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Resource Types

This page explores the candidate set of core resources and how they connect to stellar objects.

It does not describe final game behavior. It captures the current direction and unresolved questions.

Goal

The goal is a resource set that creates meaningful strategic differences between regions and territories without overwhelming players with too many minor materials.

Core Problem

Too few resource types makes territory interchangeable. Too many makes the economy unreadable.

The right range for an interstellar MMO is probably 15 to 18 core types. That is enough to create real production bottlenecks and regional specialization while keeping the economy understandable.

Guiding Principles

Resources belong to stellar objects, not systems

Each stellar object defines what it can produce.

A solar system's economic identity is derived from the objects inside it, not from a system-level label.

Three rough layers

Resources group into three layers by strategic importance:

  • Bulk — used in large quantities for basic infrastructure and early expansion
  • Industrial — used for advanced manufacturing, fleet construction, and military infrastructure
  • Exotic — used for top-tier technology, major strategic constructs, and late-game progression

Candidate Resource Set

Bulk Development Resources

Structural Materials

Bulk metals, ceramics, composites, and general construction mass.

Used for: basic sectors such as buildings and stations, ship hulls, orbital defenses.

Typical sources: rocky planets, asteroid belts, shattered moons, debris fields.

Silicates

Mineral-rich silicate matter for fabrication, insulation, and industrial ceramics.

Used for: construction subcomponents, industrial sectors, defensive installations.

Typical sources: rocky planets, barren moons, common asteroid fields.

Organics

Biological mass, nutrients, pharmaceuticals, cultured biomass, and life-support inputs.

Used for: colony growth, population support, medical production, long-range fleet provisioning.

Typical sources: habitable planets, ocean worlds, biosphere worlds, special anomalies.

Carbon Chains

Hydrocarbons, carbon-rich compounds, and chemical feedstocks.

Used for: polymers, synthetic materials, missile propellants, chemical sectors.

Typical sources: organic-rich worlds, hydrocarbon seas, cometary bodies.

Volatiles

Useful gases, ices, solvents, and reaction feedstocks.

Used for: fuel processing, chemical industry, colony support, propellant production.

Typical sources: gas giants, ice worlds, comet fields.

Fusion Fuels

Isotopic fuels for large-scale energy and ship propulsion.

Used for: fleet fuel, reactor operations, industrial energy supply, long-range logistics.

Typical sources: gas giants, stellar harvesting, ice-rich systems.

Strategic Industrial Resources

Industrial Alloys

Refined heavy industrial feedstocks where ordinary construction mass is not sufficient.

Used for: armored hull sections, heavy ship frames, hardened constructs, fortified sectors.

Typical sources: ultra-dense rocky planets, metal-rich moons, deep-core mining worlds.

Conductive Metals

Dense machine-grade conductors for electronics, weapons, and machinery.

Used for: power grids, weapons, engines, industrial machinery.

Typical sources: metallic planets, dense asteroid belts, high-metal moons.

Crystal Lattices

Crystalline materials for optics, sensors, computing substrates, and precision systems.

Used for: sensors, shield systems, targeting hardware, advanced data systems.

Typical sources: crystal worlds, high-pressure planets, certain asteroid compositions.

Noble Gases

Rare inert gases for plasma handling and advanced cooling.

Used for: plasma containment, advanced reactors, precision industry, high-end propulsion.

Typical sources: gas giants, frozen outer worlds, unusual atmospheric planets.

Rare Catalysts

Scarce high-value materials that improve advanced manufacturing and cutting-edge systems.

Used for: advanced ship components, elite sectors, high-efficiency production.

Typical sources: rare planetary veins, unusual nebula systems, remnant precursor sites.

Fissile Isotopes

Radioactive heavy materials for reactors, weapons, and advanced industrial processes.

Used for: heavy power generation, strategic weapons, specialized fleet systems.

Typical sources: irradiated worlds, neutron-exposed systems, rare deep-core mining sites.

Exotic and Rare Resources

Superconductive Substrates

Exotic conductive materials for high-efficiency power transfer and advanced field systems.

Used for: shield grids, advanced reactors, sensor arrays, high-end fleet systems.

Typical sources: extreme pressure worlds, magnetically unusual moons, crystalline anomalies.

Exotic Matter

Very rare materials needed for top-end technology and major strategic infrastructure.

Used for: jump systems, high-end star bases, advanced fleet drives, late-game constructs.

Typical sources: black hole systems, neutron stars, wormhole anomalies, ancient megastructure remnants.

Gravitic Residue

Unstable gravity-linked material signatures useful in rare strategic technologies.

Used for: navigation infrastructure, long-range transit systems, singularity-adjacent constructs.

Typical sources: black holes, pulsars, deep anomaly wells, collapsed precursor transit nodes.

Regional Identity Through Object Mix

Because resources follow stellar objects, different regions naturally develop distinct economic identities.

Examples:

  • a region rich in gas giants becomes a fuel and logistics hub
  • a region dense with asteroid belts and metallic planets becomes a shipbuilding region
  • a frontier region near neutron stars becomes dangerous but rich in rare resources
  • a region dominated by habitable planets becomes a population, colony, and organics hub

No central authority assigns these roles. They emerge from the stellar objects the game generates.

Open Questions

  • Should Organics function as a true resource, or should population support work through a separate system?
  • Should Fusion Fuels and Volatiles stay separate, or be merged into one category?
  • Should Exotic Matter appear from the start of the game, or arrive only with later content unlocks?
  • Should some resources require refining or processing before they can be used, or do they go directly into production chains?
  • Should quality and condition tags — stable, volatile, pure, hazardous — matter in the first implementation?
  • Should all resources be visible to all players, or should prospecting and scouting be needed to reveal deposits?