Black Hole
An extreme gravitational object at the center of an orbital system. No habitable zone. No conventional extraction. A black hole system is high-risk and currently carries no economic value, but is reserved for future exotic resource mechanics.
Layer
Center. Replaces the star as the system's gravitational anchor.
Goal
Establish black hole systems as rare, visually distinct locations that signal danger and future high-value potential without requiring any mechanics to be implemented now.
Core Problem
Black hole systems should feel meaningfully different from star systems — not just cosmetically. But building out exotic extraction, radiation hazards, or navigation risk mechanics before the core economy works is premature. The type needs to exist in the model without demanding mechanics it doesn't yet support.
Working Directions
No Conventional Extraction
Black holes do not support surface or orbital extraction in any conventional sense. Holdings cannot be established on a stellar object orbiting a black hole in the initial implementation. The system may still contain orbiting bodies — planets, debris fields, accretion disk remnants — but whether those bodies can be developed is deferred.
Future Exotic Resource Potential
Black hole systems are natural candidates for exotic and late-game resources: Exotic Matter, Gravitic Residue, and similar materials from resource-types.md. The rationale is that proximity to extreme gravitational conditions produces materials that cannot occur elsewhere.
This is explicitly a future mechanic. The type is defined now so world generation can place black hole systems at creation time, and they will be waiting when the game is ready for them.
High Risk, High Reward Profile
When black hole mechanics are eventually implemented, the design direction is: these systems are dangerous to enter, difficult to hold, and uniquely valuable. They should never become routine economic territory.
Minimal Test Set
Not included. Black hole systems will be generated but have no gameplay function in the initial build.
Open Questions
- Should black hole systems be reachable by players in the initial build, or gated behind a technology or progression requirement?
- What orbiting body types are valid around a black hole — can planets exist, or only debris fields and accretion remnants?
- Should proximity to a black hole impose any penalty on fleet operations or sector performance, even before full mechanics are implemented?