Sid Meier's Starships

File:STARSHIPS LOGO for use on WHITE F1 (1).png

File:Sid Meier's Starships - Announcement Trailer

Sid Meier's Starships is a game created by Sid Meier and Firaxis Games, scheduled for release in March 2015. Starships is not a traditional Civilization game but it borrows art assets and narrative elements from Civilization: Beyond Earth. It centers on space exploration, resource management and allocation, and combat.

Plot

Starships is set in the universe of Civilization: Beyond Earth and follows the events of that game. After humanity has colonized the exoplanets, civilizations begin to seek intergalactic/interplanetary contact and trade with others. The game also features cross-connectivity with Beyond Earth, increasing the replay value and depth of both games.

Gameplay

Sid Meier's Starships is an adventure-driven strategy game where players can travel to new planets and complete missions to protect their civilizations from dangerous Space Pirates and hostile opponents. Players design and lead federation fleets that roam and do battle throughout the galaxy within a series of missions. These missions feature dynamically generated maps, a variety of victory conditions, and a multitude of enemy types.

At the game's outset, players can choose their federations affinity. The affinity chosen affects ship appearance. Players will also choose their leader, which players will recognize from Beyond Earth. Each leader comes with its own associated ability. Similarly to Civilization, players can also adjust the difficulty, map size, and galaxy type.

Players can customize their fleet to match individualized combat tactics. Featuring modular spaceship design, players have a number of options when designing their ships, from the types of weapons on board to shield strength. Players can expand the influence of their Federation by gaining the support of the citizens of new planets. Each planet features unique abilities that can be used to enhance the player's fleet and Federation, offering up a variety of improvements to be used against opponents in battle. Cities on planets give players a steady stream of various resources that allow players to purchase different items and abilities for their ships.

Battle Cards are another new mechanic. These randomized cards augment individual planetary missions and encourage the player to think outside of the box.

As in past Civilization titles, there are multiple paths to victory in Starships. Players can win by conquering the strongest enemies in the galaxy, coordinating diplomacy with other federations, and more. Further information to be added as it becomes available.

Beyond Earth Connectivity

Starships can connect with Beyond Earth via a player's My 2K account, allowing for a transfer of assets and bonuses. As players meet certain requirements in Beyond Earth they unlock certain features in Starships, and vice versa. They are divded into three types: planet type, hybrid affinity, and missions.

Planet Type Unlocks

It is currently unknown what tasks must be completed in Beyond Earth to unlock planet types, and what they actually unlock.

Planet Type - Nirvana: +5% Crew Morale
Planet Type - Xanadu: +10% Science
Planet Type - Earth: +10% Metal
Planet Type - Observatory: Open Communications with all AI leaders.

Hybrid Affinity Unlocks

It is currently unknown what tasks must be completed in Beyond Earth to unlock hybrid affinities, and what they actually unlock.

Hybrid Affinity - Supremacy/Harmony: Start the game with one random Wonder already built and your starship repair costs are reduced by 50%.
Hybrid Affinity - Supremacy/Purity: Start the game with one random Wonder already built and receive doubled resources from completing missions.
Hybrid Affinity - Purity/Harmony: Receive doubled resources from completing missions and your starship repair costs are reduced by 50%.
Hybrid Affinity - Purity/Supremacy: Receive doubled resources from completing missions and start the game with one random Wonder already built.
Hybrid Affinity - Harmony/Supremacy: Your starship repair costs are reduced by 50% and start the game with one random Wonder already built.
Hybrid Affinity - Harmony/Purity: Your starship repair costs are reduced by 50% and receive doubled resources from completing missions.