After weeks of preparations we’re ready to reveal the upcoming changes for the next major update. In this first part we’ll talk about our new game mode - Galactic Conquest!
Galactic Conquest Game Mode
The new game mode has three main objectives:
- Capturing Points
- Upgrading Capture Points
- Collecting Team Power-ups
The first one - Capturing Points - is most important to victory. Owning Capture Points generates Team Score over time. The team that reaches the limit of 1200 Team Score first, wins the match. Each of our current maps has 3 Capture Points. We expect each match to last around 12 minutes depending on how evenly matched the teams are.
Once your team captures Points it may upgrade them by collecting Point Upgrades. These are collectible items spread around the map. Collecting a Point Upgrade grants a Capture Point one of three upgrades in this order:
- Minefield which detonates shortly after an enemy ship enters the capture area. The enemy either takes damage or has to back off until the mines explode.
- Junk Shield which provides cover to ships defending the point.
- Warpgate which creates an instant transportation portal from your team’s spawn point to the Capture Point.
It’s possible to equip one Capture Point with all of these if a team collects the Point Upgrade three times.
Three states of a Capture Point: 1. Owned by Blue Team, 2. equipped with mines, 3. equipped with a Junk Shield.
The Team Power-up spawns every two minutes usually at the center of a map. The first team to collect it receives a significant team-wide boost. Currently there are three Power-ups which spawn randomly.
- Weapon Overload - doubles damage output for all allied ships for the first 2000 damage they deal.
- Neutron Shield - spawns a 2000 hp protective shield around each ship.
- Engine Overload - grants the whole team a speed of 250 m/s for 30 seconds.
Our main goal with the new game mode was to increase the tactical depth of the game’s combat. This has been done in two ways: 1st by the introduction of several objectives (capturing, upgrading, collecting power-ups), which require teams to decide where to focus their attention; 2nd by requiring each class to contribute with their unique strengths to victory.
The Frigate has Speed so it can capture objectives faster, the Battleship can defend or push through key areas, the Destroyer is the long-range damage dealer and the Cruiser serves as support as well as a jack-of-all trades class. We’ll be making several balance changes to classes to help them fill their role even better. These will be introduced in the next dev diary. We’re also aware that the new game mode relies on ship mobility more than team deathmatch. This is why, we’ll be generally buffing mobility with the release.
New Maps
The new game mode will come with three brand new maps: Abandoned Colony, Junkyard Belt, Junk Vault 1101. Here’s a sneak peak at one of them:
This map Junkyard Belt is set in an asteroid field. Another one named Abandoned Colony and featured in the top screenshot is set in a canyon environment.
And here are their minimaps, with all the main objectives displayed:
The size of the new maps is slightly larger than the current ones, but since the objectives are spread out, we think the they will become a much more significant part of gameplay. We have also tried to balance the number of open areas, which favor snipers, with corridors, which favor close range combat. The last map Junk Vault 1101 will also include neutral Warpgates, which will allow players to get to the other side of the map instantly.
Score System Changes
As I mentioned earlier, the only victory condition will be to accumulate 1200 Victory Score, which is generated by capturing points. The reward for winning a match will be 1500 Junk and XP, while the losing players will get 500.
Along with that each player will be scored individually in the match and this will be added to their after-match reward. These are the activities that will be rewarded:
- Player kills - 120 p (same as now)
- Point capture - 120 p
- Team power-up pickup - 120 p
- Upgrade pickup - 60 p
- Using supportive abilities (such as Support Shield, Mark Target etc.) - 20 p
One benefit of this new score system is that it will allow various types of builds and gameplay styles - such as support or mobility - to receive high scores.
Alright, that’s it for this diary. Next time we’ll look at the rest of upcoming changes such as the upgraded class system, balance changes, match communication interface and other stuff. If you have any questions or suggestions, let us know on the FORUM :-)
