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The game takes place across two Terran Quadrant star systems, Sirius and Barnard’s Star, located in a small section of the larger persistent universe that our previous Battlecruiser and Universal Combat games took place in.

These regions in Line Of Defense are also smaller in this game due to performance and gameplay considerations. To get an idea of the massive scope and scale of the universe feature in the IP, download the Universal Combat CE 2.0 game that is currently free on Steam.

Our ultimate goal with the game’s design is to expand it to other areas via DLC, until the game features the complete universe, albeit with the same small space and planetary sizes.

This first release of the game features the following regions, of which only the Lyrius planet – where the conflict takes place – is terraformed. The other planets and moons will be terraformed in future DLC updates, thus expanding the gameplay areas progressively.

4 space regions (Lyrius, Lennen, Zilon, Sygan)
4 planets (Lyrius has four bases. Heatwave, Gulge, Nightbridge, Frostbite)
7 moons (Primus, Veran, Eclipse, Wayward, Bloom, Omaris, Stigler)
4 stations (Arkangel, Vanguard, Templar, Overwatch)
1 Engstrom class carrier (GCV-Starguard with three decks)

The game docs contains internal layout schematics for all the stations, and the carrier.

Due to the significant size of the game world, as well as the design, the need for control over server population, performance considerations etc, there is no seamless space planet transition. Instead, going from planet to space, and vice versa, is done via jump gates. When players jump from one region to the other via a jump gate, the target scene is then loaded.

SPACE REGIONS

There are four space regions each containing a planet, moon or both, primary station and theme. Each space region is roughly 4,500 sq. km, with a buffer zone around it. When you reach that buffer zone, the ship starts to degrade, until destroyed if you don’t turn back.

Each planet and moon is built to support multiple regions. In the initial game release, only the Lyrius planet can be entered. The other planets and moons cannot be entered as they have not been terraformed.

The four space regions are linked together by jumpgates each of which has a single target destination.

Stations are linked to starbases on the planet via Dynamic Jump Pads. For example you can use the DJP on the HEATWAVE starbase on the planet to go to the ARKANGEL station in space and vice versa.

You can dock a fighter or shuttle with a station or carrier, exit the craft, then walk through the installation in fps mode. From within the installation, you can use t-shafts to move from deck to deck or use a DJP to go to another station or starbase. You can also use an HAIS MK2 to enter the planet below.

LYRIUS (ARKANGEL station):
Contains 1 planet (LYRIUS) and 2 moons (PRIMUS, VERAN)
Linked to LENNEN
Linked to HEATWAVE, NIGHTBRIDGE, FROSTBITE, GULGE starbase

The region also has the GCV-STARGUARD, the last surviving Galactic Command craft from the GALCOM, Insurgent conflict in Lyrius. It is currently unmanned and in orbit above the planet.

LENNEN (VANGUARD station):
Contains 1 planet (LENNEN) and 1 moon (ECLIPSE)
Linked to LYRIUS and SYGAN

SYGAN (TEMPLAR station):
Contains 1 planet (LENNEN) and 2 moons (OMARIS, STIGLER)
Linked to ZILON and LENNEN

ZILON (OVERWATCH station):
Contains 1 planet (LENNEN) and 2 moons (WAYWARD, BLOOM)
Linked to SYGAN

PLANETARY REGIONS

There are a number of regions on the Lyrius planet, each containing a primary starbase and unique theme. Each region is roughly 256 sq. km, with a buffer zone around it. When you reach that buffer zone, the ship starts to degrade, until destroyed if you don’t turn back.

The game world supports dynamic Time Of Day (TOD) where each full day to night transition on Lyrius planet spans 3 hrs of real-time.

The four starbase regions on Lyrius are linked together by Dynamic Jump Pads and jumpgates. Each of which has one or more target destinations in another space or planetary region or station.

In infantry mode, you can use a DJP to go from one starbase region to another or to a station or carrier in orbit around the planets. You can also use a jumpgate to fly between starbase regions or to space.

STARBASE01 (HEATWAVE starbase):  (Desert Climate Zone, DCZ)
Standard starbase
Linked to NIGHTBRIDGE and FROSTBITE
Linked to ARKANGEL station

STARBASE02 (NIGHTBRIDGE starbase):  (Moderate Climate Zone, MCZ)
Standard starbase within an abandoned city
Linked to HEATWAVE and GULGE
Linked to ARKANGEL station

STARBASE03 (FROSTBITE starbase):  (Artic Climate Zone, ACZ)
Standard starbase
Linked to HEATWAVE and GULGE
Linked to ARKANGEL station

STARBASE04 (GULGE starbase):  (Hot Climate Zone, HCZ)
Standard starbase
Linked to NIGHTBRIDGE and FROSTBITE
Linked to ARKANGEL station

WORLD NAVIGATION

• As infantry on the planet, you can use a Dynamic Jump Pad to go from any Lyrius base to another or to one of the four stations or the GCV-Starguard carrier – and vice versa.
• As infantry on the planet with a vehicle, you can use a shuttle or heavy gunship to load your vehicle in, then deploy it in another Lyrius base using a jumpgate.
• As a pilot on the planet, you can use a jumpgate to go from any Lyrius base to another base or to one of the four space regions – and vice versa.
• As infantry inside a station or carrier, you can use turbo shafts (T-Shaft) to go from one area to another.
• As infantry inside a station or carrier, you can requisition a fighter or shuttle, launch into space; then use a jump gate to travel between space and planetary regions.
• As a pilot in space, you can dock with any of the four stations or carrier, exit in infantry fps mode and move around inside.
• As infantry with an HAIS-MK2 suit (found inside the station and carrier above Lyrius planet), you can use the airlock to do an orbital drop to any base on the Lyrius planet below.

SCENE TRANSITION

There is no seamless space<--->planetary transition. For an explanation, please see this blog post.

Basically, if we allowed all the scenes to be cohesively connected, among other things, there would be insurmountable challenges to making the game perform as expected. These include performance, scene loading, there would be no way to properly handle client population control (critical to the performance and handling of the game world) given its size and scope. Note that all the scenes, including the planetary bases, are hand-crafted and themed. So they do not benefit from procedural generation.

The game docs has more details on how to get around in the game world. The In Pursuit Of Awesomeness dev blog gives an insight to the custom engine we built to make the game.

Posted in: faq