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| I’ve said plenty about units, but until now have only talked about the frills. “Prepare to be amazed,” sorry I couldn’t resist… If you’ve played Shattered Galaxy at all, then you’ve seen unit customization in RTS, and you’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg. Beyond Protocol, takes customization to an entirely new level. Every component, every hull, and every slab of armor is custom created by the player. To do this, you can choose from the, about 105 minerals the game boasts. If that’s not enough for you, the resource system becomes infinite with the creation of custom alloys. Really wish you had a material that was both hard and malleable? Take a couple minutes and whip up an alloy! Once you’re done, stick what you think is best into a design plan and let your techies go to work figuring out what it will take to research, and produce, the design you want. Sometimes you get a smart group of genius grad students, and sometimes you get the high school drop outs making engineering drawings in crayon. |
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Hull Builder
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However, once you get something you’re satisfied with, you have just created your own component. Is it a projectile that fires a huge hunk of uranium through space, or a pulse laser that rains colorful bolts of energy at your enemy in close range? Or perhaps you’re into missiles that can deliver devastating area of effect damage, or a Star Trek type shield that protects your vessel from damage? Maybe it’s an engine that affords crazy amounts of energy to a small fighter, or an entire city? Or, have you created the titan of buildings with enormous amounts of armor, bristling with weapons and radar that can see a quarter of the map? It’s all possible.
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Radar Builder
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| To add structure to this wide open research system, there is an overarching framework that allows you to improve the maximum stats of the components you can build. This way, your designs will never hit a permanent stalemate with someone else’s. They may get a boost to maximum damage, while you may get a boost to maximum maneuverability. So now, if they hit you, it’ll hurt more, but your ships are more agile, so that’s a big “if”! The one thing this reviewer would like to see made customizable is the actual shape and texture of the units. However, in order to make this game accessible to lower end PC’s the developers have opted to leave this ability out. The player does, however, have control over weapon color, engine glow, shield flare and is presented with a vast array of hull designs that give every battle its own unique look. |
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