We’ve been working on StariumXCV for years now, and we really want to share this project with people. The goal of this series is to give our audience an idea of what this game is, how it’s played, and all the cool stuff we’ve been working on.

So, what is StariumXCV?

StariumXCV is a casual, online, sci-fi strategy game where players expand their Empire and compete over resources in a huge game map. The vision of StariumXCV is to provide a deep, satisfying gaming experience that doesn’t require hours of grinding. It’s designed to be played in short bursts where the player signs-in a few times a day for maybe 10 minutes at a time and gets back to their life.

A big goal of StariumXCV is to be as available as possible. The game is played entirely within a web browser at game.stariumxcv.com. No download whatsoever, just the web page. This means StariumXCV can be played on almost anything that can connect to the internet. One of our team members even pulled up the game on his Wii.

The minimum specs almost don’t exist. We don’t support Internet Explorer, but in theory anything that’s still getting security updates can probably run this game.

Getting Started with StariumXCV

StariumXCV is structured into multiple different “games”, which is like our version of a “server” in other MMOs, except our games are completely self-contained. An Empire only exists on one game. Someone can play multiple games at a time, but each game will have its own empire. Each game is a chance to try a different starting colony or make different choices.

Multiple Game Worlds

StariumXCV will host multiple “games” at a time. Every game is unique, with its own procedurally-generated section of the galaxy. Each game will have its own suns, its own unique solar systems, and entirely different NPCs. Even if someone makes all the same starting decisions, they’ll have a unique experience in every game.

Different game “types” will also have special game-play modifiers. We have our standard game type, but we also have a game type that decreases movement times and increases the amount of resources produced. We’ll run multiple games of each type, so players can pick the pace of game they’d like most.

Players can also play in multiple games at a time. There’s no penalty in trying out a new game type. Or, if one game just isn’t enough, play multiple games at once. Maybe even play in every game.

Starting Colony

After picking a game, there’s Position Creation. This is where the player gets to choose their starting scenario, which we call the Starting Colony. The Starting Colony will determine which race the player starts with, what the player’s default ships look like, and give some minor leader skill bonuses.

There are 31 different Starting Colonies to choose from. Each one has a unique combination of one or two races. The races for the colony are what the starting leader can be and what races the initial citizens of the colony will be. The “primary” race determines the style of the starting ships, as well as what ship style options are available by default. Which colony the player chooses isn’t really that important, no one will be locked out of a strategy because of the colony they chose. However there is some room to min-max for a specific strategy, if you’re into that sort of thing (I certainly am).

Narratively, each starting colony was once a member of The Concordium, a huge galactic empire. The Concordium used Quantum Gates to send colonizing groups out into the far reaches of space to settle distance worlds. The Gates also allowed The Concordium to send supplies to these colonies. But one day the Gate explodes, and the colony is forced to survive on its own.

Into the Game

The player’s game starts in the aftermath of the Quantum Gate’s destruction. They have a small colony composed of 3 areas, with a small army to protect it, and a small, 3-ship fleet in orbit. This is the beginning of what (hopefully) will grow into a sprawling Empire.

Each planet, or world, has a hex-map. We call the hexes “areas”. Areas are where populations live, and where the resources for an empire are produced. Each area can only sustain so many people, so eventually it’ll be necessary to claim new areas and cultivate new populations.

Armies are the primary way to affect areas. Armies are used to claim other areas, deploy new population segments to areas, and, of course, fight other armies. The starting army comes with 2 Colonist units. Colonists are deployed onto areas to create new workers citizens of your empire. Colonists units are how populations are moved from one area to another, and how work forces are spread.

The starting fleet has 2 Scout ships and 1 Light Carrier. Different ship types have stats that make them better for certain things. Scouts are good at traveling quickly, but they’re not great in combat and they can’t really move any units or other ships. Carriers also aren’t great in combat, but they’re good at transporting personnel. There are multiple other types of ships, like Fighters, Probes, Battle Stations, and more.

What do you do?

StariumXCV is a game about growing your Empire. Players are dropped into this huge map full of rewards and risks, and it’s up to them to carve out a path to greatness. There is no right or wrong way to expand. Some of our team members like to start by exploring nearby systems and see what’s around them. Some immediately start training a huge army so they can destroy anything that gets in their way. You could even focus on producing goods and set up mutually-beneficial alliances based on trade (although no one on our team has had the gall to try that yet).

My goal in a new game is usually to race through the tech progression as quickly as possible. I want to get a quick start and use my more advanced technology to have better ships and units than other players. I also like to play pretty aggressively, choosing to start fights with the other Empires I run into instead of creating alliances. But that’s just how I like to play, I’m sure you’ll come up with something better.

Join the Discussion

Did something in this post pique your interest? Let us know on Discord! We’re always listening.