Gameplay Insights #5: Galactic-Scale City Building
Greetings, Astra Odysseans!
In our previous updates, we explored the six grand strategic pillars of Beyond Astra (Science, Religion, Culture, Economy, Diplomacy, and Military), as well as the diversity of the planets that make up our galaxy. Today, we are zooming in to focus on the beating heart of your civilization, the place where everything begins and converges: your Cities.
The Visual Identity of Your Empire
Last year, we began the production of our 3D models. Visual identity is crucial: it is what truly anchors the immersion in a Space Opera. Your cities needed to be majestic and alive.
Rather than arbitrarily tying an architectural style to a species, we took a different path. Architecture reflects the philosophy and values of your civilization. At the start of each game, you will choose the style that will define the appearance of your cities and units:
- Utility: A functional style defined by industrial concrete and metal. It is the architecture of a civilization driven by Ambition, prioritizing raw efficiency to maximize output.
- Bio-Shape: A style with soft tones, characterized by flowing and airy structures made of organic compounds. It embodies a society of Balance that chooses to live in symbiosis with nature.
- Pure: A sleek and minimalist futuristic style, with smooth, white surfaces. It is the society of Reason, where high technology fades into everyday life, leaving room only for clarity and the essential.
- Neo-Ancient: A revisited classicism blending warm stones, arches, and colonnades. It represents the society of Continuity, an empire proud of its heritage that builds for eternity by combining tradition and modernity.
On a planetary scale, they look massive because they are; the unit next to them is already several hundred meters long. These cities are designed to house millions of people, and their density will only increase as your technology advances.
The DNA of a City-Builder on a Galactic Scale
The integration of spherical physical planets and our seamless zoom offered us an incredible opportunity to go beyond the management via menus, slots, and lists found in the sci-fi 4X genre. Unifying City-Building and Grand Strategy on a galactic scale is a rare, if not unprecedented, proposition. It took countless tests and iterations to find the right balance between depth, fluidity, and fun, and we can’t wait for you to experience our vision!
A Living Population
Even though individual citizens are too small to be seen at this massive scale, they are far from just numbers. They are complex entities with political views, religious beliefs, vital needs, and citizenship status. They can migrate between empires, visit rival worlds as tourists, climb the social ladder, or, if neglected, incite revolution. Your goal is to satisfy their needs; in return, they provide the workforce, Culture, Influence, and Faith you need to expand.
On the management side, your population is divided into Workers, Technicians, and Engineers. Thanks to a global priority system you define, the game automatically distributes the workforce. However, you guide this dynamic through the construction of their housing and the fulfillment of their needs. Since each building (laboratory, industry, biodome…) requires different proportions of these three social strata, the strategic challenge will be to globally adapt your empire’s infrastructure to support your economic ambitions.
Interconnected and Evolving Systems
Planetary biomes dictate base habitability, while the number of cities and the pollution they generate directly impact the planet’s health and its population. As your civilization progresses, your buildings will become more efficient. In return, your population will climb the social ladder and become more demanding, requiring the importation of distant exotic resources to remain satisfied.
Physical Supply Chains
In Beyond Astra, resources are physical. They must be transported across space by cargo ships. The development of a new city will directly depend on the speed at which materials and the workforce are delivered there. Reaping the benefits of different biomes also means protecting your entire supply chain. If a planet isn’t self-sufficient, building up adequate storage might be vital to survive an enemy blockade.
Galactic Scale, Galactic Solutions
Imagine a volcanic planet with extreme conditions, but teeming with precious resources. You don’t want to settle millions of residents there due to the low habitability. The solution lies in building Staff Quarters. This allows your workers to keep their primary residence on a paradise world while commuting via space shuttles to work in your hostile industrial extractors
Customization and Creativity
You will have access to over 30 buildings (housing, services, commerce, industry, energy, agriculture, defense), as well as unique buildings tied to your Grand Strategy pillars.
A City-Builder is also a tremendous tool for creative expression to forge unique cities. That’s why the placement of every building is entirely free. Valentin has even pushed our custom engine further: cities adapt to the topography. You will be able to build on multiple elevation levels or use the planet’s terrain to your advantage, creating metropolises seamlessly integrated into their environment
Specialization
City space is limited to protect your citizens from predators, bosses, and enemies. This will naturally push you to specialize your colonies based on the planet’s wealth and your empire’s needs.
For example, if you are developing a tourism-focused city (for instance, to capitalize on a planet featuring a rare natural wonder), you can interact with your residential districts to assign them a “Hotel” function. By doing so, you sacrifice living space for your own citizens, but attract tourists from across the galaxy, massively boosting your economy and cultural reach.
Mastering the Macro: Templates
We want to keep the City-Building aspect fun and avoid micro-management fatigue when your empire spans dozens of planets. Once you have designed the perfect layout for an industrial city, a cultural hub, or a military fortress, you can save this blueprint as a Template.
On your future worlds, you simply apply this model for the city to build itself automatically as soon as the resources arrive. This allows you to stay focused on the grand strategy of your Space Opera.
We can’t wait to see the grandiose metropolises you will raise across the stars.
Toward Astra and beyond!
Alex & Valentin