aurora-4x game sourced
Aurora 4X
A free space 4X simulation by a single developer in which the player runs an interstellar empire through ship design from components, mineral mining, sensor-based detection, missile and beam combat, and named officers, with time advanced in steps from seconds to days.
core loop
survey bodies and jump points -> mine Trans-Newtonian minerals and build installations -> research components -> design ship classes -> build fleets and assign officers -> detect and fight with sensors, missiles, and beams -> colonize and expand
design notes
Aurora began as a helper program for the Starfire board wargame and grew into a standalone simulation with no fixed goals. It exposes almost every subsystem as windows of numbers, from mineral accessibility to officer bonuses and ship maintenance. Time advances in player-chosen steps from 5 seconds to 30 days, so the same engine resolves both strategic expansion and individual missile salvos. The Visual Basic 6 original was superseded by a C# rewrite released in 2020.
relations
13 stored edgesDeposit depletion
Eleven Trans-Newtonian Elements sit in finite deposits on planets and asteroids, each with an accessibility rating from 0.1 to 1 that scales mining output; all construction consumes them.
Fog of war
Jump points and mineral deposits stay unknown until gravitational and geological survey sensors sweep each body or survey point, and other ships are known only within sensor detection range.
Modular assembly
Ship classes are designed from researched components (engines, sensors, weapons, armor), and the player sets armor, speed, and range per class; weapons and sensors must themselves be researched and designed first.
Agent skills
Scientists, administrators, naval officers, and ground commanders gain bonuses and improve over time.
Treasury and budget
Wealth comes from taxes and exports and is spent on construction, research, and maintenance.
Habitat suitability
Colony cost depends on a world's gravity, atmosphere, and temperature.
Real-world data feeds
Star systems can be built from real star data instead of generated at random.
Turn structure
The player chooses each time increment, from 5 seconds to 30 days, and the engine resolves movement, detection, combat, and production for it.