How A Town Advances
Towns are the backbone of the first season. A group starts with a chartered claim, builds civic projects, wins or survives Meteor Falls, and turns rare materials into larger protected borders.
- Level 1 is a working claim with a small protected radius and a clear place to start.
- Higher levels require Star Iron, Meteor Hearts, Warden materials, and profession outputs.
- Civic projects count as both unlocks and proof that the town has built the supporting infrastructure.
- The live map shows each town level, score, border radius, structures, and corruption pressure.
- Kingdom Charter towns can create alliances, set diplomacy, and call multi-town raids.
Practical Priorities
A new town should build the Frontier Forge first, then a Survey Board, then enough profession stations to make project materials without waiting on one player.
- Current release posture is an alpha vertical slice, approximately 70-75% closed-friends beta playable and 45-55% public beta readiness, with remaining validation around combat/client and social-system scale.
- Keep Star Iron Ingots for level requirements until Forgehold is secured.
- Spend early profession outputs on Survey Board, Warded Lanterns, and Forge Bellows before prestige projects.
- Save Meteor Core, Warden Sigil, and Rally Charge for late town levels.
- Remaining high-risk work includes boss readability/hitbox/healthbar tuning, corruption spread and cleanse defense, station structure identity/verticality across all stations, placed custom block identity beyond core blocks, two-town route/trade flow, and a complete fresh two-player walkthrough from join through town upgrade without admin rescue.
- Full readiness tracking details are in docs/goal_progress.md.
Map Reading Notes
Treat the live map as the town ledger. A healthy town should show a stable radius, visible structures, and low corruption pressure before it spends rare drops on the next level.
- Compare the town's next required materials against shared storage before announcing a level push.
- If a nearby danger site is active, pause border expansion and clear the pressure first.
- Use project effects as a planning checklist; every upgrade should answer a current town bottleneck.
Practical Checklist
- Open the live map and verify town level, score, radius, structures, and corruption pressure.
- Reserve Star Iron Ingots and Meteor Hearts before players craft luxury gear.
- Queue the next civic project only after its required station outputs are covered.
Level Table
| Level | Name | Radius | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camp | 48 | no requirements |
| 2 | Forgehold | 72 | 8 Star Iron Ingot, 1 Meteor Heart, 1 Wardens Cinder, 24 Minecraft:iron Ingot, 24 Minecraft:coal |
| 3 | Lantern Ward | 96 | 24 Star Iron Ingot, 2 Meteor Heart, 8 Arcane Ingot, 6 Astral Thread, 2 Ward Fuel |
| 4 | Market Crossroads | 120 | 40 Star Iron Ingot, 3 Meteor Heart, 1 Town Charter, 2 Survey Report, 2 Trade Order, 6 Arcane Ingot |
| 5 | Astral Beacon | 144 | 64 Star Iron Ingot, 4 Meteor Heart, 1 Meteor Core, 1 Beacon Charge, 24 Arcane Ingot |
| 6 | Kingdom Charter | 168 | 96 Star Iron Ingot, 6 Meteor Heart, 1 Meteor Core, 3 Town Charter, 1 Warden Sigil, 32 Arcane Ingot |
Civic Project Ledger
Frontier Forge
Tier 1
1 Portable Forge, 32 Minecraft:iron Ingot, 32 Minecraft:coal
- Unlocks the shared Forge menu for town members.
- Allows Blacksmith XP from town crafting orders.
Survey Board
Tier 1 - requires Frontier Forge
64 Minecraft:oak Planks, 4 Starfall Shard
- Unlocks claim tasks for new players.
- Shows nearby meteor activity on the town notice board.
Forge Bellows
Tier 2 - requires Frontier Forge
12 Star Iron Ingot, 2 Wardens Cinder, 1 Cinder Flask, 24 Minecraft:leather
- Reduces Star Iron recipe surcharge for town members.
- Unlocks Blacksmith work orders for Star Iron tools.
Warded Lanterns
Tier 2 - requires Survey Board
16 Minecraft:lantern, 8 Arcane Ingot, 6 Astral Thread, 2 Ward Foundation
- Reduces hostile spawns inside the town border.
- Adds a soft blue particle pulse to protected streets.
Market Crossroads
Tier 3 - requires Survey Board, Forge Bellows
1 Town Charter, 12 Minecraft:barrel, 24 Minecraft:emerald, 6 Arcane Ingot, 2 Trade Order
- Unlocks town trade orders and profession request boards.
- Opens the town market board, tax treasury, and fulfillment logistics.
Astral Beacon
Tier 3 - requires Warded Lanterns
1 Minecraft:beacon, 1 Meteor Core, 24 Arcane Ingot
- Broadcasts town buffs during meteor events.
- Unlocks server-wide boss rally announcements.
Guild Hall
Tier 4 - requires Market Crossroads, Astral Beacon
1 Warden Sigil, 18 Astral Thread, 2 Contract Bundle, 24 Minecraft:bookshelf, 4 Minecraft:emerald Block
- Unlocks profession specialization projects.
- Lets towns post weekly civic goals for all members.
Kingdom Charter
Tier 5 - requires Guild Hall
1 Meteor Core, 3 Town Charter, 48 Star Iron Ingot, 32 Arcane Ingot, 1 Rally Charge
- Unlocks /alliance creation, invites, and diplomacy stances.
- Marks the town as eligible for alliance raids with shared rewards and risks.