July Update - Space battles

Space combat will be the central aspect of Rogue Ambassador, and envisioned to work out like the one in Faster Than Light (pausable real-time, top-down view), with extra depth and extended options for the player.

We've made the big decision to make almost all modules destroyable. This will mean that the player regularly finds new modules from unexplored planets and looted ships, but also loses some every now and then during battles or ingame events.

This also implicates that players wants to ideally damage, but not destroy modules aboard enemy ships to get them for themselves as loot. Mereley damaging the modules however will allow enemies to repair them during combat.

General combat mechanics:

Shooting a weapon requires that there's a operating crewmember and power supply to the module. Additionally, projectile weapons need enough explosives (consumed as ammo with each shot).

Player has the option to either target enemy ship hulls or individual modules inside the ships. Needless to say, it is easier to hit the entire ship than an individual module, leading to hopefully interesting and original choices for the player.

Damaging the enemy radar for example makes the enemy hit you less often. Then again, the player could opt to attack enemy weapons, reactors (which might render the enemy ship completely comatose) or just go directly for the kill and skip picking off separate modules altogether.

In another piece of news, we've partnered with Ember Quality Services, an experienced Estonian QA company.

We are nearing the singularity where the new generation battle becomes fully playable, at which point we can start next level balancing of all game aspects tied to battle.

First video footage (space combat sneak-peek)

The combat still lacks many key features so it is like a playground without

much toys, but it's a foundation for testing out how everything works together.

Happy holidays! Come back in January for more! :)

Spaceships

Rogue Ambassador is a game about spaceships. So we thought it's a good idea to take a moment here and introduce some of the ships we've been working with.

Sekvoia II, mobile science base

Sekvoia II was designed as a mobile science base for long-range exploration missions. It can field numerous advanced modules and weapon systems, featuring ample cargo and crew space.
Standard module loadout includes multiple missile batteries and a powerful long-range laser. In addition, the ship is usually equipped with good radar, shield generator and electronic countermeasures unit to confuse enemy targeting systems.

Blue Star Ultima, science vessel

The Blue Star science vessel is optimized for exploration and survival. The Mark II "Ultima" variant comes with many small improvements to further increase the ships overall survivability on long missions. It features improved speed, fuel storage and defensive capabilities.
Standard loadout includes extra escape pods and automated repair bots station.

Heavy Duty JK4300, bulk trader

Heavy Duty JK class traders carry large automated cargo modules, great for transporting bulk cargo. Its hull is made of cost-effective materials not designed to withstand much combat, resulting in less hitpoints than other ships of similar size. The JK4300 usually field medium-sized cannons on their main weapon mount to scare off smaller pirates. Additional point-defence weapons and missiles are installed for working in hostile space.

Tomahawk, custom-built gunship

Welded together from parts of mass-produced non-military ships and equipped with small, cheap weapons, Tomahawk is a typical pirate craft.

SP-33 "Mace", multirole escort 

Cargo space and augmented main gun make this small ship ideal for short-range cargo trips & escorts. Lack of space for additional engines means the ship is designed to fight together with its convoy instead of escaping, making it attractive for merchants who don't want to see their escorts run off faster than themselves. The SP-33 is armed with a built-in oversized "Mace" cannon, unusually large for such small ships. It  requires considerable time to arm and is fixed to the hull, but its raw destructive power makes it a highly respected weapon.


Any questions or ideas about the ships so far? Let us know in the comments below :)

Fleet vs Fleet Space Combat

We have now started regular devblogging, and this post will shed more light on fleet vs fleet combat in Rogue Ambassador. You can expect more info about our space fleet survival roguelike about every week or so. All comments, ideas and questions will be highly appreciated and replied to. Thank you and enjoy!

Pirates have launched a furious attack on player fleet (very early graphics)

You start the combat with your fleet in the left and opponents in the right side of the battlefield. While the battle happens in real-time, the pace of the game is not frantic. Most of your ships move slowly and majestetically to leave you ample time to maneuver them into a better formation and pick optimal targets. The image above might give a bit speedier impression than is usual in Rogue Ambassador.

Weapons, shields and defences

Since weapons have generally quite long range, the game is more about choosing what to shoot rather than trying to dodge bullets or outmaneuver the enemy. The weapons in the game generally fall into three categories: energy (lasers), kinetic (cannons) and missiles. We decided to take a somewhat more realistic approach to energy shields - they will be stopping only energy weapons. Cannon and missile shots are slow enough (slower than light) to pass right through the energy barriers. Missiles can be shot down with point-defence weapons, and the only way to prevent damage from kinetic weapons is evasion. Luckily, evasion is boosted by your ships ECM (electronic counter-measures) and captains dodging skills. On the attacker's side, accuracy (which is pitted against evasion) is boosted by onboard battle computer modules and combat skills of captains. 

Capital Ordinance (Nukes)

A battered cargo hauler launches one of the capital nukes it was transporting (very early graphics) 

Have you ever experienced the amazing feeling of loading your very last nuclear missile from cargo into the torpedo tube and launching it against the swarm of enemy ships, spectacularly winning the battle from the brink of destruction? Well, capital ordinance does just that. Each capital missile takes an entire module slot and comes with a single shot only, but the explosion is big enough to damage or destroy several enemy ships in one shot. 

Selection of Capital Ordinance 

Nobody manufactures capital ordinance any more, since the entire intergalactic civilization is in ruins. Those that remain are highly valued and usually saved for the really difficult battles - which in Rogue Ambassador, will be about every third battle >=) We promise to stay true to the fairly ruthless brutality of roguelikes.

Ships taking damage

If a ship receives damage despite it's energy shields, point-defence weapons and evasion maneuvers, the damage is substracted from it's total HP (which already includes armor. Better armored ships have more HP) but can also damage some of the modules the ship is equipped with. An attack might damage weapons, engines or any of the miscellanneous components the ship is carrying. Hitting a fuel tank or armed nuke migh blow up the whole ship. Other modules can be either damaged or destroyed, and must be repaired before they can be used again. 

Internal view, repairing & crew

Internal view of a large ship in repair view mode

If any of your ship modules get damaged, you can switch on the internal view, showing which modules are damaged, destroyed or being repaired. In addition, you can assign crewmembers from crew space or other modules to speed up the repair of broken modules. This is of course only a fraction of all the cool things in battle (there will be also cool features such as ships with ramming mode, space monsters, escape pods, fighters, battle events, biomechanic modules etc) and we will continue describing it in the next post. Subscribe to our weekly blog-posts if you're interested how this game keeps growing.