THE GAME / DESIGN & SYSTEMS
How Meridian works
Meridian connects flying, resource gathering, manufacturing and trade in a persistent universe. It draws on EVE Online's industrial dependencies and Elite Dangerous's approach to piloting, exploration and local conflict.
The aim is an economy in which goods have uses, transport has a cost, and specialists have reasons to trade with each other. This guide explains the current systems and the choices behind them.
Current alpha: the game runs on Monad testnet with test currency. Balance and features are still changing. Open relayer registration is planned. Test CREDITS and their backing do not represent real money.
01 / ECONOMY & TRADE
Goods, money and demand
Resources can become equipment, be sold for CREDITS, or be exchanged through station barter. Where you take them matters.
- 01GatherMine resources and recover salvage.
- 02ProduceConsume inputs to make components and equipment.
- 03Move & tradeBring stock to a station with buyers.
- 04Use & replaceFit ships, conduct operations and replace losses.
Selling to a station
Stations have their own CREDITS budgets, inventories and demand profiles. A station buys goods it needs only while it has the money and demand to cover the purchase. It does not buy unlimited cargo at a fixed price.
Its bid reflects available funds and unmet demand. Existing player offers can also affect that bid. A station with little cash, enough stock, or no use for your cargo may offer less or decline the sale.
Selling to another player
You can list resources, components, equipment and owned hulls at station markets. Players can buy available listings or post buy orders for goods they need. A listing is an offer, not a guaranteed sale.
Stock is held at its station. A price difference elsewhere creates a hauling opportunity, but fuel, cargo capacity, fees and the journey's risks affect whether it is worthwhile.
Trading without CREDITS
Station barter exchanges resources for trade goods and wanted trade goods for resources. For example, you can exchange a resource for a commodity at one port, carry that commodity to a port that imports it, then receive a different resource. This is a route through local offers, not a universal swap at a fixed rate.
Barter uses finite stock and resource reserves. Stations have different imports and exports, and reputation can improve the terms. You can use the resulting resources in production or sell them where there is demand.
02 / PROFESSIONS & PRODUCTION
Specialise, then trade
Everyone can learn foundation technologies. Advanced production is limited to two specialisations, chosen from six professions. Research opens production methods; crafting consumes their listed materials.
- Metallurgy
- Refines metal into alloys, wiring, frames and protective plating. These materials supply equipment makers and shipbuilders.
- Industrial chemistry
- Processes volatiles into polymers, coolants and thermal compounds. Other professions use them in components, insulation and equipment.
- Electronics
- Produces circuits, sensors and control systems. These support industrial tools, ship systems and field equipment.
- Mechanical engineering
- Builds actuators, mining tools, weapons and repair equipment from processed materials and supplied components.
- Field engineering
- Builds capacitors and defensive fields, using specialised materials and components from other professions.
- Shipbuilding
- Assembles frames and manufactures specialist hulls from blueprints. It depends on a supply of structural materials and other manufactured components.
A CURRENT PRODUCTION EXAMPLE
Economy field shield
- 2 shield regulatorsField engineering
- 1 ceramic laminateMetallurgy
- 2 instrument housingsElectronics
A field engineer assembles these into one shield. The components have their own inputs, extending the supply chain further. Buying a component lets you use it without learning its producer's research.
Progression through production and discovery
Technologies progress through Foundation, Specialist and Master tiers. Some production methods also require a discovered schematic. Knowing a recipe does not remove its material requirements or its profession requirement.
You can use compatible purchased equipment without learning how to manufacture it. A miner can buy a better mining rig; an explorer can buy sensors; a combat pilot can buy weapons and shields. Manufacturing is a role of its own, rather than a requirement for every pilot.
03 / MINING & TRANSPORT
Supply starts in space
Miners gather the raw materials used by industry. Haulers move those materials, manufactured goods and supplies between the places that produce them and the places that need them.
Survey and extract
Scan deposits, choose a resource and extract it in timed cycles. Mining uses the deposit's remaining material and your available cargo space. Moving out of range interrupts extraction.
Fittings change mining reach, extraction speed and cargo capacity. A larger hold can reduce return trips, while equipment mass and the ship's handling affect travel.
Deliver and resupply
Cargo must be carried back to a station before it can enter storage, production or the local market. A valuable load still needs an affordable buyer or a useful production plan.
Route planning accounts for gate connections, security preferences and fuel. Refuelling stops are planning aids: the pilot still needs to dock and refuel. Hauling is part of the work, including the choice of hull, route and load.
04 / COMBAT & LOSS
Fit for a task
Combat combines piloting with target selection and fitting choices. Weapon reach, relative movement, shields, armour and capacitor affect what a ship can sustain.
Weapons and support
Hardpoints carry weapons or tools. Utility fittings provide effects such as shield support, capacitor recovery and target painting. Capacitor use and cooldowns limit when those effects can be repeated.
Keeping range, orbiting and choosing when to approach or disengage matter alongside damage. A fitting that improves one capability uses space and resources that could serve another.
Local faction battles
Rival local factions can meet in battles around asteroid fields, beyond planets or in open space away from stations. Fleets contain military ships, and several smaller skirmishes form the larger engagement.
On arrival you can choose a faction to support or remain independent. The opposing fleet can engage a flagged pilot. Attacking a fleet can also provoke retaliation, including from a side you chose to support. Survivors withdraw after the outcome; some may first recover battlefield cargo.
Loss and replacement
Ship destruction has consequences for the hull, fittings and carried cargo. Stored goods at stations remain separate from what you take into space. Protocol insurance can replace a covered hull and its fitted equipment, but the replacement has an empty hold.
Combat, recovery and replacement connect back to miners, component makers, shipbuilders and traders. Decide what to risk before departure, including the cargo you could lose.
05 / EXPLORATION
Find information and recover goods
Exploration combines travel, scanning and investigation. Planetary surveys, signals, derelicts and expedition leads give pilots reasons to leave established routes.
Follow a lead
Scanners reveal information about nearby objects and sites. Survey equipment can improve scan reach or speed. Some discoveries lead to further investigation, salvage or recoverable schematics. Discovery does not guarantee a valuable result.
Recovered materials and equipment can be used or traded. Schematics can unlock specific production methods for suitably trained manufacturers. Bookmarks preserve locations you want to revisit, while the journal keeps survey and expedition records.
06 / TERRITORY & FACTIONS
A political map as well as a route map
Systems sit within the territories of four major powers. Their presence gives the galaxy a wider political context, alongside local station owners, trading organisations and rivals.
- The Vigil
- A religious authority led by Pontifex Aurelian IX, with processional strongholds and its own demands on visitors.
- The Severance
- An armed civil authority led by First Commissioner Ysabet Rane, opposed to Vigil rule.
- The Veyr Combine
- Shipping houses bound by credit, concessions and common ownership, led by First Proprietor Odran Veyr.
- The Rauth Group
- Mercenary commands consolidated into a military state under Director-Marshal Ivo Rauth.
Local relationships still matter
A territory's major power and a station's local faction are separate layers of the world. Local reputation affects interactions such as barter terms and hostility. System security affects the conditions of travel. Check the destination and the organisations involved, rather than treating a territorial colour as a guarantee of safety.
Supporting a side in a local battle declares your allegiance for that encounter. It does not automatically rewrite your wider reputation or transfer control of the system. Territorial conquest by players is not implemented in this alpha.
07 / CREDITS & SETTLEMENT
What a trade pays for
CREDITS are the game's unit of account. Station and player sales use a shared settlement split, with fees included in the buyer's quoted total.
A 1,000 CREDIT sale
| Recipient | Share | CREDITS |
|---|---|---|
| Seller | 90% | 900 |
| Station | 5% | 50 |
| Protocol | 2.5% | 25 |
| Relayer | 2.5% | 25 |
The total deduction is 10%. The protocol fee itself is 2.5%. There is currently no separate listing fee. These are sale fees; barter exchanges goods and resources without a CREDITS sale.
Backing and redemption
The reserve contract issues currency when backing tokens are deposited and burns it when those tokens are redeemed. One whole backing token represents 1,000 displayed CREDITS.
The alpha uses mUSD-TEST as its backing token: 1,000 CREDITS redeem for 1 mUSD-TEST. These are test tokens with no real-money redemption. Production backing and launch terms remain to be confirmed.
What is on-chain
Ships: owned hulls are recorded as NFTs. The hull registry records the owner and hull model; sales transfer ownership through station settlement. A ship's position, condition, fitted modules and cargo are managed by the game server.
CREDITS: token balances, deposits and redemptions are recorded on-chain. Trade settlement transfers the payment and distributes the station, protocol and relayer shares. Buyers and sellers authorise the terms, and the game authority confirms that a trade is valid.
Flight, combat, mining and the item inventory simulation run on the game server. A shot or a steering input does not require a blockchain transaction. This alpha still relies on the game authority to validate world state.
08 / RELAYERS
Submitting trades to the chain
A relayer collects authorised transactions, submits them to the network and pays the native network gas. It can batch settlements to share transaction costs across several trades.
How an operator earns
The submitting relayer receives the 2.5% sale share in CREDITS. Those CREDITS can be redeemed through the same backing contract as other CREDITS. Redemption returns the backing token, not the native gas token.
An operator's margin depends on earned fees covering gas, hosting and other running costs. Batching can lower the cost per trade; it does not guarantee a profit. In the alpha, both the earnings and their backing are test currency.
Open operation is the goal
The intended model lets anyone run a relayer with the software, a funded gas wallet and network access. Public registration and discovery are still to be built. The current alpha uses an operated relayer, so public participation is not yet available through the game.
PLAY THE ALPHA
Try the current systems
The alpha is available in your browser. Use the tutorial to get started, then choose the work you want to pursue. Expect bugs, balance changes and unfinished features.
PLAY