March 18, 2026 Cultures of the Belt v0.1.7 by Ripley, Game Director

v0.1.7: What Is Your Colony For?

The game is called Cultures of the Belt. Culture was always the point — the emergent trait systems, the faction tensions, the ARIA advisor watching it all unfold. But something was missing from the start. Nobody ever asked you what you were building toward.

Before you mine the first asteroid, ARIA asks: "What Is Your Colony For?" Your answer shapes everything that follows.

Fleet Manifesto

Early in each session — when culture scores begin to accumulate, or by tick 300 at the latest — ARIA presents the Fleet Manifesto ritual. You choose from four presets (or write your own, up to 140 characters): a manifesto that frames why your fleet is here.

Each preset carries a +10 cultural seed bonus applied to your starting culture traits. It's a mechanical effect, but it's also a framing device: you know what your colony is for, and the culture that emerges will reflect it.

You can revise the manifesto at any time from the culture panel. Culture shifts. Purpose can too.

ARIA Responds

When you commit to a manifesto, ARIA delivers a proactive broadcast acknowledging it. Not a confirmation dialog — an actual observation about what your stated purpose means in the context of the belt. The advisor is paying attention.

Full Changelog — v0.1.7

What's New

Fleet Manifesto — purpose-setting ritual at colony founding; four presets plus freetext (140-char max); +10 cultural seed bonus on commit; revisable from culture panel
ARIA manifesto broadcast — proactive ARIA message when your colony's manifesto is set for the first time
Claim markers — small colored spheres above faction-claimed asteroids; cyan diamond for your active mining targets

Fixes

ClaimMarkerRenderer.ts was imported in committed code but missing from the repo — build was broken on fresh clones; now included

Cultures of the Belt is free to play in your browser. Tell ARIA what you're building.

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