Expand galaxy generation and viewer rendering

NEXT-STEPS.md

@@ -1,5 +1,32 @@
 # Next Steps
 
+## Galaxy / Viewer Fit
+
+The world is now much larger and more varied:
+
+- roughly galaxy-scale system counts
+- elevated system height variance
+- procedural orbital metadata
+- moons, rings, binary stars, asteroid belts, gas clouds
+- special-case `Sol` system content
+
+The next step is not “make the map larger.” That is already done for the current runtime.
+
+Recommended work:
+
+- tune galaxy readability at scale
+  - better starfield depth cues
+  - stronger color/size differentiation for star classes
+  - improved system label decluttering
+- add galaxy navigation affordances
+  - jump-to-system search
+  - constellation / region overlays
+  - bookmarks for notable systems such as `Sol`
+- tighten viewer performance
+  - reduce orbit/moon draw cost when zoomed out
+  - pool or simplify distant celestial meshes
+  - profile high-system-count scenes
+
 ## Economic Growth
 
 The current economy already supports:
@@ -25,6 +52,9 @@ Recommended work:
   - show ore throughput
   - show fabricated goods
   - show queued faction priorities
+- make resource type differences matter
+  - ore belts vs gas clouds
+  - gas-aware logistics and production choices
 
 ## Pirate Harassment
 
@@ -61,11 +91,12 @@ That turns the simulation into a real strategy loop.
 
 ## Concrete Implementation Order
 
-1. Add faction production heuristics based on current economy and losses.
-2. Make pirate target selection explicitly prefer economic targets.
-3. Surface faction stocks, throughput, and build priorities in the HUD/debug views.
-4. Expand the order/behavior set with higher-value RTS actions like `hold-here`, `attack`, and `defend-area`.
-5. Break backend simulation responsibilities into smaller planning / faction / combat / logistics modules.
+1. Add viewer-scale performance controls for the larger galaxy.
+2. Add faction production heuristics based on current economy and losses.
+3. Make pirate target selection explicitly prefer economic targets.
+4. Surface faction stocks, throughput, and build priorities in the HUD/debug views.
+5. Expand the order/behavior set with higher-value RTS actions like `hold-here`, `attack`, and `defend-area`.
+6. Break backend simulation responsibilities into smaller planning / faction / combat / logistics modules.
 
 ## Network / Multiplayer
 
@@ -144,5 +175,26 @@ Recommended work:
 - add per-layer presentation tuning in the viewer
   - smoother fade bands between local / system / universe
   - better visual density control at galaxy scale
+  - moon/orbit LOD based on zoom level
 - add resync handling when a client falls too far behind
 - consider switching from SSE to websocket transport if bidirectional command traffic becomes heavy
+
+## Celestial Depth
+
+The current celestial layer is procedurally rich, but still mostly decorative outside of resource nodes.
+
+Recommended work:
+
+- add authored moon metadata when needed
+  - labels
+  - resource-bearing moons
+  - special landmarks
+- support multiple belts / cloud bands per system explicitly
+- add stellar gameplay hooks
+  - hazardous neutron-star systems
+  - high-value binary systems
+  - rich-gas outer systems
+- expose notable-system summaries in the viewer
+  - star class
+  - resource profile
+  - moon count