A magnetic-scoop collector ship (a simplified Bussard-ramjet model) flies through a nebula rendered here top-down. Gas particles enter the frame ahead of the ship and drift toward it at the flight speed. Any particle that crosses into the funnel-shaped intake field feels an inward pull
a = k · intakePower · hull / d²
toward the collector, where d is its distance from the intake mouth and hull is the current hull-integrity fraction (0–1) — a damaged field coil pulls weaker. A particle that reaches the mouth is captured and its mass is added to the collected total. Nebula density sets how many particles spawn per second; flight speed sets how fast they sweep past. Lightning strikes trigger at a rate set by the storm-frequency slider; each strike chips hull integrity, which recovers slowly between strikes, so pushing intake power and flight speed together while storms rage is a genuine trade-off between yield and hull damage.