Shattered Galaxy
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Shattered Galaxy is a massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game that was released in 2001 by Nexon Inc., now known as KRU Games. It combines the attributes of a massive multiplayer online role-playing game and a real-time strategy game.
The game consists of two planets, Relic and Morgana Prime, with about eighty eight territories each. On Relic and Morgana Prime, battles rage in territories among three factions. The maps consist of multiple "Points of Contention" (known as POCs) on an area of land. To capture a territory, a faction must capture all the POCs, or hold a majority at the end of the battle.
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General information
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Shattered Galaxy features a level and statistic system that determines which of a massive variety of units and items the player can access, and what role they'll play in battle; the player must choose between having durable units, high-firepower units or many units. This adds an RPG element to a game that, for the most part, revolves around real-time battles. One's army is also personalized; each of the 48 units is custom-equipped, is specialized in application, can be renamed, and is not permanently lost when killed in battle, but rather can be instantly repaired at the faction capital. There are also 5 other factories placed in territories 44, 00, 08, 80, and 88 where units can be repaired, but units can only be purchased at the faction's capital.
Battles in Shattered Galaxy revolve around controlling the battleground's POCs; seizing all of them ends the battle immediately, and whoever has the majority of them at the 15-minute time limit is declared the winner. This changes the nature of game strategy and unit design; a unit that cannot directly contribute to the seizure or defense of POCs is essentially useless, and units that are effective at POC seizures can win battles without firing a shot (or, indeed, having weapons).
Battles can involve twenty or more people to a side. Each player is relatively important, it is nearly impossible for a single player to rule a battle, the team must have the right units in the right place at the right time to win, and a rock-paper-scissors-style unit alignment system keeps all units vulnerable to some enemies and strong against others. Communication and teamwork, in short, are crucial to success. A "regiment" system had been implemented, allowing players to band together and guarantee themselves a supply of dependable teammates. This system has evolved into essentially complex teams, and in the event of Reconstructions (where the factions are remade), the various factions are organized by regiment strength.
As of late 2003, the game can be played for free (the normal fee is $10 USD per month) for any length of time, but with stat and level handicaps. People who pay are called payers, while those who do not are called non-payers.
Character Stats
Characters themselves (the commanders of the units) can gain attribute points that they can use. In order to gain these points, they must be active in battles in order to gain experience in four unit divisions: Infantry, Mobile, Aviation, and Organic. These divisions are organized based on the sale of units at the capital factories. Using a certain type of unit in battles gives you experience in the corresponding category. All people can get a maximum of 60 in each category, but for non-payers this gets more difficult the higher up you go past level 50. No attribute points are given past that level in any category, but any extra levels help payers during Reincarnations.
There are four attributes that players can choose to disburse points on their characters: Tactics, Clout, Education, and Mechanical Aptitude. Points earned from using units in battle can be used to improve the quality of the units you command. Thus, the longer you play, the better your units get as well. Payers can max out their attributes at 120 for each one, while nonpayers can only reach 100.
Tactics determines the number of units a player is allowed into a battle at once. Normally, players are only allowed 6 units into play at once. For every 20 points in tactics, another unit is allowed into play. Therefore, the maximum that can be allowed into play at any time possible is 12.
Education determines the quality of the equipment with which you can equip your unit, also known as the Tech Level. The education level is determined by the following formula: (Unit's level + (Education/2). Since a unit's maximum level is 60 and the education maximum is 120, this makes the highest tech level 120.
Clout determines the quality of the units used. Unit quality does not equal unit strength. This is because unit quality only determines whether you can upgrade the version, or Mark, of a unit. All units start at Mark 1 (Mk1), and can be upgraded to different unit types or to be upgraded to a higher quality version. Higher quality usually means that there is more space available for certain items to be fitted onto the unit. It does not determine the quality of the items used. For organic units, there is only 1 upgrade path, with certain evolutions along the way. The Mark system is replaced with denotations in the evolutionary stage: Primus, Amplus, Magnus, Extremus, and occasionally Maximus. For every 2 points of Clout or 1 unit level, there is an increase of 1 level in unit quality.
Mechanical Aptitude determines the weight capability of your unit. The weight determines how many items a unit can be equipped with as much as Clout does. The formula for the weight is (Base Weight of Unit * (Mechanical Aptitude/120). In this case, only payers can get the full benefits, as they are the only ones able to get double the base weight. This attribute also determines the health of the organic units a player possesses.
Types of Maps
The various kinds of map on the two different game worlds make it so that battles are rarely similiar. There are, however, 3 key types of maps, All or Nothing, Standard, and Victory. At any time, if either side has no units in battle, then that side loses instantly.
All or Nothing maps are exactly what their name implies. The attacking side must take all of the POC's and have them in their possesion for them to win. The opposing side simply has to make sure that not all of the POC's are taken. If the attacking side fails then they lose. Maps of this nature used to involve only 1 POC, but most involve 3 clustered together nowadays.
Standard maps are the bread and butter of Shattered Galaxy play. In this scenario, the attacking side has to hold at least a majority of the POC's to win. The defending side must this from happening. There are certain "Standard Enhanced" maps where the time to take POC's varies.
Victory maps are the most diffcult maps to fight on. Each side starts with 800 points and attempts to whittle the opposing side's score down to 0. Points are rewarded for people joining into the battle, while points are taken away for units dying, people sending another set of units after their first set dies, or for not holding a majority of the POC's. If no one is on a side, then that side's points drop rapidly down to 0.
Commonly Used Terms
Regi- shorthand for regiment
Poccers- units designed specifically for sitting on POC's. Units of this type usually have extremely strong armor at the expense of movement capability and weapon strength. Although almost any unit can POC, these are usually crafted by the user specifically for this task.
Clouter- someone who invests heavily into the character attribute of Clout. This allows the user to get the highest quality units available as quickly as possible. Although they can have the highest quality, this does not translate into the best units, since it usually means that the components that actually make up the units are low level, despite the fact that the units themselves are of extremely high (Mark 9) quality.
Eduer- a person who focuses heavily on the attribute of education. These people usually use the highest quality weapons available, although they are usually limited by unit quality constraints, such as weight.
Other Activities
Caving is a term in Shattered Galaxy for going into alien caves in order to fight and gain experience points. Most caving is done on Relic, as the caves on Morgana Prime are famous for their tough difficulty level and because of this caving is usually considered a waste of time. Caving on Relic usually takes places only within the factions' capitals. A cave battle is similiar to a normal battle but with only 1 POC and aliens instead of enemy factions.
Mercing is a term that refers to mercenaries within the game. People can choose to become mercenaries for the 15% experience bonus and fight for the faction that is currently losing. This is highly discouraged within regiments, although now it is possible to be a mercenary without leaving a regiment as had previously been done.
Reincarnations are events for payers only in which all paying characters that sign up get their stats reset back to a new commander's stats. Although this can be done for a payer at any time, the difference here is that the new commander gains extra attribute points based on the number of reincarnations and division levels about 50. Players must be in level 50 in at least 1 division to reincarnate.
External link
- Official homepage (http://www.sgalaxy.com)
- SG-City Fansite (http://www.sg-city.com)