In Star Citizen, shields react uniquely depending on the kinds of forces they are deflecting, with energy weapons being absorbed entirely (chipping away faster at the health of the shields) or with ballistic weapons simply being slowed to weaken the impact that does make it through (inflicting reduced but lasting damage). Today, shield and power management in Arena Commander may seem simplistic… but it’s going to get much, much more interesting! Which is to say: shield management is a pretty important thing to get right in Star Citizen! As we hope to go deeper into a science fiction world than ever before attempted in gaming, we know we need a comprehensive shield system that goes beyond ‘shields up’ versus ‘shields down.’ It’s an incredibly important thing to get right, and the task ahead of the design team is to define all the little pieces that will begin to add up to those memorable moments. There’s a lot going on in those tense moments, weighing resources against reality to squeeze out those few extra moments that can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Players could live their own microcosm of Star Trek’s “she needs more power!” moments by changing how much energy went to individual systems (typically shields, engines and weapons.) Shield management is the perfect distillation of the high stakes strategy and anticipation of space combat, gambling your life and your crew on the next move your opponent will make. Privateer was Chris Roberts' first game to feature shield management.Īs space sims ‘grew up’ they adopted varying systems of shield management.

Players could engage the enemy safe in the knowledge that there was a regenerative buffer should they suffer damage… meaning that head on attacks and other maneuvers were suddenly more of a viable option. In their earliest iterations, like the original Wing Commander, shields were a way to alter gameplay significantly from traditional air combat encounters. In space game design, shields serve another purpose. Whether someone is redirecting power to the forward shield or reporting to their commanding officer that shields are seconds away from failing, their existence has become an unquestioned piece of standard equipment in future worlds. Shields are an iconic part of science fiction drama – if there’s a spaceship involved, chances are that shields are involved. Transmission - Comm-LinkĬhris Roberts on Multiplayer, Single Player and Instancing The original source for this specific Comm-Link can be found at Shields and Management. The Comm-Link is reproduced here with minimal changes (format & wikilinking), as well as translations when available. Comm-Links are official communications of Cloud Imperium Games Corporation regarding Star Citizen & Squadron 42.

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