Civil Harbor & Public Transit
Public transit links your own worlds on one map. It is not a military haul and not trade. You do not build these ships in the shipyard, and you do not click them on the star map.
Why the lines run
From 7 worlds you own, one liner appears and starts on its own, even without a harbor. More appear at 15, 30, and 50 worlds. There are never more than five lines. The population panel asks for the same number.
While as many lines are actually running as the map requires, new citizens arrive and the factories keep their output. The moment a line stops, it stops counting: no fuel, you halted them all, or it was destroyed. Immigration stalls and production drops. Housing and the other needs are separate. You cannot switch transit off in the population panel.
Liners burn fuel from this map's warehouse, and only while they run. When none is left, they stop. You get one message. When fuel returns and you did not halt them, they start again.
They stay on this map. They do not take a gate. They do not count against your fleet limit.
What the harbor is for
The civil harbor is not what makes the liners appear. Without it, transit already runs. It does two things:
- Routes prefer harbors, then worlds with many buildings, and the rest at random. The liner calls at the worlds that matter, not just anywhere.
- The harbor is the only place you steer. The panel shows the rounds that are running and, if a ship was destroyed, when the replacement comes.
Recalculate all sets the lines moving again and picks new stops. Stop all halts them at once. They do not fly home, and they no longer count. They start again only when you recalculate, not by themselves.
A round has up to five stops and waits briefly at each. It does not end after a day. It runs until fuel, a halt, or an attack stops it.
One harbor per world. Several harbors on the map do not change how many liners you get. They change where the ships like to call.
When a liner is lost
The other lines keep flying. That slot returns after a pause, on a different route. A capped amount leaves this map's warehouse. You get a message when they are attacked. The harbor is not safe. Cover is the orbital cannons of that world.