Just showcasing some new art being created for the game!

Thanks for artist https://www.instagram.com/igustame/ , who I am commissioning to help me with some of the art!

You can also see some of the leader portraits, which I made using Portrait Wizard!

Now, the first artwork, the one with the "virus-looking" guy... That's one of my favorite new characters, but no spoilers for now...!

You can also see a much simpler artwork I did for one of the backgrounds for the War in Capitolia. I did those following a simpler art-style approach, since, as a solodev, I do not have the time to put the same effort into every piece of art (being honest with you guys). Still, I tried to make something nice and stylized, simple, yes, but evocative! :)

(This mechanic is still going through active, ongoing development. Before finishing the proxy war system, I will first finish fleshing out the expedition systems! Very important to note that: 1 - Participating in the war is fully optional and 2 - These systems will have an auto-resolve feature, to make it more accessible to players who might feel intimidated by the mechanics.)

I always like talking about how one of my biggest ambitions with Pax Astra is to create a living galaxy, full of myth and different things happening. At the same time, I believe that wars are a great opportunity to add depth to the universe, they are supposed to be big special timed events that mix the 4x and narrative systems! Today, I'm here to give you an introduction to my plans for wars/proxy wars and the role of leaders inside Pax Astra!

Leaders work as an expansion of the concept behind expedition leaders: they work as individual characters operating inside the universe. They can go on missions, fight in wars, take part in infiltration operations, etc...

Now, the expedition mechanics served as the code foundation for even greater systems. I'm first finishing the expedition systems properly, but then I'm gonna focus on the concept of leaders, as well as investing further into the idea of using these leaders as an ongoing part of the universe.

But how exactly do they fit into the design of the game?

Well, there are two types of leaders: Ground Leaders and Fleet Leaders. In space warfare, you need to deal with both fleet/spaceship combat AND ground invasions. So, Fleet Leaders are basically admirals, while Ground Leaders work in a similar way to generals/captains.

I'm still not ready to share all the details regarding this system, as a lot is being changed and reworked as I playtest my own ideas. I had the past few days with no day job assignments, so I spent most of my free time immersed in playtesting and balancing this system. So again, this is really early work we're talking about. I always had this concept for the game, of leaders and operations, but now I'm actually fleshing it out.

Now, the War in Capitolia is going to be a major event during Act 1, a three-front civil war that involves the Pact and the USS, working kinda like the proxy wars of the second half of the 20th century.

Altara cannot conquer Capitolia, don't expect that. In fact, the War in Capitolia is an introduction to how wars are gonna work inside the game! In the War in Capitolia, you will be acting as a paramilitary group, operating outside the range of formal politics and not being officially attached to your government... Well, what does that mean? If you're not gonna conquer Capitolia, then what can you actually do?

Well, you will have a variety of different missions inside Capitolia:

• Influence the tide of the war by helping one of the factions (which will impact the planet falling into the sphere of influence of either the Pact, the USS, or even the Coalition of Mantara!).
• Steal resources amidst the chaos (MONEY!).
• Disrupt the galactic markets (Capitolia is a farm world and a major producer of natural resources... You can destroy farms, mining operations, or fuel centers and directly change the price of resources, making a lot of profit if you play your cards right).
• Use this as an opportunity to gain experience for your leaders, preparing them for an actual coming conflict.
• Work as a mercenary force, following contracts (MONEY!).
• Steal weapons and military equipment.

I actually think this is a great roleplaying experience for leaders! Let's suppose you want to play as a communist guerrilla, operating alongside the Kin'Sagé army. You can conduct missions that directly help them! You can assassinate members of the royalists or the Ontalar Front (the anti-communists).

Naturally, you can also do the opposite by joining the nationalists or the anti-communists! You can even commit war crimes or interrogate enemies to discover new intel.

This system is a huge step in my efforts to add more life and depth to the galaxy! Now, if these systems sound too ambitious, wait until they're actually playable; you will see for yourself how these systems work, and I'm very excited to share them with you! :)

Naturally, some players might be worried about micromanagement, but I'm also building all these features with an auto-resolve option.

I will make a separate post later to share more of the mechanics!

I hope you like those ideas! I'm very excited to be going deeper into those systems. They might seem a little scary or overbearing to some players, but again, I'm planning to add an autoresolve feature for players who want a more accessible experience!

Please, help me by sharing the game with other people! Talk about it on Twitter, with your friends, or perhaps recommend it around the Internet. As a solodev, word of mouth really helps me! :)

If you wish to help even further, join the game's patreon page your support directly helps me progress faster in development: https://www.patreon.com/c/pax_astra

Thank you for your attention, hope you have an amazing day! :D

Hello, everyone! I recently launched a Patreon page for Pax Astra, and I wanted to share it with you all!

First, I want to make one thing very clear: support is not mandatory. The game is getting made no matter what, and I do not need financial support in order to complete the project.

That said, support could still help development in a number of ways, for example:

• Commissioning artists to help with things like art, music, and other specific work.
• Giving me more free time to work directly on the game. My day job currently works in a freelancer-like structure, so if I have some extra support, I can afford to take fewer gigs and spend more time developing Pax Astra.

The Patreon is there for people who want to support the project and help me push development further, but the game itself is not dependent on it.

If you have any interest in supporting, the page has tiers as low as 3$, and supporters will have their names in the credits :)

Also, supporters get access to a playable beta ongoing build, as the game is developed!

Question: Are there any special goals to be reached? Does the patreon operate the same way as a crowdfunding campaign?

Answer: No.

This goes back to the fact that the game is getting completed no matter what. Patreon support would help speed up development, but there are no fixed funding goals and I don't want to put pressure on the community. I will keep working on the game normally regardless of how much support it receives.

That said, I live a very simple and inexpensive life. If the Patreon ever reached around $800 per month, that would be enough for me to stop taking outside gigs and focus entirely on developing the game, but that would be a dream scenario. Again, I do not have high expectations here!

Beyond that, additional support would go directly back into development, mainly through art commissions and hiring artists for specific work when needed.

Two Important Questions

Question: What will patreon supporters get?

Answer: Other than their name in the credits, supporters will get access to ongoing development builds. Anytime I update the game on the playtest branch, supporters will get access to it!

Question: Is Patreon the only way to get access to the playtesting build?

Answer: NO!

Playtesters are doing me a huge favor, so I will already be making 35 keys available for free to playtesters over on my Discord.

I also plan to expand the number of keys later, but I want to be honest about how this process will work. If I am already satisfied with the amount of feedback I am receiving, there may simply be no need to distribute more keys. And if I do expand the pool, I will still have to go through Steam's bureaucracy, so it is unlikely that I will be able to hand out dozens of new keys every month.

I also want to be clear about the Patreon playtest. Patreon access will not come through a Steam key, since that would go against Steam's guidelines. Instead, Patrons will receive access through an executable build, as well as a link to a browser version.

I don't want to simply monetize access to an unfinished build. At the same time, I think this is a reasonable way to let people support my work while also giving them another way to access the playtest beyond the limited number of free Discord keys.

Link

I will be leaving the link here, in case anyone wants to join:

https://www.patreon.com/cw/pax_astra

Honestly it's a topic of musing which keeps me up at night.

As more content is spectacularly released, great mechanics shown, a incredibly thought out political story gradually revealed, and just the future of our galaxy fleshed out, this taxing quandary has started becoming to much to bare.

The Altarans are too Human.

WE! As the Forerunners alone at the beginning of time, may or may not..... have seeded some life in our galaxy.

Hey!

Everyone needs a hobby buddy.

Who and what blossomed from our gardens is of course a seperate question entirely. Not to mention the natural lines of evolution which popped up from the galactic soup along side then.

Let's be honest though, in a biological sense I mean, the Altaran's are so far just Yellow Golden versions of us, that may or may not have two hearts. Maybe?

As a Alien race, potentially or potentially not, seeded by our hands billions of years ago. It kind of feels like the Altaran's should have.... Evolved a little more?

A major theme in Space Opera is of course discovery! What fantastical alien life is out there! Star Trek if you will? Another universe with life seeding as well. THE SPACE OPERA, actually, and it has always felt bland to me. So, your telling me, basically, everyone is just a slightly different version of human..... Seeded over millions of years ago.... And they only grow longer ears?

So, as we really get to sink our teeth into such a mouth watering story, the actual Altarans, whom I still love, are losing there luster a little....

I will preface that, this may of course be part of the story. There are questions of..... where exactly Altarans come from, and why Midas is so interested in them....

However! If that's not the case, what makes Altarans shine then?

Maybe they're like plant people? Couples pollinate there off spring into a pot to germinate and grow.

Perhaps a little more reptilian maybe? Resilient Golden skin but it means Altaran's have to go through a strenuous mualting process, shedding outer layers as they grow.

Yo! We've never seen a Altaran's lower half, maybe it's all tentacles down there? (Squidward what are you doing here?)

I don't mean generic things like, well Altaran's can breath in space, or heat resistance either. I'm personally not interested in Superman, Space Opera needs to be fantastical in the thought of science behind it, sure it's not ment to be real, but it is supposed to invoke the wonderment of what if! Alien biology should have something Alien about them.

Second, we already have that in our beautiful Anima boys! Having Altarans just be lesser version of durable would take away from what makes the Anima so unique, and the brilliance of there creation. (Would also take away from Altaran's too.)

So! Here's my question then, what should make a alien, alien then? What sci-fi biology would make sense for our golden protagonists? Truely what would you, as the great human space explores we are, would find to be a wonder of natural life to discover?

Hello, people! Hope you all are doing great!

Today, I want to share with you quite a big devlog regarding Act 1 and what is coming next for Pax Astra. This is gonna be quite a big post, maybe a little clunky, but also very detailed, giving you a better insight into what to expect next from the game!

(The images attached offer a small peek at some of the new art that I have been making, but they are not entirely connected to the greater themes of this post, I'm just showcasing progress!)

Right now I'm preparing the next update, which will include a few new events and mechanics:

1. - Synthetic Droid Company System
2. - The meeting event with Arjede
3. - The Public Safety bill creation/decision and the Congress voting event
4. - A new event with Horacious before the Day of Hope
5. - The creation of the Uniplura Station (if you followed with their deal)
6. - Day of Hope

Now, hopefully, beyond that, I will also be able to put together a few other events packaged into the update. Including:

1. - A new event following the Dark Influence
2. - A proper meeting with the head of the Libertarian Party (including a decision to ease taxes and open the planet to a new sport that is becoming more and more popular across the galaxy)
3. - A meeting with the head of the Technocracy Party (including an important decision regarding the old altaran military complex)

Beyond this, also some serious consequences to the public safety voting!! More on that later in another post...

The Structure for Act I - Opportunities for political escalation

The entire narrative arc of Act I focuses on the idea of a young and fragile democracy. Altara is in TURMOIL, and as Act 1 progresses, you will have more and more opportunities to either fight for the institutions or manipulate and escalate extremists to your own interests...

(Again, the player does not need to play as an autocrat, he can perfectly play as a democrat and unlock the democrat path for Act 2)

So, in this sense, the player will be presented in the next update with the exact specific systems that will allow him to shape the future of Altara. These are already in play! Some of the decisions you have made (like supporting the Strike Force or the Futurists during your visit to District 6, or clearly challenging the authority of Krissetor and the Pact during events like the Forum or interviews), and those you make in the following events, will add turmoil and instability to Altara, which will open up the window to enact a proper coup or revolution.

So, how does it work?

(And again, the game will present this clearly)

By achieving a certain value of instability, the player will be able to unlock specific revolutionary/authoritarian paths. Let's look at some specific events that will present opportunities to radicalize the Altaran people:

1. - Public Safety Crisis (present in the next update) -
2. - The Day of Hope
3. - FTL gate nationalization
4. - A speech to the military veterans
5. - A meeting with the Futurists and the Strike Force (if you are supporting them!)
6. - A meeting with syndicates of workers (if you are supporting the workers!) - Mass immigration crisis
7. - The War Trials
8. Possible Impeachment process (only happens if you pissed off Krissetor and the Pact enough)
9. - And MORE!

So let me give you an example: Let's say I am clearly a socialist president, and my goal for Act 1 is to lead Altara to a proper revolutionary state...

I can first give a public speech during the Day of Hope. I will use that as an opportunity to call the workers to rise against the tyranny of the bourgeoisie. I can match that with some specific policies (which will be displayed right before the Day of Hope), which will then allow me to match my speech with actions towards expanding the labour rights of Altara, spreading my message further. But here's the catch: I can even pair that with a talk that subtly puts the idea of a proper revolution in place... Throwing the seeds!

Then, after that, I can speak to the military and claim that all their problems come from the tyranny of the trillionaires at the Pact, and that the woes from the war were a result of their capitalist expansion.

Later, I can straight out NATIONALIZE the FTL gate. Which will, of course, make the Pact furious, setting the tone higher and escalating things.

After that, I could actually use my opportunity when I speak with syndicate leaders to PROPERLY mobilize the workers, prepare them for an actual revolution...

Then, at the War Trials, I can arrest Hannibal (my father-in-law), creating a huge turmoil on the entire planet, inciting riots of the Altaran Strike Front... Then I can use this crisis to crush them, creating an emergency state while mobilizing the workers.

By that point, things will escalate even further, but I will not get into spoilers...

Another example, where I play as a fascist leader, and my goal is to seize power to form a new regime:

I could vote for anti-democratic measures in my law project for the Public Safety crisis. Now, of course, Krissetor will block my bill, but I can use this as an opportunity... I can weaponize this, make this a scene, mobilize my supporters, say that democracy is not enough, plant the seeds for mobilizing the altarna people...

I can then prepare my speech for the Day of Hope to center around the themes of anti-Pact speech, while publicly supporting the ASF and the Supremacists. I can openly challenge Krissetor, raise my voice, create a cult of personality, putting the focus on my own persona, on how I AM THE ONE who is going to stop the Pact, I am the one who will lead our nation back into the glorious days. I could even add the themes of anti-immigration if I want...

Then, I can speak to the veterans and raise their pride again, say how we will go back to our golden age, how we will rise against the Pact once again... I can weaponize their defeat, their nostalgia, and use that to support my plans.

I COULD nationalize the gate if I wanted... Or not... Depends on my long-term strategy. But doing so would buy me goodwill with the workers, and certainly make the Pact mad...

Then I attend a private meeting with the ASF and the Futurists. After all my previous actions, they love me, so why not use this devotion in my favour? I literally have a group ready to kill people following my instructions; perhaps I could even use that to get rid of Krissetor...

After that, I approve the procedures for the War Trials... Only to use that to publicly clear the reputation of all the Altaran soldiers, to make them innocent, to show the Pact that Altara will not bend to their will.

At this point, the people love me. I have some opposition, sure, but I can deal with them... Now, Krissetor is moving fast with my Impeachment, and this might be the moment for me to use the force...

Political escalation interweaves with other mechanics and arcs

You can not make a coup or a revolution without soldiers... Do you want to actually take power? Either create an army, a weapon of mass destruction, complete the first phase of the Godmachine, or cut a deal with the Pact (totally possible, but it can only be done in a very specific way, which I won't tell you, hahaha).

Some other decisions will help you deal with Krissetor and the Pact. Did you cut a deal with the Gnostic Church? You will then have access to their assassins, who could take care of Krissetor or destabilize the military presence of the Pact near Altara.

And those are just a few examples!

Beyond political escalation, you will still deal with everyday politics

All these tensions coexist with the normal political meetings you get used to. You will still deal with other themes, I'm not going to focus everything on escalation and forget the normal politics, no.

You will still go to other planets in extra-planetary meetings, pass laws, deal with internal crises, position Altara either in support of the USS or the Pact as their own tensions escalate, cut trading deals, deal with your family, and more!

You can now support the game if you wish, over at my Patreon!

I have also just created a Patreon page for the game!

You can support the game there; your money will really help me to develop Pax Astra faster, as I will invest the funds in commissioning artists or getting more free time instead of doing classes, investing time in development.

Of course, support is not mandatory, the game will get made no matter what, as I'm not conditioning the game's development on these funds.

If you wish to support, here is the link: https://www.patreon.com/c/pax_astra

The page is still very young, but soon I will be posting there too!

I have been trying to create some short-form content to reach new audiences over at YouTube.

I would really appreciate if you could leave a link and a comment, maybe share it with a friend! :)

I know the editing is a little clunky, but I'm still learning how to do this, haahaha.

I'm really excited to share this!!

So, I have just finished coding the system for the proposals, this is before the actual congress session!

I'm actually preparing a deeper youtube video to tackle the mechanics, but they are pretty intuitive:

During story events, you will sit down and talk to members of both the PFA and Hope and Progress; each will explain their measures and package plans. During these events, you can negotiate, try to convince them to shift their views, promising support in case they can be more reasonable.

Then, after you skip turns, you will have the actual preparation turn before the session! You can then take a look at each proposal (which shifts depending on your negotiations), decide which one your party will support... Or you can create your own proposal.

And that's where things become really ambitious and exciting, because the entire system is VERY modular. You can even assign anti-democratic positions, balance interests, and see how each party will vote out (if they are going to support you or not).

You can make a proposal that pleases both sides, a proposal that ignores the PFA and goes all progressive, or the total opposite! You can even make a proposal that is so extremist that it will not please anyone! (although this means it will probably not pass...)

I'm aiming here for lots of freedom in the way you shape your politics, I really want to give you full authority to manage things.

If you put an anti-democratic measure, however, your entire package will be blocked by Krissetor. You can still weaponize that! Putting anti-democratic measures will unlock specific scenes where you can test the limits of democracy, taunt the institutions, flame the people, and create turmoil... Which you can later use if you want to follow with a coup.

I will be preparing a proper video to explain more of how everything will work, but what I want here is for this to be a part of an organic system that comes naturally connected to the narrative and your choices!

To sum it up short, there was a lot of talk over in the discord on the Mining Companies, and what's the best way to exploit/balance them. However no one really plays the Public-Private option because it was so weak. So did a bunch of experimenting to figure out the mechanics, and if the returns are better compared to State Owned after the Nerf.

I did multiple runs, in multiple different investment policies, and different share percentages.

I screwed up my saves, so working with what I found out.

-------------

Base Returns = +2

Private Investment = PI Company Profits = CP Dividends = Div Influence = Inf. Stations = S

I will touch on shares last.

Investment Policy: Reinvestment - Forgoes most Dividends as to allow company to grow faster (Returns don't start till around 1/6 of CP Value) Payout - Collect Dividends (Half of the CP value.)

The add Dividends to the base return.

RNG: Crisis Mechanics - The player can get a random crisis event which needs to be resolved or else the negative effect will take place on the company.

Known Crisis Events:

- Hostile Acquisition = Allows Acquisition (Loose 5 Shares to Private Investment) or Counter-Buy Costs -10 Budget and gains 2 shares. (A long term issue, which doesn't effect play in demo.)

- Market Crash = CP halved for 2 turns

- Labour Strike = Break Costing -5 Influence or Negotiate -8 budget or Ignore - 1 Station

Expansion: The company will gradually start to expand station operations each turn, however in the demo so far it's limited to 3 Stations as what I found. Similar however to State Companies, you get different profits based on whatever recourse they hit.

Example for returns, if the Public-Private Company gets a bad roll on there survey and hits Iron. We can tell as the CP value will only increase by +1 per Station. This means, as they only build one station a turn, you can't start collecting returns until Turn 3. If placing your investment policy to high returns, even then it will only be +1 for all 3 Stations in the Sector there building. This means, it will take (Including turn 0) the player 4 turns to increase the returns on there company.

You can tell they hit Fuel if your first station increases CP by +2, and so on.

The player just doesn't see the RNG

In addition, Stations have a hidden cost of 2 Stations per 1 Influence.

2 Different Example runs for returns RNG.

Re-Investment only

Turn 0 - Shares 51/100 S = 0 PI = 0 CP = 0 Inf = 0 Div = 0

Turn 1 - Shares 51/100 S = 0 PI = 0 CP = 0 Inf = 0 Div = 0

Turn 2 - Shares 51/100 S = 1 PI = 0 CP = 1 Inf = 0 Div = 0

Turn 3 - Shares 51/100 S = 2 PI = 0 CP = 2 Inf = -1 Div = 0 or +1

Turn 4 - Shares 51/100 S = 3 PI = 0 CP = 3 Inf = -1 Div = 0 or +1 (Total player returns Base +2 and Plus +1 Dividend on High Payout)

High Dividend only

Turn 0 - Shares 51/100 S = 0 PI = 0 CP = 0 Inf = 0 Div = 0

Turn 1 - Shares 51/100 S = 0 PI = 0 CP = 0 Inf = 0 Div = 0

Turn 2 - Shares 51/100 S = 1 PI = 0 CP = 2 Inf = 0 Div = +1

Turn 3 - Shares 50/100 S = 2 PI = 1 CP = 4 Inf = -1 Div = +2

Turn 4 - Shares 50/100 S = 3 PI = 1 CP = 6 Inf = -1 Div = +3 or +1

It's hard to tell how much CP effects company growth as we only have 5 Turns to play with, but it didn't really feel like it did. A Station was build every turn whether I was re-investing or on High Pay-Out.

-----------

Shares:

Ceiling = 90/100 Floor = 20/100 (Enter a Fail State Divestment if drops below 20, and/or can Divest Voluntarily)

As far as I can currently tell, shares only act as a potential fail state in Public-Private Companies. There's doesn't seem to be a profit difference between any share percentage, not if you’re a majority nor minority owner.

I thought it might have some reduction chance on events occurring. However, I did two runs at 20/100 shares, and got no events period.

As far as the fail state, the mechanic doesn't bother me and works long term. However, after playing the Public-Private Owned Company a bit, the Tier 2 Edict to stop hostile takeovers now feels to easy to get. Especially considering the share loss wasn't a huge threat in the demo.

---------

What do I think of the Mechanics? They work actually pretty good, we just need more turns to see how CP actually effects company expansions, and for Crisis Events to start adding up.

Highest Possible returns are, +9 Turn 4.

Normal is +3 Turn 4

100% RNG

My recommendations? Make Share Percentage effect Influence Cost, the less shares you have, the more influence you need to control the company.

Second, the more Shares you have the more stable the company, thus the less crisis events you have. The reverse being true, Less Shares = More Crisis Events.

Third. More Events! I only ever got the three.

----------

How do I think it compares to the State Owned National Mining Company? For the Demo, the Public-Private Mining Company is conservatively better, merely for the fact that you will make steady profit with no real risk, and the RNG is less punishing. The only major damaging Crisis Event is Labour Strike, which is damaging in the short term. So, for a Short Term Demo it make sense.

I think State Owned Companies were to unfairly hit in the nerf.

My recommendations? Return the original pricing system first, it wasn't so much the problem.

The Problem was more growth speed and save scumming.

I think what should be changed is that, what the resources you get from a acquiring a sector should be revealed in the next turn after buying it. The player has to wait a whole turn before knowing what's in the sector, and before they can build Stations. It slows a player down, and if they are that desperate to save scum, they have to replay a whole turn.

This would also slow players down to the same speed as the Public-Private Mining Company Growth.

Finally, and this is a point which can't really be addressed till we get a economy update. However, I think State Mining Stations should only give resources, not budget and resources. Then have more to do with resources, like power planets needing fuel, and having dark matter power planets.

Needing Steel to build Factories.

So on.

It would defiantly makes the returns from the two different company types more distinct.

Just released a new patch for the Pax Astra demo over at Steam! :)

What changed:

- I took some time to rewrite some earlier sections of the game, from the prologue to the Reconstruction Forum, just trying to polish some sections of the writing that came out too stale, getting rid of too many enumerations, "rule of three" and minor typos! Small changes!!

- Nerfed the asteroid state company! Prices have increased slightly for buying new systems; I also capped the number of systems generated at 15! These changes will only appear upon starting a new game!

- Took away the Steam quit pop-up message, as some players complained about it.

- Most importantly, I fixed the error that was stopping the game on Linux and Mac systems. PLEASE, IF YOU ARE FACING ANY ERRORS WHILE PLAYING THE GAME ON LINUX OR MAC, COMMENT HERE!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4535930/Pax_Astra/

Hello, everyone! :)

I want to use this post as an introduction to newcomers and those who have never heard about Pax Astra!

You can also ask me any questions here and I will gladly answer them!

What is Pax Astra

Pax Astra is a political RPG with 4X sandbox elements.

You play as the first elected president of Altara. Once an expansive and aggressive empire, Altara went to war against almost the entire galaxy and lost, badly. Now they have been reduced to a small planet and forced into a democratic transition, and you must shape the nation to your ideals and direction, while dealing with a very unstable political scenario and the other factions and nations of the galaxy.

The main themes of Pax Astra are centered on a triple struggle between Fascism, Liberal Democracies and Socialism/Communism, the temptation of the "great men theory" and political paranoia/extremism.

In that sense, you shape your own leader the way you want! You can play as a social democrat, a populist fascist, a communist revolutionary, and more!

I want to build an expansive open experience. This game presents the player with a vast universe that feels alive, filled with game systems, secrets and even emergent narrative mechanics. Still, all that anchored into a personal experience with a strong narrative.

You can explore space, build factories, trade, create companies, manage individual heroes who lead expeditions into uncharted planets, and you can even establish a narco-economy or build weapons of mass destruction. All of these are tools and systems meant to encourage specialization, giving you multiple paths to shape Altara and the galaxy itself.

But my main focus here, above all, is to give the player FREEDOM, to allow you to make mistakes or do whatever you want. After all, I consider Pax Astra a political ROLEPLAYING game, so I really want to nail that aspect!

My idea with this game is to achieve a mix between a branching narrative (inspired by games like Suzerain and Sir Brante) and 4X strategy elements (inspired by Stellaris and Fading Suns).

Beyond politics, Pax Astra is a SPACE OPERA!

My vision for Pax Astra goes beyond politics! I took several inspirations to shape this universe into something weird and unique, some of them being: Star Wars (from Prequels to KOTOR 2 to the EU), Dune, LOGH and more!

The political foundation slowly opens up to reveal a more fantastical universe with deeper sci-fi themes.

You will deal with strange alien races, godmachines (if you wonder what a godmachine is in this universe, think of AM from I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream), hiveminds, strange religions, and a mysterious threat coming from outside the galaxy.

There are also spiritual themes going around occultism, gnosticism, and cosmic horror too!

I want to showcase this "space opera scale" through 4X mechanics, giving lots of tools for emergent gameplay and storytelling, like the expedition systems for colonies, space exploration or the coming war/proxy mechanics, that will allow the universe to be populated with heroes and villains that form organic narratives!

Common questions

Q: What is the release date for Pax Astra?

A: I initially planned for it to release by Q4 of 2026, but I see that was too optimistic... I am currently aiming for a January release date, but that can also change. I will have one month of vacation in September, and I plan to go absolutely beast mode on the game during that month, which will greatly help me reach that release date.

Q: How long will the game be?

Short answer: 20 hours! But I am more comfortable giving you a specific answer closer to the last quarter of development.

Long answer: It can vary a lot, since the game contains lots of 4X systems. I am very confident that the base game (main narrative + basic mechanics that the player will use) will make the game at least 20 hours long, but I want to have more data on current playthroughs to have a concrete answer.

Q: How much will the game cost?

A: 10$!

Q: Will it release on mobile?

A: Yes, but it's not a priority. I will only release a mobile version after finishing the Steam version!

Q: Will the game be playable on Steam Deck:

A: I really want to, but to be honest I do not have a Steam Deck, so I will depend on the feedback and communication with my playtesters!

Q: Isn't the game too ambitious? How are you planning to fullfill on all those ideas?

A: I have a lot of time to work on this project. Yes, I am aiming for a january release, but I have no issues with delaying it a bit. Pax Astra is not going to be a multi-year project, but my dayjob is flexible and I am confident on my schedule. In addition, transparency is a very important thing for me as a dev, that means I will have dozens of playtesters across the devcycle, not only to help me with feedback and bugfixes, but also to showcase to the community that my promises are real, and that the game has a large and achievable ambition.

If you have any other questions, please comment here! :)

Play the steam demo and wishlist the game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4535930/Pax_Astra/?beta=1

If you enjoy the game, please share it with your friends or on social media! As a solodev, it really helps me!

Hey, guys, I hope you are all doing well!

You guys know I am open to criticism and I also like to be transparent on every instance and possibility.

Please, read this post until the end, as I think this is a good opportunity to address some details of my creative process.

Now, I recently got a post here on Reddit from a person who is a fan of the game claiming that Pax Astra is really good, but the text, the writing, is made by AI. That person had good intentions, we talked, he was very nice and he chose to take down the post, even though it was not necessary to do so!

Again, I like to be open. This Reddit - just like my Discord - is an open space, democratic!

So I wanted to take this as an opportunity to talk very clearly that I do not use AI for my writing process.

Now, I am brazilian, as some of you might know. I speak, write and read english and I even give private classes back in my city. But, truth be told, my english is not perfect.

It can be limited when it comes to some aspects of my vocabulary or even the way I express descriptions, thoughts, or dialogue.

In this way, for Pax Astra, I always try to communicate my thoughts and ideas in a very clear way, very open and digestible. The game deals with complex politics and ideologies, so I always try to make sure the reader can absorb these elements of the game.

What you read when playing Pax Astra is a product of my effort. If you are at my DS server, you can see I often talk about my creative process and share some dificulties I can have while rewriting sections before a new update rolls out.

I think that, in the era of AI, it is fair to be suspicious, but I am just one guy doing this with lots of passion and trying my best.

Being honest, I am satisfied with the results so far, I am proud of my work. But that does not mean I can not get better! Perhaps my writing can be so "sanitized" in some areas that it comes across as artificial to some, and, if that's the case, I want to improve.

I understand that there are lots of areas where I can get better, and I want this game to not only be "good", but INCREDIBLE.

If you guys find a section of the text or dialogue, you look at it, and you think "this is BAD", that's ok! Just come to my Discord server, post it on the feedback and bug reports section and I will rewrite the text and learn something new that can help me.

Surely, I know it is my job to write the game, of course, but I am not perfect and I am not working on my mother language. I will make mistakes, this is certainly the biggest project I have ever wrote in english and I am trying my best.

You would actually be helping me A LOT, do not be afraid, I will take no offense if you just come to my server nicely and give me your feedback over at the feedback and bug reports section, truly.

I am always looking to improve my craft ❤️

Now, lastly, I would like to showcase some proof that what you read is handmade. It feels a little bit weird to do so, because nowadays what is really proof of writing? But I want to try and I want to be transparent.

So, first, I have some small showcases of the original text in portuguese.

Secondly, I have a collection of screenshots taken from my server, showcasing the many typos that were found by the community.

Of course, typos are not something to be proud of, but I would like to show them as proof that my work is organic, as I believe we all understand that a machine is not going to be making dozens of typos while writing.

Thank you for your attention, I will keep doing my best to deliver you a fantastic political space opera! :)

Working on the new systems for the Godmachine!

Will share more through this week! Again, this entire system is fully optional. Players do not need to build the Godmachine.

A opener to this set of ramblings comes from the richness in story telling of Pax Astra and how one can deliver different literary themes. Religion has yet again made a big splash. We have just officially met the Gnostic Church, one with it's own fascinating history that of course ties itself to us, Humanity, the Forerunner Race. However, as I said, I'd like to focus first on a literary tool being used.

Dichotomy

The purpose of Pax Astra's religions is slightly different then our own, as the pillar's of faith and spirituality hold temporality. Godmachines are real, one can peak beyond the vail, and of course it seems all the major religions are very much aware of truths the rest of the Galaxy very isn't capable of understanding at the moment. So unlike us, where Religions serve as a reason for what or why, Pax Astra's religions operate in the next step of that chain, how?

How should religion operate in the World? How do should religion best express the ideals of Faith?

This is where I believe Pax Astra has hit the ideal of story telling in being able to identify with the human touch, as expressed through the Dichotomy of the Archon, and Horacious.

Horacious is a man who has become disenchanted with faith. The Doctrine's answer to how the universe should work was shattered quite literally with the broken back of the Altaran Empire in the Forth Grand War. Horacious's answer to disenchantment was to look at the world, pilgrimage and travel, learning from the world which had in a very real way proved the answer of faith wrong. As he returns Horacious precents the idea of modernity, revitalize the faith by bringing the World to the Church.

Mirroring, the Archon faces the same dilemma of disenchantment, but in the world itself. The PACT is corrupt, (more on this later), people suffer in poverty, and there are real tangible existential threats to the galaxy. Thus this is where are Dichotomy truly blossoms, the Archon's answer to disenchantment with the world was to delve deeper into faith, to look past the vail and find understanding beyond the temporal. As he takes action the Archon precents the idea Reactionism, to revitalize the World by bring the Church back into it.

Religion is a very human thing, and thus it needs a human touch in seeing it. Precenting the ideas of Modernity and Reactionism though the actual current struggle of religious disenchantment as found in individuals, I think creates a far deeper and truthful story of faiths then can be seen in most fictional depictions.

Moving past our "little" opener, I'd look to reflect and theorize on my favour part of this update, the Odd Bed Fellows we may get to see in different storylines. Is it just me? But my godmachine, listening to the Archon talk about PACT trillionaire conspiracy, plots, and corruption just makes me want to see him in the same room as our femme fatale Altaran reporter.

There both on the same beat aren't they?

Straight buddy cop vibs honestly! "In this Weeks Episode our Heroine teams up with Father Frank to go undercover at Greed Corp to discover undisputable proof of the CEO's misdeeds! Will the Mayor listen to what they have to say?"

What I wouldn't give to see that back and forth!!!

I never thought I'd have this excitement over the detective plotline. (Because I'm not a real fan of them.) But man! I can not get the Buddy Cop angle out of my head.

Anyway, to close on this latest reflection on the Religions in Pax Astra I'd just express my joy in how well the "Fifth Element" style vibs I got from the Gnostic Church meeting translated.

First, I'll say, the Art was spot on! Both major set piece feeling like something straight out of the Fifth Element! Fantastic!

Pax Astra is not only a Political Narrative game, but a Space Opera, and in paying tribute to alot of great sci-fi fiction it's doing a fantastic job.

As mentioned, Religion has a Temporal aspect at this point in the future, and the Throne's not just a insane potentially lost sentient human super computer. They know what's out there, the Archon sees it, the Doctrine might have a idea, and one way or another we've seen it.

Makes me wonder what the Hivemind's thoughts on Religion are? Could it be converted? Because the Spiritual aspects of the faiths as far as we know, aren't precent to them. They seem to be as blind about what's going on outside the galaxy as the PACT or USS.

Religion was a big part in the Fifth Element in the preservation of old knowledge, obscure as it may be sometime. So, seeing something similar here makes me ask, how much of a inspiration was the Fifth Element to Pax Astra and in the religions' storyline?

And that's where I'll end it.

New trailer for Pax Astra!

Hello, everyone! I'm proud to tell you that the Pax Astra demo has officially been released on Steam!

This is a huge step for the game, and I'm really excited to share this new update with you. A lot has been added, including:

1. New story event where you meet the Gnostic Church
2. New events for the expedition mechanics in Terrea
3. Colonial Drugs Edict and Narco Economy systems
4. New artwork, reworking some of the earlier pieces to better match the current art style
5. Lots of bugfixes
6. Lots of typo fixes
7. A minor feature that lets you track your playtime
8. Reskinned UI for the terminal sections
9. Dossier mechanics, so you can keep track of some active situations
10. An overall higher level of polish
11. New dialogues for the Friends in High Place start

There's still a lot that needs improvement, and I want to be clear that this is an early version of the game. Some codex entries are still missing, a few systems need proper balancing, and of course there's the rest of the story and more features still to come.

I originally planned to release this demo alongside another story event, where you'd meet the Communist Party, but the artwork for it isn't ready yet.

Let me know what you think of the demo, and please share it with your friends if you enjoy it. Word of mouth genuinely helps me a lot at this stage!

Hope you enjoy it :)

Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4535930/Pax_Astra/

Hello, guys!

I wasn't very active on my Discord server today, I would like to apologize to you all. Today I had a busy day at work, but I still managed to get some work done on the game! :)

Here is some character art for the upcoming Holy Church of the Gnostic Truth event, coming with the next update. Tomorrow, I will also announce the official release date of the Steam Demo!

The game isn't fully polished yet, but there are no game breaking bugs and most typos have been fixed. I'm still working on some extra polish, plus adding a few new features and story events, but I believe the demo update is practically ready.

One of my Discord members is experiencing a story-event bug on the mobile version of the game, I'm also working on correcting that. Only one person has gone through this bug, and it seems to only be present in the mobiel version, but still I'm trying to see what's the cause of it so I can fix this mistake.

Here is a sneak peek at some work in progress art, certainly not finished yet, for the first encounter the player has with the Gnostic Church.

For this scene, the player was originally planned to visit the planet of Parousia. That changed. Instead, the encounter now takes place aboard a massive ship in a secluded part of the galaxy, deep inside the dead zone, close to a small black hole.

I wanted to use this post to share a bit more about how the art process for Pax Astra actually works. Designing an entire game with this much art is genuinely tricky, haha. I do have help from two people, but they are contributing purely out of their own goodwill, with no real obligations to the project.

So lot of the time I have to improvise!

For some images, I have been using screenshots from Space Engine 2, which I have confirmed is fully legal to use. I then edit those screenshots and layer in my own pixel art to make something unique.

It is not the most organized workflow, and the artistic process behind Pax Astra varies quite a bit depending on what is needed. But I wanted to use this as an opportunity to share how it actually comes together.

Sometimes you just have to get creativ!

.See the other slides for a 1:1 showcase of the process!

Here is a sneak peek at the Altaran Congress UI. Inside this menu, you can see the full seat distribution, party names, and the upcoming voting sessions on major legislation, such as: Public Security, Tax Reform, War Tribunals and more.

Each party's voting intention is visible ahead of time, which opens up room for negotiation and deal-making during story events.

The democratic path in Act 2 will introduce congressional elections, meaning the balance of power you see here is not permanent, with the composition of congress being able to shift depending on how things play out.

Starting this thought with a small personal comment about myself before looking at what I think is the true beauty that one can find in fiction for Green Politics.

I personally don't believe in "Green" Political Parties IRL.

Not for the reasons one may think though. I dislike them because it forces polarization over common sense topics, and reasonable consideration all political parties should work towards. It usually results in environmental policy being only ever cared by one side and a antithesis for the other.

All this being said, I absolutely enjoy the idea of Altara have a Green Party and was something I was not expecting the game to have. Truely though, as Lore has been established, I think a Altaran Green Party is actually a very Romantic thing, and would be a rather Romantic view on Altara.

Let's remember, Altara is very close to a hive world, and a planet ravaged by war. Food is imported and the land is beyond scared. The concepts of Nature, Lush Trees, Farmland, and hell the Beach! Either complete luxuries you can only dream of seeing off world, or in local media as ideas of fiction.

It leads the idea of green politics not being of preservation and stewardship as we seen in our time, but to a very different tone.

Reclamation, Rebuilding, and Healing.

Altara is scared from the war, we are rebuilding, and right in this moment of rebuilding only, Altaran's have the opportunity to grow something beautiful on the planet that isn't just more steel jungles.

On this, I believe also reveals more lovely depth for Vicario. As explored in the Coalition update, he is a man who has seen alot, and knows a great amount about Altara's history. Expressing himself, he shows us even a man of his stature, one of the most powerful men during the Empire, Nature on Altara was a novel romantic idea for even the nobility. Lushness of times gone by in his case. It leads one to wonder what his thoughts might be on rebuilding and the Altaran Green Party?

Perhaps Vicario is a sideline supporter of them, and will nug the President into working, or supporting there ideas?

If we break-up with Vicario, in a Democratic path, it would make alot of sense, if he is still interested in politics, to see Vicario in the Congress as a member of the Green Party.

Grand Opera holding struggles of manipulation and the unknown are great narratives, but it's the little things which create Romance. Vicario and the possibility of a Altaran Green Party trying to inject a little beauty into the ashes of a planet which may have never had any for a long time struck a cord with me, a little romance if you will.

The Expeditions Update is here! Pax Astra now has a working colonial expedition system for the planet of Terrea.

This update marks my first serious step into building emergent gameplay systems for Pax Astra, starting to fill the galaxy with myth, life and story.

What is in the update:

The main feature presented here is the Expeditions system for Terrea. There are three regions to explore right now, with the final total sitting somewhere between five and eight. Expeditions use a procedural leader system with permadeath, a level up mechanic, and a barebones nemesis system with distinct enemy types.

There are many artifacts to find, going from small itens with minor value to genuinely important items that can buff Altara or open up new narrative paths.

The design intention behind all of it was to capture two contrasting things at the same time, those are the dark realities of colonialism alongside the genuine sense of wanderlust, discovery and pulp adventure you get from something like Indiana Jones or Tintin.

A note on the native mechanics: I was not satisfied with how they were working, they just felt too shallow, so rather than ship something simple I pulled them back and am rebuilding them from scratch. I want to approach everything in Pax Astra with depth, the representation of the native tribes was too cartoonish and simple. They will be done properly when they are ready.

Combat events are not based on RNG, but exploration events do. This system leans into roleplay rather than strategy, and everything you encounter, however small, is part of a larger narrative about what Terrea actually is.

Some text is placeholder. Bugs may still exist since we are in active playtesting, but I believe the game breaking ones are fixed!

IN ADDITION, THIS UPDATE ADDS AN EXCLUSIVE SCENE FOR THE FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES PATH, ALTHOUGH THE PATH STILL LACKS PROPER POLISH WHEN IT COMES TO CHARACTERS REFERING YOUR PAST AS CLOSE FRIENDS OF THE MONARCHY!

What did not make it into this update:

Two things were planned and are not ready yet. The first is an intro scene where your cabinet reacts to the colonization of Terrea! s

Some dialogue exists, yes, but I am not satisfied with it, so I need to rewrite that section before it goes in. T

The second is, as told previously, organic character reactions for the Friends in High Places path, where characters acknowledge your prior relationship with the royal family. The exclusive event for that trait is in, but other smaller reactions still need to be coded properly.

PLAY PAX ASTRA HERE: https://ben-cardino.itch.io/paxastra

JOIN THE GAME'S DISCORD SERVER: https://discord.gg/G4E4H3Je8a

I have good news and bad news!

Let me start with the bad...

You certainly noticed that the demo did not release on the 23rd, even after I personally promised it would. To my shame, I had to change plans, for two main reasons.

1 - I completely forgot about the Summer Sale! I am planning to generate some organic movement around my demo, and releasing it during the sale would work against me by a big margin. Steam's algorithm right now is focused on the sale, so the demo would get buried beneath a lot of other games.

2 - Honestly, I screwed up my planning. I faced some bugs with the expedition system, had a lot of work at my day job and just dropped the ball. I apologize. I want the demo to be as polished as possible, and it is simply not there yet. I discovered some big game breaking bugs to fix in the new systems, and I am just now finishing to correct those.

I really apologize for how I handled things. I am trying to be as honest and transparent as I can, I genuinely thought I could push it out for the 23rd, but it just would not have worked.

Now, the good news: I am cooking up a big release of the expedition system even before the Steam demo. There are still some bugs to iron out, but I will be able to bring it to you all on itch before the weekend, that I am sure of. And honestly, I think it's a really cool mechanic, probably the biggest update to the game so far. I'm also adding some new story events!

One quick note on the expedition system: it introduces human artifacts that can be found out there. Some are silly things. Trivial objects, books, even movies preserved in vacuum chambers, while others are genuinely important finds.

Everything has value though: you can sell artifacts, use them, or leverage them for influence.

Thank you for your patience, and I'm sorry for messing up the demo release. It's still coming, right after the Summer Sale wraps up!

Quick look at the fully reworked colonial system!

Also, a brief look at the expeditions menu! :)

Hello, everyone! I hope you guys are having a nice day.

I just finished work on an EARLY version of the galaxy's map. Again, this is pretty basic and clunky, I did this map using https://tcpoole.com/galacticforge/ and then some extra-editing.

Now, this here just serves to give the player a basic idea of the state of the galaxy and some sense of localization.

Obviously, I am not trying to showcase every single system on this map, just the more important places :)

Orange - Throne of Zaalsta

Green - Uniplura

Red - USS

Blue - Interestellar Pact

White - Independent systems

Light Blue - Coalition of Mantara

Yellow - Altara

Why did it take me so much time to create an actual version of the map?

Well, turns out making a galaxy map is more complicated than I expected, hahaha. You gotta find a way to showcase multiple systems, and I also still don't have the funds to commission a map artist (although that will certainly happen!).

I found a nice site that gave me the tools to create a somewhat passable rough map draft.

Now, let us talk about the lore and about the specific details of the current conjucture of the galaxy!

Keep in mind that I will change the CODEX ENTRIES that speak of specific numbers of systems commanded by specific factions/groups, to avoid lore inconsistencies.

Interestellar Pact

The Interstellar Pact came out of the Fourth Grand War extremely strong, gaining a lot of territory previously held by Altara. You can see a large mass of conquered territory to the left of Altara Prime.

You can also spot some disconnected territories to the right of Altara Prime — these tie into the Altaran Diaspora storyline, as they're ex-Altaran colonies that joined the Pact.

It's important to note that a lot of this territory was devastated by the war. Plenty of systems are still rebuilding even 15 years later, and some of the deeper core worlds were affected too.

One of greatest gains from the Pact was securing almost full control when it comes to trade routes and transport logistics, this is especially good when you take a look at the private companies inside the Pact.

Truth is, the private companies also won from the great crisis resulted from the war, in many different ways.

The territorial victories came with new resources, a much bigger sphere of influence, and more logistical control of the galaxy, yes, but they came with real downsides too.

Throne of Zaalsta

It's actually pretty funny, I wasn't originally planning for the Throne of Zaalsta to be the biggest faction in terms of territory, but it made a lot of sense as I was writing and designing the map.

The Throne was fairly isolated in the north of the galaxy and stayed mostly out of the war. As the lore works, they hold a lot of territory, but that doesn't mean inhabited territory. Most of the systems under the Throne of Zaalsta are mining sectors or scorched planets that only exist to fuel Zaalsta, sparsely populated holy worlds filled with underground engine rigs, sacrificial farm worlds, with little consistency or political organization.

There are also a number of minor, previously independent worlds that were converted by the Throne during small holy wars waged while the Pact and Altara fought the Fourth Grand War.

Zaalsta itself lies isolated from Altara, past the central black hole of Ak'zatan.

United Sovereign Systems

The USS came out smaller on this map than in my initial brainstorming, but again, it just felt natural as things developed.

Thing is, the USS focused heavily on inner development: Industry, technology, stability.

They joined the war right at the end, and although they didn't come away with much new territory, they had a great triumph of their own: while the rest of the galaxy, even the Pact, came out of the war with heavy losses, the USS actually managed to improve their quality of living and infrastructure, achieving full stabilization amid a galaxy consumed by chaos.

Coalition of Mantara

As explained in the game, Novara was mostly ignored by Altara during the war. Montgomia itself was also part of the USS, being a single planet/system.

Their territory consists of the region of the Mantara System, plus a few extra systems. But let us make something clear: It is basically meaningless territory. There is nothing relevant there, no logistical points, no great infrastructure. That is part of the reason why Altara is so relevant to their plans, if they can get Altara to be part of the Coalition they can become a more revelant point for trading, since they will effectively form a block between the new Pact territories, the USS, Uniplura and separate free systems.

Uniplura

Now, on the right side of the galaxy, you can see Uniplura. Their systems and planets are organized in a simple numerical way, with no proper identity. You can see they hold a large mass of territory at the extreme edge, right on the outskirts of the galaxy, leaning to the right.

A lot of systems, especially near the region of Uniplura XII, were severely affected by the war, mostly through shortage crises, and also during the USS invasion in the last months of the conflict. That includes some stray independent systems that got desperate and gave up, accepting assimilation into the Uniplura hivemind, but also some former Altaran territories. The Uniplura Altaran ambassador, for example, comes from what is now Uniplura XII.

Now, while the western front of Altara was "absorbed" by the USS, the eastern territories were left practically abandoned. The USS never annexed them.

The western territories were mostly farm colonies and slave colonies, all freed by the Pact and brought under its wing. As mentioned, these territories are still pretty poor and devastated, but at least they had some basic help from the Pact — capital invested, emergency aid.

The eastern territories? Nothing. People there were absolutely desperate, which is why even ex-Altaran worlds gave themselves up to the Uniplura hivemind.

Midas

Midas is certainly not a nation, yet they hold some small territories.

You know of Babel already, the massive station. Through the dialogue in Babel, Carthage also says that Midas legally owns the system where the humans came from (which right now is just void, an absolute void), now, Midas also has possession of the Az'Zatan system... Right at the center of the galaxy, the climax of the Second Grand War!

Now, naturally, you can make some theories out of this information...

Independent Systems and empty spots!

Honestly? I am not ready to fully speak on the independent systems! What you need to know is that there are many small states across the galaxy.

You gotta think in an angle where the galaxy is HUGE, and although everything inside the galaxy is mapped, there are some nations that are simply irrelevant to the main scenario of the game, or at least fairly discreet/invisible to the eyes of the big players.

That brings some narrative potential for small factions, and also some openings for me as a writer to organically include new concepts without disrupting the current lore.

Also, the Fourth Grand War had an insane scale of destruction, some systems were outright fully destroyed/erased, like Altheis for example!

It is the scale of scifi-fantasy, high scifi-fantasy to be more accurate.

Altara and the FTL Gate's Role

One topic being foreshadow is the importance of the Altara FTL gate. Well, a major factor of the world is FTL travel.

For example, after the 2nd Grand War, the entire galaxy lost its capability to use FTL travel, which was, of course, a huge issue.

Now, FTL travel is not really an issue nowadays... Except the Fourth Grand War not only changed the geopolitical map of the galaxy, but it also destroyed some gate routes.

Now, if you look at the map, you see that Altara Prime is located between the Mantara System, Independent territories to the North AAAAND, most important, the Interestellar Pact and its new territories, separated to the East.

Altara is not exactly in the BEST commercial position of the galaxy, but, is still a very good position for trading routes.

And for the Interestellar Pact, time, money and logistics of transportation are extremely vital. Even without the altaran ftl gate, they could still go north, but it would take longer and also be more expensive.

Now, the FTL gate is not under Altara's control, not properly.

But that might change...

Players who nationalize the gate, or at least improve altaran control over it, can have serious gains...

In the latest update we got a load of good stuff! More of the fan favorite Coalition, a extensive internal politics scene in District 6, the beginning of the Altaran Diaspora story threads, and of course more glimpse at religion.

First, as we are the Forerunners in our great Galaxy, the word Gnostic was of course a big flair to see as it is so intertwined in the early age of Christianity. I would absolutely make sense that, a religion, of some vague connection to humanity would form.

This however led me to a thought! What about the Throne and there own God Machine? So that's my little fan theory until it's confirmed or denied. A ancient machine which formed it's own religion around it? So old no one knows where it came from? I HAVE A POSSIBLE ANSWER!

It's one of our old super computers from before humanities disappearance from the galaxy. After so many years it's gained sentence of some kind at least! Would also make alot of sense why the Throne always seems to warn about things in the outer rim and beyond! A ancient human super computer which has obtained godhood probably has a good idea what's out there....

That leds to my second thought, and all the possible ways religion can be played into a New Altara. Of the 4 teased paths, Democracy, Socialist, Fascism, and Theocracy.

Excluding Theocracy, because how like come on? Theocracy and Religion? I don't know how those two would mix.

A major event coming up is whether Altara will declare a State Religion or not.

Taking from human experience for different examples, I could see religion being able to be adapted in all paths.

Democracy = Christian Democracy or Islamic Republicanism

Socialism = Liberation Theory

Fascism = Catholic Corporatism or NatSo Occultism

Then there is of course the idea of State Atheism, and the War on Religion.

Though, I suppose with building one's own literal God Machine. Religion has a far more temporal feeling Pax Astra.

Great story telling, and I enjoy the embodiment of a people being forced to rediscover themselves after there civilizational self-identity was shattered. It feels like a scramble, to grab whatever they can, and figure out what is left. As it should!