1. Astro Protocol
  2. News
  3. Astro Protocol Joins Next Fest with a New Playable Faction

Astro Protocol Joins Next Fest with a New Playable Faction

[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]