Astro Protocol News

[p]We’re excited to announce that Astro Protocol will be part of Next Fest, October 13–20![/p][p]To celebrate, we’re releasing Update 0.15 bringing major improvements to the demo including the Myrmidon Horde, a brand new playable faction available only during the festival week.[/p][h2]New Faction: The Myrmidon Horde[/h2][p]The Myrmidon Horde joins the battle for control of the Protocol. This faction is composed of species bound by swarm intelligence and divided into specialized sub-classes. Many slaves from other alliances have been absorbed into the swarm or adapted its parasitic survival strategies on their own. Under a rigid collective will, Myrmidons have been reshaped for different roles across the cosmos.[/p][p]Fatal experiments have accelerated their evolution, giving them high mobility at the cost of shorter lifespans. Despite their isolationist nature, Myrmidon galactic politics remain fiercely expansionist.[/p][p][/p][h2]New Ship Classes[/h2][p]Every ship in Astro Protocol now belongs to one of four core classes, giving fleets clearer roles and tactical depth.[/p]

• [p]Scout class ships are weak and inexpensive.[/p]
• [p]Cruiser class ships are fast, offensive ships with high attack and damage values.[/p]
• [p]Battleship class ships are slow, defensive ships with high armor and shield values.[/p]
• [p]Carrier class ships are long-range ships with strong support abilities.[/p]

[p]We’ve also added 19 new class-specific technologies and upgrades. Researching these allows you to specialize your fleets, from stronger Battleship armor to faster Cruisers or improved Carrier strike range. We've also renamed and rebalanced some of the ships.[/p][p]This new structure gives fleets clearer roles and new possibilities for customizing your strategy.[/p][h2]New Anomalies[/h2][p]The Protocol has become even stranger. You will now encounter new anomalies that offer powerful rewards and upgrades for specific ship classes. Choose your upgrades wisely and adapt your fleets to each challenge.[/p][p][/p][h2]Other Updates[/h2][p]We have also made a lot of other updates since 0.14.0 such as adding a new station, Network Hub which can be used to extend network, made many improvements to user interface, tutorial and enemy AI. In fact the AI improvement Xilmi has been making has made the normal difficulty AI so good that I have lost against it on two developer streams on a row now.[/p][h2]Join the Festival[/h2][p]Version 0.15 includes all the content planned for the demo. Next, our focus will shift toward developing new features and content exclusive to the full version of the game.[/p][p]If you have not tried the demo yet, now is the perfect time. It is feature complete, and the Myrmidon Horde faction will be available only during Steam Next Fest. Next Fest would also be a great time to let your friends know about the game and ask them to wishlist or play the demo.[/p][p]We will also be hosting a live developer stream at the start of the festival, showcasing Myrmidon Horde gameplay. The stream will be available on our Steam page. Will I lose against the AI for the third time in a row?[/p][p]Livestream schedule 13th of October:[/p]

• [p]Finland: 22:00 – 00:00[/p]
• [p]Central Europe: 21:00 – 23:00[/p]
• [p]United Kingdom: 20:00 – 22:00[/p]
• [p]UTC: 19:00 – 21:00[/p]
• [p]US Eastern Time: 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM[/p]
• [p]US Central Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM[/p]
• [p]US Mountain Time: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM[/p]
• [p]US Pacific Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM[/p]

[p]We look forward to seeing how you will use the new faction, ship classes, and upgrades to conquer the galaxy.[/p]

[p]We’re excited to announce that Astro Protocol will be featured during Finnish Games Week with a special developer livestream 10th of October![/p][p]When:[/p]

• [p]22:00–00:00 Finnish Time[/p]
• [p]21:00–23:00 Central European Time[/p]
• [p]20:00–22:00 UTC[/p]
• [p]16:00–18:00 Eastern Time[/p]
• [p]15:00–17:00 Central Time[/p]
• [p]14:00–16:00 Mountain Time[/p]
• [p]13:00–15:00 Pacific Time[/p]

[p]We’ll be playing Astro Protocol live. Feel free to drop by, hang out, and ask questions during the stream![/p][p]Don’t miss this chance to see the game in action and meet the devs - live during Finnish Games Week![/p]

[p]We’re excited to share that Astro Protocol is part of Finnish Games Week on Steam, running October 6–12! The event highlights some of the most interesting Finnish-made games across genres and we’re honored to stand among them.[/p][h3]New Demo Update[/h3][p]To celebrate, we’ve updated the Astro Protocol demo with new Finland and winter themed anomalies. Expect frozen worlds and mysterious echoes drawn from Finnish myths, all waiting to be discovered among the stars.[/p][p][/p][h3]My Recommendations from The Finnish Games Week[/h3][p]This week’s Finnish Games lineup includes some truly inspiring titles I recommend you to check out:[/p]

• [p]Interstellar Espionage Inc: Manage an interstellar spy agency in bite-sized, strategic runs. If you like Astro Protocol, there's a high chance you'll like this one too. The're also a playable demo out![/p]
• [p]Shadows of Tuonela: A dark fantasy multiplayer game mixing intense PvP and chill PvE exploration from Ame, whose entertaining Twitch stream I watch regularly.[/p]
• [p]Runerock Arena: A new entry in the legendary Areena series, which i've played since almost three decades ago, and it’s what first sparked my interest in game development. I even emailed the developer Seppo over 20 years ago asking how to start making games and he kindly replied. It’s surreal to now share an event with him.[/p]
• [p]Ephemeris: Turn-based space 4X strategy game with epic real-time 3D battles.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]Unlike in many space strategy games, the basic setting in Astro Protocol revolves around the projected model of the universe, not in the actual space itself. In short, different factions across the universe have achieved a parallel development of the simulation and thus they seek to take full control of this framework.[/p][p]Despite Astro Protocol being based on a simulation of speculations, its founding factions believe that this protocol is a key to predict cosmic power relations of a distant future. Therefore every alliance aims to secure their positions before the execution of The Great Calibration – the point where the simulation becomes analogous with the reality. In the universe of Astro Protocol this is basically the closest to interstellar interaction, as FTL and other similar concepts are out of question due to physical constraints.[/p][p]Actual spaceships are extremely complex vehicles, and their manufacture requires strong strategic justification. In the Astro Protocol, the relatively expandable ships are basically models of highly advanced theoretical ships. These future designs might still come with interplanetary limitations. In the simulation, however, even the most restricted ships can be sent and placed anywhere in the galaxy that is reached by the projection mapping. This allows the ship performance to be analysed in advance under varied alternative conditions – even in an extreme combat against other competing modellers. The ships thus have a dual role: serving both as versatile computational models and as reflexive equivalents of potentially real ships. The computational revolution behind this process has also led to a situation where any tech-savvy can copy and assemble their own starfleet, at least in theory. However, the successful management of the models still requires the in-depth understanding of an entire faction of organised space engineers.[/p][p]Factions of Astro Protocol are essentially interstellar alliances within the galaxy, based on specific interests. Some are originating from the organic modeling of intelligent species (humans and aliens). Whereas some factions have born as cyborgs fused with machinery, or virtual ghosts that have found their transcendent way of functioning and living on the platform. Minor factions may also be formed from a mixture of these species, as rebellious sub-groups may hack Astro Protocol and use its unconstrained galactic network to choose their allies away from their assumed home planet.[/p][p]In the game, full version will have six major factions with additional minor factions as well, but here are the backstories for the first three major factions:[/p][h3]United Tellus[/h3][p]A collective of humanist institutions funded numerous research programs that ultimately led to the development of the Astro Protocol platform. Preserving the future of humankind was set as the defining goal by administrative governments. Main research is ultimately carried alongside with military operations.[/p][p]Due to regulations by Gaia-centric precautions exchange and expansion with unknown ecosystems is significantly slowed down. This has caused a regrouping of alternative protest movements taking control in the marginal peripheries of Astro Protocol. The main mission of armament prediction is still strongly supported by active development.[/p][h3]Yimono Union[/h3][p]A hegemonic empire of the galaxy that has gradually coerced multiple lifeforms to transform into standardized ghost-form. This state of being is efficiently optimized for platforms like Astro Protocol and allows rapid colonization on diverse areas.[/p][p]Yimono Union has a highly hierarchical structure of government based on the age of immortality in the total prediction. However, the high level of synchronization with the simulated platforms still exposes the blindness of its implicit glitches and loopholes.[/p][h3]Santri Syndicate[/h3][p]Santri Syndicate is a shadow alliance of resistance movements that are targeting status quo rulers of Astro Protocol. Eventually Santrians are seeking to diminish the whole platform to its bare minimum. This is done by breaking the projection with deep hacking of its underlying structures. Santrians also aim to bring destruction to any entity pursuing immortality.[/p][p]Santri Syndicate adheres to a belief that Astro Protocol is a harmful apparatus for all lifeforms and is dedicated to oppose all equivalent systems for that reason. In order to further their mischievous missions a range of Santrian lifeforms have been expanded into virtually virulent forms. Advancement of Santri is mostly based on space piracy across the Astro Protocol network but they lack some basics of building their own infrastructure.[/p]

[h2]New Tutorial[/h2][p]The focus of update 0.13 is on improving the player onboarding experience. This includes a completely reworked tutorial. Previously, the tutorial was just a regular procedurally generated game, which made it nearly impossible to provide consistent guidance as maps, techs, anomalies, and opponents were always different, creating endless number of corner cases.[/p][p]We’ve now switched to a static tutorial where the starting conditions are always the same. This lets us add clear instructions, visual indicators, and more guided steps. The tutorial now walks players through colonization, terraforming, upkeep, and victory points. We’ve also lowered the difficulty, no more raiders showing up with three ships on turn five! Next, we’ll be playtesting further and refining the tutorial to make it even smoother.[/p][h2]User Interface Improvements[/h2][p]We redesigned several menus: scoreboard, minor factions, and terraforming giving them a fresh look, clearer tooltips, and better feedback when you take actions. Tooltips in general have also been overhauled to be easier to read and understand. This work is ongoing, and we’ll continue adding new tooltips and refining the existing ones.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Graphics Improvements[/h2][p]We’ve made a number of visual upgrades aimed at clarity and readability:[/p]

• [p]Ship idle animations and faction logos above ships make it easier to spot fleets and threats.[/p]
• [p]Placement indicators for ships, stations, techs, and artifacts are now animated for better visibility.[/p]
• [p]Animations for building, terraforming, and colonization make these actions easier to notice.[/p]

[h2]Gameplay Improvements[/h2][p]We’ve added small but impactful changes to improve the flow of the game:[/p]

• [p]Pan and pinch gestures are now supported, making touchpad play much smoother.[/p]
• [p]The Bulwark ship has been rebalanced, it can no longer move and attack during the same turn.[/p]
• [p]Star systems, asteroid fields, and gas giants appear a little less often, improving navigation and station placement.[/p]
• [p]Simultaneous unit movement is now enabled, so the game plays faster even if you keep normal animation speeds.[/p]

[h2]AI Improvements[/h2][p]The AI now has seven difficulty levels, scaling resource production. On “Normal” difficulty the AI players receive the same amount of resources as humans.[/p][p]We’ve also improved AI station building and energy management. Many of these improvements come from Xilmi, known for his AI work on OpenXcom and Remnants of the Precursors. He's been providing valuable feedback and bug reports, and we’re excited to continue collaborating with him.[/p][h2]Release Schedule[/h2][p]Our initial plan was to release by the end of 2025. However, as the year closes in, we’ve decided to postpone launch to Q1 2026. This extra time will let us:[/p]

• [p]Add remaining mechanics and content (ships, anomalies, technologies, upgrades).[/p]
• [p]Polish the game experience across the board.[/p]

[p]We also believe this new timing avoids the crowded holiday release window and gives Astro Protocol a stronger launch opportunity.[/p][p]Please let us know what you think about the changes and if you haven't tried out the game, now is a good time because the tutorial is better than ever.[/p][p]Thanks for playing and supporting Astro Protocol. See you among the stars![/p]