Game Turn

The duration of a game turn is 16.8 hours of time in the Star Trader's universe. This is based on the rotation of a long forgotten planet around longer forgotten star (7 * 24 = 168; 168/10 turns per week = 16.8) and is also the length of a regular shift on a Star Trading vessel. Thus, there are exactly 10 turns in a week, 520 turns in a year, and 5,200 turns in a decade. As the game proceeds to later turns, deep space skill checks will increase in difficulty and both potential allies and foes will acquire and use upgraded ship components and gear. Enemy levels in both Ship Combat and Crew Combat will be elevated, improving both Skills and known Talents. (This is still modified by game difficulty.) Staying ahead of the game's "difficulty curve" is crucial to survival. However, on lower difficulties this will not be felt as much. Nearly every action in the game takes at least 1 turn.

Galactic dates are presented as a three-digit year, followed by a decimal and a number of weeks. For example, 210.03 (the date on which the game starts) is week 03 of in-game year 210.