A new foe
A sort of autonomous spacecrafts with limited ability to self-replicate was used during a past invasion and repurposed by the Urghoghs (the worms) to nest into any world outside the core and ward off any local civilization from spacefaring. These swarms of spacecraft are now dormant, nestled into their host planet's crust.
To provide some context, here is a generated universe:
The core worlds consist of a few star systems inside a nebula, this is also where the only source of Antimatter is found
The "Rim" consists of all worlds cut out for hundreds of years from the Antimatter supply.
Most inhabited worlds of the rim are infested with replicants (and the giant worms (the Urghoghs)).
While the core is also occupied by the worms, replicants are machina non-grata in this space, as the worms exert a much more direct form of control there (especially on the Antimatter source which proved itself to be a historical can of worms (uhuhuh (got it ?))).
Finding nests
While kicking on the nest by flashing sensors toward the planet's surface is a viable way to purge the planet from the infestation, this is also a good approach to get swiftly destroyed and form another planetary ring consisting of little matter and much vanity.
Found the buggers...
Another way to get rid of the nest, or even plunder it is to find them on the planet's surface and perform some fireworks directly at the source, with good old explosives and heroically timed detonators.
The combined skill and special traits of the crew would help for successful rolls.
Nests are created during the universe generation, these are simulation-persistent features and populated during the historical generation, they are scattered on the planet and come in 7 different sizes, from the single replicant fighter to a giant fleet with its mothership.
A nest allows some interaction, such as destroying it, deactivating it, or reprogramming it in order to add it to your fleet.
Replicants are only a problem for those in space
Oops ?
Waking a nest while are the surface won't create a problem for anything at the planet's surface, the replicants will launch from the planet after some time and angrily patrol the vicinity and shoot on sight.
Let's leave this planet, it can't be this bad...
Keep in mind that at this point their AI is as advanced as a pissed wasp's brain.
This is potentially a good way to have a free and zealous force protecting your planet, or a deterrence to follow you.
Replicant also has a chance to wake when landing or launching from a planet, making viable planets for mining operations or colonisation scarcer.
A global threat
Until they were reprogrammed, replicants used to be an existential threat to humanity, as such in their "vanilla" form they regroup around a mothership purposed to create more spacecrafts from raw materials.
The mothership's fleet. Just unbeatable in a single strike...
In the game such motherships can be found in deep space until more events are introduced into the game, this fleet is active and replicating right from the beginning of the game.
The mothership's fleet is dispatching 3 harvester fleets
Replicants have a special faction AI, they will send a fleet of harvester for very long mining expeditions and then come back with raw material to the main fleet.
They don't have faster-than-light drive and, thus are very slow for interstellar trips. This is a slow, predictable foe, but potentially with overwhelming power.
Is that... gameplay ?!
It must come to you as a piece of shocking news, finally some glimpse of this so-called "gameplay loop" with progression, shooty stuff, and bad guys to waste without moral overthinking.
Indeed since spacecrafts are a big deal in Antimatter, killing people is yet another big deal, it is nice to have a foe finally pressuring the player.
[ 2023-10-28 12:47:07 CET ] [ Original post ]