Gordaen’s Blog

I have mentioned Astro Empires (specifically, the Alpha Server) in the past, but I thought I’d spend a little more time on it. It’s a real-time strategy game (RTS) that’s played online for free. You can pay to gain access to additional features, but I’ll go over those details in a little bit. One of the best parts about this game is that you can invest as much or as little time in it as you’d like (assuming you’re not addicted).

Various planets, moons, and asteroids are simply referred to as “astros” (hence the name of the game) for simplicity. Each type has a specific advantage (for example, crystalline planets can generate income very quickly), and each level of orbit changes the stats for the planet (e.g., if a planet is close to the sun, it will have a higher level of solar energy). Like just about every feature of the game, you don’t have to pay attention to these details. You can simply read the stats on each planet.

The screenshot is of the normal astro overview page, which also shows all the structures you have (I cut them out of the screenshot to keep it from being too large). I removed the coordinates on each of the screenshots, so that’s why the location section looks strange. You can see the capability of the planet and what fleets are there. If one of your fleets (or one of a guild-mate’s fleets) is incoming, you can see how long until it arrives. If the fleet does not belong to you or your guild, you can only see the fleet when it is within a certain distance (that distance is actually the fleet size in seconds, so a fleet of 60 can be seen one minute before it arrives).

Since there are so many different types of structures, they all tell you exactly what they do underneath (e.g., “Upgrade increases Base Energy output by 10″). You can go as in-depth with the game as you’d like. For instance, after building one structure, the cost of the next level of that structure will go up 50%. So, you could build an antimatter plant for 3000, knowing the next one will cost 4500, or you could just build the first one and the game will tell you what the next one costs.

Combat is fairly straightforward. Each unit has attack power, armor, and possibly shields. If a unit does 10 damage to another unit with 10 armor, that unit would be destroyed. Shields cut down the damage to just 1%, so if that unit had a shield rating of 2, 8 damage would go through, and 2 of it would be reduced to just .02, doing a total of 8.02 damage. Fortunately, you really don’t have to pay that much attention. You can build everything from a fighter to a death star and throw as much (or as little) as you want at your enemies. The fleets that are destroyed are turned into debris, which can be recycled to recover some of the cost of those ships. People tend to think they “own” a debris field if they were part of the combat, so don’t steal anyone’s debris if you don’t want to make enemies.

You can choose not to attack other people, but there are also computer “players” that you can attack instead. Players cannot attack you during your first 7 days, so you have a chance to figure out the game. After that, a player has to be within 10 levels of you to be able to attack you. Even if someone does attack you and overtake your astro, you don’t lose it. Your construction capability and income from that planet is reduced, but you retain control and do not lose any structures. This gives you the chance to mount a counterattack and to continue building up the planet.

The game is completely free. You start out with an upgraded account for your first week, so that you can test out some of the paid features, but after that time expires, you can continue to play with a free account. With a free account, you can build up to nine astros and 5 levels of each type of advanced structure (such as multi-level platforms, which give you more area to build). The upgraded account gives you access to extra features, such as the scanner.

As I mentioned before, you can see the incoming fleets at planets by viewing that planet. If a fleet is within a certain distance (again, the fleet size in seconds), you can see that fleet. It’s pretty tedious to try to check every planet, so the scanner allows your to see those reports all on one screen. This lets you quickly tell if someone is coming toward any of your planets or if there are large fleet movements in the region. If you don’t have an upgraded account, you’ll simply see a message letting you know that you don’t have access to that feature.

The upgraded account also lets you queue up to 5 items rather than 2, which can help for those times when you want a lot to happen while you are away. You can also easily view what structures each planet has all on one screen with an upgraded account.

There are multiple servers, but I only play on the Alpha Server now. With any server, I’d recommend joining a guild as soon as you can. You’ll find useful help and receive protection from a guild. Each one has different rules, so be sure to make sure you agree to their rules (some don’t allow you to attack people, some allow you to attack guildless, etc.).

This game is continually evolving, so new features are constantly being added. You can also use a “graphics pack” to make the game look different. View your account page and the forum for more info.