Conquest

The Conquest system, a core part of Gangs of Space, is the framework within which players and gangs compete with each other for glory and unique Skin parts. It has four main levels: systems, sectors, zones, and galaxies.

Systems
Systems are the maps within which the majority of gameplay occurs. They contain a group of sectors which must all be conquered in order to conquer the system. Once a system is conquered, it disappears after 3 minutes, warping any remaining players to a random Motherbase.

System parameters, such as enemy level and Conquest Point value, are determined by their tier. The following system tiers do not award Conquest Points and are conquered immediately upon the conquest of all sectors:
 * T1 systems, recommended for players using level 1-4 ships, contain level 1-4 sectors. Only smaller enemies appear in these systems - however, those that do appear are much larger than usual.
 * T2 systems, recommended for players using level 5-8 ships, contain level 5-8 sectors. All but the most dangerous enemies appear in these systems with a somewhat larger size than normal.
 * T3 systems, recommended for players using level 9 ships and poorly-equipped level 10 ships, contain level 9-11 sectors. All enemies appear in these systems, but the most dangerous deviants are forbidden from appearing.

The following system tiers enable the Greed system, spawn a boss upon the conquest of all sectors, award Conquest Points upon the boss's defeat, and are recommended for players using well-equipped level 10 ships:
 * T4 systems, considered to be of Normal difficulty, contain level 12-14 sectors and are worth 5000 Conquest Points.
 * T5 systems, considered to be of Hard difficulty, contain level 15-17 sectors and are worth 7500 Conquest Points.
 * T6 systems, considered to be of Very Hard difficulty, contain level 18-20 sectors and are worth 10,000 Conquest Points.

Once a T4-6 system's boss is defeated, the system is conquered and Conquest Points are awarded to all gangs with conquered sectors based on the percentage of the system conquered by each gang (example: a gang that conquered 10% of a T4 system would receive 500 Conquest Points). Additionally, the top 3 gangs receive a Conquest Point bonus equal to 30%/20%/10% of their original reward for 1st/2nd/3rd place, respectively (example: for a T4 system conquered by 3 gangs taking 40%, 35% and 25% of the system respectively, the 1st-place gang would receive 2000 + 600 = 2600 CP, the 2nd-place gang would receive 1750 + 350 = 2100 CP, and the 3rd-place gang would receive 1250 + 125 = 1375 CP).

Sectors
Sectors are the regions within systems with procedurally-generated shapes. They contain several zones which must all be captured in order to conquer the sector.

Each sector is assigned an enemy level, a set of enemy spawn groups, and a bonus or malus which is applied by all zones within it. Low-level sectors are located near the system's entry point, high-level sectors are located opposite the system's entry point, and mid-level sectors are located in the middle so that they provide a gradual transition from low-level sectors to high-level sectors.

Capturing zones within a sector reserves Sector Points for all contributors based on the Sector Point value of the zone (which in turn is based on the zone's size and the system tier), each contributor's share of the zone's capture, and their conquest reward bonus from Greed levels (where applicable). A contributor's reserved Sector Points are not tracked forever - if too much time passes since the last contribution to a zone capture in the sector, the player's reserved Sector Points are forfeited and cannot be recovered.

Once all zones in a sector have been captured, the sector is conquered and reserved Sector Points are awarded to all players which contributed to the sector's conquest. Additionally, the top 3 contributors receive a Sector Point bonus equal to 30%/20%/10% of their reserved Sector Point reward for 1st/2nd/3rd place, respectively. If none of the players who contributed toward the sector's conquest are part of a gang, the sector is conquered by the Empire and does not count toward any gang's conquered sectors; otherwise, the sector is conquered by the gang with the most SP (regardless of whether it was earned by one person or by a group of people) and counts toward that gang's conquered sectors.

Zones
Zones are the diagonally-striped shapes within sectors which must be captured in order to conquer sectors (and systems by extension). Entering a zone applies a bonus (green zones) or a malus (red zones) to the player's ship while it is inside the zone. The magnitude of the bonus or malus depends on the tier of the system in which the zone is located (system tiers for which a particular bonus/malus type never appears are marked with a "_" symbol).

Zone Notes
While at least one player ship is inside a zone, waves of enemies will spawn at regular intervals to harass those trying to capture the zone. Though the spawn groups are determined on a per-sector basis, each enemy type in the group has a chance of appearing as a deviant variant allowed by the system's tier; additionally, the entire spawn group has a chance to appear with up to three champion modifiers, increasing both their threat and their rewards.

Staying within a zone advances the player's capture progress for the zone at a certain rate which can only be increased by their conquest speed bonus from Greed levels (where applicable). The base time required to capture a zone depends purely on its size and the complexity of its shape. Straying outside the boundaries of the zone causes the player's share of capture progress to deplete rapidly until they re-enter the zone.

Once the sum of all contributing players' capture progresses (visualized in-game by a bright blue bar for the player's share and a dim blue bar for everyone else's share) fully fills the progress bar, the zone is captured, and Credits are awarded and Sector Points reserved for the zone's sector based on the system's tier, the zone's size and complexity of shape, the size of the player's share of zone capture progress, and their conquest reward bonus from Greed levels (where applicable). Reserved Sector Points are awarded once the zone's sector is conquered.

Galaxies
Galaxies are Gangs of Space's version of other games' PvP seasons. Each galaxy has an enemy type, a starting enemy population, and a set of three ladders associated with it:
 * The Top Grind ladder, called Grind Ladder in-game, ranks all players based on the amount of Sector Points collected while a particular galaxy is active. Once the galaxy is conquered, the top 10 players at the time of conquest are awarded unique titles (which can be applied on the Gangs of Space website) as well as rank-specific paints and polishes usable on Gemeter and Astrolax ships.
 * The Top Skill ladder, called Skill Ladder in-game, ranks all players based on the largest amount of Sector Points accumulated during a continuous 1-hour period while a particular galaxy is active. Once the galaxy is conquered, the top 10 players at the time of conquest are awarded unique titles (which can be applied on the Gangs of Space website).
 * The Top Gangs ladder, called Gang Ladder in-game, ranks all gangs based on the amount of Conquest Points collected while a particular galaxy is active. Once the galaxy is conquered, all current members of the top 10 gangs at the time of conquest are awarded unique titles (which can be applied on the Gangs of Space website) as well as rank-specific paints, polishes and propulsions usable on Gemeter ships (Skin parts usable on Astrolax ships are planned, but have not yet been released as of version Alpha 0.31.10).

A galaxy is active while its enemy population is above zero. The enemy population is reduced every time a T4-6 system is conquered by the amount of Conquest Points (including bonus Conquest Points for being in the top 3 gangs of the system) awarded to all gangs involved in the conquest. Once the enemy population is reduced to zero, the galaxy is conquered, the enemy population display shows "Exterminated" rather than a number and a percentage, and all ladders for the galaxy are permanently frozen.

The current galaxy's status and the top 10 positions of all three of the galaxy's ladders are displayed on the front page of the Gangs of Space website as well as within the game when Galaxy Conquest is clicked while parked in a Motherbase. The top 100 positions of each ladder, updated in real-time while their galaxy is active, are shown on separate pages on the Gangs of Space website, and summaries of the results of previous galaxy conquests can be found here (English site page).