Gameplay & Balance Updates
Several changes add new strategic and tactical layers:
Ships starting their turn on gas giants gain +1 action point
Ships ending their turn on friendly planets no longer require upkeep
Allied minor factions now behave more aggressively
Armor can no longer negate all incoming damage, ensuring every attack matters
Processor stations are now much cheaper making prediction cycle victory condition easier to reach
Rebalanced many victory condition requirements
Game no longer ends if two players are tied victory points
Improved Fog of War
Unexplored areas of the map are now fully hidden by the fog of war. This makes navigation more uncertain, increases tension during exploration, and makes early scouting decisions far more meaningful. We have also added new graphics for the edges of the map.
Smarter AI & Performance Improvements
AI has been improved across the board:
Better threat evaluation and decision-making
Improved use of processor stations and techs
More consistent health and damage prediction
Faster turn resolution and improved large-map performance
New Tutorial
We’ve completely reworked the tutorial to make learning Astro Protocol smoother and more engaging:
Smaller, more focused which expands slowly as you go
Clearer step-by-step guidance
Improved explanations of technology, terraforming, and combat
Better use of input icons and tooltips
More Hotkeys
Added hotkeys for unit actions
Added hotkeys for build and buy menus
Hotkey icons added to the tooltips
Added option to clear key bindings in the options
Upcoming Playtest
Over the past months, our focus has been on building out the full scope of Astro Protocol adding factions, ships, techs, and other content that won’t be available in the demo. With this build, we’re now very close to the complete game experience, and we’ll be kicking off playtests in just a few days.
If you’d like to experience full-version content ahead of release and help shape the final stages of development, you can sign up for the upcoming playtests: https://nullvectorstudios.com/playtest
See you among the stars!