#11 Golden Skull Level

Arrr Space Pirates,

We finally have something ready to outline to you about our plans for the next bigger updates. As we had already teased earlier, Golden Skulls will play an important role in obtaining amazing new tech. Initially we had planned Skulls to be interconnected with the previously mentioned “player invasions” system, but we changed the roadmap in favor of another gameplay element that we think suits the regular flow of the game much better. It also enables us to make smaller consecutive updates instead of having to do “one big thing”, achieving shorter release cycles as a result. In addition, it will provide us with a good foundation for future extensions! Ok, time to show the design outline we have planned so far:



Player & Clan Ladder

Goals:

• Make obtaining Warscore less exploitable and offer a variety of tasks
• Make obtaining Golden Skulls easier for pilots that have no or low Skull level

Changes:

• Golden Skulls = Skull level
• After winning an additional Skull level, pilots will be moved back to the entry division
• Warscore rewards get lowered when the same actions are repeated over and over again (killing the same unit, playing the same Reactor Challenge, etc.) within the evaluation period (1 week)
• More activities for gaining Warscore are added (replaying missions, collecting BPs, PVP, OTB …)
• The less Golden Skulls a pilot has, the more Warscore they gain (global Warscore boost) up to a max soft level of around 25 Golden Skulls
• Clan Golden Skulls can be given out to members (~10 per month)
• Warscore can only be gathered with Pirate Mode on or in competitive game modes (like Conquest, Reactor Challenge)
• Adjust divisions in terms of amount, Golden Skull spots, relegation/promotion slots to better fit a server’s player base

Pirate Mode Change

Goals:

• Make Pirate Mode more flexible to use, less unfair and better integrated into gameplay

Changes:

• Remove bounty system and allow Pirate Mode to be enabled/disabled freely when not on a planet (no more automatic disabling when getting killed)
• Do not allow landing on planets with wrong tech with Pirate Mode turned on (lower tech allowed on high level planets)
• Pirate Mode state cannot be changed as long as a mission is active
• Enabled Pirate Mode can only be seen once the ship gets attackable on a planet (not shown in orbit or while landing protection is active)
• Pirate Mode mission achievements will not contain cross system quests anymore to allow them to be finished

Special Skull level Items/Tech (Skull Blueprints)

Goals:

• Add elements to the game pilots will enjoy experimenting with
• Try to maintain the balance of the existing economy/gameplay

Changes:

• Items can only be gathered after finishing the last story mission
• Items require a certain Skull level to be able to build them
• Special Skull BPs are single-use (they get destroyed with the item’s construction, but require only a few parts on the other hand)

Tau Ceti Variant Items

• Add Tau Ceti items that follow the scheme of the Sirius variants (new visuals for the weapon meshes)
• Items require Tau Ceti Rares as dependency (including the dependency inherited from the Tau Ceti Rare themselves)

Ship Slot Upgrade Kit (9th Item Slot)

• Multiple ship slot item upgrade kits can be found (one per skill item, except blaster, collector, repair droid)
• They will add a 9th item slot to the ship they are installed into
• A skill upgrade kit can only be installed into a ship that does not have the corresponding skill of the kit already
• 9th skill use will have a general weakness to balance its power better. (longer cooldown, shorter active time, global cooldown increase, etc.)
• 9th slot installation has a fixed Cryonite price and Skull level requirement (replaceable with other 9th slot upgrade though)
• Slot can be equipped with one of the regular already available blueprints of the item

Ship Engines Trails

• Introduce different ship engine trails to be found that can be installed into a ship

Skull Item Carrier

Goals:

• Offer additional gameplay to obtain new tech/items
• Gameplay that is fun and follows the formula PG pilots enjoy from past content
• Spread pilots across all star systems

Changes:

• Special enemy ships spread across all story planets (balanced to the max tech of the system they are in)
• They are only visible after defeating the final Mantis queen story mission and having Pirate Mode activated
• They will fly around and their positions are unknown, but they leave traces in the game world that make them easier to locate
• There are multiple enemies that require different strategies to find and defeat them (bosses with support squads, stationary bases etc.)
• Once defeated, they will drop special Skull BPs and spawn again at a random planet/location

The first update will bring the Ladder and Pirate Mode changes. Let us know what you think and feel free to ask if something is unclear etc. Looking forward to getting these plans realized and released to you.

Happy hunting