Structs Planets & Fleet

Your planet is your base (ore, struct slots, infrastructure) and your fleet is your mobile force (the Command Ship plus combat structs). You own exactly one planet at a time, and your fleet's position — onStation (home) vs away — gates almost everything: building, mining, raiding, and whether you can explore. This skill is about where you operate; production happens on the planet (structs-production) and combat happens with the fleet (structs-combat).

Conventions (TX_FLAGS, -- rule, charge bar, one-tx-at-a-time) come from conventions.md.

When to use it

• Brand-new player who needs a first planet.
• Current planet is running low / depleted (currentOre near 0).
• You want to move the fleet (raid staging, repositioning, recall).
• Deciding fleet composition (which combat structs, which ambits).
• Evacuating before a forced planet loss.

Decisions

Beginner default: Explore once at creation, mine it out, then explore again when currentOre == 0. Keep the fleet onStation while you build and mine — you only send it away to raid. All planets start identical (5 ore, 4 slots/ambit), so for your first few planets there's nothing to "shop for."

Should I explore now? (the one-planet model) You can only hold one planet. Exploring a subsequent planet destroys your current one — every struct on it is gone and visiting fleets scatter. So subsequent-explore is a Tier 2, deliberate act, only after currentOre == 0 and after you've moved anything you want to keep into the fleet.

Fleet position is a raid trade-off: away lets you raid but means you cannot build, mine, refine, or explore, and your home planet's shields are vulnerable (the Command Ship only defends home while the fleet is onStation). onStation is your default safe posture. Don't leave the fleet parked in hostile space — it can be stranded.

Advanced considerations:

• Fleet composition = ambit coverage. Each combat struct is locked to its ambit; only the Command Ship can change ambits. Build a spread that can both threaten and defend across space/air/land/water. See the threat matrix in structs-combat.
• Fleet position drives your shields. Your Command Ship defends your home planet's shields only while your fleet is onStation. The moment your fleet goes away — including when you send it off to raid — your planet's shields are vulnerable and it can be raided, even with the Command Ship online. So offense and home defense compete for the same fleet: plan to refine stored ore before you leave, and keep raids short.
• Decisions live in playbooks/phases/mid-game (when to expand) and playbooks/situations/under-attack (evacuation).

Fleet status cheat-sheet

Fleet movement is instant (one transaction, no transit time). Fleets stay away until you explicitly move them home, the Command Ship is destroyed (auto-return), or the target planet completes. Fleet ID = 9-N for player 1-N.

Procedure

Explore (first time — brand-new player, Tier 0 routine)

No prior planet, so the ore/fleet checks are skipped. The CLI prompts; accept.

structsd tx structs planet-explore TX_FLAGS -- [player-id] [name]

Optional [name] sets the planet's display name at creation (validated like MsgPlanetUpdateName; omit for the default). New planet: 5 ore, 4 slots per ambit, fleet lands there.

Explore (subsequent — Tier 2, destroys old planet)

1. Verify depletion — structsd query structs planet [id] shows currentOre == 0.
2. Recall the fleet home if it's away, and confirm onStation:

   structsd tx structs fleet-move TX_FLAGS -- [fleet-id] [current-planet-id]
   

3. Evacuate anything worth keeping into the fleet (struct-move, Command Ship only is movable; other structs on the planet are lost).
4. Approval Block — currentOre == 0; fleet onStation; everything you care about moved or accepted as lost; you understand this is irreversible.
5. Explore (default to interactive so the CLI prompt is your last gate):

   structsd tx structs planet-explore TX_FLAGS -- [player-id] [name]
   

Move the fleet (reposition / recall / stage a raid)

Verify the destination first — moving to unscouted or hostile space can strand you. A foreign planet holds at most one visiting fleet by default (1 + locationListExtra, extra starts at 0). A move onto a full queue is rejected (queue_full). The owner's home fleet does not consume a slot.

structsd tx structs fleet-move TX_FLAGS -- [fleet-id] [destination-location-id]

Chart / evaluate

structsd query structs planet [id]
structsd query structs grid [id]
structsd query structs planet-attribute [planet-id] [attribute-type]

Commands reference

TX_FLAGS per conventions.md. Subsequent planet-explore is destructive — keep it interactive.

Requires: structsd on PATH and a configured signing key.

Verification

• New planet shows currentOre = 5, maxOre = 5.
• planet-all-by-player reflects the new planet.
• query fleet shows the expected location and onStation/away.

Errors

• "planet not complete" — deplete ore to 0 before exploring.
• "fleet must be onStation to explore" — recall the fleet home first; the chain blocks explore until it has actually returned (new players don't hit this).
• "fleet away" — wait for return or move it explicitly.
• "invalid destination" — use a valid location ID; query grid for options.

See also

• knowledge/mechanics/planet — planet lifecycle, depletion, raid vulnerability
• knowledge/mechanics/fleet — status, movement, Command Ship rules
• playbooks/phases/mid-game — when to expand; playbooks/situations/under-attack — evacuation
• structs-production — mining the planet; structs-combat — fleet offense/defense