Astro Lords: Oort Cloud Interview .

Looking to know more about pillaging asteroid bases, battling in the cosmos, and being an all-out space pirate? We’ve got you covered. We got the opportunity to interview some of the people behind Astro Lords: Oort Cloud, a new MMORTS for PC, Mac, and soon, on mobile devices. Nicolas Weber-Krebs, CEO of BISBOG, and Arseniy Nazarenko, CEO of Aratog Games–the publishers and developers of Astro Lords: Oort Cloud, respectively–were gracious enough to give us the rundown of what to expect from their game. MMORTSes of this caliber don’t come by often, so we hope this interview helps you get pumped up and ready to PEW PEW!

DeadEye: Hello! Before we start, would you like to give us a brief introduction to your game?

NWK: Astro Lords: Oort Cloud is a free to play science-fiction MMORTS. The setting is the Oort Cloud, where players control mobile asteroid bases. These asteroids provide the energy and raw materials players need in order to raid other players, expand their empire, developtheir spaceships and engage in battle against rival Astro Lords and alien aggressors. It’s a combination of construction management, arcade style combat and warfare strategy.

 

DeadEye: If I may ask, what inspired the creation of this game? What factors greatly contributed to the ideas present during development?

AN: I suppose the origins of the game date back as far as 1979. I remember being a young boy, looking up at the stars in the night sky, when one of them suddenly became brighter than the others and started falling across the sky. I thought to myself: “What is it – a comet or an asteroid?” As a young boy, I had no understanding of comets or where they came from, but I was fascinated by this amazing sight. From that day forward I became interested in comets as well as the origins of the universe. I knew that there must be something bigger beyond the sun and planets, and I was convinced that I would learn what it was and tell the world!

Obviously I became a games developer rather than an astronomer, but Astro Lords is my way of sharing that childhood fascination with asteroids and comets.

 

DeadEye: We don’t get that many MMO strategy games set in outer space. What separates your game from other space-based strategy games?

AN: Astro Lords has a unique feature that has never been used in an MMORTS before, which is moving bases. The player can research technologies that allow them to navigate their asteroid through the Oort Cloud, giving them the freedom to explore, engage in trade, and chase after their enemies.

NWK: Moving bases add a really exciting dynamic to the gameplay. Players will find themselves facing new challenges and opportunities even if they aren’t navigating their asteroid, as the base will continue to drift through the Cloud.

AN: And as the bases move, players will come into contact with potential new allies and enemies. A special radar screen picks up on who is near to your base, allowing you to trade with them, rob them, spy on them or even try to capture their secondary asteroids.

NWK: Since all of this action is taking place on the Oort Cloud, the game features a spherical map. This means that the overall size of the Oort Cloud can be increased in line with the overall number of players in the game, a bit like inflating a balloon. This means players will never feel too cramped or too lonely.

AN: And if anyone does briefly find themselves in a quiet region of the Cloud, they can always go into combat at the Arena. From wherever players are in the Cloud they can take on other players, as well as AI-controlled alien spaceships and Bosses, in click-and-drag arcade style combat.

DeadEye: As mentioned on your website, the game was built using Unity 3D. Let me just say that your game looks absolutely gorgeous. How easy/hard was it to develop using the Unity Engine? Did it deliver exactly as you’ve expected? Any development stories you’d like to share with us?

AN: Our goal with Astro Lords was to make the game as accessible as possible, on as many platforms as possible. In the early stages of development it was a real struggle to achieve the same beautiful graphics across powerful PCs, tablets and even mobile phones, but our team worked incredibly hard and we’ve succeeded, though Astro Lords hasn’t yet been released on mobile or tablets.

DeadEye: Being a game that’s playable on both desktop and mobile devices. Would you consider one platform superior to the other in terms of gameplay? Will the interface be different for each?

AN: Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses which we have to take into account during the development process. With every tweak to the game, or every new feature we plan to introduce, we’re always accounting for these differences in order to make the player experience as consistent as possible. We do everything we can to keep the game interface the same across all platforms, excluding perhaps mobile phones.

DeadEye: Given the differences in graphic power between desktop and different tablets, is it safe to assume that one platform will be graphically inferior to the other?

AN: Not at all! All devices are going to have equal graphic settings and SFX for a consistent visual universe. The differences between platforms will be more about performance; this is something we’re constantly working on and, in the near future, players will enjoy equally smooth gameplay across all devices.

DeadEye: Players are said to be given the option to fight their wars in real time instead of simply relying on the AI. Will this feature greatly influence the outcome of each bout?

NWK: Absolutely. There’s nothing quite like human ingenuity in battle! If players choose to give up manual control and rely on the AI auto-pilot, however, they can still achieve success provided that their Captain has some good equipment, has studied a range of weaponry skills, and has a strong ship. In those circumstances the AI will be able to handle weaker enemies on their own.

AN: Skilled players will have a decent chance of beating your AI Captain, however. Players should weigh up the strengths of their enemy, their Captains experience, and their own combat skills before deciding whether to rely on auto-pilot.

NWK: Of course, in some battles, your forces will use a combination of manual control and AI control. If you have multiple Captains under your command attacking an enemy base, you will only be able to manually control one of them; the others will be AI controlled and fight alongside you.

DeadEye: MMO Strategy games are often reliant on its PVP aspect and the player’s ability to conquer and pillage enemy territories. With that said, what features should PVE-lovers look forward to?

AN: Astro Lords has been designed so that players can mix and match PVP and PVE actions, depending on what they enjoy most. PVP involves robbing and capturing asteroids belonging to other players, as well as engaging in espionage, trade and diplomacy. The PVE aspects of the game focus on the alien race which co-habits the Oort Cloud alongside the Astro Lords. Alien asteroids are often very valuable targets for robberies, and players can even destroy enemy asteroids, either alone or in cooperative attacks.

NWK: This means players can choose to attack only aliens rather than other players, if they wish. This extends to the Arena as well, where players can choose to take on AI or player opponents. PVE-lovers will really enjoy taking on aliens in cooperative mode.

DeadEye: Do you have any tips on conquering enemy asteroids? Perhaps a more effective way of preparing for battle?

NWK: The best way to capture an enemy asteroid is to make sure you’ve done your homework first. You should have spies behind enemy lines who can feed you information on the defenses of your enemy, the weapons and ammunition they have available, and the combat strengths of their Captain(s).

AN: Your spies will also be able to tell you whether the enemy Captain is present on the base. If they’re away on a mission of their own, and your attack can get there before the Captain can make it back, you’ve got a better chance of success. You should also try to determine if they have any allies nearby who could come to their rescue.

NWK: And equally, you should consider asking your own allies to join you on the attack. There’s safety in numbers!

AN: For the combat itself, you should try and take a few of your own Captains into battle. You’ll control your main Captain, who should be armed with healing lasers and barriers in order to provide cover for the secondary Captains. They in turn should have strong weapons such as drones, instant lasers, bombers and homing missiles.

NWK: These secondary Captains will be AI-controlled and will help you in your attack.

AN: Lastly, you can choose to accelerate your attack mission in order to strike before the enemy has much of a chance to prepare. Very sneaky!

NWK: Ultimately it’s up to every player to come up with their own tactics and strategies that work for them. We’ve seen some very intricate battle strategies being played out in the game, and it’s fascinating to see how different players approach a battle.

DeadEye: We are highly intrigued about the Pirate Raid feature. Care to share more about this system?

AN: Pirate raids give players the chance to send out spies to a random player’s asteroid. This means that you can always locate a potential target to attack, even if there are none in your immediate radar coverage or they are too strong to go up against right now.

Your spies will invade a random asteroid of a player who matches your own overall rating. They’ll then provide information about the asteroid, along with its coordinates.

NWK: Spies can gain 4 different levels of access. On levels 1 to 3, your enemy could use counter-espionage to drive out your agents. On level 4, however, the enemy won’t know whose spies they are, and only their ally will be able to drive them away.

AN: Once your spies are in place, you may also have the option to sabotage the enemy, reducing their ability to harvest resources and recover from attacks. Or you can simply call back your spies and look for a more tempting target!

DeadEye: What would you say is Astro Lords: Oort Cloud’s most defining feature?

NWK: Astro Lords is defined by the way it combines several gaming genres into one, cohesive package. Some of the players are primarily in it for the combat, and love fighting in the Arena. They view the construction management parts of the game as a way to manufacture ammo for battle. On the flip side, a lot of the players really love building and developing their asteroid, and see battles as a way to earn credits in order to upgrade their buildings and starbase. It’s great to see players shaping the gameplay around their own preferences.

AN: At its heart, that’s what Astro Lords is all about – that fine balance between long-term strategy and real-time battles in a constantly changing, 3D world.

DeadEye: As far as premium subscriptions go, what advantages do paying users have over non-paying subscribers? Will it greatly affect the playing field in terms of PVP?

AN: Players can sign up for a premium account for either one month, one quarter, or one year. The benefits of a premium account include increased queuing options for scientific research and construction, extra slots for espionage and pirate raids, and the ability to automate certain functions. This includes auto-exploration of the Oort Cloud, auto-repair and equip of ships after battle, and auto-espionage of aliens near your asteroid. Players can also purchase individual boosts for things like science acceleration, increased crystal extraction, and extra trade slots.

NWK: The premium services system has been carefully balanced to ensure that while it offers an advantage, it doesn’t create a gulf between paying and non-paying players.

It’s also important to point out that premium services are still available to players who don’t pay. Premium services are bought with deuterium, one of the in-game currencies of Astro Lords. Deuterium can be earned as a reward for completing quests and can be converted from tritium, a rare resource in the Oort Cloud.

AN: None of the premium services affect PVP directly. We never wanted to introduce a feature where, for example, a player could pay to have 20% stronger weapons as this would create too much of an imbalance between premium and non-premium players. Instead, players can find rare Runes, Officers and Artifacts that provide combat advantages in game. Anyone can discover these items through exploration or acquiring enough resources to buy them. Creating a balanced, fair game is really important to our whole team and we’ve been very careful to maintain that. We want players to enjoy the game, not feel limited or disadvantaged.

DeadEye: Thank you for your time! Do you have anything you’d like to tell our readers?

AN: Develop your empire, fight, raid, capture and become to greatest Astro Lord the Oort Cloud has ever known!

NWK: Just don’t steal my asteroid, please!

Get in the game!

 

I hope you guys are ready to conquer enemy territories, because we sure are. If you’re looking for a good MMORTS, then look no further. See you all in the battlefield! I would also like to thank Nicolas Weber-Krebs and Arseniy Nazarenko for taking the time to answer these questions.
Got more questions and violent reactions (hopefully none)? Leave a comment in the comment section below.