New / Added

• Top bar and HELM palette. A full-width top bar replaces the left rail, with live cells for Map, Jobs, Scanner, cargo, Navigator, wallet, and the zone clock. Click the HELM tile in the corner to open a searchable launcher for every other window: type to filter, Enter opens, Esc closes.
• Academy training courses. New Kharum and Aurelion academy tutorials start at character creation: guided courses, text encounters, and exams that teach fitting, ammo loading, shield activation, and beacon scanning with pinned on-screen markers.
• Bounties on lawless ships. Destroying a lawless ship pays 150, 600, or 2500 Cr by tier, split evenly with fleet-mates present at the kill. The bounty shows on the target panel and pays out with a toast.
• Arrival grace. For 60 seconds after you traverse a beacon, no weapons or assistance can target you. The grace ends the moment you act or dock.
• Travel route bar. A checkpoint rail under the top bar shows your route's stops, overall progress, and a live arrival estimate.
• Night ocean. Nights get moonlit surf, glitter on the swell, fog banks, and bioluminescent foam.
• Profanity filter. Strong language in chat and mail is hidden by default. Toggle it under Settings > Interface > Profanity Filter.

Changed / Balance

• Docked windows rebuilt. The Hangar (formerly Shipyard), Market, Research, and Ship Fitting windows put their actions on the rows themselves, and each opens with a short illustrated primer on first visit. The Hangar gains a "Group by class" toggle and now opens with S instead of H.
• Market price history. Each browse row draws a 16-day sparkline of the daily close price and names the island holding the best price, with a distance label.
• Ship vitals fold up out of combat. Shield, armor, and hull collapse into a single integrity line while you are safe, then expand into full bars with a status-chip row when combat starts.
• Escape pods launch bare. Pods no longer carry the pre-fitted Basic Emitter. The first story quest has you buy and fit a working gun.
• Quest log and tracker. The log opens on your active job, quests from an alternate training track wear a LATER badge, optional steps carry OPTIONAL or BONUS pills, and you can claim finished quests straight from the tracker card.

Fixed

• Ghost ships. A ship could linger in the zone after its pilot disconnected. Pilots who quit now leave cleanly.
• Scanner probe timing. Sweep probe replies could arrive after the hold window and read as expired. They now land inside it.
• Fitting ship switches. Switching ships while a fitting change was still in flight could scramble the new ship's fit and undo history. The window now discards late replies.
• Graphics settings drift. The Graphics tab now mirrors the real window mode, resolution, VSync, and FPS cap every time you open it, including after Alt+Enter or a title-bar maximize.