{ "_comment": "JUMP GATES — the galaxy's highway layer (js/galaxy/JumpNetwork.js for the network, js/galaxy/SystemGenerator.js → layoutGates for the in-system placement). NETWORK: every system holds between minGates and maxGates jump gates; every gate jumps to one of the system's `neighborPool` nearest stars on the 2-D map (the roster's x/y plane). The network is a degree-limited spanning tree of that neighbor graph (tree edges run BOTH ways) plus optional one-way `shortcuts` bought with the spare gate budget — so the directed graph is strongly connected (from any star you can reach any other: no closed systems, no trapped sets, no unreachable stars), every jump is to a nearby star, and no system ever holds more than maxGates gates. Single-gate systems (e.g. the barren ones) read as dead-end corridors — enter from a neighbor, exit through the gate — which is fine as long as they are connected to the main network, which strong connectivity guarantees. PLACEMENT (anchored systems): each gate sits within `anchorTetherLevel` tether range of an ANCHOR — a planet, a free-space station, or the home world in the starting system — EXACTLY that range from it (the radius comes from data/tether.json — level 1 = 5120 px), so the player can reach it on a starting tether from that world; the tether rule is hard by construction. Candidates are tried in facing quality (ray-circle intersection → circle point aimed at the star → ±75° scan) so each gate is on the target side of its anchor (within 90° of the system→star bearing) — the direction rule is soft, so a gate reads as 'facing that star' without the exact ray always being free. PLACEMENT (barren systems — no anchor, data/systems.json → objectCount.barren): the gate sits ON the ray from the star toward its destination, `barrenDistance` px from the star (stepped outward within the minRadius..maxRadius band if two gates would otherwise violate the gap), facing its destination. ACTIVITY: every gate record carries `active` (DEFAULT FALSE — the activation mechanic is future work). When a gate is activated, a level-1 tether (5120 px, data/tether.json) attaches to it: an active gate is a TETHER ANCHOR in its own right. In a barren system that tether is the player's entire room to move (the player arrives AT the gate); in an anchored system it simply adds another anchor circle. A gate keeps `size` + `clearance` (px, center-to-center) from any anchor disc, 2·size + `gateGap` from any other gate, and stays between `minRadius` and `maxRadius` from the star. size = the gate's keepout radius (px). shipClearance = the ship's keepout from the gate (the solid rule, like planets). theme.color = the HUD/compass color (an inactive gate renders dimmed). typeLabel = the discovery/compass label.", "enabled": true, "minGates": 1, "maxGates": 3, "neighborPool": 8, "shortcuts": true, "size": 96, "shipClearance": 50, "clearance": 256, "gateGap": 192, "minRadius": 2048, "maxRadius": 20480, "anchorTetherLevel": 1, "barrenDistance": 8192, "typeLabel": "Jump Gate", "theme": { "color": "#5fd4ff" }, "activation": { "_comment": "ACTIVATION (the SYSTEM research category — js/research/SystemCategory.js builds the per-system tree from this): '{system} Map' is granted the moment the player is in the system (duration 0 — 'starting'), and 'Unlock {system} Jumpgates' (researchDuration, in research.timeUnit seconds) becomes researchable once EVERY NAV point of the system is discovered (the central body, all planets, all space stations, all jump gates — the scene's discoverable set minus the asteroid clusters; data/game.json → discovery.distance). Completing it activates the system's gates AND the return gates in the systems they connect to — and per the ACTIVITY rule above, each activated gate anchors a level-`tetherLevel` tether at its own position (a TETHER ANCHOR in its own right; that tether saves/restores with the run's tether list). The label/description copy is templated: `{system}` is replaced with the system name.", "researchDuration": 45, "tetherLevel": 1, "mapTech": { "label": "{system} Map", "description": "Added the Solar System of {system} to the onboard NAV System. Discover all NAV points to unlock the system Jumpgates." }, "gatesTech": { "label": "Unlock {system} Jumpgates", "description": "With system NAV data complete, we have enough information to plot courses through this system's jumpgates." } }, "jump": { "_comment": "THE JUMP (GameScene.jumpThroughGate): a click on an ACTIVE gate transports the run to the connected system — the save pipeline in miniature (captureState → swap in the destination system + arrival position → prepareLoad → scene restart), so discovery/research/builds/minerals/playtime/activatedGates all carry over. ARRIVAL: the ship materialises near the destination's RETURN gate — the gate in the destination whose destination is the system just left (returnGateFor, js/galaxy/JumpTravel.js) — offset back along its facing (the gate faces the star we came from) by radius + shipClearance + ship radius + `arrivalGap`, i.e. just clear of its keepout, inside its activated-gate tether (per ACTIVITY above). One-way SHORTCUT jumps have no return gate (JumpNetwork: tree edges run both ways, shortcuts don't) — those land on the destination's star (its home-tether origin). A click on a DORMANT gate is a console note + the ordinary fly-here (the ship drifts up to the gate's rim). `enabled` is the feature switch; the toasts are templated ({dest}/{system}).", "enabled": true, "arrivalGap": 128, "jumpDelayMs": 420, "toast": "JUMP — {dest}", "dormantToast": "JUMP GATE DORMANT — CHART {system} TO ACTIVATE ITS JUMP GATES", "miningToast": "CANNOT JUMP WHILE MINING" } }