After a few updates over the last couple of weeks which addressed the issues some people were having with ramming, development time is shifting to the Infinite War update. I thought I’d give you an overview of what is currently being worked on.
Infinite War game mode
In addition to the Campaign mode which you are familiar with, the Infinite War mode will procedurally generate a new galaxy for you to play. In its default settings, the size of the various factions will be randomised; some of them might not even be present.
However, you’ll also be able to create a galaxy with settings to your liking, deciding which factions the galaxy will be populated with and how large the empires are.
The Infinite War mode is meant for experienced players, as it will be possible to create galaxies which will be extremely difficult – or impossible – to be victorious in.
A new faction
Enter the Hegemon: a faction which will only be present in the new Infinite War mode. The Hegemon will be the end-game faction, fielding large capital ships which will test both your flagship and your skill. They will make use of the various strategies you’ve seen from other factions, such as the use of particle accelerators and will bring a few tricks of their own via the new modules.
New modules
The principle of the new modules is fairly simple: you (and the AI) have a new weapon which can figure projectiles in one of two configurations (lets call them Red and Black) and your shield needs to be in the matching configuration to block those projectiles.
So if your shield is in the Red state and someone fires a Black projectile at your ship, it will go through. Otherwise, it will be nullified.
To achieve this, we’ll have two new modules: the Quantum State Alternator and the Antiproton cannon.
Quantum State Alternator
- Increases the damage resistance of the ship’s shields by 25%.
- There can only be one Quantum State Alternator installed in a ship.
- The QSA has two quantum states. These can be cycled through by pressing space bar and this switch is instantaneous.
- The quantum state affects the shield and any antiproton cannons installed.
- A shield with a QSA will block any antiproton projects which are in the same quantum state.
Antiproton cannon
- This is a large, very slow firing weapon. Rate of fire likely 1 projectile per 4 seconds.
- The projectile goes through shields, unless the ship has a Quantum State Alternator. In that case, the shot is blocked if the QSA has the same quantum state as the antiproton cannon.
- If the antiproton cannon hits a shield with the same quantum state, the shot dissipates harmlessly.
- Otherwise, the projectile instantaneously destroys the module it hits and EMPs anything surrounding it.
- This weapon exists in two variants: a prototype one (artifact) and a Hegemon one (legendary). The prototype variant might have an even slower rate of fire.
The next steps
The new game mode is already under development and some preliminary work has begun for the assets required for the new modules. If it all goes well I’ll have some screenshots to share next time.
Thank you for reading!