Devlog #2 - Eras, Asymmetry and Victory Conditions [6/29/16]

Two weeks ago we introduced the game, how it came to exist and unveiled a little bit more about the vision for the project.



Today we're going to talk about more specific features, starting with Eras.

Eras in Dawn of Andromeda work like Scenarios in other strategy games, notably RTS games but applied to a 4X game and with some notable differences.

The map of the galaxy is unique for each one, and you can choose from a few pre made races each with their own victory conditions, traits, levels of development in different areas and ongoing relationships which makes playing one Era with each races a significantly different experience that poses different challenges. They also unveil more about the lore of the game and work as a substitute in a way for a traditional RTS campaign, except you can choose them at will without any sequential order.



Unlike the vast majority of 4X games, Dawn of Andromeda was designed with asymmetry in mind. Asymmetry basically means each race can start in a different playing field. For example, one race can start just after they discovered outer space travel, while at the same time another race already has a sprawling empire with many colonies, already knows several other players, explored a good chunk of the galaxy and is technologically more advanced.

Other than being more realistic, this makes for very interesting and varied challenges. For example: you can create an overpowered race that starts small and go against already existing empires.



Starting in a different playing field also means your strategy will need to adapt depending on how you start. Will you try to focus on having fewer, but prosperous colonies making your empire easier to defend? Will you try to befriend other races around your level, or are you going to try to befriend the big and powerful empire in the game? Will you try to crush everyone right away, or do you want to start befriending your opponents while you build up a massive armada?

Additionally, each race has its own victory conditions. Starting small doesn’t necessarily mean a harder game, just like starting big doesn’t mean it’s going to be a walk in the park. It also changes how the AI behaves and what strategies they will take as they adapt to their goals, further changing how the game plays whenever you start a new game with different parameters.

In two weeks from now we’re going to talk some more about exploration and some of the interesting things you can find in Andromeda.



Stay tuned!

