Matrix Games

See our second dev diary for an explanation of Pirate Factions, the Age of Shadows, and their unique gameplay.

What are Pirate Factions?

Pirate Factions in Distant Worlds 2: Shadows Rising are space-based Empires which function differently in many ways from the more typical planetary Empires.  While we also had playable Pirates in Distant Worlds 1, we’ve done significantly more with them in Distant Worlds 2 to expand their gameplay and improve their design, as well as add many new unique ships, stations, ship equipment upgrades, artifacts and story events for them.  

We’ll outline a few of the key differences here relative to Planetary Empires and previous Pirate gameplay.

• As a Pirate Faction, you can control each and every ship, there are no ships which you cannot manually order and in fact in many cases you will want to manually order your ships more often as Pirate Factions generally have fewer ships and stations than Empires and each one is thus more valuable.  In addition, by Docking at certain locations with your ships, you gain access to new options such as purchasing ships, equipment or resources.

• Instead of Governments, you pick the type of Pirate you are, with four choices ranging from a more balanced Pirate playstyle to Smuggler, Raider or Mercenary.  Each gives you some special bonuses and a varying selection of starting ships.

• Choosing to play as a Pirate allows you to start in the Age of Shadows, a starting point with no planetary Empires, only Pirate Factions, Lone Pirates, Independent Worlds and the Hive.  This alternate starting era is in some ways more challenging, but also offers Pirates more freedom to expand before Planetary Empires appear (Independents can now grow into Planetary Empires if left unchecked).

• Instead of starting with a Homeworld, you will start with a Medium Spaceport as the hub of your spacefaring civilization, with limited resources and some mining capabilities.  You’ll need to protect your Spaceport and your Construction ships in order to survive, and you’ll need to find a way to meet your resource and credit needs. Pirates pay much less maintenance than planetary empires, but they also are more limited economically and more vulnerable once discovered.

• Your stable income derives from Influence (and Corruption) on planets within your range, as well as any protection agreements you might convince Empires to sign with you.  As a result, instead of focusing on locations for New Colonies, you’ll focus on possible new worlds as Influence Targets. The rest of your income comes from a variety of actions, such as Resource Trading, Contracts, Raids, Espionage and Negotiations.

• As you gain Influence, you can build Hidden Pirate Bases and Fortresses to lock down planets within your sphere of influence and make sure they deal primarily with you.

• Your goals as a Pirate Faction will depend on your playstyle, but as long as you survive and grow stronger, you will ultimately need to choose one of two paths.  First, you can build a planet up to the point where you effectively take it over with your Criminal Network and then transition your Pirates Faction to a Pirate Planetary Empire.  Your play experience will then shift to the regular Empire style, but you will retain your unique ships, tech and bases as well as gain a unique planetary government choice based on your chosen Pirate playstyle.  Alternately, you may eschew the idea of planetary life and instead build up to the unique Anarchopolis Wonder, which will allow you to achieve the status of a Legendary Pirate Faction, remain a space-faring faction and keep the planets and planetary empires in their place.

• You will be able to trade and accept lucrative contracts from the Shadowports, the most massive centers of space-based Pirate Civilization, which are also neutral ground havens for all Pirate factions, at least as long as the Pirates agree to keep them that way.  You’ll also be able to trade with the smaller Junkyard Shadowports to expand your fleets or get access to unique hulls.

• You can setup Protection Agreements, Non-Aggression Pacts, Refueling Agreements and even the new Privateering Agreements (get paid to blow up their enemies) with other factions and empires

• Over generations, you have learned to build and live in space in ways that planetary civilizations cannot match.  Your ship and station hulls for the same ship sizes have much more flexibility in terms of the various component slots than what the planetary empires can design and build as well as increased hull bonuses.

New Ships and Stations

We have created many new Pirate-specific ships and stations, which you can see below.  Some of these are particular to certain Pirate faction playstyles, but through the Shadowports any you don’t have can be traded for or purchased.  Keep in mind these also come with unique new Pirate Ship Hulls, which have more slots and better hull bonuses than the typical Planetary Empire ships and stations.

These new ship and station models are also the first products of an improved process in our art team, which keeps improving the look and detail as we progress.

Influence, Corruption and the Black Market

As part of Distant Worlds 2: Shadows Rising, we have reduced the base corruption on planets, but now a substantial portion of that corruption depends on pirate influence and activities.  As a Pirate Faction, you can raise your Influence on a planet by completing contracts for them, guarding them from threats (with your ships in orbit) or raiding them (though this will also decrease their happiness and relationship with you).  As your Influence increases, their Corruption will increase and along with that the portion of their economy output that passes through your hands.  This will also increase the portion of their resources that are available on that planet’s Black Market.  

Black Market goods are effectively stolen and available for purchase at a much lower price (thus giving anyone willing to transport and sell them elsewhere more profit) but at the risk of having your ship damaged or destroyed if your cargo is detected by law-abiding ships or stations.

You can of course also engage in legal trading at a lower profit margin by docking at any planet or spaceport, but with no risk from the more lawful powers.

Contracts, Shadowports and the ShadowNet

Contracts are posted by Shadowports, Independent Planets, Empires and even other Pirates.  You can even create Contracts yourself for others to fulfill for you.  These missions are typically related to delivering resources, attacking and destroying specific targets, or stealing something (like an artifact).  There is typically a monetary reward, but you will also generally gain Influence and a positive relationship if you complete a contract for someone.

Improving Influence and relations can make it easier for you to gain income and take over independents or gain more contracts or treaties from Empires or Pirates, or get discounts on goods, upgrades, ship hulls and equipment from Shadowports.

As the trading and contract hubs of the galaxy, Shadowports are also considered neutral ground and are typically a great source for all kinds of resources and ship upgrades.

Shadowports also operate a separate communications network called the ShadowNet and if you are on good terms with them, this can be a periodic source of unique contracts which are both rewarding and serve to keep Pirates on top of the heap in terms of the galactic power struggle.

Attacking a Shadowport will generally upset all the other Pirate factions and the other Shadowports, though it may also gain you some nice rewards, but be careful as the negative consequences can be significant.  Shadowports will also tend to help organize Pirates against the Hive through the use of contracts when the Hive threatens a region of space.

Junkyard Shadowports

In the original Distant Worlds 2, we had distributed some Pirate bases around the galaxy that were passive, in that they did not build ships and raid or attack others, but they were surrounded by derelict ships which they guarded and would attack anyone who came into range of their junkyard.  Players wanted us to do more with these and we always planned that we would.

In Shadows Rising, these Junkyards are now smaller Shadowports and they are more willing to trade with both Empires and Pirates alike.  You can interact with them through diplomacy and dock your ships there to access their full options, including purchasing any of the “fixer upper” ships they have available.  These are more prevalent than the massive full size Shadowports, though they can’t offer quite as much.

Winning as a Pirate

Which path to victory will you choose?  The first means becoming a Planetary Empire.  To do this, you have to pick a planet (hopefully one with a lot of population) which will end up as your new Capital world.  Build up your Influence there, enough to build a Hidden Pirate Base, then upgrade it to a Fortress, and finally to the Criminal Network facility which effectively gives you 100% Influence and de facto control of the planet’s economy and governance.  You will then be presented with a choice to either keep playing as a Pirate Faction, or change to a new unique Planetary Government (based on your chosen Pirate Playstyle) to continue play as a normal Empire with Pirate roots.

You may instead decide that the space-faring life is for you, in which case you can instead upgrade that Criminal Network to an Anarchopolis.  Only one Pirate Faction in the entire galaxy can build the Anarchopolis, so you’d better get there first if that’s your goal!  Once built, you become the Legendary Pirate Faction, the de facto leader of all the Pirates and gain some special bonuses and rewards.

Your Story, Your Choices

Several futures are possible.  The first is one where the planetary civilizations are allowed to grow and expand into space and regain a measure of their former glory, following along towards the original Distant Worlds 2 story.  The second is where the pirate factions are able to manage the rise of the planetary civilizations, control them, exploit them and eventually conquer them to establish an entirely different kind of galactic order, depending on which type of “Pirate” emerges triumphant.  A third might be that what remains is destroyed and consumed by the Hive, if it is allowed to grow out of control.

The Age of Shadows, in short, is a struggle for survival and an ongoing battle to determine the future of the galaxy.   Will it be a strong, united, and advanced galaxy that the Shakturi find on their eventual return, or simply smouldering ashes?

You can also choose to start play with the new Pirates (either playing as an Empire or a Pirate) in the classic era of the base Distant Worlds 2 game after the Age of Shadows has ended. For the greatest challenge and to extend the story as long as possible, start as a single ship Lone Pirate in the Age of Shadows, eventually become a Pirate Faction, then a Pirate Empire of Anarchy which attempts to conquer the stars.

The choice is yours, the Galaxy Lives On.

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