Hello everyone!
Steve here. I know it’s been quite a while since we’ve given a substantial update about Alliance, so I wanted to give everyone an update on the game, our next beta, and some information on some new and updated systems in the game.
But… first of all, I wanted to share some very exciting information, and in doing so type some words I thought I’d never get to type when this project started almost seven years ago:
As of the end of next week, we will have completed the core game of Alliance of the Sacred Suns.
What does that mean? All core systems are locked down and are in the game, much of our new art, music, and characters are in, and 98% of UI updates will be in. And believe me, it’s been a long, twisty road to get to this point, but we are unbelievably excited to share that news!
In addition, partially as a result of the tremendous progress we’ve made with the game since the start of 2022, we have made the decision along with our publisher, Hooded Horse, to forego the early access period, take some additional development time to put out a complete, stable, fun product, and sell Alliance as a 1.0 product from Day One, with of course significant support, free updates, and some fun features we plan to add post-release! We have not yet made a release date announcement, but know that it will be measured in months, and we fully expect to release Alliance in 2022.
Now, before everyone breaks out champagne and credit cards, does that mean we’re done with the game? Not at all, but it does mean that the foundation of the game is complete and we are now able to start extensive testing on that foundation, while working extensively on the 3 ‘B’s of game development (bugs, balance, and betas). We will be working on the documentation - now that the game is locked in, we can complete the digital manual (yes, there will be a 300+ page old-fashioned manual!) as well as the in-game documentation (tutorial, tooltips, in-game encyclopedia).
To that end, we are announcing our next beta! It will start on June 10, and will go for 2 weeks. If you are interested in joining the beta, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/ydifwouW3VFMVVT19
This will be a beta limited to 100 people, so if you are interested, sign up soon!! Due to the substantially new content of this beta, we are closely limiting both the number and what can be shared from the beta.
As for the game itself, we’ve been very busy with updating some core systems, including how claims work, creating new colonies, science, promotion/replacement of positions, and the emperor system. Let’s talk in more detail about each:
CLAIMS
Claims now are more streamlined - you don’t have to gather influence in order to claim a system, the process starts automatically when a system is explored by you to a high level though an Exploration Expedition. Once that happens, you’ll know all the planets in a system with medium intel - type, size, and habitability. You *won’t* know mineral and energy content, as well as special traits, until you either do a surface Expedition or build an Outpost.
Once the system is explored, an Auction immediately begins among all the Houses. Each House can use their Power + Influence on that System to bid for the System itself, as well as any (or all) Planets in the System. Each Planet and System is bid individually, and the bids are blind until they are revealed. At that point, the top 3 Houses for each planet/system enter a final bidding phase, any Power/Influence points that weren’t lost (i.e. not ended up in the top 3 of a bid) are returned, and the final round begins. Once complete, the House pays a tribute for the System or any Planets that they have won (this money goes into the next Budget Cycle and is converted into Budget Points) and the planets are now free to be developed by their owner. Licenses are no longer in the game - Houses can give away/swap Planets and Systems, but otherwise there is no change in ownership unless a Planet or System is taken by Challenge.
In addition, the results of the claim auction will have a significant effect on your relationships with the other Houses, especially if you win stellar objects they greatly valued. Essentially, the more you take, the worse you will damage your relations with all other Houses, but if you take nothing at all, you will improve your relationships with them somewhat. You’ll have to balance the relationship issues you create with taking large amounts of Holdings with what value you expect them to give you, vs allowing other Houses to take them, at the risk of potentially increasing their Power, but developing colonies that will eventually be solid, productive colonies for the Empire.
SCIENCE
Science has been streamlined as well. You still gain Science Points (SPs) from your House and other Houses depending on your contribution agreement with them, but instead of going into a ‘bucket’ for continuous research in a specific field or category (e.g. Military Category —> Space Combat) each Tier of a Field costs a specific number of points - for example, Tier I Research in Prosperity (an Empire Field) costs 5 SP.
Once you allocate it, it will take a certain number of turns to achieve a Breakthrough, at which point depending on your Science Prime’s Effectiveness you will have between 1 and 3 techs available to unlock. You then select a tech, it is immediately unlocked, and you can then choose to research the field once again, move to the next level (but if you do, you can’t go back!) or put those points elsewhere. You can also pause and Overdrive 1 Field at a time, for double the SP, but it goes 50% faster.
Fun fact: the 1.0 game will have almost 200 total techs to discover and use!
OUTPOSTS/COLONIZATION
Formerly, you developed new Planets through an Outpost Project or a Colonize Planet Project. While this worked, it did not take into account things like distance from the Empire, and really seemed to fit better as a Construction Expedition(like when building Logistical Network hubs or ports). So you (and other Houses) will now create Outposts with a Construction Expedition. A few changes here as well - Construction Fleets are now considered Empire Assets, controlled by the current ruling House (that’s you!), so they no longer count as military assets for your specific House.
You will assign a Empire Construction fleet to the target, remove the materials and energy needed, and the fleet will go out and do its thing. The time it takes will be affected by its efficiency, which means that a) you need a good Admiral and b) you need to keep your fleets well-funded if you want them to work their best, which means you can’t neglect your military! Colonies are founded from Outposts - they grow from Level I to II to III, and then they can become a Colony, with a Designation that matches the type of Outpost (e.g. Farming Outposts will grow into Farming Colonies, etc). We have added a new Colony Outpost that is designed to be a generalist outpost, and you will select the Designation for that Colony once it has reached that point. Outposts will also be assigned an Administrator when they are built - if for your House, you will select them while you set up the Construction Expedition.
Each expansion is self-contained - you do not need a Construction Expedition to expand, but the system does need to be connected to the LGN (note: Level I Outposts can be built in any System which belongs to a constellation that is partially connected to the LGN) Planets and Systems are meant to be very expensive, powerful entities that represent a large part of a House/Empire’s true power, so you have to be very tactical about where to expand. Outposts and new Colonies are usually unprofitable until they become more established - especially on more hostile Planets - so you will have to take that loss into account! They are excellent places to start new careers though - an Administrator of an Outpost will become the colony Viceroy once it grows into that, and they will gain power from that role.
Other Houses will also use this mechanic, but as they don’t have construction fleets they will ask you (via request or demand) to ‘lease’ Empire Construction fleets for that purpose. If you accept, they will pay you a small amount and will take a fleet for use. If you refuse, they will have to go the black market route to get a private Construction fleet, and be *very* annoyed at having to do so (they are twice as expensive, and House funds are a big part of what constitutes House Power)
EMPEROR SYSTEMS
As this is a hybrid 4X/RPG, the role playing elements need to be strong, and they have been pumped up significantly with the installation of most of the remaining Emperor Systems. We have added the entire Epiphany tree (almost 400 Epiphanies!), the Guilt system, the Personality System with effects depending on how the people perceive you, your relationships, and the Oratory Skill Tree. There are also more Comms from Characters in the game requesting, demanding, and sometimes just wanting to talk to you.
We have also added almost all of the Emperor-specific Character and Personal Actions. Each Action has a cooldown and an AP cost (sometimes 0!) and is tied to a specific Epiphany to unlock. Your skills will determine its success (you will see a 0-100% chance of success) and when you select the Action you will see a short story about the results of each Action, whether success or failure, and the consequences.
PROMOTIONS
We have added more distinct promotion systems in Alliance. Formerly, when you fired someone, they were replaced by an automated system based on who had the most power in that House (or generated someone if needed). Plus, anyone could take a position, so a power 3 Courtier could instantly become a Prime. This is highly unrealistic for a number of reasons, including politically and functionally.
So now, each level of position (primes, governors, viceroys) has a minimum amount of Power that’s also tied to the rank of the position (so a Rank A Province Governor will need a much higher Power than a rank D). This now leads to managing careers of Characters that you most want in positions of authority, but of course (like all things) this takes time. Now, you can not only replace a character, but name their replacement if they were in a replaceable position all at once! To align with this system, Viceroys and System Governors gain Power more quickly, and you have several new Actions that you can use to increase Character’s Power (if you have a reasonable amount yourself!)
There are a lot of new things in this build - new art, new emperor art, performance optimizations, updated Intel system, etc. but these are some of the core changes that we were most excited the share! We can’t wait for y’all to see the results!
-Steve