteroid Field

Asteroid fields are dangerous places. Asteroids behave unpredictably, and travelling through them is very dangerous.

Ships located inside asteroid fields take damage every hour, based on the length of the vessel. The following damage table is just a guideline:
Length Approx. Damage Critical Chance %
> 1000m length / 4 40%
> 600m length / 6 30%
> 100m length / 10 20%
<= 100m No damage 0%
Damage is applied to shields, then to hull, although some damage may hit critical systems, and some damage may pierce shields. Critical hits apply double damage.

Ships located on the edge of the grid do not take damage from asteroids e.g. (X, 0), (X, 19) (0, Y), (19, Y).
Note
The Pilot/Commander/Owner of a ship which takes asteroid damage will receive a Combat Event. Damage which does not cause hull damage, and which does not cause the ship to fall below 95% of its maximum shield value, will not send a Combat Event. However, an event will always be recorded in the ship's cockpit noting that damage was sustained in an asteroid field.
Important
When a ship reaches 0 Hull as a result of taking Asteroid Field damage, it will be destroyed along with any entities inside it. Characters onboard a destroyed ship will automatically jettison into an Escape Pod.
Constant collisions make regular shielding ineffective, and regular stations cannot be built within asteroid squares.

There are some stations which are designed to withstand the harsh environment of asteroid fields and can be built within asteroid squares:
Note
Any station type may be built on a system square which does not contain asteroids.
Asteroid fields can occasionally harbor habitable planets in their midst. These planets are initially hidden from all scanners and do not appear on the galaxy or system map, and are only revealed as a side effect of prospecting an asteroid field for raw materials.
See: Asteroid Prospecting

Habitable asteroids in asteroid fields are discovered as a side effect of Asteroid Prospecting. To find a Deep Space Asteroid, a player conducts a prospecting action within an asteroid field.

Habitable asteroids can only be found in asteroid field squares with asteroids present (highlighted in purple). When you search a square, the following will occur:
  • If there is a Deep Space Asteroid at your location, you will roll to reveal the planet. (The chance to reveal a planet is the same chance to reveal a raw material deposit.)
  • If you fail the check to reveal the planet, you will be notified of the likelihood that a planet is present, but it will not be revealed.
  • If there is a Deep Space Asteroid within 2 squares of your location, you will be informed that a trace of a habitable asteroid was found nearby.
  • If there is no Deep Space Asteroid within 2 squares of your location, you will not receive any events referencing habitable asteroids.
Once revealed, an asteroid field planet will be visible to anyone who enters the asteroid field system.
Note
The discovery of an asteroid field planet will not be announced on the GNS or cause the system to be otherwise revealed.
Important
Planetoids are still considered Asteroid Fields and ships located in orbit of a planetoid will continue to take damage every hour, based on their length.
There is a low chance of an asteroid field system containing up to a total of 2 planetoids capable of sustaining life. The following chart shows the chances for an asteroid field to contain a habitable planet(s):
Planet Size(s) Spawn Chance
None 80%
1x1 8%
2x2 6%
1x1 and 1x1 4%
1x1 and 2x2 2%
The terrain for an asteroid field planet is randomly generated square-by-square, with each square having the following spawn chances:
Terrain Type Chance
Crater 50%
Rock 25%
Glacier 15%
Cave 10%
Governance of asteroid field planets follow the standard rules of governments, as well as system control and calculations, with a few exceptions:
  • Asteroid field planets do not count toward the territory requirements to form a Government-type faction.
  • Asteroid field planets do not contribute to sector control.