In StarDrive 2, as with most 4x space games, scouting and colonising some resource-rich worlds is the way to generate all things of value. Or at least an economy that’s imploding at a tastefully slow rate. Of course before you can build any of that stuff, you’ll need a functioning economy. If, for example, you’ve created a bunch of frigates with large amounts of frontal armour but little protection on the sides, you’ll have to use other ships to hug the flanks like little protective blankets. In combat, vessels take damage to their outer components first (which, depending what’s housed there, can affect their functionality,) followed by the more vital inner workings (power reactors and the like.) Once the center has taken too much punishment, the ship explodes. Ship construction in StarDrive 2 can direct, or at least supplement, your tactics in the main battle sequences. I appreciate the freedom to customise, but replacing every single piece of armour by hand can still get pretty tiresome. For those who’d rather not spend hours playing ship inventory Tetris, preset designs are available. To avoid ending up with delightfully curated space brick and breaking your poor naval commander’s heart, minimum levels of power, ammunition and thrust have to be adhered to. Beginning with basic grid-divided hull shape, it’s possible for players to pick and choose from any researched technology and design all manner of space variants. In-depth ship design returns from the original StarDrive and is just as exhaustive/exhausting (delete as applicable) as before. These ponderous capital vessels can get swifter with technological improvements, but rapidity in battle is provided by fighter supports (launched from the bigger hulls) and corvette-sized units. Just like galleons of old, you can toggle the firing mechanism on all ships to deliver broadsides rather than forward aiming. If fleets meet in space, the game cuts away to a separate battlefield where the ships clash in the manner of a real-time strategy title.ĭespite being set in a sci-fi universe, aspects of these conflicts resemble the ship battles from the more recent Total War games (better than Rome 2 though, in case you’re worried.) Larger vessels are the equivalent of a gigantic metal space-vault full of lasers, and turn about as swiftly too. In StarDrive 2, the game is effectively on auto-pause and only starts moving along in real time whenever you move the ‘turns’ forward by pressing (or holding down) the appropriately named Space bar. Ships and fleets out in the great strategic map of space would do battle if their paths crossed. The first StarDrive had a real-time universe, in which time ticked around constantly unless you stepped in to make use of the pause button. In combat, if your portside armour is taking a beating, then rotate around and show them the starboard side! Hide behind a friendly capital ship’s shields warp into and out of the fray, launch fighters, lay mines, and so much more.When presented with a scepter-wielding science elephant, I am going to hire him every single time. StarDrive takes a modular approach to ship design, allowing the player to create custom ships where the composition and placement of ship modules really matters to the performance of a ship. The heart of StarDrive is its ship design and combat engine. Trade, spy and research your way to galactic domination. Starting with a single planet and a small number of space-worthy vessels, you must venture forth into the galaxy, conquer new worlds, build new colonies and defend your very existence against those who would take what is yours. StarDrive sets a new benchmark for the ‘4X Space Strategy’ genre.
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