The solar system, at true scale, with every planet exactly where it really is today.

BARYUM is a first-person space sim set in an astronomically accurate solar system. The Sun sits at the origin, the planets orbit at real astronomical units, and their positions are computed from real orbital elements — fly out tonight and Jupiter is where Jupiter actually is. You begin as a CADET docked at the International Space Station, with a small ship, an empty cargo hold, and a flight computer that talks back.

A SYSTEM BUILT TO SCALE

Eight planets and sixteen moons, from Mercury to Triton. Saturn's rings and the full Titan-to-Mimas family. Jupiter's bands churning under procedural turbulence, with all four Galileans in attendance. Mars and the Moon rendered from real NASA colour and elevation data, close enough to read the crater floors. The distances are real, which means they are enormous — a time-warp drive compresses the long crossings, and you will still feel how far apart everything is.

WORK THE BOARD

Dock at the ISS, orbiting Earth at its true altitude, and take contracts. Nine kinds of work: planetary surveys, resource runs, reconnaissance, bounty warrants, tourist charters, convoy escort, derelict salvage, fleet interdiction, and the anomaly investigations that carry the story. Bank the credits, and climb five officer grades from CADET to MAJOR — each one gated behind an Academy examination you have to sit and pass.

FLY, MINE, TRADE

Hold position over an icy moon and fill your bays with ice, gas or ore, then run it back to the station and sell. Convert bays into fuel tanks, oxygen reserves, a third weapon mount, a cloaking unit or an automatic hull patcher. Sixteen hulls sit in the hangar, from the CADET trainers up to the PROSPECTOR and the FORTRESS.

AND FIGHT

The lanes are not empty. Pirate wings run patrols, and Aurum Syndicate interceptors hunt anyone carrying a bounty. Answer with cannons, homing missiles and an EM disruptor that shuts a hull down cold — if you can manage the heat. Push far enough up the contract board and a dreadnought comes out to meet you, turret hardpoints and all.

STAY ALIVE

Hull, fuel, oxygen and radiation are all counting down. Burn your reserves too far from the station and you are drifting, waiting on a rescue ship that may not arrive in time. Take one hit too many and the only way out is the self-destruct.

SOMETHING IS WRONG PAST NEPTUNE

An anomaly detected near Neptune defies every model. Your investigation leads you toward the outer reaches of the solar system, into a region where instruments falter and nothing behaves as it should. Something is waiting out there, in the dark.

FEATURES

• A full-scale solar system on real, live orbital positions

• Eight planets, sixteen moons and a dockable International Space Station

• Nine contract types and a story campaign across the outer system

• Five ranks, earned through Academy examinations

• Ship-to-ship combat against two rival factions

• Sixteen hulls, with weapons, armour, engines and modules to buy and fit

• Mining, cargo trading and passenger charters

• Full gamepad support with remappable controls

• English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese