Hi Everyone!
Here's the first dev diary from us at Whatboy. Here, we're going to focus on the high-level ideas around taking turns in Stellaris Nexus and how combat works.
For the video dev diary, you can watch it right here through YouTube! If you prefer a text version of this, we're going to post it below.
Actions / Support
Stellaris Nexus is a simultaneous turn-based 4X game that plays out across the galaxy - starting at the galactic rim and ending on the throneworld of Nexus in the centre of the galaxy.
You start the game in control of a faction of your choice and your objective is to be crowned the new emperor of the galaxy by gaining the most succession points of any faction and thereby taking your place on the galactic throne on Nexus.
Every choice that you make on your journey to victory is an ACTION.
You can take as many actions as they want during your turn but the number of actions is limited by the amount of Support that you have.
Support represents the freedom of your regime to act, whether that’s through having a happy and productive population or one that is coerced to support its ruler through ruthless suppression.
The first action that you play costs 1 Support, the 2nd action costs 2 Support, the 3rd costs 3 etc - so as you can see, Actions get more expensive the more of them you play.
An action can be used to either activate and move a fleet, construct a new fleet or starbase above one of your planets or to play an Edict.
Edicts are unique to Stellaris Nexus. Each turn you will have access to a small number of Edicts that you will be able to spend your Actions on. Edicts are how you develop your Empire and interact with other factions outside of direct conflict.
For example, you can use Edicts to construct new projects on your planets, research new technologies or send a diplomatic offer to one of your neighbours. We will talk about Edits in more detail in a future dev diary.
Each turn you have some key decisions to make about how many actions you use to further your military objectives and how many you use to develop your economy and your empire.
When you have spent all of your Support and you are therefore no longer able to act, then just click END TURN.
Any unspent Support is carried over to your next turn.
There are a whole range of ways in which players can forge peaceful diplomatic and commercial alliances with their neighbours early in the game using the Trade and Diplomacy Edicts.
But even when these relationships start with peaceful intentions, intergalactic diplomacy has a tendency to turn sour as the game progresses and the stakes get higher.
As each faction makes its way closer to Nexus, those peaceful intentions can turn to broken promises, betrayal and outright hostility.
Combat
When the fleets of 2 rival factions, who do not have a non-aggression pact in place, enter the same system - they will automatically go to battle against each other.
Combat in Stellaris Nexus takes place at the end of a turn, so players have the opportunity to send in a whole range of fleets of different types to increase their changes of victory.
The outcome of a battle is determined by the strength and types of fleets on both sides of the conflict, with a little bit of randomness thrown into the mix.
But its not just a case of having the largest fleet. Each class of fleet is particularly effective against a different class.
Ranged fleets can strike slow moving Capital fleets from a distance, while faster raider can close that distance against a Ranged fleet quickly, however their light weapons have little impact against the heavy armour of a Capital fleet.
The weapon load-out of your fleets is determined by the extent that you have researched physics and nano-tech, so even an enormous fleet armed with only low-tech weapons can be defeated by a smaller, but technologically superior enemy.
New fleet types, such as dreadnaughts, spectres, super carriers and titans can be researched and unlocked as well as new offensive and defensive capabilities creating the possibility of an enormously powerful and genuinely terrifying enemy fleet arriving at your border. In situations like this, a tactical retreat or a peaceful diplomatic offer might be your best option.
So, as you can see - the early game in Stellaris Nexus involves spending your available Support in order to expand your reach within the galaxy.
That expansion however very quickly results in you colliding with the borders of rival neighbouring factions. The way in which you deal with those factions, is key to your success in the initial stages of the game.
Turns
Finally, it worth keeping in mind the differences between the way that turns work in single player vs multiplayer.
In single player, you are battling against 5 AI controlled factions whereas in multiplayer you are up against at least one other human player.
In both situations, each faction spends their support to take their actions and then ends their turn - ALL turns resolve simultaneously.
When playing against AI, you can take as long as you want to decide which actions to take. You can undo any actions and try out different outcomes until you finally click END TURN.
When playing against other human players, there is a turn timer which can be set at the beginning of the game, but which gives every player a time limit in which to play their actions. If you don't end your turn before the turn timer runs out, you have 60 seconds of overtime that can be spent over the entirety of the game, so use it sparingly.
In this way, multiplayer games move fast to ensure that they come in around the 60-minute mark. So, follow your gut and trust your instinct. And if you get annihilated, then check the end-game stats, figure out where you went wrong and get back out there for another game!
We are looking forward to seeing you soon on the galactic rim.
- The team at Whatboy