News

The world map of Global Fleet & Trade has undergone extensive development over the past few days. What began as a classic map view is increasingly becoming a connected navigation system that provides both an overview of the entire game world and a precise view of individual ships and trade routes.

An Interactive Globe as the Starting Point

The world map now opens with a freely rotatable 3D globe. It provides a quick overview of the game world and marks the player’s home port directly. The name of the home port is displayed above its marker and follows the globe correctly as it rotates.

The globe can be rotated with the mouse and zoomed using the mouse wheel. Zooming in further creates a seamless transition to the high-resolution map view. The previously selected region remains at the center, making navigation feel like one continuous movement.

A Detailed 32K World Map

The enlarged map view is based on a high-resolution 32K world map. Coastlines, islands, rivers and sea regions therefore remain clearly recognizable even at closer zoom levels.

The transition between globe and map has been adjusted so that the 32K view begins one zoom level closer. This brings both views together more naturally and makes the change between them feel much smoother.

Ships and Routes Are Easier to Recognize

Ships at sea are displayed directly on their current routes. Their size now adjusts in a controlled way to the current zoom level. Even when viewing the map up close, ships remain visible and easy to select.

Different vessels are now scaled consistently regardless of the order in which their journeys began or the direction in which they are travelling. Their orientation follows the actual course of the route.

When a ship is selected, it receives a clear visual highlight. Simply moving the pointer across a ship keeps the map calm, while the ship’s name and important travel information can still be displayed.

Information at the Right Zoom Level

City names, harbor symbols and ships appear only when the appropriate zoom level has been reached. This keeps the large overview clean and readable. Trade and travel routes remain visible so that important connections are never lost.

Map controls have also been improved. The mouse wheel now continues to work when the pointer is positioned over ships or harbor symbols. These elements no longer block zooming in or out.

With this update, the world map is becoming a central part of Global Fleet & Trade. It no longer shows only places and routes, but makes the movement of the player’s fleet visible within one large, connected trading world.

Additional ports, ships, sea routes and details will expand this foundation step by step in future updates.

Welcome to the new world map of Global Fleet & Trade.

The new market system connects 25 port cities with 20 different commodities. Each port has its own exports, import demands and neutral goods. Production, consumption, inventories and prices continue to develop over time.

Market fees, regional price differences and changing supplies make careful planning more important than ever. Successful shipowners must observe the markets, compare prices and trade at the right moment.

Redesigned Route System

Ships can be selected, loaded and dispatched directly from their current port. Several actions are available for the cargo upon arrival:

sell it automatically at the destination
store it in the local trading office
keep it aboard the ship

Departure port, destination, arrival time, remaining journey time and cargo are clearly displayed. Travelling ships move across the world map based on actual journey progress and continue sailing even when no player is viewing the map.

A Living World Map and Dynamic Weather

The world map has been extensively expanded. Ports, city names, ships, sea routes and personal markers can be selected directly. Price information appears depending on the zoom level, while travelling ships remain visible with their route and current position.

Different cloud and weather systems now move across the oceans. If a ship enters one of these areas during a voyage, its speed, condition, journey time or cargo may be affected. Each weather effect can only be triggered once per route.

Fleet, Logbook and Trading Offices

The new fleet overview displays active ships with their current status, location, destination, cargo, condition and expected arrival time. Ships offered on the second-hand market no longer appear as part of the active fleet.

The logbook records important events involving trade, ships, routes, trading offices, markets and system messages. Several filters help maintain a clear overview as a shipping company continues to grow.

Trading offices form an important part of a company’s commercial network. Newly established offices begin with 25 tons of storage capacity and can later be expanded. Regular merchandise and special contract cargo are managed separately.

Contracts and Tavern Life

Rumours, stories and delivery contracts await players in the taverns of the port cities. Different characters offer changing information and opportunities each day.

Up to two rumours or stories can be acquired per day. Players may also buy a round of drinks once each day, improving their reputation.

Delivery contracts have different sizes, deadlines and rewards. Contract cargo is stored separately and must be delivered to the specified destination before the deadline. Global emergency contracts may also appear during exceptional economic situations.

New and Second-Hand Ships

The shipyard has been significantly expanded. Shipowners can order new vessels, purchase second-hand ships, sell vessels from their own fleet, carry out repairs, install equipment and rename their ships.

New vessels are no longer available immediately after purchase. Construction times now depend on the ship type and class. Small coastal ships can be completed relatively quickly, while the largest ocean-going vessels may require several days.

The reputation system determines which ship classes may be purchased. The Small Coastal Steamer remains permanently available as a basic starter vessel.

Individual Transport Profiles

Every ship type receives its own transport profile. This determines how suitable the vessel is for six different cargo categories.

A tanker, for example, reaches its full capacity when carrying oil and liquid bulk cargo, but performs significantly worse with refrigerated or sensitive general cargo. Refrigerated ships, bulk carriers, general cargo vessels and mixed freighters each possess their own strengths and weaknesses.

These transport factors directly affect the ship’s usable cargo capacity. Size and speed are therefore no longer the only important values—the right vessel must also be chosen for the intended cargo.

Ship Upgrades and Condition

Machinery, cargo holds and navigation systems can be installed as permanent upgrades. These improvements directly affect the corresponding ship values and are included throughout the relevant overviews.

Technical condition also remains important. Long voyages cause wear, while repairs require both time and money. Shipowners who neglect their fleets must expect reduced performance and higher future costs.

Reputation, Titles and Rankings

The new reputation system accompanies the entire development of a shipping company. Successful contracts, trading activity, travelled nautical miles, new port rights, trading offices and confirmed rumours all increase a shipowner’s reputation.

Numerous titles can be earned, ranging from Unknown Merchant to Shipowner, Great Shipowner, Trading Magnate and finally World Market Leader. A higher reputation gradually unlocks larger and more powerful vessels.

A ranking system also allows players to compare the development of their shipping companies.

Banking and the Stock Exchange

Every shipping company now has its own bank account. Income and expenses from trading, ship purchases, repairs, trading offices, tavern visits, contracts and securities transactions are recorded as traceable account movements.

Shares in different companies can be purchased through the stock exchange. These include shipyards, trading companies, coal companies, machinery works, port operators, warehouse companies, refrigerated transport companies and commercial banks.

Share prices are influenced by events within the game world. Ship construction, repairs, trading volumes, demand for raw materials and port activity can all affect individual companies.

Greater Security and a Consistent Design

Account security has been expanded with optional two-factor authentication. It protects the login process as well as particularly important financial actions.

Many areas have also received a more consistent visual design. Dialogues, buttons, spacing and overviews have been revised so that the shipyard, tavern, stock exchange, contracts, bank and other game pages now fit together much more effectively.

Global Fleet & Trade is increasingly evolving from a collection of individual features into a connected and persistent trading world. Markets, ports, ships, contracts, weather, reputation, banking and the stock exchange are becoming more closely linked.

The foundations are in place—now the world is truly beginning to come alive.

The trading world of Global Fleet & Trade has gained an important new economic feature: the first version of the stock exchange has now been integrated into the game.

Shipowners can browse different companies, review their corporate information and available shares, and invest strategically in selected businesses. A successful shipping company can now gradually develop into a diversified trading enterprise with valuable corporate holdings.

All purchased shares are collected in the player’s personal portfolio. This provides a clear overview of existing investments and shows how much capital has already been invested in other companies.

The stock exchange introduces a new layer of economic decision-making to GFT. Capital no longer has to be invested exclusively in ships, goods, trading offices or harbour licences. Shipowners can also invest part of their wealth in company shares and build a broader long-term business strategy.

The stock exchange is not intended to remain an isolated side feature. In the future, it will become more closely connected to the persistent game world and the economic development of the listed companies. The current system provides the foundation for additional features, detailed evaluations and new opportunities involving shareholdings, portfolio values and corporate performance.

The new stock exchange creates further strategic decisions:

Should available capital be invested in a new ship? Should another trading office be established? Or should the company acquire shares in a promising enterprise?

These are exactly the kinds of decisions that define Global Fleet & Trade. Every shipowner follows a different strategy, sets individual priorities and builds a trading empire in their own way.

The stock exchange is now open. The only question that remains is who will dominate not only the world’s oceans, but also its financial markets.

With Version 0.66, Global Fleet & Trade reaches its next major stage of development.

A central focus of this update is the extensively revised shipyard. New ships, used vessels and a player’s own sales listings are now presented much more clearly. Players can no longer accidentally purchase their own ships, listings can be withdrawn reliably and installed ship upgrades remain permanently linked to the respective vessel.

Ship information has also been expanded. Players can now better identify which cargo types are suitable for a particular vessel, how much cargo capacity is available and which speed, condition values or upgrades the ship possesses. This makes choosing the right vessel for a trading route much easier and more transparent.

Cities have also become more active and informative. Resident shipowners, travelling merchants and their online or offline status are displayed directly within the city area. The headquarters overview now provides a clearer picture of local supply conditions, trade activity, warehouse utilization, ship movements and potential trading opportunities.

One of the most important additions in this version is the new banking system. Newly registered players automatically receive their own business account with a unique account number. The account overview, recorded transactions and prepared securities portfolio form the foundation for future player-to-player transfers and trading in company shares.

Global Fleet & Trade is therefore not only expanding through new interfaces and usability improvements. Behind the scenes, a connected financial and economic system is gradually taking shape, linking trade, ships, cities, bank accounts and eventually the stock market.

Version 0.66 creates the foundation for the next major expansion stages of the persistent trading world.

The time has come: the first public pre-alpha version of Global Fleet & Trade is now available.

With version 0.64, we are opening the game to all interested players for the first time. You can already establish your own company, choose a home port, trade goods, manage ships, plan routes, and accept your first delivery contracts.

Please keep in mind that Global Fleet & Trade is still in a very early stage of development. Many features are not yet fully implemented or are currently unavailable. Bugs, balancing changes, and technical issues may occur at any time. Save data may also be affected or reset during the pre-alpha as part of major updates.

With this public pre-alpha, we want to gather early feedback and continue developing the game together with the community. Bug reports, suggestions, and ideas for improvement are therefore very welcome.

Thank you to everyone who is already supporting and following Global Fleet & Trade during this early stage.

Welcome aboard!

The development of Global Fleet & Trade has reached an important stage. What once consisted of separate functions is gradually becoming a connected world of trade and shipping in which vessels, goods, ports, offices, and contracts directly interact with one another.

One of the major milestones is the new world map. Coastlines, rivers, ports, and sea routes form the foundation for navigation. Ships follow calculated routes, move visibly across the map, and reach their destinations according to the actual duration of the voyage.

The trading system has also made significant progress. Numerous ports now offer their own range of goods, individual levels of demand, and varying prices. Goods can be purchased, stored in offices, loaded onto ships, and transported to other trading locations.

Ship capacity, available storage space, travel times, market prices, and potential profits all play an important role. Every voyage must be planned carefully, as not every commodity is equally valuable or in demand at every port.

The fleet overview displays the condition, location, cargo, and current assignment of each vessel. The logbook also records important events such as purchases, sales, departures, arrivals, and changes within the company.

A major current focus is the new contract system. Delivery contracts include their own stories, clients, cargo images, destination ports, quantities, and fixed deadlines. This is intended to make contracts feel like small events within the game world rather than simple transport instructions.

Once a contract has been accepted, the required cargo must be loaded and delivered to the specified destination on time. Different contract sizes create varying demands in terms of time, cargo space, and planning.

Special emergency contracts issued by cities remain a separate system. They can arise from economic shortages and are clearly distinguished from regular delivery contracts.

The presentation is also being continuously improved. Buttons, input fields, information panels, and overviews are being brought into a more consistent visual style. Goods, ships, cities, and clients are also represented by their own individual artwork.

The next steps include additional trade goods, more contracts, the expansion of shipyards, and new features for purchasing, repairing, and eventually upgrading ships.

Global Fleet & Trade is still in an early stage of development. However, the foundations of a living trading world are now in place and will continue to be filled with new systems and content step by step.

The first ports have now received their own historical city textures. The first ships of Type Class 1 have also already been fully integrated into the game.

The editing of the ship graphics is particularly time-consuming at the moment. Each texture must be created not just once, but in four different sizes, so that the ships can be displayed correctly in every area of the game. In addition, each ship has four visual conditions:

New – Good – Worn – Poor

This means that a single ship requires a total of 16 different visual versions. This work takes a great deal of time, but it will later ensure that the condition of a ship can be recognized directly from its appearance.

Another major topic at the moment is the world map. A 4K map quickly becomes blurry and muddy when zooming in. Even 8K would not be sufficient in the long term. 16K is already quite usable, but 32K is the future of Global Fleet & Trade.

To ensure that the map remains detailed and visually impressive even at high zoom levels, I will most likely have to texture it almost entirely by hand. This is an enormous amount of work, but it will eventually give the game its own unique and unmistakable world.

There has also been some initial progress with the sound design. The first audio effects have already been implemented and are gradually adding more atmosphere to the game. The ports, world map and user interface are slowly beginning to feel less like separate systems and more like parts of one connected game world.

Things may be moving a little more slowly at the moment, but step by step, Global Fleet & Trade is continuing to take shape.

Global Fleet & Trade has taken another major step forward over the past several hours.

The public website is now fully bilingual and can be used in both German and English. In addition to the information pages, login, registration, news, and development updates have also been integrated into the language system. This creates a strong foundation for international operation and makes it easier to add further languages in the future.

The visual appearance has also been comprehensively revised. All public pages now follow a consistent maritime design with dark opaque backgrounds, gold borders, and calm, clearly structured typography. Mobile presentation has been improved as well. The homepage now uses the full width of the screen, headlines have been adjusted for smaller displays, and the maintenance page is fully responsive.

A central maintenance mode has also been added. During maintenance work, administrators can still access the system, while new registrations are disabled and regular players are redirected to the maintenance page. This allows development work to continue without exposing players to incomplete or unstable changes.

At the same time, protection against player-caused damage has been strengthened. Critical actions are checked more thoroughly, manipulated or repeatedly triggered processes are blocked, and sensitive systems are better protected.

The city supply crisis system has also been refined. An emergency can only occur when players have caused or significantly worsened the situation. The responsible player cannot accept the resulting emergency contract. Other players can step in, restore the city’s supply, and receive an increased reward. Once the delivery is completed, the city begins to stabilize again.

Global Fleet & Trade has reached another important milestone.

The world no longer responds exclusively to production, consumption and trade. The populations of its cities are increasingly becoming part of economic development as well.

A well-supplied and stable city can grow and attract new residents. A city suffering from persistent shortages or economic weakness can instead lose population. The system does not examine only the overall change: inward migration, outward migration and the resulting net development are evaluated separately for each city.

For the first time, this makes the real effect of a city's economic situation on its population visible.

The entire world in view

A particularly important advance is the new complete evaluation of the game world.

Instead of examining only individual cities or isolated shortage situations, all cities can now be observed together over longer periods. The duration of the simulation can be selected freely, ranging from short checks to multi-year world runs.

Results are summarised by year. This reveals whether developments are merely short-term effects or persist over a long period.

Every city is classified automatically into one of three groups:

- growing
- stable
- declining

Unusual or especially striking developments are marked as well. Cities with heavy losses, exceptional growth or problematic supply patterns can therefore be identified quickly and examined in greater detail.

Not only what happens, but why

A population figure alone is not sufficient for a believable world simulation.

The new evaluation therefore also shows which causes lie behind a city's development. Supply, economic stability, recurring shortages and further influences can be considered together.

The system does not merely show that a city is declining. It also makes clear why residents are leaving.

At the same time, this creates the foundation for a world in which cities do not remain unchanged forever. Their development depends on how well their population is supplied, how stable their economy remains and which changes are produced by trade.

Trade gains long-term consequences

This development is also highly significant for later player actions.

Trade should not produce only short-term profits. By ensuring good supply, players can help stabilise a city or support its growth.

At the same time, ruthless trade can have long-term consequences. If important goods are removed from a city continuously or shortages are deliberately worsened, this can harm the economic and social development of the location.

The decision of where and in which goods to trade will therefore become substantially more strategic.

Pre-Alpha Stable reached

The Global Fleet & Trade economy simulation core is classified as Pre-Alpha Stable at this stage.

This does not mean that every detail has already reached final balance. It does mean, however, that the fundamental processes are stable enough to run longer world simulations, compare developments and investigate problematic cities specifically.

Production, consumption, supply, economic development and population movements are increasingly growing into one connected system.

The world is no longer merely alive.

It is beginning to change itself.

An important milestone has been reached today in the development of Global Fleet & Trade:
the game world has received its first genuine rhythm of its own.

After extensive preparation, the internal world simulation has been put into operation successfully. Global Fleet & Trade is therefore beginning, step by step, to feel like a living trading world. Ships, routes, ports and economic processes are no longer treated merely as isolated functions, but as one connected system.

What does this mean?

The world of Global Fleet & Trade can now be updated regularly. Routes are checked, ship movements continue and important simulation processes are prepared. This creates the foundation for a game world that continues to develop permanently.

A ship is not simply an entry in a list.
A route is not merely a click.
A port is not merely a menu item.

Everything is now beginning to work together.

The first pulse of the game world

This step lays the foundation for many future systems:

Ship movements
Arrivals in ports
Docking operations
Market development
Movements of goods
Harbour activity
Later events and news

Global Fleet & Trade is still at the beginning of this development, but this step is crucial. A trading and economic simulation needs a world that does not stand still.

Why this step matters so much

Global Fleet & Trade should not be a static interface, but a growing maritime world. Player decisions, trading routes, flows of goods and economic developments should later interact and change the game world in tangible ways.

An important technical foundation for this has been laid today.

The world has received its first heartbeat.

Global Fleet & Trade is alive.

Version V0.60 therefore forms the basis for future trade between cities, ports, counting houses, warehouses and ship routes.
Today, an important milestone has been reached in the trading and economic system of Global Fleet & Trade.

After many tests, setbacks, incorrect balancing values and several attempts, a functional foundation for the new market system is finally in place. Version V0.60 therefore forms the basis for future trade between cities, ports, counting houses, warehouses and ship routes.

The market system no longer works solely with simple fixed goods prices. Every city can hold its own stocks, produce and consume goods and therefore develop different market conditions. Goods such as fish, grain, timber, coal, salt, textiles, tools, steel, machinery and luxury goods can have a different economic significance in each port.

Players purchase goods in the active port, store them in their own counting house, later load them onto a ship and transport them to another city along a route. At the destination, the goods can be sold, stored in the destination counting house or kept aboard the ship. This creates the first genuine trading cycle and forms the foundation for later economic dynamics.

It is especially important to note that the system is not yet finally balanced, but its technical and gameplay foundation is in place. After a long period of experimentation, a state has been reached that is stable enough for continued development.

With V0.60, trade in Global Fleet & Trade begins to feel like a genuine economic system. Markets, goods, cities, warehouses and ships now interlock step by step.

The next step will be to refine the system further, expand the logbooks cleanly, improve price balancing and make the market more lively and understandable over the long term.

Global Fleet & Trade continues to grow — step by step, port by port, route by route.

Another major milestone has been reached in the development of Global Fleet & Trade.

The world map is increasingly developing from a simple overview into a genuine gameplay tool. For the first time, the player's own ships are visible directly on the map. When a ship is travelling, it appears on its active route. The journey is shown as a subtle dashed line between the departure and destination ports.

This creates an entirely new sense of the player's own shipping company. Ships are no longer merely numbers in a list or entries in a management screen, but can be experienced as moving units on the world map. Players can now understand more clearly where their fleet is located, which ports are connected and which routes are currently being travelled.

Ships in port are now visible as well. When one of the player's ships lies in a harbour, an anchor symbol appears there. The map deliberately remains clear: even if several of the player's ships are in the same port, only a single anchor is displayed.

Another important advance is the new live updating of the world map. Arriving ships, disappearing routes and new harbour anchors can now become visible without a complete page reload. The map therefore responds much more dynamically to gameplay.

The map's presentation has also been refined further. Names, routes, ships and harbour anchors appear according to the zoom level. The broad world overview therefore remains calm and clean, while important details become visible only when zooming in.

This development step is an important foundation for the later global fleet overview, lively trading routes and a stronger feeling of truly operating a shipping company across the world's seas.

Global Fleet & Trade has therefore taken a major step towards a lively, understandable and playable trading world.

A central part of the game is beginning to come alive with the new route system. Shipping companies can now do more than manage their ships in port: they can dispatch them deliberately to other cities and harbours. For the first time, this creates the feeling of a genuine trading world in which movement, planning and time play decisive roles.

The route planner forms the foundation for future trading functions. Ships can be assigned to a destination port, leave their current harbour and then visibly enter the ‘at sea’ status. Once the travel time has elapsed, they reach their destination and become available there for further tasks.

This establishes an important foundation for later goods transport. In future, routes will not be merely journeys, but will be connected with cargo, trade, risks, events and economic decisions. Every voyage should become part of a larger strategy: Which good is worthwhile? Which port offers a profit? Which ship is fast enough? And when is the right time to begin a route?

This first functional program flow now serves as a stable basis for further expansion of the route system. The technical foundation is in place, the initial tests have succeeded and Global Fleet & Trade has taken a major step towards becoming a playable trading simulation.

The fleets are beginning to move.

Cast off — the first routes are open!

Today brought a major development step for Global Fleet & Trade.

For the first time, entering the world of shipping companies, ports and trading routes feels substantially more tangible. Players can now do more than establish their shipping company and own a home port: they can acquire initial port rights, establish counting houses and trade goods through the city market.

Most importantly, the systems are beginning to work together. Port rights open access to a harbour, a counting house creates storage space, the market provides goods and the player's own stock becomes visible in the warehouse. Step by step, this creates the actual core of Global Fleet & Trade: decisions, ownership, goods and movement combine to form a genuine trading world.

The interface has also received many improvements. The market and counting-house pages have been cleaned up, arranged more clearly and prepared for longer lists of goods. Prices, stock levels, storage capacity and counting-house status are now much easier to read. The game therefore feels less like a technical construction site and increasingly like a genuine economic simulation.

Another important point is that the data foundation has been cleaned up and prepared for a fresh start. Global Fleet & Trade can therefore be positioned as though the world were beginning anew today. Old test data, unclear game states and development remnants have been removed, while important core data such as ports, goods and building levels remains intact.

This is an important milestone on the road to the pre-alpha.

Not everything is finished yet. Major systems such as contracts, auctions, the stock exchange, shipyards, employees, city development and global events will follow later. But the most important foundation is becoming increasingly stable: a shipping company can be established, ports can be unlocked, counting houses can hold goods and trade can begin.

Global Fleet & Trade continues to grow — port by port, good by good, decision by decision.

‘Cast off — trading begins!’

Development of Global Fleet & Trade continues to advance. The land editor is currently emerging as an important new game area intended to expand the economic development of the player's shipping company substantially.

In future, players will not only own ships and operate trading routes, but also acquire their own plots in ports. These areas can then be developed and used economically. This creates the foundation for warehouses, specialist storage facilities, production sites and later industrial plants.

A central element of the new system is the construction grid. Plots are divided into individual cells, making it clear which areas are free, occupied or already owned by a player. Buildings require a specific number of grid cells according to their type and can be constructed only where sufficient space is available.

Examples of planned building classes include:

Small buildings 1×1 or 2×2 cells
Warehouses 3×2 or 4×2 cells
Oil storage 3×3 cells
Production facilities 4×3 cells or larger
Large installations 6×4 cells

The land editor will later be particularly important to the harbour economy. Storage buildings can increase the capacity of a location, while production facilities can process raw materials and create new goods. A simple plot can therefore gradually become a valuable economic site.

Planned facilities include:

Warehouses
Oil storage facilities
Machinery warehouses
Building-material warehouses
Coal-processing facilities
Production facilities
Shipyard and industrial installations

The land editor is therefore an important step towards greater economic depth. Ports should not merely be places for buying and selling goods, but develop into the player's own locations where investment, construction, storage and production take place.

With this system, Global Fleet & Trade continues to grow towards an extensive trading and economic simulation in which not only the fleet matters, but also the intelligent development of the player's infrastructure on land.

Another important step for Global Fleet & Trade has been completed: the official domains for the project have been secured.

The central addresses for the game are now registered:

globalfleettrade.com
globalfleettrade.de
gft-game.com

The project name is therefore now secured both technically and publicly. In particular, globalfleettrade.com will serve as the central main domain for the official website, news, development insights and later access to the game.

This step does not yet introduce major visible game content, but it is an important building block for the future of Global Fleet & Trade. A dedicated domain creates a professional presence, clear recognition and a permanent destination for everyone who wishes to follow the project.

Over the coming development stages, the new domains will gradually be connected to the website, game information, news section and later additional project areas.

Global Fleet & Trade continues to grow — port by port, route by route. ⚓

Work on the internal Global Fleet & Trade map editor has reached an important stage.

Cities and ports can now be placed and managed directly on the world map. When a new port city is created, a matching harbour node is generated automatically in the sea network. This makes the process much cleaner: place the city, create the harbour point, add a sea-route point, create the connection and then test the route.

The previous problem of inconsistent node codes has also been resolved. New harbour and sea-route points now use the existing N system, making map management more consistent and easier to follow.

Deletion functions have also been improved. Cities, sea-route points and connections can be removed more precisely, while important harbour points and protected network points remain safeguarded against accidental deletion.

This establishes an important foundation for expanding the game world more quickly and safely in future without direct SQL intervention.

The route network can therefore be corrected and expanded directly on the world map and prepared for later automatic route calculation.

Although this tool is intended exclusively for administration, it forms an important foundation for the entire routing system. Missing or incorrect sea routes can be corrected specifically without working directly in the database.

Alongside the new news and changelog system, this version also introduces important internal tools for the continued development of the world map and route network.

The sea-route tool in particular is a central step for the game's technical foundation. New points and connections can be inspected, created and removed. This makes the routing system easier to maintain and expand deliberately.

The tool is not directly visible to players, but it is essential for stable ship movements, correct routes and the later expansion of the game world.

Changes
- ‘News & Changelog’ integrated into administration
- News management created for public reports
- News can be created, edited and deleted
- Image upload added for news articles
- Upload destination for news images set to assets/img/news
- Changelog management created for version reports
- Changelog entries can be created, edited and deleted
- Administration tabs added for switching between news and changelog
- Existing administration layout with top bar and sidebar retained
- Form and list areas made scrollable
- Display prepared for published articles and drafts
- Incorrect template paths cleaned up
- Routes for news and changelog standardised in administration
- Sea-route administration tool expanded
- Sea-route points can be inspected and selected on the map
- New sea-route edges can be created directly on the map
- Existing sea-route edges can be removed directly on the map
- Edge mode added for editing the route network
- Visual inspection of sea-route connections prepared
- Test-ship function added for visually inspecting displayed routes
- Tool connected for recalculating all sea routes

An important milestone has been reached in the development of Global Fleet & Trade: the new sea-route system has been tested visibly on the world map for the first time.

Until now, ports, routes and ship movements mainly existed as a technical foundation in the background. For the first time, they have now become a visible part of the game world. A test ship can travel along a calculated route on the world map and follows not simply a direct line between two ports, but a genuine network of sea routes, nodes and harbour approaches.

This creates a much more believable sense of maritime travel. A voyage from port to port is no longer understood merely as an abstract connection. Instead, the ship moves across individual maritime sections, passes intermediate points, follows coastlines and makes visible course changes on its way to the destination port.

The ship's new orientation is especially important. While travelling, it turns automatically to face the direction of movement. Its bow therefore follows the current route correctly, even where the route contains curves, changes of direction or long diagonal sections. This makes movement feel considerably more natural and lively.

The presentation of the sea routes has also been refined. Routes appear more subtly, nodes remain clearer and labels are displayed only at closer zoom levels. The world map therefore remains readable even with many sea-route connections and does not feel overloaded.

Once the test voyage is complete, the ship disappears from the map automatically. This first test is deliberately still a development step, but it already shows very clearly where the system is heading: ships should not exist only in lists or tables, but travel visibly across the world map.

This progress forms the foundation for the next major step. The new sea-route system will later be connected directly to actual in-game routes. When a player sends a ship on a trading voyage, it should appear on the world map, follow its calculated route and remain visibly under way according to its departure time, arrival time and journey duration.

Global Fleet & Trade is therefore moving closer to one of its central goals: a lively maritime trading world in which ships, ports and sea routes are not merely data, but visible parts of one connected game world.

The public Global Fleet & Trade website has been visually standardised and given a calmer, clearer presentation.

The aim of this step was to make the individual pages feel less like separate drafts and more like parts of one connected maritime project world. The home page, information areas, navigation, forms and content pages now follow a shared visual direction.

Particular attention was given to calm readability. Spacing, font sizes, headings, borders, buttons and image areas were coordinated more effectively. This creates a more even overall impression that better suits the atmosphere of a historical trading and harbour world.

The colour scheme has also been refined. Dark maritime surfaces, warm gold tones and subtle lines now form the visual framework. The website therefore feels less like a technical construction site and more like the public entrance to the world of Global Fleet & Trade.

This step was important because the public project website should eventually do more than provide information: it should also convey trust and atmosphere. Visitors should already sense from the website that an independent trading world is taking shape behind the project.

The unified interface creates a stable foundation on which future areas such as news, changelogs, development reports, game information and later community content can be built cleanly.

The Global Fleet & Trade project website has been restructured to organise its content more clearly and guide visitors through the project more effectively.

Before this step, much of the information had already been defined, but it did not yet feel like one connected presentation. Entry points, information areas and page sections were therefore reordered. The aim was to make it easier to understand what Global Fleet & Trade is about and what kind of game world is being created.

The new structure places greater emphasis on clarity. Visitors should be able to recognise that this is a maritime economic simulation in which ports, ships, trade, routes, counting houses and long-term development play central roles.

The atmosphere has also been brought more strongly to the foreground. The website should not merely provide technical information, but convey a sense of the period between 1880 and 1920. Historic ports, dark maritime design and clearly organised content areas form the new foundation.

This rebuild was an important step because the public website will later serve as the showcase for the entire project. It should present development updates, explain new functions and make the growing world of Global Fleet & Trade easy to follow.

With its new structure, the project website is better prepared for future content such as detailed news, milestones, explanations of gameplay systems and later presentations of individual game areas.

An important step towards the future start of the game has been completed: the rules surrounding ports, routes, home ports, port rights and registration have been refined further.

The central question was how a new player should enter the world of Global Fleet & Trade in a meaningful way. The home port should be more than a decorative starting point; it should form a gameplay foundation. The first trading routes begin there, the first ship is based there and the player forms their first permanent connection to the game world there.

Starting capital and initial rights have also been defined more clearly. Players should not have the entire world open to them immediately, but unlock port rights, counting houses and new opportunities step by step. This creates natural progression that better suits a long-term economic simulation.

Route logic has also been prepared further. Ships should not jump freely from point to point, but use traceable connections between ports. This makes the world more tangible and gives every journey greater significance.

This development step was important because registration, the home port and the first routes form the actual beginning of the game. Once this entry works clearly, later systems such as trading, counting houses, warehouses, ships, contracts and port rights can build upon it cleanly.

These foundations add another building block in the transformation of Global Fleet & Trade from an idea into a playable maritime trading world.

Another step has been taken around Global Fleet & Trade: the official Discord area for the project has been established and is now open to interested visitors.

Although the game remains under active development, there should be an early meeting place for interested people, fans of the genre and future players. Global Fleet & Trade is intended for everyone who enjoys maritime trading games, economic simulations, historic ports, ships, routes and long-term development.

The Discord is intended to be more than a simple chat room. In future, it will bring together development updates, smaller insights, changelogs, ideas, screenshots and discussions about the project. Anyone interested in the game can follow its progress and watch individual building blocks gradually become a maritime trading world.

Everyone who enjoys this genre is especially welcome: calm economic games, development, trade, route planning, shipping companies, harbour growth and strategic decisions. Global Fleet & Trade will not be created overnight, but will grow step by step. That makes it especially valuable when interested people accompany the journey from the beginning.

The Discord invitation link is:

https://discord.gg/M3uqnbuEaM

Further social platforms are also planned. A YouTube channel is intended to follow, offering moving images, development updates and perhaps the first gameplay scenes. Other platforms will be considered gradually when they become useful and enough content is available.

Discord now provides the first public meeting place for the emerging community. This begins another small but important chapter on the journey of Global Fleet & Trade.

Global Fleet & Trade began to take shape with the first planning work. A basic idea developed into the design for a maritime economic simulation centred on trade, ports, ships and long-term development.

The vision was clear from the beginning: this would not be a fast action game, but a calm, strategic trading world. Players should build a shipping company, deploy ships, move goods, unlock ports and make economic decisions.

The period between 1880 and 1920 was chosen as the historical setting. This era combines traditional seafaring with early industrialisation, steamships, growing ports and international trade. It therefore creates a rich foundation for both gameplay mechanics and atmosphere.

The first core ideas included starting capital, a home port, initial ships, port rights, counting houses, markets, flows of goods and an expanding world map. It was clear from an early stage that ships should not be merely numerical values, but visible and meaningful parts of the game world.

The visual direction was also established. Dark maritime colours, warm gold tones, historic harbour motifs and a calm interface would carry the game's appearance. The interface should not feel generically modern, but belong to the world of Global Fleet & Trade.

This project launch marks the beginning of a long-term development process. From initial concepts, tables and design ideas, an independent trading world is emerging step by step, bringing together economic planning, maritime atmosphere and visible development.