Antimatter

Antimatter within TE3000 was announced on 29th March 2023 in this group notice

"I have been hearing reports of people encountering something new upon purchasing ships. My own science advisors have been hearing whispers about this for some time, and I'm excited (if a bit ambivalent) about what it can mean for the future of our sector of the galaxy. At any rate, I wish you all the best of luck in exploring this new development."

Please contact Andi Sao with additions for this page if you're not able to edit the page yourself.

Antimatter may be discovered on ship purchases. The amount discovered is initially 10 grams, and will increase each time an expedition is completed, according to the level of that expedition.

The first requirement is to purchase an antimatter-capable engine. This offer shows up after you have collected 40 g of antimatter.

Antimatter status is shown as extra pages in the Accts tab of the HUD.

Periodically, an offer to undertake an antimatter mission will appear. The expedition will have a fixed cost, which is a percentage of the credit balance, according to the level of the expedition. Missions may either be attempted at the next level to the current artefact or lower levels, if there is not enough antimatter collected. It is not essential to progress incrementally through the levels, eg missions could be done in the sequence 3, 2, 2, 4 however only one mission is offered each time determined by the current antimatter total.

The duration of the mission will be three months plus (2 * expedition level) months. A notification message will appear on the hud on the turn before the expedition returns.

When the expedition return,s the properties of the artefact can be reviewed (some will be positive, some negative) and a decision taken whether to install the artefact or not. If it is declined, 50% of the antimatter spent is returned. The credits spent to finance the mission are not returned.

While an artefact is installed, an opportunity to remove it early will be offered at every multiple of 100 months remaining. Some antimatter will be refunded however the amount appears to decay relative to the amount the artefact has been used.

The lifetime of an artefact appears to be 350 months plus (level * 150) months.

It is not clear yet whether artefacts are predetermined or their properties are dynamically assigned following some algorithm intended to balance the positives and negatives. The latter seems likely.

Expedition Levels

Level	Antimatter	% of Total Credits	Duration (months)
1	100	5%	5
2	200	5%	7
3	400	10%	9
4	2000	10%	11
5	10000	10%	13
6	50000	10%	15
7	250000	20%	17

After each expedition the amount of antimatter found increases by an amount determined by the expedition level.

The increases are as noted in the table below however there may be some additional algorithm in play here that's not fully understood yet (not least since there is an initial amount of antimatter being found before trying the very first expedition). It is suspected that there may be a bonus as well as an increase on first completing a new level expedition.

Increase to antimatter found afterwards

1	10
2	20
3	40
4	80
5	150
6	300
7	600

Positive and negative attributes observed so far are shown in the table below

Artefact Attributes

Disasters	D1	Positive	Immune to Piracy
	D2	Positive	Immune to Corruption
	D3	Positive	Immune to Disease
	D4	Positive	Immune to Piracy and Corruption
	D5	Positive	Immune to Disease and Corruption
	D6	Positive	Immune to Piracy and Disease
	D7	Positive	Immune to all disasters
Ships	S1	Positive	2 free ships
	S2	Positive	Buy 2 ships at once
	S3	Positive	Buy 1 ship get 1 free
	S4	Positive	Sell for 50% more
	S5	Negative	Buy/sell once a year
	S6	Positive	Sell for 100% more
	S7	Positive	Gain 1 paying fleet tax
	S8	Negative	Not allowed to sell ships
	S9	Positive	Sell ships for 33% more
	S10	Negative	Not allowed to buy ships
	S11	Negative	Not allowed to give away
	S12	Negative	Ships cost 50% more
	S13	Negative	Cannot receive free ships
	S14	Positive	Sell ships for 33% more
	S15	Negative	Ships cost 100% more
Efficiency	E1	Positive	Efficiency +20%
	E2	Negative	Efficiency -20%
	E3	Negative	Efficiency -50%
	E4	Postiive	Efficiency +100%
Title	T1	Negative	Title reversed
	T2	Negative	Title not shown
	T3	Negative	Title expires frequently
Anti-matter	A1	Positive	Find 2x
	A2	Positive	Find 50% more antimatter
	A3	Negative	Never find antimatter
	A4	Negative	Find 20% less antimatter
	A5	Negative	Find 50% less antimatter
	A6	Positive	Find 20% more antimatter
	A7	Positive	Find 3x antimatter
Artefact	F1	Positive	Lifetime + 20%
	F2	Negative	20% less lifetime
Red Tape	R1	Positive	Gain 1 at census
	R2	Positive	Gain 1 when paying dues
	R3	Negative	Lose 1 at census
	R4	Postiive	Gain 1 on fleet tax
	R5	Negative	No random discoveries
	R6	Negative	Lose 1 on paying dues
	R7	Negative	Ignored by Bureaucrat
Unity	U1	Positive	Gain 1 ship on disunity
	U2	Negative	Lose 1 ship on disunity
Commission	C1	Negative	Can't refund commission
Events	V1	Positive	Risk/reward wins
	V2	Negative	No credit windfalls
	V3	Negative	Lose 1% of credits every 3 years
	V4	Negative	10% Fatigue
	V5	Positive	Credit windfalls pay 2x
	V6	Negative	Regular public shaming
	V7	Negative	25% fatigue
	V8	Negative	Risk/reward always fails
	V9	Negative	Lose 2% of credits every 3 years
	V10	Negative	Eject from guild at census
Sabotage	B1	Negative	Must sabotage
	B2	Positive	Immune to sabotage

While it is suspected that artefacts properties are generated by algorithm each time and therefore infinitely variable those recorded so far are shown below to aid in confirming or disproving the theory.

Observed artefacts

Level	Positive 1	Positive 2	Positive 3	Negative 1	Negative 2	Negative 3
1	E1:Efficiency +20%
1	A2:Find 50% more antimatter			E2:Efficiency -20%
1	A1:Find 2x			S8:Not allowed to sell ships
1	E1:Efficiency +20%			A4:Find 20% less antimatter
1	R1:Gain 1 at census			E3:Efficiency -50%
1	A1:Find 2x			C1:Can't refund commission
1	S7:Gain 1 paying fleet tax			C1:Can't refund commission
1	S2:Buy 2 ships at once			T3:Title expires frequently
1	S2:Buy 2 ships at once			V7:25% fatigue
1	R1:Gain 1 at census			S8:Not allowed to sell ships
1	R3:Lose 1 at census			U2:Lose 1 ship on disunity
1	E1:Efficiency +20%			T1:Title reversed
1	R4:Gain 1 on fleet tax			S10:Not allowed to buy ships
1	A2:Find 50% more antimatter			R5:No random discoveries
1	E1:Efficiency +20%			S11:Not allowed to give away
1	R1:Gain 1 at census			T3:Title expires frequently
1	A2:Find 50% more antimatter			E2:Efficiency -20%
1	S4:Sell for 50% more			E3:Efficiency -50%
1	R1:Gain 1 at census			V7:25% fatigue
1	A2:Find 50% more antimatter			T2:Title not shown
1	E1:Efficiency +20%			F2:20% less lifetime
1	A1:Find 2x			S12:Ships cost 50% more
1	R1:Gain 1 at census			S10:Not allowed to buy ships
1	A2:Find 50% more antimatter			C1:Can't refund commission
1	E1:Efficiency +20%			V2:No credit windfalls
2	D3:Immune to Disease	V5:Credit windfalls pay 2x		V6:Regular public shaming
2	D1:Immune to Piracy	A2:Find 50% more antimatter		B1:Must sabotage
2	D2:Immune to Corruption			S5:Buy/sell once a year	V2:No credit windfalls
2	R1:Gain 1 at census			E2:Efficiency -20%
2	S2:Buy 2 ships at once			T1:Title reversed
2	R4:Gain 1 on fleet tax	V1:Risk/reward wins		S10:Not allowed to buy ships
2	D2:Immune to Corruption			V4:10% Fatigue	T2:Title not shown
2	A2:Find 50% more antimatter	U1:Gain 1 ship on disunity		S5:Buy/sell once a year
2	D3:Immune to Disease			S8:Not allowed to sell ships	C1:Can't refund commission
2	D1:Immune to Piracy			E2:Efficiency -20%	S5:Buy/sell once a year
2	E4:Efficiency +100%	S7:Gain 1 paying fleet tax		R6:Lose 1 on paying dues
2	A1:Find 2x			V8:Risk/reward always fails
2	D1:Immune to Piracy			T3:Title expires frequently
2	S2:Buy 2 ships at once			E2:Efficiency -20%
2	D3:Immune to Disease			A5:Find 50% less antimatter
2	A1:Find 2x			S13:Cannot receive free ships
2	R1:Gain 1 at census			S8:Not allowed to sell ships
2	R4:Gain 1 on fleet tax			U2:Lose 1 ship on disunity
2	A1:Find 2x	V5:Credit windfalls pay 2x		S10:Not allowed to buy ships
2	D1:Immune to Piracy	U1:Gain 1 ship on disunity		V9:Lose 2% of credits every 3 years
2	S7:Gain 1 paying fleet tax	V5:Credit windfalls pay 2x		S10:Not allowed to buy ships
2	D3:Immune to Disease			V2:No credit windfalls	S8:Not allowed to sell ships
2	D1:Immune to Piracy			V4:10% Fatigue	S13:Cannot receive free ships
2	D3:Immune to Disease			C1:Can't refund commission	A4:Find 20% less antimatter
2	E1:Efficiency +20%	A6:Find 20% more antimatter		T2:Title not shown
2	S7:Gain 1 paying fleet tax			E2:Efficiency -20%
2	S7:Gain 1 paying fleet tax			U2:Lose 1 ship on disunity
2	E1:Efficiency +20%	S14:Sell ships for 33% more		C1:Can't refund commission
2	D1:Immune to Piracy	U1:Gain 1 ship on disunity		V6:Regular public shaming
2	A2:Find 50% more antimatter	U1:Gain 1 ship on disunity		V8:Risk/reward always fails
2	S7:Gain 1 paying fleet tax			R5:No random discoveries
3	D2:Immune to corruption	U1:Gain 1 ship on disunity		S10:Cannot buy ships
3	E4:Efficiency +100%	S7:Gain 1 paying fleet tax		R6:Lose 1 on paying dues
3	R2:Gain 1 when paying dues	S14:Sell ships for 33% more		R7:Ignored by Bureaucrat
3	D1:Immune to Piracy			A4:Find 20% less antimatter
3	D3:Immune to Disease			V10:Eject from guild at census
3	D2:Immune to Corruption			S5:Buy/sell once a year
3	D1:Immune to Piracy			S5:Buy/sell once a year
4	E1:Efficiency +20%	A2:Find 50% more antimatter	V1:Risk/reward wins	V4:10% Fatigue
4	D1:Immune to Piracy			A4:Find 20% less antimatter
5	S6:Sell for 100% more			C1:Can't refund commission	U2:Lose 1 ship on disunity
5	S3:Buy 1 ship get 1 free	S2:Buy 2 ships at once	U1:Gain 1 ship on disunity	A3:Never find antimatter
5	D1:Immune to Piracy	D3:Immune to Disease		T1:Title reversed
6	D1:Immune to Piracy	R1:Gain 1 at census		C1:Can't refund commission
6	S4:Sell for 50% more	E1:Efficiency +20%	V1:Risk/reward wins	S5:Buy/sell once a year	U2:Lose 1 ship on disunity
6	D3:Immune to Disease	S7:Gain 1 paying fleet tax		C1:Can't refund commission
6	R2:Gain 1 when paying dues	U1:Gain 1 ship on disunity	F1:Lifetime + 20%	S5:Buy/sell once a year
6	S4:Sell for 50% more	D1:Immune to Piracy	A1:Find 2x	V3:Lose 1% of credits every 3 years	R3:Lose 1 at census
6	E4:Efficiency +100%	D1:Immune to Piracy	V5:Credit windfalls pay 2x	S13:Cannot receive free ships	V9:Lose 2% of credits every 3 years
6	S3:Buy 1 ship get 1 free	D5:Immune to Disease and Corruption		E2:Efficiency -20%	V2:No credit windfalls	R6:Lose 1 on paying dues