Starborne is a free-to-play Space MMORTS for PC where you explore, settle and and conquer a massive galaxy alongside thousands of other players in complete real-time. Sign up today and join the new frontier!

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Sovereign Space

Starborne is a modern reimagination of the classic browser MMORTS formula with a 4X twist. The game is an RTS at heart, but it incorporates many gameplay elements from traditionally single-player strategy titles to add deeper empire customization, more complex win conditions, and meaningful account progression.

A game of Starborne will see you join a massive, seamless game map containing nearly one million hexes alongside over 4000 other players. That's right, you can explore, build and fight on every single one of these hexes in real-time over the span of 10 weeks. This is Battle Royale Extreme: Space Edition.

The goal of the game is for your alliance to achieve victory in any one of the three win conditions: Have the most territory at the end of the game, control the most strategic hexes at the end of the game, or reach the highest level Dyson Sphere at the end of the game. Starborne is deeply political and player diplomacy is just as important as any other game mechanic in the game.

The game has been in development for a total of five years and went through nine alpha tests before finally reaching the Open Beta in April 2020. Starborne started as a tiny prototype called "Prosper" in a garage somewhere in Iceland and we wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped us get here.

Join the Community!

To play, simply create your account on our website and download the installer here on itch. The game is completely free-to-play and you can join new game servers as they arrive. See you on the frontier, commander!

https://itch.io/embed/195317?bg_color=222222&fg_color=eeeeee&link_color=0484d1&border_color=363636

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HUD

The HUD received a facelift to both increase readability and make it more consistent with our other panels. In addition to making room for our new systems, It should also perform better when there is more information to display.

We’re particularly excited about the highly requested time based construction queue, which will allow you to order a construction even if you don’t have the required resources yet. Items in the queue can also be rearranged if they haven’t begun construction.

Events

Events received a major overhaul following community feedback, and they no longer require you to send fleets to complete them. Instead, you can review their status in a new panel and complete them instantly as soon as they become available.

While Events still serve to gate progress and ensure power players don’t snowball out of control, the new system should feel significantly less cumbersome and allow you to focus on other parts of the game. The drop rates of Commodity Cards have also been streamlined and resulting in a more consistent inventory over the course of the game.

Daily Challenges

Continuing on the note of reducing time requirements, Alpha 8 will see the introduction of daily challenges. These are objectives tailored to your playstyle, and will allow you to stay competitive with shorter, more focused play sessions. The goal was to give players most of the resources they need for the day in one or two play sessions instead of having efficiency scale linearly with time.

Challenges function similarly to events, in that you will receive the rewards if the timer runs out even if you did not complete the challenge. You won’t be able to receive all of the daily rewards this way, however. There’s also the option to swap out challenges if you feel you have a better chance completing another one.

Black Holes

We’ve been trying out some new effects for the black hole, and they’re coming together nicely. While not tied to any specific game mechanic as of yet, we’re planning to add various landmarks to the map to give it more life and make navigation easier.

Solar Flares

Another change to the map contains visual tweaks to celestial bodies. We've added a flare effect to the suns and adjusted their brightness levels when moving the camera up close. Screenshots should look much better now, especially with the adjusted camera angle.

New Cards

Stealth Systems, Drone Swarm, Minefield and Antimatter Torpedo will make their first appearance in the next alpha test, which is slated to start in around 2 months. Stay tuned!

Commander Levels

Note: This is a mockup of the layout and subject to change.

Commander Levels are abilities you can unlock as you level up your Commander, and the primary way to specialize your role in Starborne. The panel consists of three mutually exclusive trees, each containing two distinct specializations. These upgrades also change the look and functions of your ships!

Aggression

Vanguard

The Vanguard gains access to powerful upgrades for attack ships and enhances your empire's offensive operations. You can also construct the Carrier, a fast capital ship suited for large-scale attacks.

Bomber

The Bomber uses Gunship fleets to damage or outright destroy enemy stations, giving your alliance the opportunity to expand into enemy territory.

Subterfuge

Sentinel

Sentinels aid their alliance by conducting espionage, feeding false information to the enemy and launching fake attacks to divert defenders from the real target.

Saboteur

The Saboteur specializes in crippling enemy fortifications to disable defenses and prevent movement shortly before the combat fleets make contact. Thanks to the Recon ship's high movement speed, Saboteurs can also launch small-scale raids on vulnerable enemy targets. 

Support

Guardian

Tasked with protecting the frontlines, the Guardian gains bonuses to defensive ships, deployment speed to allies as well as access to the Dreadnought, the most powerful capital ship in the game.

Magnate

As the industrial backbone your alliance, the Magnate supplies allies with ships and resources to fuel the gears of war. Their massive industrial fleets also enable them to construct superstructures and boost allied outposts to enhance their efficiency.

Ship Variations

On top of granting powerful upgrades, some abilities also change the look of your ships! Each vessel received two new variations, which will be revealed in the next post.

Captain Avatars

Due to popular demand, we've also added variations to all existing Captain avatars. The differences are purely cosmetic and serve to customize your fleets even further. Similarly to Commander Avatars, you can unlock them as you progress in the game.

Bug of the Week

BananaPower was highly disappointed when he found out that he is in fact not the owner of this sector.

Light Ships in Starborne

As alluded to in the previous post, each ship received two mutually exclusive modifications which can be unlocked via Commander Abilities. These new ships not only look different, but also grant specialized bonuses. Take a look!

Corvette

Classic Modification (L)

The standard Corvette is available from the start, but provides no bonuses.

Stingray Modification (M)

Maximizing firepower over everything else, the Stingray is designed to meet the opponent head on and come out victorious.

Harpy Modification (R)

With bonuses to speed and cargo space, this utility craft is both effective in raids and able to assist Industrials on build operations.

Patrol Ship

Classic Modification (L)

The standard Patrol Ship is available from the start, but provides no bonuses.

Albacore Modification (M)

The Albacore gains major bonuses to the already formidable combat stats of the Patrol Ship, rendering this ship lethal on defense.

Griffin Modification (R)

This utility craft makes up for its lower combat capabilities with minimal construction costs and major bonuses when running missions.

Scout

Classic Modification (L)

The standard Scout is available from the start, but provides no bonuses.

Narwhal Modification (M)

Fast and stealthy, the Narwhal is extremely effective at sabotaging enemy installations of any type, bypassing all but the highest levels of surveillance.

Stargazer Modification (R)

The Stargazer is best suited for surveillance operations, receiving bonuses to both scanning and sabotage defense.

Heavy Ships in Starborne

Heavy ships, while more expensive to build, pack quite a punch and form the core in most mid-game armadas. Unlike the light ships which can be built in any shipyard, the heavy ships require a specialized assembly and careful planning to gain the most use out of them.

Destroyer

Classic Modification (L)

The standard Destroyer is available after constructing the Heavy Ship Assembly, but provides no bonuses.

Swordfish Modification (M)

An almost pure damage upgrade makes this ship the ideal vanguard of any offensive armada, and fares best when supported by other light ships.

Pegasus Modification (R)

Sacrificing firepower for speed, the Pegasus can strike unprepared targets and return safely before any reinforcements arrive.

Frigate

Classic Modification (L)

The standard Frigate is available after constructing the Heavy Ship Assembly, but provides no bonuses.

Grenadier Modification (M)

Rather than increasing survivability, the Grenadier focuses on the outright destruction of would-be attackers.

Golem Modification (R)

This robust yet mobile Frigate modification can efficiently hold the line and quickly redeploy to support distant allies as well.

Gunship

Classic Modification (L)

The standard Gunship is available after constructing the Heavy Ship Assembly, but provides no bonuses.

Barreleye Modification (M)

Major bonuses to bombing damage enable this ship to cause massive damage to enemy installations. If you really want a station gone, the Barreleye will do the job.

Manticore Modification (R)

Favoring precision over raw power, the Manticore is ideal for long range bombing runs into enemy territory to cripple vital targets.

Capital Ships in Starborne

Capital ships are the pride of and joy of an armada and a well placed fleet can turn the tide of any battle. They are however prohibitively expensive and difficult to build - Commanders investing heavily into these ships will have difficulties recovering from a defeat.

Carrier

Classic Modification (L)

The standard Carrier is available after constructing the Capital Ship Assembly, but provides no bonuses.

Barracuda Modification (M)

The Barracuda overpowers opponents with raw damage and has the speed to match other offensive craft, resulting in both faster and deadlier attacks.

Basilisk Modification (R)

Shield upgrades allow this ship to support allied ships on the offense and increase their survivability while still commanding respectable firepower.

Dreadnought

Classic Modification (L)

The standard Dreadnought is available after constructing the Capital Ship Assembly, but provides no bonuses.

Megalodon Modification (M)

Upgrades to the ship’s defense systems make this the single most powerful unit in the game, guaranteeing heavy casualties for any opponent.

Gorgon Modification (R)

The Gorgon amps up the already impressive defense of the Dreadnought and enables it to absorb damage from less protected ships as well.

A New Challenger Appears!

In addition to the ship modifications shown above, Alpha 8 will also see the appearance of a new ship: The Recon. This is the heavy ship variant of the Scout and grants Subterfuge players a much needed boost on the tactical level.

We’re really happy to finally see the IR-2 in the game as it was one of the first ship concepts for Starborne.

Floating In A Tin Can

We’ve updated all movements and you can now see ships flying around the map!

Resource Fields being harvested will now display mining activity as well. Mining Drones aren’t in yet so we’re using Patrol Ships as placeholders.

We’ve also received a few questions regarding the size of the different ships, so our artists have put together this comprehensive ship size chart! Space banana for scale.

Game Overview

We’ve added a new Game Overview tab allowing you to see the state of the game at a glance. Additionally, navigation of the rankings, alliances and player profiles has been streamlined and all of the relevant information is now shown in one unified panel.

Achievements

The Achievements panel has been overhauled to bring it in line with our UI redesign. Achievement stages are now always visible even if you are not actively making progress towards it.

New Cards

ESA Permit, Command Overhaul, Sensor Overload and Reactive Armor are coming to Alpha 8!

Combat Animations

Since we now have ships on the map, the next step will be adding combat animations which will show battle progress in real time.

Dyson Spheres

Dyson Spheres are Superstructures found in the center of each sector. They’re first encountered in an incomplete state, and it’s a race between confederacies to finish their construction.

WIP Model

The first iteration of the model is also in the game already!

Alpha Test Incoming!

It is time! We've been deep in the trenches preparing for the 8th and final Starborne alpha test, which is slated for late October. It will feature an overhauled UI, streamlined combat, an early version of the tech tree and much, much more. If you want to get a headstart, check out the pre-alpha test server which will run for 6 weeks to iron out any remaining bugs and balance quirks, and provides an excellent opportunity to familiarize yourself with the game. 

Does grand strategy in space sounds like your cup of tea? Then download the installer and join us on Discord! Keep in mind that starting positions are limited, and downtime is expected.

New Map Layer

We felt like we've always had a bit of a disconnect between the UI and map layer, so we worked on both elements simultaneously to create something that just fits. The game looks much more vibrant as a result - check it out!

Starborne Alpha Test Starts Today!

We’re proud to announce the final alpha test for Starborne: Sovereign Space slated for October 30th. Over a year’s worth of development has gone into this release and the changelog is truly massive.

Highlights:

• The map has doubled in size and now supports over 5000 concurrent players!
• Starborne now has a policy tree, which unlocks powerful abilities as the game progresses.
• Alliances can now build structures to quickly deploy units to their allies.
• Stations can now establish companies, which grant powerful bonuses to the owner.
• Alliances can now band together and form massive confederacies.
• Superstructures are a new endgame mechanic which pits multiple sectors against each other.
• The Recon is a new heavy ship and excels at exploration while boasting impressive combat stats.

• The game is now much less resource intensive thanks to wide ranging optimization tweaks.

To play, create your account on starborne.com and download the installer here on itch. The server will go live today at 18:00 GMT, and spots are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

See you on the frontier, commander!

https://itch.io/embed/195317

Note to users from previous alpha tests: Starborne now supports usernames. When you join a new server, you will be prompted to choose a display name. This will become your permanent, exclusive username, so choose wisely! If you have any unspent commander packs in your inventory, they will be converted to an equivalent amount of Platinum. Also, make sure to uninstall any existing installations of Starborne.

Starborne 0.8.0.21 Patch Notes

GAMEPLAY

• NPC respawn timers are now the same for all NPCs. Defenders will reappear between 24 and 48 hours after being completely wiped.
• Added descriptions to the Isotope cards and the Warhead Specialist card how players obtain these cards.
• Stargate’s max radius is now 4 hexes, letting the Traffic Control Tower card work as intended.
• Armed Drones card now has correct prestige costs.
• Place of Worship card now has correct prestige costs.
• Habitation Dome’s description corrected to 120 labor per level. Previously it erroneously stated 150 labor per level.
• Mining Colony erroneously referred to a Mining Facility in its description instead of itself, this has been corrected.
• The Solar Panels and Core Schematics cards’ resource yield has now been corrected to their path’s primary resource (they were swapped).
• Corrected the primary resource for outposts. Previously outposts were selecting the wrong resource as a primary resource due to a formula error (blame Snoogms). Outposts now correctly select their primary resource depending on their building path affiliation.
• Miner’s Guild card’s bonus increased to 30%, up from 15%.
• Fleet Cadet duration increased to 48 hours, up from 24.
• Expedited stations make-up now explained in its policy’s tooltip.
• Harness the Stars IV policy no longer gives Commerce Hubs 1 radius, this was a leftover feature from the before times.
• Scanner no longer receives an HP boost when augmented, this too is a leftover from the before times.
• Fixed empty reward for “Deal 50000 Damage in a Single Battle” and “Destroy 500 Ships” achievements.
• Fixed reward for “Deal 5000 Damage as Defender” achievement.
• Fixed some typos and descriptions in Tasks.
• Culling inactive players is now reinstated. You will now start to see inactive players being removed from the game and their starting positions therefore become open letting more new players into the server.

UI CHANGES

• Search function next to the avatar to search for players has been removed. Players now search for othe players in Politics > Players.
• Small polishes to the context menu for map interactions.
• Added loading screen to refresh server list.
• Chat is no longer deselected after sending a message.
• Clicking player portraits in chat now opens politics panel as was always intended.
• Allowed CTRL+H to hide the entire UI again. Screenshots away!

BUGS FIXED

• Cannot move uncraftable fleet and station cards back to inventory.
• “Complete All Daily Challenges” is counting all completed challenges instead of sets.
• “Destroy X ships” trigger fixed.
• Game momentarily freezes when upgrading a building from level 9 to 10.
• Breadcrumbs missing from Messages panel.
• Alliance application list is filled with people which cannot join my alliance
• Removed all applications from empires in alliances on server startup and now they get removed when empires join an alliance.
• Crash and memory leak fixes:
• Reverted cell painters to before the aggressive memory savings.
• Fleet movements do not allocate per frame anymore.
• Turned off Dyson Sphere particle system.
• Several bugs in mission discovery fixed.
• Fixed chat bug where players with over 10 open channels couldnt chat.
• Accepting applications now triggers alliance joined achievement.
• Fixed nullcheck in combat reports.
• An empire’s alliance invites and applications should now be culled when an empire is removed.
• Discovery entries for missions when empires are removed now works properly.
• Discovery entries for outposts when empires are removed now works properly.
• Discovery entries for probes when empires are removed now works properly.

GRAPHICS

• Tweaked lighting of planets.
• Tweaked the brightness of white dwarves and Dyson Spheres.
• Added outline to objects in resource view mode (similar to exploration view mode).
• Removed buggy cloud on ice and gas hexes and replaced with particle effects.
• Tweaked lighting on metal resource fields.
• Tweaked lighting on harvester & cargo drones.
• Tweaked exploration hint colours.
• Godrays on Dyson Spheres were off center and were fixed. BACKEND
• Listing games in client should now be oh-so-fast.
• Unexpected API exceptions are now logged.
• API calls made a little faster.
• Unspent Commander Packs from Alpha VII have been converted to 80 plat and deposited in accounts of applicable players.
• Admins can now safely log into the server as GMs and can therefore restore order to the galaxy.

AUDIO

• All ten songs now play sequentially.

PATCHER

• Updated with various minor tweaks.