Sphere of Influence

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A race's Sphere of Influence (or SoI) is an area shown on The Captain's starmap roughly indicating territory controlled by that specific race. The center of the circle is the approximate center of the race's forces and the size of the circle indicates their military strength. Battlegroups from that race will also proceed to chase any alien vessel that traverses their Sphere of Influence. If the interloper leaves the Sphere of Influence, any pursuing battle groups will eventually break off and return to their base of operations.¹ The exceptions to this rule are the Slylandro Probes and the Melnorme which can appear anywhere in HyperSpace.

A player can effectively watch an entire race move by entering and exiting his Map, as the displayed spheres will move upon opening it each time (though the actual Spheres of Influence move independently of this). Notable examples of this movement are the movement of the Pkunk to rejoin the Yehat, the movement of the Ilwrath to wipe themselves out against the Thraddash, and the Kohr-Ah after they win the Doctrinal War and begin their Death March.

Notes and references

¹In the game, the battlegroups may spawn anywhere, not necessarily on top of a stars' gravity wells, and likewise disappear anywhere, but this is considered a gameplay simplification/inaccuracy of HyperSpace detection devices, since it is unlikely that stationing in TrueSpace does not reveal one's position to HyperSpace observers too.