diff --git a/assets/images/vega/allocation.png b/assets/images/vega/allocation.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..761bf83
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/images/vega/allocation.png differ
diff --git a/assets/images/vega/allocation.psd b/assets/images/vega/allocation.psd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac9d922
Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/images/vega/allocation.psd differ
diff --git a/assets/music/vega/audience-ursaal.mp3 b/assets/music/vega/audience-ursaal.mp3
index 2c067b9..d640d05 100644
Binary files a/assets/music/vega/audience-ursaal.mp3 and b/assets/music/vega/audience-ursaal.mp3 differ
diff --git a/data/mastervega-artwork.json b/data/mastervega-artwork.json
index 875e454..ce44bca 100644
--- a/data/mastervega-artwork.json
+++ b/data/mastervega-artwork.json
@@ -317,6 +317,16 @@
       "cols": 10,
       "rows": 10,
       "_layout": "One frame per individual tech (techs[].iconFrame), 0-90 — the 60 original techs plus two MOO1-branching passes added later, in rules order. Split out of the combined tech sheet so field icons and tech icons can be painted/sized independently. 91-99 spare."
+    },
+    "allocation": {
+      "key": "vega-allocation",
+      "path": "assets/images/vega/allocation.png",
+      "kind": "icon",
+      "frameWidth": 48,
+      "frameHeight": 48,
+      "cols": 5,
+      "rows": 1,
+      "_layout": "One frame per allocation channel, in CHANNELS order (VegaLogic.js): 0 ships (Construction), 1 defense (Defence), 2 industry (Industry), 3 ecology (Ecology), 4 research (Research). Shown beside each slider label on the colony screen (VegaColonyView.js)."
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/games/mastervega/VegaColonyView.js b/src/games/mastervega/VegaColonyView.js
index 4f3ea75..2f88a7d 100644
--- a/src/games/mastervega/VegaColonyView.js
+++ b/src/games/mastervega/VegaColonyView.js
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ import { createShipMediaPool, makeShipIcon } from './VegaShipMedia.js';
 import { openShipDetail } from './VegaShipDetail.js';
 import { openLeaderDetail } from './VegaLeaderDetail.js';
 import { leaderOf } from './VegaLeaders.js';
-import { describeBuildingTooltip, describeLeaderTooltip } from './VegaTooltips.js';
+import { describeBuildingTooltip, describeLeaderTooltip, describeAllocationTooltip } from './VegaTooltips.js';
 import {
   CHANNELS, colonyMaxPop, colonyProduction, colonyFactoryCap, effectiveFactories,
   colonyDefenseCap, colonyTrade, colonyBuildRate, setSlider, enqueue, enqueueMany,
@@ -432,11 +432,18 @@ export function openColonyView(scene, rules, state, colony, art, opts = {}) {
       // renormalise (its `others.length === 0` early return), freezing the
       // allocation with no way back out. So the last one open cannot be shut.
       const lockable = locked || lockedCount < CHANNELS.length - 1;
-      const box = add(scene.add.rectangle(x + 11, y + 28, 22, 22,
-        locked ? 0x2a3550 : 0x16253c).setStrokeStyle(1, ACCENT, lockable ? 0.55 : 0.18));
-      add(scene.add.text(x + 11, y + 27, locked ? '■' : '□', {
-        fontFamily: FONT, fontSize: '15px', color: locked ? '#ffd88a' : (lockable ? '#8fa8c0' : '#3c4c60'),
-      }).setOrigin(0.5));
+      // The box itself is the lock toggle — its fill/border shows locked
+      // state, and the channel's icon sits inside it (in place of the old
+      // □/■ glyph) instead of getting its own separate column. Centred at
+      // y+19: the midpoint between the slider's label (top, ~y+10) and its
+      // track (y+28), so the icon reads as belonging to both.
+      const boxCx = x + 17;
+      const boxCy = y + 19;
+      const box = add(scene.add.rectangle(boxCx, boxCy, 34, 34,
+        locked ? 0x2a3550 : 0x16253c)
+        .setStrokeStyle(locked ? 3 : 2, CHANNEL_COLOUR[ch], lockable ? 0.85 : 0.18));
+      add(scene.add.image(boxCx, boxCy, art.allocation, i).setDisplaySize(26, 26)
+        .setTint(locked ? 0xffd88a : (lockable ? 0xe8f4ff : 0x445566)));
       if (lockable) {
         box.setInteractive({ useHandCursor: true });
         box.on('pointerup', () => {
@@ -446,7 +453,7 @@ export function openColonyView(scene, rules, state, colony, art, opts = {}) {
         });
       }
 
-      const s = slider(scene, x + 34, y, w - 34,
+      const s = slider(scene, x + 42, y, w - 42,
         rules.economy.channelNames[ch] ?? ch, colony.sliders[ch] ?? 0, (v) => {
           setSlider(rules, state, colony, ch, v);
           // setSlider renormalises everything else, so they all have to be
@@ -463,6 +470,7 @@ export function openColonyView(scene, rules, state, colony, art, opts = {}) {
           onChanged?.();
         }, CHANNEL_COLOUR[ch]);
       panelLayer.add(s.container);
+      tooltip.attachTo(s.zone, () => describeAllocationTooltip(rules, state, colony, ch));
       sliders.push(s);
       y += 56;
     });
diff --git a/src/games/mastervega/VegaScreens.js b/src/games/mastervega/VegaScreens.js
index ae5fe48..112db4f 100644
--- a/src/games/mastervega/VegaScreens.js
+++ b/src/games/mastervega/VegaScreens.js
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ export function slider(scene, x, y, w, label, value, onChange, colour = ACCENT)
 
   return {
     container: c,
+    zone, // exposed so callers can tooltip.attachTo(s.zone, ...)
     setValue(v) {
       fill.width = w * v;
       knob.x = w * v;
diff --git a/src/games/mastervega/VegaTooltips.js b/src/games/mastervega/VegaTooltips.js
index 1d2f6a7..b5f9327 100644
--- a/src/games/mastervega/VegaTooltips.js
+++ b/src/games/mastervega/VegaTooltips.js
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@
 // component; these functions only build the {title, lines} content it wants.
 
 import { COLORS } from '../../config.js';
-import { coloniesAt, habitableForEmpire } from './VegaLogic.js';
+import {
+  coloniesAt, habitableForEmpire, colonyProduction, colonyFactoryCap,
+  effectiveFactories, colonyDefenseCap,
+} from './VegaLogic.js';
 import { techCost, techCostFactor } from './VegaRules.js';
 import { leaderSkillSummary } from './VegaLeaders.js';
 
@@ -109,6 +112,49 @@ export function describeBuildingTooltip(rules, buildingId) {
   };
 }
 
+// Hover tooltip for one of the colony screen's five allocation sliders
+// (VegaColonyView.js). Explains what that channel spends its share of
+// production on and what the MOO1-style spillover (VegaLogic.js's
+// processColony) does with any of it the channel can't use.
+export function describeAllocationTooltip(rules, state, colony, ch) {
+  const label = rules.economy.channelNames[ch] ?? ch;
+  const prod = colonyProduction(rules, state, colony);
+  const share = prod * (colony.sliders[ch] ?? 0);
+  const lines = [{ text: `${share.toFixed(1)} BC/turn from this channel`, color: COLORS.goldHex }];
+
+  switch (ch) {
+    case 'ships':
+      lines.push({ text: 'Pays for whatever is at the front of the build queue — ships and buildings, in order.' });
+      lines.push({ text: 'Once the queue is empty, this overflows into Research instead of going to waste.', color: COLORS.mutedHex });
+      break;
+    case 'defense': {
+      const cap = colonyDefenseCap(rules, state, colony);
+      lines.push({ text: `Raises planetary defences (${Math.round(colony.defenseHp)} / ${cap}), capped by your defence tech.` });
+      lines.push({ text: 'Once defences are maxed, this overflows into Construction instead of going to waste.', color: COLORS.mutedHex });
+      break;
+    }
+    case 'industry': {
+      const cap = colonyFactoryCap(rules, state, colony);
+      const effF = effectiveFactories(rules, state, colony);
+      lines.push({ text: `Builds factories (${Math.floor(effF)} / ${cap} staffed), which raise this colony's production every turn.` });
+      lines.push({ text: 'Once factories are maxed, this overflows into Construction instead of going to waste.', color: COLORS.mutedHex });
+      break;
+    }
+    case 'ecology':
+      lines.push({ text: `Cleans industrial waste (backlog ${colony.waste.toFixed(1)}), which otherwise caps this colony's population.` });
+      lines.push({ text: 'Mandatory — a shortfall is drawn from the other four channels automatically. Any surplus overflows into Research.', color: COLORS.mutedHex });
+      break;
+    case 'research':
+      lines.push({ text: "Funds tech research toward your empire's research queue." });
+      lines.push({ text: 'Also absorbs unused overflow from Ecology and Construction, so it is rarely wasted.', color: COLORS.mutedHex });
+      break;
+    default:
+      break;
+  }
+
+  return { title: label, titleColor: COLORS.goldHex, lines };
+}
+
 // Hover tooltip for a colony's posted administrator, shown beside the
 // building icon row. `leader` is the rules leader def (name/bio/skills).
 export function describeLeaderTooltip(leader) {
diff --git a/src/games/mastervega/sprites.md b/src/games/mastervega/sprites.md
index 8f12500..ef0b3c3 100644
--- a/src/games/mastervega/sprites.md
+++ b/src/games/mastervega/sprites.md
@@ -333,8 +333,53 @@ story page.
 
 ## 8. Menu icon — ✅ `assets/images/game-icons.png` frame **92**
 
-The shared 660 × 660 sheet, 44 × 44 cells, 15 per row. Frame 92 is row 6,
-column 2 → pixel origin **(88, 264)**. **Painted.**
+Not part of any Vega sheet — this is the small tile icon shown for *Master of
+Vega* on the main game-selection screen's `arcade-console-pc` category list,
+i.e. outside the game itself, the thing you click to launch it. The sheet is
+shared by **every game in the app**, one frame each, claimed via `iconFrame`
+in `src/data/gamesRegistry.js` (`registerGame({ slug: 'mastervega', ...,
+iconFrame: 92 })`). Editing frame 92 only touches Vega's tile; the sheet
+itself is common infrastructure, not Vega's to redesign.
+
+660 × 660 total, 44 × 44 cells, 15 per row. Frame 92 is row 6, column 2 →
+pixel origin **(88, 264)**. **Painted — nothing to do here.**
+
+---
+
+## 9. `allocation` — ✅ `assets/images/vega/allocation.png`
+
+| | |
+|---|---|
+| Sheet size | **240 × 48** |
+| Frame | **48 × 48** |
+| Grid | 5 cols × 1 row = 5 frames |
+
+One frame per allocation channel, in `CHANNELS` order (`VegaLogic.js`) — the
+same five sliders on the colony screen (`VegaColonyView.js`), each of which
+also carries a hover tooltip explaining what it does
+(`describeAllocationTooltip` in `VegaTooltips.js`):
+
+| Frame | Channel id | UI label | Icon idea |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| 0 | `ships` | Construction | Shipyard gantry or a hull under construction — feeds the build queue |
+| 1 | `defense` | Defence | Shield or planetary turret — raises defence batteries |
+| 2 | `industry` | Industry | Factory or gear — builds factories |
+| 3 | `ecology` | Ecology | Leaf or recycling arrows — cleans waste |
+| 4 | `research` | Research | Flask or atom — funds tech |
+
+Shown at 26px, inside each slider's 34px lock toggle box — replacing the old
+□/■ text glyph, not sitting in a separate column. The box sits vertically
+centred between the slider's label and its track, so the icon reads as
+belonging to both. Tinted gold when that channel is locked, near-white when
+unlockable, and dim grey on the one channel that can't be locked (the last
+one open); the box's stroke is that channel's own bar colour
+(`CHANNEL_COLOUR` in `VegaColonyView.js` — e.g. Construction blue, Defence
+red), thicker when locked. Declared in `data/mastervega-artwork.json`'s
+`sheets.allocation` (`"kind": "icon"`, same pattern as
+`buildings`/`techfields`); drawn by `VegaColonyView.js`'s slider loop as
+`art.allocation` frame `i` (the same index the loop already walks `CHANNELS`
+with), on top of the same rectangle that already handles the lock/unlock
+click.
 
 ---