When starting on Lord of Rigel one of the main points was wanting to have an in depth tactical system. Some games that had released when we started thinking about the game had simple “card style” combat but not the more fleshed out combat we were wanting in a more modern space strategy game.
We wanted to make sure that ship customization mattered, upgrades weren’t all just linear bonuses, and that things such as positioning mattered. Strong planetary defenses was another point.
Tactical in LoR is real time with pause. Orders are issued with the right mouse button which involves issuing an attack order and a move order. Move orders set unit placement and use your selected formation. Attack orders set targets for ships. We based the controls off of how large units behave in modern RTS games like Company of Heroes to make it familiar with RTS genre players.
Ship health is also more involved than other space strategy games. Your ships have shields, armor, structure, and internals. Shields and armor have facings and if a ship is flanked it can take additional damage. Damage that penetrates armor has a chance of hitting a ship’s structure or internal systems. Internal damage is based on if a weapon passed through a subsystem’s area. However, there is always a random element too on which internal systems get hit.
Weapons come in a number of forms. Missiles which have limited ammo each battle and can be shot down by point defense, but can deal substantial damage. Beam weapons include energy and kinetic weapons. These don’t have ammunition (railguns and KEWs use physical projectiles but for the sake of gameplay ammo is abstracted) but tend to have lower accuracy. Torpedoes are like missiles but have no ammo limitations and can’t be shot down by point defense, but have a longer firing rate. Strikecraft act as small ships that hit and run targets but can be shot down by point defenses. Bombs don’t target ships but can be used on planets with defensive structures to quickly neutralize them. Finally, there are a wide range of special weapons with different unique abilities.
Tech tree decisions can also effect your gameplay. Railguns are excellent for long range engagements while fusion cannons are best for up-close combat. Later weapon types are also specialized for roles like disrupting shields or internal systems.
Knowing the ins and outs of the tactical system and building specialized ships can let you turn the tide personally in battles that you may not have an advantage in autoresolve. Maneuvers such as adjusting shield facings to take the brunt of missile volleys from a planet, or knowing when best to decloak to use close range weapons behind a ship for maximum damage can both change a battle.
From your feedback over these weeks we’ll be focusing on quality of life in tactical in the long run such as a chase camera. An event log and a toggle for unit auto targeting are features coming in the next patch, based on feedback and watching gameplay videos. We also want to work on some more forms of space terrain that would effect gameplay, beyond the current minefields and nebulas.
Some of these “dirty tricks” may be crucial for surviving encountering the Rigelans, Arcturans, and other threats coming later in Early Access.
Image 1. An Aranid starbase firing a volley of warheads
Image 2. A Human carrier and its fighter wing
Image 3. Tharrn fleet pummelled by torpedoes and spinal mount lasers
And that's all for this devlog! Hopefully it was enlightening, and if you have any ideas for future devlogs, feel free to share them with us.
