🌍 Terrain: streamed elevations

Elevation data is no longer bundled into the build: it is downloaded on the fly from a web server, tile by tile.

• Resolution increased from 2 km to 700 m
• Preloading over ~8 chunks, adjustable based on vehicle speed
• 128 MB local rolling cache (the oldest tiles get evicted)
• Behind the player, tiles fall back to a lower LOD
• Result: ~2× faster than before, less disk I/O, and above all much lighter client builds

On the server side, each planet now lives in its own reference frame: collisions are only computed around characters, and the old large-distance issues are gone. The high-speed train case still needs testing (more of a physics matter than a loading one).

🚚 T1 engine & vehicles

• New doc from Jaran with a spreadsheet (electric power + torque) per vehicle type
• The small truck tops out at ~100 km/h, which may be too fast for a loaded vehicle. Top speed doesn't change between empty and loaded — only acceleration and the maximum climbable slope vary
• We'll test with the current values and fine-tune afterwards
• Vehicle elevator: testing in progress, 3D model expected this week
• Signs: 3D models started

⛏️ Mining: rock density

Corundum is 2× heavier than granite (~4 t/m³), and with gold inside the numbers climb very high → we end up with tiny pebbles (a dozen at most in the truck).

➡️ Chosen approach: divide all densities by a global factor to keep the proportions between materials while making transport playable. The factor still needs testing. The volume limit (1 m) prevents styrofoam-like rocks on low-gravity bodies.

🔁 MVP gameplay loop

Mining → drop-off/crusher at the village → sellable crates at the NPC → transport to the city (refinery) → final crate.

• Debate about the crusher's purpose: it has to bring something to the table. Options: keep the ore + ~20% waste rock, or separate the resources. Going straight to the city should be impossible or unprofitable
• Crushers remain placeholders for the MVP
• The NPC resells the crates → a player can start their loop at the transport step

🗺️ Planet & Planet Tech

• Palaka-Pital will be moved closer (it was 140 km away), with the city + 4 villages relocated nearby
• A 45–50 km highway between the city and the Capital Palace (~25 min at 100 km/h) to test roads and travel times
• Planet Tech: material regions first, then POIs, volcanoes, fumaroles, lava lakes and rivers, cliffs, quarry pits
• Bridges and tunnels generated automatically based on a max slope defined on roads (4 roads = already 200 auto-generated bridges 😅)
• Color of the Palaka-Pital plateau: leaning towards dark grey / flint blue-grey for contrast (right-hand side of the image). Proposals and vote to come

💰 Economy

Symbolic for the MVP: a simple credit counter in the HUD, no history, no balancing. The player service (identity, wallet) is in progress on Tiger's side.