Before WarpVector's release tomorrow, we wanted to share one of the key game mechanics: shipboard combat.
Players have the opportunity to board enemy craft in order to gain control of their ship. One way to initiate a boarding aciton is to matching the position and velocity of an enemy ship, as shown in the screenshot below. There are also some items, such as the Quantum Breach Gateway, that can be used to initiate a boarding action from afar once a ship's shields are down.
Once the boarding party reaches the enemy ship, they will engage in shipboard combat with the enemy crew. Each turn, the progress of the battle will be printed in the combat log at the bottom of the screen. The player's boarding party must either kill or force the crew to surrender in order to commandeer the ship. Once commandeered, a ship can be given orders using a Comlink just like any other ally. However, in order to warp a commandeered ship out of the system, you will need to pay a fee representing the costs of refitting the ship for long-term use.
But the danger doesn't stop there: enemy ships might also attempt to board the player's ship, forcing the player to defend their own crew in a battle for survival!
We're excited to see how players will approach this new system and use it in combination with other weapons like tractor beams, ion cannons, and the Precursor purification ray.