Cold Start
MARQUEE
▶ Insert coin. DOCKMASTER's already talking to you.
Register and you're airborne before the loading bar means anything — a cool handle mints itself, no form, no waiting on you. First-run pilots skip the chart tour and the coach stack for a straight vector dive into ORION, and DOCKMASTER's on the radio inside seconds: come about, face PIP, that's flight. Didn't love the handle we picked? Settings fixes that. And INVITE finally hands out a real link, not a promise.
REF · #599 · #602 · #603 · #605 · #606 · #607 · #608
NEW
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A cool handle mints itself. Register and you're already named — no Onboarding gate, no typing a handle before you're allowed to fly. Didn't love what we picked? Settings fixes that any time.
· #602 #605 #606 -
Straight into the cockpit. First-run pilots skip the chart tour and the multi-step HUD coach for a hard vector dive right into ORION — stick's live the moment the field takes you.
· #607 -
INVITE hands out a real link now. Copy one off the chart or the pause screen and a second pilot lands attributed to you — no rewards, no streaks, just a link worth sharing.
· #603 #608
STATION
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STATION replaces the old pause-menu limbo. A proper vector instrument panel: MAIN GALAXY CHART, KEEP FLYING {galaxy}, INVITE, GIVE FEEDBACK. WALK AWAY is gone — nobody needs a logout button mid-flight.
· #618 #619 #620 #623 -
Settings moved to the chart. UI scale and handle rename left the pause screen for good — they live on Emberline now, where the rest of your pilot identity does.
· #622
ORION COMMITTEE
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PIP actually leads now. No more hovering on your hull waiting for you to catch up — PIP peels off ahead and you follow, the way instructing was supposed to work.
· #625 #629 -
BULLSEYE hails you by name. Turns to face you, walks you through the spacebar, and calls out every shot — then hands you back to DOCKMASTER once you've landed three.
· #630 -
DOCKMASTER calls you home, seals it, then points you out. Clearance lands, a beat of quiet to let it sit, then the line that matters: press ESC, MAIN GALAXY CHART is first on the board. Graduated pilots don't get retrained — DOCKMASTER just talks like a pilot who already knows you.
· #619 #631 -
Your own ship finally says (you). Handle and a small (you) sit under your hull — visible only to you, so a crowded sector never leaves you guessing which ship is yours.
· #634 #636 -
Mission checklist reads clean. Numbered steps instead of squares, strikethrough when you finish one, titles a fifth bigger, more air between rows, and a one-line summary under MISSION so you remember what you're doing out here.
· #635 #637
FIXES
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The committee has names again. DOCKMASTER, PIP, and BULLSEYE were showing up as anonymous ship types instead of themselves — a nameplate wiring bug, now fixed.
· #628
PILOT'S NOTE
Every pilot who’s ever sat through a name-picker screen before getting to fly knows the tax. Gone — register with Google or a password and a handle mints itself, no form, no Onboarding gate (#602, #605). First-run pilots skip the chart tour and the coach stack too: a hard vector dive drops you straight into ORION, stick live the second the field takes you (#607). DOCKMASTER’s on the radio within seconds — come about, face PIP, that’s flight. Didn’t love the handle we picked? Settings fixes it (#606). And INVITE finally hands out something real: a clipboard link, not a promise (#603, #608).
Graduate ORION and DOCKMASTER used to just let you go. Now there’s a beat of quiet after Clearance, then the line that matters: press ESC, MAIN GALAXY CHART is first on the board (#619, #631). ESC used to drop you into pause-menu limbo — it’s STATION now, a proper vector instrument panel with MAIN GALAXY CHART, KEEP FLYING {galaxy}, INVITE, and GIVE FEEDBACK. WALK AWAY is dead; nobody needs a logout button mid-flight (#618, #620, #623). UI scale and handle rename moved off that panel entirely — they live on the chart now (#622).
The rest of the committee got the same pass. PIP stopped hovering on your hull and started actually leading — peel off, follow, the way instructing should’ve worked from day one (#629). BULLSEYE turns to face you, walks you through the spacebar, calls your shots, and hands you back to DOCKMASTER once you’ve landed three (#630). None of it re-runs after you’ve graduated — the committee talks to returning pilots like pilots, not like rookies (#631). Two long-standing rough edges are also gone: DOCKMASTER, PIP, and BULLSEYE finally show their own names instead of reading as anonymous ship types (#628), and your own ship carries your handle plus a small (you) underneath it, visible only to you (#636). The mission checklist got the polish pass it’s been owed — numbered steps, strikethrough, bigger titles, more room, one line of summary so you remember why you’re out here (#635, #637).
— Ray