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The Open Universe

An endless, procedurally generated sandbox mission for Artemis Cosmos - jump between star systems, trade and take work from rival clans, build (or burn) your reputation, negotiate or wage war, and seize space docks on a shifting frontier. The whole galaxy is grown from a single seed, so the same seed always produces the same stars, fields, and factions.

Think a bridge-crew take on Elite Dangerous and EVE Online, with the faction-and-reputation feel of Mount & Blade - wrapped in a Star Trek-style exploration skin. The galaxy reacts to who you are and what you've done, rather than walking you through a scripted story.

Playing it

Place the OpenUniverse folder in your Cosmos missions/ directory alongside the libraries it needs (the sbs_utils library and several LegendaryMissions addons - see story.json). Then pick Open Universe from the mission browser.

The loop:

  • Explore the galaxy map - scout systems before you jump, scroll the chart, jump to coordinates, or pick from your known locations.
  • Jump between systems on the Navigation console. Only the system you're in exists at any moment, so the universe is effectively limitless.
  • Trade & take jobs - station markets buy and sell; clans offer work drawn from their character and gated by your standing with them.
  • Build reputation - every captain earns a personal standing with each clan across seven traits. Do a clan's work and they warm to you; better standing unlocks better jobs and cheaper peace.
  • Diplomacy - negotiate a ceasefire, then propose an alliance once you've truly won a clan over.
  • Capture & hold - clear a foe clan's space dock and hold its space to take the station; clans mount counter-assaults to retake it.

Writing your own universe

The galaxy you play is authored, not programmed - its clans, jobs, story, regions, characters, and dialogue all live in one plain-text file that a science fiction writer can create without touching a line of code.

Start the writer's walkthrough - it builds a complete universe from a blank page, one idea at a time.