Dev Blog #005 July 10, 2022

Hey all, the last couple of months have been spent getting a bunch of other requested features into the game, as well as revamping the skills and building aspects of the game.

Skills Update

AQ1 had a pretty basic skill system, where you just increased a certain bonus by a few percent with each skill point you earnt.
AQ2 has a full skill tree with much more depth and customisation, allowing you to focus on how you want to play. There are separate trees for shields, armor, weapon types and more.
You can work through each skill tree unlocking basic bonuses along with more specialized bonuses later on, so if you are really into your Swarm rockets then you can focus down that tree to boost them to their max.
Skill points can be earnt in various ways, such as some missions or event rewards, as well as having them generated over time.

Building updates

The building system is still a work in progress but it has come a long way, corporations now have much more control over the customisation of their Outposts and Auxiliary buildings.
Auxillary buildings such as the mass driver and the security platform can be built to help defend your sectors but you will also need to ensure each sector has enough power, water, food and other resources by building mining facilitys, hydroponic farms and solar arrays.
Auxillary buildings will send resources to their Outposts and any excess resources will be sold, the profit going to the Corporation that owns the sector.
To further expand on the building/outpost aspect of the game I have been experimenting with a happiness system for the workers at the outpost, happier workers produce more and unhappy workers have a chance of rebelling against the current corporation.

Events that impact the happiness of the workers will be displayed in the outposts information screen; recent pirate activity, high defenses, low food supply and other modifiers will all apply different boosts.

Modification and Ammo updates

Keeping with the customisation theme, turrets are much more flexible now. Each turret has a slot for a modification and ammo, the modification can change the turret's behavior by boosting a stat, but often also nerfing another stat to keep balance. For example the Railgun turret has a modification for increasing damage, but it also decreases range and increases the energy cost. Modifications are designed to allow you to change your strategy without unbalancing the weapon.
Ammo serves a similar purpose but its bonuses are generally more positive, they do however run out. Ships can produce a basic ammo internally and can run a turret without a specialized ammo supply, so ammo can be used in more dangerous situations or when you just want to end a fight quicker.
Modifications and ammo can be purchased on the open market, or exchanged on the black market at any major station.

Boss type fleets

The first boss type fleet has been added, and it's a supportive one. AQSec now has access to the Susurrus, a carrier class ship used for intercepting large pirate fleets in high security space. AQSec will send this ship and a small escort into any sector it controls that is under pirate attack. There will be more of these types of ships, and most of them won't be as helpful. They are designed to test your combat skills and will often require multiple ships to be able to defeat them.

Graphics updates

Some more graphical updates, dust clouds, nebulas and other areas in the game now use a nice fog type effect. Hiding in the dust clouds has never looked so good.