ZeroSpace News

Attention, commanders! The next phase of the ZeroSpace Alpha kicks off Friday, March 22nd at 12:00 PM EDT. It’s packed with new content, huge updates based on your feedback, another $10,000 tournament, and more.

This time, we’re raising the stakes with a massive CELEBRATION:





We’re calling on the entire RTS community to ⚡GENERATE AS MUCH FLUX AS POSSIBLE⚡! In this massive event, you can enter to win some incredible gaming goodies (and the chance to immortalize yourself in ZeroSpace!) simply by participating in the Alpha and helping fuel the ZeroSpace hype machine as we forge the future of Real-Time Strategy together! Up for grabs:

🖥️ Not one, but THREE grand prizes: MSI GTX 4070 Supers
🖱️ TEN runner-up prizes: Logitech G403 Prodigy Gaming Mice
🤑 TWENTY ZeroSpace DLC for free for life
👽 Your name in-game as one of FIVE NPC characters
🌌 Naming rights for one of 50 stars in the ZeroSpace Galactic Map!

There are TONS of ways to ⚡GENERATE FLUX⚡ in the celebration:

🌌 Play in the Alpha!
🏆 Submit your #PlayOfTheDay on Twitter, YouTube and Discord - every day, whoever submits the most-voted #PlayOfTheDay will be DMed a secret code worth 500 FLUX!
📺 Watch ZeroSpace content creators!
👀 Tune into the Alpha Tournament broadcast!
💬 Tell your friends on social media!
And more!

The event kicks off when servers go live on Friday, and you’ll be able to participate here: https://gleam.io/Q6ZCX/zerospace-alpha-celebration



📅Alpha Dates & Times: Friday, March 22 at 12:00 PM EDT through Friday, April 22 at 3:00 PM EDT.

🔑Steam Keys: If you played in a previous Alpha, you’re already in! If this is the first Alpha phase you have access to, watch your inbox for an email from BackerKit with your Steam key. If you purchased a friend key, look for an email from Starlance later this week.

🥳Looking to join in on the fun? Backing us at a level of Stellar Warlord (https://zerospace.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders/567779) or higher will grant you same-day access!

📺Pros & Creators: Are you a pro player or content creator with a following, and want ZeroSpace access? Drop us a message and we’ll see if we can get you sorted out.

📖Prologue Coming Soon: We’re putting the finishing touches on our first campaign mission for ZeroSpace, so you’ll be getting your first taste of the epic, galaxy-spanning story soon. Look for news on when the Prologue will launch later during the Alpha!

[h2]1v1 Tournament[/h2]

We loved seeing how far the pros could push the game last Winter, so we couldn’t give up the opportunity of having another tournament!

💸$10,000 Prize Pool
📺Live on https://www.twitch.tv/playzerospace on April 13th and 14th
🏆16 players will qualify via the ranked ladder, and 16 will come from an open qualifier.
🎥To qualify via the ranked ladder, players are required to livestream ZeroSpace for an average of 6 hours per week.

Deadline to qualify from ranked ladder: April 12th 4PM EDT
Open Qualifier Date/Time: April 6th 11AM EDT

[h2]2v2 Updates & Tournament[/h2]

We’ve got a brand-new 2v2 map for you to sink your teeth into this Alpha – and to show it off, we’ll be sponsoring a 2v2 tournament run by a to-be-announced content creator!

More details about the tournament will be shared on discord during the Alpha – stay tuned!

[h2]New Mercenary Faction, Units, Heroes, and gameplay updates![/h2]

Arandi: The 5th mercenary faction has arrived! Use their technological prowess to dominate the battlefield



Shade: A corrupted Arandi - turned "Endari", this melee unit has uninterrupted phased movement and haunts the enemy who dares kill them.

Horned Mech: The horned mech is a unique fresh concept we're playing with, each auto-attack is a projectile that continues its slow trajectory in a line, damaging any units it passes through.

Phoenix Guard: An elite Arandi infantry unit, who unlike other civilization's infantry - it can fly!

Amplifier: Spellcaster with the ability to mind-control enemies for a short duration and a passive aura that spawns hallucinations of nearby allied units that have died.

Time Warper: An advanced Arandi Ship with the ability to teleport units to it and set up a phasing zone that slows time for enemies (attack speed and move speed)

[h3]Additional New Units![/h3]

Legion Dreadnought: The air counterpart to the Terror Tank is finally here. The dreadnought has a powerful (further upgradable) Bombardment ability, natural "detector" and can be customized to sense units in a large radius, teleport, and increase the power of its deadly beam attack.

Legion Rhino Rider: Our third Legion Barracks unit, Rhino Riders are selected by the Inquisitress herself. They rely on very small amounts of energy to knock-back enemies.

Valkaru Sensor Bot: Now playable, the Sensor bot offers through Valkaru the perk of early and relatively cheap surveillance and detection.

Wing'd Behemoth Redesign: The community spoke, and we listened. The Behemoth is in the process of being overhauled and its new design includes a transformation through which it morphs into a majestic creature with wings!

[h3]Heroes:[/h3]

I'olin: Triarch of the Arandi, I'olin can quickly teleport short distances, collapse space-time to create a black hole and use a powerful energy orb which returns to her to destroy her enemies.

Mera: Protectorate Commander Mera (melee) is perhaps the most agile hero in the game. She protects nearby allies via shields, and can increase her attack and movespeed during fights.

Hel: Marran General and Ambassador, Hel is the stealthiest and most precise of snipers, a strong scaling hero also equipped with a knock-back grenade to help him keep his distance.

[h3][NEW] Mercenary unique faction bonuses:[/h3]

Mercenaries are a core mechanic in ZeroSpace, Each faction will now also provide a unique passive bonus, reinforcing their identities and offering new unique avenues for play and strategy:

Arandi: Research upgrades are now instant.

Marran: Passively grants XP

Dread Raiders: Passive "Pillage" (generate hexite by killing extractors / harvesters)

Cha'Kru: Additional "Power" gained from units dying

Valkaru: Faster building construction

The full patch notes will be available at launch on Friday.

[h2]Visual Updates[/h2]

User Interface - We’ve completely overhauled our UI design to bring a more modern feel, and to highlight some of our mechanics. This is only our first pass and we’ve got some cool things planned that we can’t wait to get implemented.



We’re particularly interested in your feedback on the Tab Wheel, a new UI feature we’ve implemented by popular demand.

We’ve made some big updates to Grell building textures to give them more detail and make them look more realistic which we’re pretty happy with - what do you think?



[h2]Sound Updates[/h2]

We’ve been hard at work on an overall sound cleanup and polish pass. But the audio changes we’re really excited about are the 🗣️hundreds of new lines of voiced dialogue we’ve been recording to deepen immersion and bring the game to life.

Some units now interact and express themselves based on context: attack move, patrol, hold, formation, ability use, killing an enemy unit, whether they’re in a group or alone – and so many more. Some hero units have over 100 unique lines!

This is a work in progress, and not all units are currently implemented, but we’re really excited about how this change makes the game feel more alive, and can’t wait to hear your feedback.

[h2]Coming Soon This Alpha:[/h2]

But, of course, that’s not all. We’re hard at work on ZeroSpace and have plans for additional content drops throughout the Alpha. Here’s what you’ll be able to get your hands on. Stay tuned to the Discord and social media channels: we’ll be calling on the ZeroSpace community to help us unlock some of these features and updates with shared community FLUX goals!

Survival Mode
Grab a friend and gear up to see how long you can last in this action packed survival mode where the waves just keep on coming.

Campaign Prologue
Coming up soon we’ve got our first campaign mission and cinematics to showcase. Get ready to learn how the ZeroSpace story all begins!

And More!
An additional 2v2 map!
2v2 matchmaking!
Live balance updates!
Bug fixes!



A heartfelt thank you to the entire ZeroSpace community for your support so far. Your energy keeps us invigorated to create the best game we can for RTS fans everywhere.

We recently held a community art contest in our discord which received stunning submissions including a physical diorama, and a Terror Tank themed song. Please give them some love on our in the #zerospace-art channel on Discord!

And check out the rest of the discord for fun conversation, giveaway chances, and to stay up to date on our development!

Looking for the best way to support us?
Back us on BackerKit to participate in these testing periods and receive extra goodies:
Wishlist us here on Steam to help increase our visibility!
Join our discord and support us on social media.

Happy February, Commanders!

We’re here with a monster update on everything that’s been going on in the world of ZeroSpace’s development and community. Read along for an Early Alpha and Winter Bash round-up, a recap of our visit to Dreamhack, a host of development updates – plus news on how you can vote on the 7th Mercenary Faction!

[h2]Winter Bash Wrap-Up![/h2]

The latest phase in the ZeroSpace Early Alpha – the Winter Bash – wrapped up with a massive $10,000 tournament casted by Wardi, CatZ, Nathanias, Tasteless, and Artosis!

Miss the action?

Check out the tournament bracket and Day 1 and Day 2 VODs from WardiTV’s Stream!

Congratulations to the ZeroSpace Winter Bash Champion, Elazer – and to all of the competitors!



Make sure to vote for the best game and best strategy in the #community-voting channel on the Discord!

[h2]A Pilgrimage to DreamHack[/h2]

In December, we brought ZeroSpace to RTS’ hometown: DreamHack Atlanta. It was a rousing success – we got to put the game in the hands of dozens of SC2 pros, commentators and luminaries, and get invaluable feedback from thousands of members of the RTS community. Check out our highlight reel to relive the hype:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]



[h2]Development Progress[/h2]

We’ve been hard at work across the spectrum of ZeroSpace’s development. We can’t thank our Alpha players enough for their thoughtful feedback. Here’s the highlights on what we’ve been working on:

[h3]Meet the Artemis[/h3]

The new Protectorate air unit, the Artemis, effectively engages both air and ground targets. Its "EMP'' ability disrupts enemy forces in a line, which knocks back, slows, and drains energy from units. Equipped with three healing beams to help your army, the Artemis can simultaneously attend to multiple units, ensuring sustained combat effectiveness for allied forces.



[h3]Team Colors[/h3]

We’ve added in Team Colors to help with visual clarity. Now, you can easily identify which player every unit belongs to!



[h3]Weaver Rework[/h3]

In its original form, the Weaver wasn’t seeing much usage, as it was hard to justify the cost for the utility gained. To address this, we’ve added an aura to the Weaver that doubles friendly healing, and completely reworked the Weaver’s Active ability. Its new ability “Cocoon” traps the targeted unit in a cocoon, making it invulnerable, and heals if the unit is an ally.



[h3]First Look at the Rhino Rider[/h3]

Gaze upon the Legion’s Rhino! A swift, melee unit ideal for scouting yet relatively tanky. The Rhino's passive ability delivers a single-target knockback and bonus damage upon activation, requiring full mana to unleash its power.



[h2]Vote on the 7th Mercenary Faction[/h2]

The time is here: we’re calling on our Backers to cast your votes to decide which of three possible Mercenary Factions we’ll introduce!

Hop over to the ZeroSpace Discord and find the poll in the #backer-voting channel

Here are your candidates:

Sanctuary, a vital space station in the Orion Quadrant, serves as a crucial hub for cross-species medical emergencies, catering to planets lacking specialized medical expertise. Funded by a complex system of government taxes, bounties, and favors, Sanctuary relies on loyal Mercenaries, survivors indebted to its services, who often work for minimal fees. The Trade city of Jevis, located beneath Sanctuary, contributes significantly to revenue, housing the most diverse alien population in the known Galaxy.



The Endari, a subfaction of the Arandi, have tapped into the dimensional energies too often, becoming peaceful. Shunned by the main Arandi faction, they are hunted down as the Arandi claim they are possessed by creatures from the other side. Despite appearing dim-witted, the Endari possess immense powers.



The Edolians are tree-dwelling species with a slow and defensive nature. They pride themselves in their ability to gather information, infiltrate and wage an efficient war behind the remote operation of drones and covert units. They are considered cowardly by many other species.



[h2]More to Come![/h2]

Next up for ZeroSpace is the March Alpha, which will include a sneak peek of our single-player campaign, some new heroes, Arandi as a fully fledged mercenary faction, some game mode surprises we’re cooking up, and much more! The March alpha will start on the 22nd and end on April 19th.

If you're looking to join in on the fun, check out our BackerKit! You can also enter our Discord's art contest for a chance to win a key for this upcoming Alpha period. The contest will close on February 29th, so make sure to submit your entries to our art contest forum!

Thank you as always for your incredible passion and support. If you’d like to be notified of ZeroSpace’s release, be sure to Wishlist us on Steam!

Till next time, Commanders!

2023 is almost over, Commanders! We've got a lot of news to share.

[h2]ZEROSPACE WILL BE AT DREAMHACK ATLANTA!
[/h2]



We couldn't pass up the chance to be at DreamHack Atlanta - an event near and dear to the RTS community's heart. Come play ZeroSpace before anyone else at our booth, and watch pros battle it out for the first time.

• Play ZeroSpace!
  
• Mercenary Faction Showcase
  
• Pro Showmatches
  
• Chat with the Developers

Use code ZEROSPACE for 20% off tickets: https://dreamhack.com/atlanta/tickets/

[h2]EARLY ALPHA[/h2]
(December 18-24 & January 5-15)

Join us for the ZeroSpace early alpha! We’ll be kicking things off with an initial testing period just after Dreamhack. We’re also excited to announce that after a short holiday break we’ll have our first ever ZeroSpace live event in January!

The December segment will include matchmaking, vs A.I., custom games with friends, & 2v2!

For Backers at the Stellar Warlord level or higher, watch your emails for a Steam key soon!

[h3]New Year's Event[/h3]
The Live Event in January will launch with additional features such as:

• Leaderboards
  
• Achievements
  
• Daily goals

You’ll be able to gain points and earn prizes! You’re also invited to live stream and share your experience playing the game throughout the January event!

[h3]Early Alpha Tournament![/h3]
To top it all off, we’ll be commemorating the event with an Official ZeroSpace Early Alpha Tournament! The tournament will have open sign-ups with priority given based on MMR. Stay tuned as we’ll have more details about the event and the tournament as we get closer!

If you or your friends are interested in joining the alpha testing experience and missed the original Kickstarter campaign, you can still support us on BackerKit and gain access to Early Alpha!

Otherwise, wishlist us here on Steam to be notified of ZeroSpace's release!

[h2]NEW JUNGLE TILESET[/h2]
This is still a work in progress, but we're too excited not to share!



[h2]MULTIPLAYER[/h2]

We’ve been hard at work refining our Multiplayer experience! Here’s just a few exciting items we’ve been working on:

[h3]Attack Based Energy System:[/h3]
This is an alternative to traditional energy systems where you gain energy passively, instead, you’ll gain energy by attacking. While this isn’t a final feature, our initial testing has gone well and we’re excited about the possibilities it brings us (such as balancing abilities via attack speed and range). This lets us have powerful abilities that don’t feel imbalanced, as the difficulty involved in unlocking them serves as a balancing factor.

[h3]2v2:[/h3]
We’ve been busy testing out 2v2s, figuring out map elements that suit the game mode, potential win conditions, and how different faction abilities work with each other.

One of the main challenges we’ve faced is readability, so we’re attempting to address this by adding team colors and changing minimap icons.

[h3]Refining Grell:[/h3]
While we’re feeling good with the Grell overall, there’s a few units we’re looking into re-designing. The main unit we’re looking at is the Skrelling. Previously, the Skrelling was a simple air unit that fired projectiles for small damage.

Currently, we’re testing several iterations of the Skrelling, one of which being the Skrelling Swarm. This is a costlier, fast swarm with iterations being tested to go between air and land depending on its target. This would make the Skrelling better specialized in combat against small numbers of units, making it great to pick-off reinforcements. Although very exciting, we would like some additional time to flesh this build out, and it may not be ready during the Alpha playtesting.

[h2]ART[/h2]

Our art team has been doing some amazing work! Since you’ve last seen, they’ve worked on everything from animations, adding details to the characters, sets for the campaign, to the jungle tileset you’ve seen above.



[h2]THANK YOU![/h2]

We greatly appreciate all of the support we have received from the community so far, and we are so excited to continue showing you our work!

Please help spread the word about ZeroSpace to your friends, and don’t forget to Wishlist Us On Steam & Join Our Discord!

-The Starlance Team

Greetings, Commanders.

As we enter the final days of the ZeroSpace Kickstarter, we’re excited to introduce the fourth playable faction in ZeroSpace: The Legion.



The Legion offers a unique blend of gameplay mechanics focused on three versatile heroes, powerful customizable tanks, and basic units called Thralls. Players must carefully manage how they spend flux, as upgrading heroes and tanks to their maximum potential requires significant flux investment.

Watch Grant’s gameplay video for details on the Legion:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Lore[/h2]

“The Imperion sat in his iron chair, a remnant of old age molted brown and red, symbolizing the strength of their heritage. It was the Idals who led them through conflict after conflict as the victors of history, and they must be revered. The Imperion closed his eyes and recited the first verse of the Idals, sharpening his mind and allowing him to think more clearly. There were 367 verses in total, and he recited one each day, resting for one day after reciting them all. He did not know why there were 367 verses, but that was how it had always been.

The galaxy had almost been cleansed, with all species that could be uplifted already uplifted. Those that were incompatible with the Idals were redone. Only a few synthetics remained. They needed to be eradicated as they had no essence, only capable of what they were programmed to do.

The Danrubics posed the final threat to the Imperion, as they held ancient knowledge, possibly of the Idals' weakness. They had already committed the worst atrocity a synthetic could achieve by overthrowing their masters and participating in mass genocide.

Those masters were once a proud race with knowledge beyond even the Imperion's understanding, but their ways led to the arrival of the Danrubics, whom the Imperion had warned would be their downfall. Now, it was his responsibility to clean up the mess.”

—

There’s only a few days to go to back ZeroSpace on Kickstarter. If you haven’t already, we hope you’ll consider, and if you have, we’d love if you shared the news with your friends. Every dollar that you put into the project helps us achieve our vision of delivering the incredible, next-gen RTS the community deserves.

If you haven't already, add ZeroSpace to your wishlist and join us on Discord!

Big news, commanders! You’re already acquainted with the Protectorate and the Grell, but we’re ready to unveil the third faction in ZeroSpace. Meet the Xol.



For the full scoop, head over to our friends at Team Liquid, where we’ve authored an article with a ton of in-depth info on the Xol, including lore, gameplay, theory, unit design, and more!

Here’s our design consultant, Grant, with the lowdown in video form:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Lore background:

"The Xol started as an advanced general “AI”, created for the purpose of serving their Masters, who eventually abandoned them. Often misunderstood as villainous beings, they have been on a long quest of self-discovery, starting by embodying their once trapped minds into the physical realm, allowing them to learn through experience and pursue their new found ambitions."

Gameplay overview:

"The Xol take to embodiment through polymeric-metals, and this malleability gives them the ability to merge with one another into completely different units to increase their power level and strategically changing their identity and utility.

This flexibility makes the Xol in ZeroSpace a highly adaptable faction. With just a small pool of base units, they’ll be able to create complex and specialized armies in turn. Tentatively, Xol units will also have the ability to 'split' and assume their former identities when tactically called for."

Be sure the visit the TL article for the in-depth dive, and toss Grant a like & subscribe on his YouTube.

We’ve got 7 days left in our Kickstarter, and we’re not done revealing more details about ZeroSpace, (including another playable faction reveal!) — be sure to spread the news far and wide!

- The Starlance Team