In 7 days 3 very long and hard months are over and a new season 8.X is starting! Tons of feedback gathered, tons of ideas came up and even more lessons were made from the big Alpha 8 crush.
It’s time for teasers!
As I said, almost the whole focus is about the Universe and general gameplay improvement ingame in HWS 8.X. I think we pushed the HWS Features to a limit where it’s either too complicated or just too limited in the way we can promote them with the limited PDA or chat commands.
We will polish them but the gameplay without all of that should be in the foreground again - so let’s get started!
The HWS 8.X Universe
(check here all the previous universes to compare)
Here we are — the layout is not totally new, because why change something that worked but the details are way deeper than it looks.
In this Part I of an Universe series we are going to look into some new areas and I explain roughly what that all is about.
Key Points of the new HWS 8.X Universe
- While we got more PvP and less PvE playfields it is still balanced because of some Class 5 PvE planets
- We have now a PvE adoption of Black Hole: The Phoenix! As the name “Phoenix” suggests, the Orbit wipes every day to be born new from the ashes. See below for more details
- The Universe is more easier to understand/read:
- the bottom part is the area of PvE + COOP + Singleplayer (Missions). While the Economy is poor and rare resources can only be gathered with Missions and smart play, you can in theory live here in peace and “play your game”.
- the middle part is the area of PvP + Hot spots + PvPvE Challenges (Rotation Planets + Missions). The Economy in these areas are the richest - so make sure to get protection for your Trade routes there. Other than that you will find everything here to climb up your Bank and RP account.
- the top part is the area of Supporter Playfields which can almost* only be reached with Supergates now. New players don’t get trapped that way and Supporters will get a straight Supergate path up there and per planet an own Supergate.
*some playfields will be open for everyone with great challenges and conditions
- Nova is a special System where Armageddon is waiting for you now
- Titan System holds again the Titan planet where PvPvE players will or need to go for sure this time
- Golden Globe will turn into a Battle Arena — you die or get rich … or both?
- The Homeworld System is back in the center of the universe where it belongs — worth the trip for sure this time
- The four Systems around Homeworld are very special designed for very important Commodity Trader
- Bottom line: each orbit and each planet will have something unique others don’t have. Every playfield is carefully hand made and tested that time!
Few Impressions from the new HWS 8.X Universe
Phoenix
As I mentioned above: Phoenix is a nightmare or dream or both for PvE players.
It not only contains rare resources and wipes daily but one of the most difficult POIs are waiting for you there you never ever will succeed alone.
And a Phoenix won’t be a Phoenix if it wouldn’t be hot there. Like really hot. I’ve heard there is an Epic Heavy Armor around though 
The hardest challenge at the beginning however will be the question: “how to get there?”
Well… good luck! But as an exclusive tip: a special POI will tell you the Coordinates to the Phoenix Supergate - because you can only reach Phoenix with a Supergate!
The Class 5 Problem
You have read it in the forums and ingame: the big planets, especially Class 5 are too big.
Mostly because you have to “search” for your base and if you are coming from the wrong side of the planet, you have to fly very, very long around the planet until you are finally home!
I had an idea to tackle both issues because Class 5 from technical point are not that bad. Sure they consume more hardware RAM but overall still help addressing the CPU-open-playfield bottleneck.
1 Class 5 planet would mean many Class 2 planets, putting the server under more pressure.
1. solution: Interplanetary Supergate Travelling (IST)
As you can see in the screenshot above you will have around each Class 5 planets 4 green Supergates. That way you can jump quickly to the other side with your ship(s) if you see it’s the wrong side.
How do you know if you are on the wrong side?
2. solution: Island Shape Remembering (ISR) (I like to give things names)
The human eye can recognize shapes faster than anything else. So each Class 4 and 5 planet have almost always a lot of Islands (high water / land ratio). That way you can settle on specific Islands and can remember its shape and the surrounding Islands’ shape. That way you can see from the orbit right away which IST you have to take to reach your home faster.
P.S.: After 2 years we say honored good bye from the Orbits “Peacekeepers” — due technical limitations about Asteroid Rings I had to go with a different name conventions. RIP 
