Sword of the Stars II: Lords of Winter Interview

SotS2 has been stirring up some serious media interest since the day it was announced, and StrategyCore has been no exception. We contacted Kerberos Productions’ CEO Martin Cirulis asking for an interview. Despite the tight schedule he was kind enough to agree.

StrategyCore (SC): Firstly, thank you for taking the time to speak to StrategyCore. We are eager to hear anything about SotS2. We have intentionally waited until well after E3 and gathered every bit of information that came from game conventions and your forums afterwards. We have an undercover agent at your forums (not telling who) and he has spent a lot of time just reading and nagging you for more information.

We have already been told that the stars are not lonely any more. How much system diversity will we see? Will there be systems with only a single star, systems with multiple stars etc?

Martin Cirulis (MC): Star systems will be spread across the OBAFGKM classification range and will run the full gamut of size from Super Giants to Dwarfs. At this point star systems will stick to single stars and relatively inner planets. No dodging into the Oort Cloud.

SC: How random will systems be?

MC: They will be fully random.

SC: How will the solar system mechanics be represented? Will the rotations happen during strategic turns, changing (astrologically predictably?) the whole strategic situation from turn to turn?

MC: Planetary bodies will change their orbital positions from strat turn to strat turn based on standard astrophysics equations.

SC: Can you have multiple colonies in a system or is this being generalized to a base of some sorts?

MC: You will be able to have multiple colonies and bases in one star system.

SC: Can you colonize a planet in a system where an ally or an enemy already has a colony?

MC: Yes.

SC: Will there be specific planetary structures - space shipyards, asteroid bases, other in-system bases you can attack individually or is it colonies and their defensive infrastructure only?

MC: There will be orbital and system facilities in the form of modular starbases.

SC: Will we be able to grow the Swarm in our systems? Pretty please?

MC: There will be a space ecosystem that may tweak your desire for animal husbandry in different directions than the Swarm.

SC: Okay, now we're intrigued.

If we had to single out a thing that fascinated us the most in SotS Prime (fancy way of saying SotS1), we would have a hard time. But one of them is definitely how you managed to balance SIX ways of travel. Does the rise of Suul'ka and their orthodox Zuul companions mean a completely new way of FTL travel or did Zuul actually use their masters' invention all the time? If not, will we still get to see Zuul hurting space-time and it being healed?

MC: Yes ;)

SC: Yes? Yes what? Argh, we had it coming!

Speaking of travelling, will we be able to research intra-system propulsion separately from FTL this time?

MC: There will be various techs to modify STL inner system flight.

SC: We do wonder about this whole Zuul thing. We know some have gained a conscience and are with Liir. Will we be able to play as either Liir or Zuul race/side of the common empire?

MC: There are 2 Zuul alliances so to speak; the Liir/Zuul and the Suul'ka/Zuul both of which are playable in a logical way instead of just splitting the side into two sub factions.

SC: Morrigi are supposed to have a special attachment to independent colonies. Do they still have their SotS Prime style of racial empire?

MC: The Morrigi Empire in SotS2 will offer a grand, multi race vision but the Morrigi will still be the military power of the coalition.

SC: How do they interact with independent colonies? Do they control them directly as part of their empire, or is there another connection?

MC: The Morrigi will be able to incorporate various kinds of independent worlds and species and will control them directly through self-interest and mutual protection. The Morrigi will be able to more easily negotiate with and form pacts with independent worlds uninterested in joining larger factions directly.

SC: In the latest SotS Prime update you have added a new scenario and a new random, both teasers for things to come. What can we expect in terms of campaigns? Will they go deeper (story-wise) than current scenarios?

MC: SotS2 will include more canon based scenarios, linked and standalone, while also delivering background and story in terms of unlockable content for the onboard SotS-pedia. This means as you explore the game through playing, the game itself will reveal more about what you have encountered, weapons you have developed and technologies you have made so you can access all of that anytime in any future game. Not sure you will remember exactly how you took down the System Killer? Make your own annotation to the System Killer entry in the SotS-pedia so it’s there next time you have to fight it.

SC: Have randoms evolved? Will we see the upgraded versions of old randoms, too?

MC: As promised, the current randoms will evolve in response to events and conditions in the SotSverse and in the game mechanics of SotS2 itself. For instance, now you will be able to fight the System Killer over every planet in a star system before it turns its terrible attention on the central star. The old cast of SotS Prime will also be joined by an entire new set of randoms that will continue to introduce panic, fear and story elements into the SotSverse.

SC: Now, the systems and battles in them. Will tactical battles encompass whole systems or will they be focused on the part of the system? Will systems (or parts) in the tactical battle be in any way random or will they be completely pre-defined?

MC: Tactical battles will encompass entire star systems. Very small objects like asteroids will be randomly generated but if by pre-defined you mean planets and moons, those will be where you expect them to be based on your strat map data, then yes most system parts will be pre-defined.

SC: Will you be able to arrive with a fleet, set up camp and go for raiding missions across the system? How hard is it to find a fleet in a whole system?

MC: Achieving control over volumes of inner system space will certainly be a large part of one's ability to siege and control an enemy star system, so yes I suppose you could think of some actions as camping and raiding. Overall it may be fairly easy to figure out the general area an enemy has entered from, but that is far different than detecting and tracking every element of that enemy's fleet.

SC: SotS has no limits on ship section combinations. Will SotS2 have any limits, perhaps to simulate that some (command section, as a SotS Prime example) sections need sturdier chassis (mission section) to endure the turn momentum?

MC: There will be no strict section synergy rules, per se, but the addition of crew, power and supply factors for ships will make some section combinations more problematical than others.

SC: Will there be ships with more than three sections?

MC: Depends on your definition of "section" I suppose... since DNs and LVs will sport modules the size of old school DEs.

SC: Will ships in SotS2 be more durable? We tend to get attached to our ships but being ready to lose whole fleets is a necessity in SotS.

MC: SotS2 era ships will be more durable and die in more interesting ways when that durability is fatally exhausted.

SC: Will SotS2 feature ships-on-field limitation, like SotS Prime has command points?

MC: Since the fundamental difficulties of Commanding and Controlling ever larger numbers of units and formations has not changed in real life recently, I think it’s safe to say the SotS command point system will remain, in one form or another, an important tactical aspect of play and planning.

SC: Will per-poly targeting remain an option in the battles or are you aiming for a more "being a general" feeling, using more general fleet commands?

MC: Per poly targeting will remain a part of SotS combat, since you have ALWAYS been able to use "more general" commands in combat as well. Anyone demanding one over the other is in danger of deciding their style of play is somehow innately superior to someone else’s.

That being said, the new detection/evasion/targetlock systems will make hitting exactly what you want when you want somewhat problematical depending on your weapon and equipment choices while at the same time making general commands require a bit more feedback from the player when they are forced to decide how to face an enemy that is evading weapons lock.

SC: Leviathans...three times as large as Dreadnoughts. Will we be mindblown or what?!

MC: Minds will be blown, yes. Also possibly there may be an outbreak of pants-wetting.

SC: Autoresolving battles was always a bit of an issue in games. There was a mention this system could be revamped in SotS2. Would that mean that autoresolved battles will no longer be reduced to equations and will be auto-played out?

MC: We are investigating a system of non-displayed "real world" AR combat which, while it has far greater implementation risks than a strictly mathematical abstract model, it would be easier in the long run for a game with the extremely large and variable weapons and ship possibilities we have come to expect in a SotS game.

SC: What would you say is the part of the game that has changed the most since SotS Prime?

MC: The intelligence of the way the game interacts with the player. Aiding them but neither telling them what to do nor leaving them in the dark.

SC: Is there something you want to add and I have not had the wits to ask?

MC: You probably wanted to ask something about the extremely innovative system where the choices the player makes decide what governmental system they are using instead of just picking it from a list in the traditional 4X way. But I can see you were probably distracted by the need for an NStar question, so maybe next time.

SC: Argh!

And the trick question for the end; Is NorthStar still on course?

MC: NStar is in the negotiations phase and hence I really can't comment either way at the moment.

SC: Mr. Cirulis, thank you for your time and a lot of new info.

Some of the pants-wetting has almost begun, before Leviathans have arrived. Needless to say, the answers bring new questions and ponderings to mind. I’m sure the fans all over the internet will dig deep into these and StrategyCore will try its best to keep you up to date with more answers in the future as well.

Thank you all for reading, and if you enjoyed this interview then why not join in the discussion in our Sword of the Stars forum or check out our Sword of the Stars, Born of Blood and combined A Murder of Crows and Argos Naval Yard reviews?