The
Oceania DLC released today, and if anyone was thinking about getting the base game, it's on sale for -45% for the next week as well. The DLC release also saw a fair number of iterative base-game improvements all over the place.
The official DLC feature list is as follows:
- Gaia Planet Class now available
- Thalassa Planet Class now available
- Proteus Planet Class now available
- Fontus Planet Class now available
- Maritime Trade House (MTH) mechanics
- MTH Stock-trading, Policy Meetings, Dividends & Auctions
- MTH Transport, Explore and Makeshift Port Contracts
- MTH Naval warfare for sea supremacy
- Naval logistical points allow amphibious invasions and transfers
- Note that the player does not control any naval units and all maritime action is simulated through the MTHs
Left unmentioned in the formal press release are:
- Artica Planet Class now available
- Tethys Planet Class now available
- Hydroid Planet Class now available
- Minor & Indy pirates and marauders
- SEA CRITTERS
To break down those new planet types:
Gaia Planet: Earth-like in terms of geography and atmosphere/biosphere. Pangaea-type situations aren't uncommon, but the results can be varied. 55-75% ocean, maybe?
Thalassa Planet: SO much water. Archipelagos and small islands abound. Few proper continents. 80%+ ocean.
Proteus Planet: Fairly dry and frankly weird planets. Super-continents abound, and there's little rain despite the oceans. 30-50% ocean.
Fontus Planet: Something b/tw Thalassa and Proteus. Wet with lots of rain and almost always has life. 50-75% ocean, maybe?
Artica Planet: Gaia, but COLD. There's almost certainly going to be ice caps which will probably span the globe, so land bridges are more-or-less assured.
Tethys Planet: Warm with fragmented tectonics. These are a mess. Land and water are balanced, but landmasses will be small.
Hydroid Planet(oid): So you wanted a planetoid, but with atmosphere and life? Here ya go. These will be 3by or younger.
Unclassified Planets: These can use DLC features. They may or may not have proper oceans, though, and if they don't, you'll not see much. They may also start w/o MTHs.
MTHs are, as Il Palazzo guessed when the DLC was announced, very Dune-Navigator's-Guild-esque, albeit without a monopoly (although if they're aggressive enough, they may try to change that). The individual personality and capability of MTHs vary a bit; they can change a bit if their leadership changes, but there's also things that'll remain the same. They're all greedy and mercantile, though. Commercial profiles are easier to maintain in the DLC than normal, and MTHs help keep material supplies in the market more stable than they otherwise might be.
Sea critters and marauders will be the bane of your REMFs' existence. The only preemptive measure you can take is getting on the good side of the MTH who rules your coastal ocean; otherwise, you just need to keep some troops back along your coasts to discourage critters and/or repel invaders. This goes double if you're at war with majors.
Anyway, while I could go on, that's probably enough rambling. I was in the closed beta, so I'm already fairly familiar with the features and can answer any specific questions people might have...
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Topic: SHADOW EMPIRE: Procedural Sci-fi 4x wargame - Kaiju Warning (Read 84256 times)