Akom of Cazic Thule

So my friend sends me an IM the other day telling me about Shattered Galaxy, a MMORTS. I've always wondered if it would be possible to make one of these games, and low and behold here is Shattered Galaxy, which has apparently been out for a long time, so if you're heard of it, go ahead and skip this thread ; ).

The game is now free to download and free to play with very few limitations at lower levels. If you pay for an account you gain some pretty cool benefits, but the game is still fun if you play free. The site is www.sgalaxy.com if you want to check it out.

Here's a brief run-through of how the game is played.

When you first start it has you do a tutorial. Now, this is where I lost interest in the game at first. My friend suggested it to me... I knew virtually nothing about it, and my first impression, given by the tutorial, was... meh.

Then I went to visit my friend and he asked if I was playing. I said no and he proceeded to show me the "actual" game. It is awesome.

First off, it is not a traditional RTS. You do not collect resources or build anything. You start off by choosing an army of 48 units. These do not have to be the same type. When you go into combat, you bring squads of 6 (or more as you level up) units. These squads should be the same units, for exp reasons.

The coolest part of the game is the fact that your hero (pretty much represents you, the commander) and your individual units gain levels, RPG style. As you use certain types of units, say air units, you will gain levels in Aviation. Also, the individual units that you use in battle will gain their own levels. As you, the commander, level up, you'll be able to get better and better units in that field and upgrade your individual units to better makes quicker. As the individual units level up, you can progress them by upgrading their make (Mk2, Mk3...) and also upgrading their equiptment. As they level they gain more weight allowance and such, which allows them to hold more, and better equiptment. You can individualize each and every one of your 48 units if you want, or you can create a template to load to each one of the same type. You can even individually name each one of your units. Very personalized.. you can actually get attached to your units.

When a unit dies in battle, it dosn't really "die." It is just damaged... Once you repair it, its good to go again, with all the same equiptment, levels, and exp. Lets look at a typical battle.

First, you're at your homebase where you can train, "buy" and "sell" units (although this dosn't actually cost game money), and upgrade your units. Once you have your force amassed, you hit F7 which brings you up to the squad management screen. The inner circles are your squad. Where you place your units will decide where they are on your screen when you select them. The inner ring will put them on the right side of your screen. The next ring will put them on the left. You select your 6 units, hopefully of the same type (Inf, Avi, Mobil, or Org), by placing them in one of the rings (semi-circles, actually). After selecting your first squad, you click your map and find a battle. Usually battles have a white ring showing that you can join them. Big battles are usually the funnest. You can tell how many people are in each battle by looking at the little bathroom door man icons for each team on that location. The whole objective is to be in control of the most locations at the end of each round. I believe a round is 10 min. You can hit refresh until you see a good battle, or go start a fight in a square with some enemy units in it. Usually when your allies see a fight they'll join in.

So you start the battle. The objective is to take control of the POC's (Point of Contention<?>s). Its kinda like capture the flag, except you have to park ground units on a poc for a certain amount of time. If you have all of the PoC's for an amount of time, or if you control the most at the end of the battle (battle time is 10 min I believe). You fight with your 6 units until all 6 are killed (damaged). Then you hit F7 and select your next 6 out of your 48. You have 30 seconds from when your last unit dies before you are able to re-join. After the 30 seconds, you hit reinforce and your next 6 units spawn.

This continues until you either win or lose the battle. After the battle you get a rundown of how much exp you got in each field, how much exp each of your units gained, and any levels gained. Also, if you ranked in the top 3 in the battle, all of your damaged units are repaired. This saves time since you won't have to return to the homebase to repair. If you have gone through a good number of units, and didn't come in top 3, then you'll need to return home to repair. You go into the shop where you buy units and select "Repair All." Blam, repaired and you're good to go.

So far I am having a lot of fun with the game. If you decide to play, I'm playing as AkomX on the, umm... Orange team lol... I always forget the name of my faction. Its the one that has a flag that looks like the Imperial Symbol from Star Wars. Starts with an I... grrr. Anyway... check it out, see if you like it.

Fandros

Oh hell, there goes Drizzen...

Fandros

Korl

I played it some.

Basically it pirated the SC idea and tried to make it a MMOG. In my opinion it failed. There was very little strategy required, especially if you're comparing it directly to SC.

Great summary though Akom. It was entertaining for a few nights.

Akom of Cazic Thule

I can see what you mean Korl, but for a free game, I'm not really dissapointed. There can be some strategy involved... not to the SC extent being that you can only use a Maximum of 10 units at a time, 12 if you're a paying player. I just like the general idea of the game... being able to level your units individually. I've needed something to waste my time on... I'm kinda in-between games at the moment, and so far have been having fun with this.