A base on the ground from the first minute, a refit page, and goods that move themselves
Published
In short: this space RTS now starts you with a base on the ground. Bunkers have become proper bases, with a building for each module, a hangar and a launch pad. Docked units get a full refit page, every hold gets rules for what it takes, and a Prospector can haul goods between them.
A different opening
The game now starts with a bunker already up near the carrier. It holds the machine shop, which has moved off the carrier, plus a small hangar and a launch pad. New units come out docked in the bunker’s hangar. A second Prospector waits beside the carrier, set to Haul.
Bunkers are bases now
A bunker reserves a square of 5 × 5 plots, 400 m across, with its core in the middle. That leaves 24 plots, one module each. Every module is a building on its plot: a shed with a crane arm for the machine shop, a stack of containers for the cargo hold, a drill tower that turns while it mines. These looks are placeholders. A bunker’s hangar has its bay in the roof, so craft go straight up and straight down.
Craft can now dock in any hangar of yours, and where they dock becomes their home. More: bunkers.
The refit page
The Size control on the unit card has gone, replaced by a whole page: the fit now, the plan, and a list of what it will cost, what comes back and how long it takes. A squadron can now change Mark as well as size. New jets are built alongside the old ones, so if you have to fight before they’re done, Cancel gives back everything paid. Prices now break down into hull, weapon and armour parts, though for now it’s all paid in ore. More: refits.
Storage settings and the hauler
Every carrier and every bunker with a hold now has a setting per item type: Accept, Collect, Clear or Refuse. Gatherers go to the nearest storage that takes their load. A Prospector on Haul empties Clear storages into the ones that want the goods, and tells you when it has nothing to do. More: storage and hauling.
Launch pads
A new bunker module burns small craft from Low up to Top: 30 seconds waiting over the pad, with no way to call it off, then a hot ascent. It’s free for now. More: launch pads.
Symbols are back
Small-craft symbols were hidden to keep big battles light. They return as simple arrowheads past 2.5 km from the camera, pointing where the unit is heading, in its faction’s colour. The bigger the unit, the bigger the arrowhead. Filled means armed, hollow unarmed, and hollow with a dot a worker. Click one to select its unit.