Greetings, Spacefarers!
As work progresses on the game, we’re hard at work on some of the headline features. Among them is combat, one of the central pillars of the game. This is an area of gameplay that it’s very important to get right, and today we’d like to share more on what to expect from combat in Echoes of Empire
The basic premise of our combat system is that it is asynchronous, meaning that you don’t engage in real time actions to take part in an encounter. In this way, players are not required to be ever present, and can view the results of their battle when they return to the game. Combat is simulated by the game based on a complex array of calculations, taking into account factors such as what ships you have, what support ships are part of your fleet, and other considerations. Eventually, it will incorporate the use of crew for your fleets as well.
There will be several different types of combat included in the game, Fleet vs Fleet, Fleet vs PoI, and fleet vs Home Base. These will allow players to engage with combat features in different ways, and to round out their strategy when seeking to take resources from other players. Regardless of which type of encounter you engage in, you will be required to “wager” Stardust to begin the encounter. This means that the victor will be rewarded the “wagered” Stardust at the end of the battle. This mechanic seeks to avoid scenarios where a player would spam combat encounters, as well as to ensure that players are rewarded well for their efforts.
After combat has concluded, players will be able to view a combat report. This will allow players to make more informed decisions with how and when to deploy fleets, and what factors played a role in a win or loss. You will be able to see how much damage was dealt, how much health your fleet has left, and information on the resources and rewards granted, or the resources lost in the event of a loss.
From a defensive standpoint, players will be able to add defenses to their celestial claims and home bases to better defend themselves against attackers. You will always need to be aware of your defenses, and work to ensure that you aren’t vulnerable to having resources taken by other players in battle. We will be covering the defense options in a separate article in the near future.
As these features come closer to the version that will be available in beta, we’ll be opening up the community testing program to allow you to experience it first-hand and offer your thoughts and feedback on the combat system and other features in development. We look forward to getting our landholders back in the game! Stay tuned for further news on that as we get closer.