A Galaxy Far Far Away is now a little bit closer news

While most of you are probably most excited about Star Wars Interregnum Alpha 3 for the imminent release of the Rebel Alliance, it will also add another equally important mile stone. For the first time, the vast majority of the map will contain Star Wars themed content for you to encounter as you explore beyond your homeworld. Part of this was the new Star Wars militia and pirates we revealed last time, but just as much will come from new planets and other secrets for you to uncover. Here are some of the highlights...

Bright Center to the Universe

The capital of galactic civilization for as long as anyone can remember, Coruscant holds a special symbolic role in the Star Wars universe. From the Sith Empire to the Yuuzhan Vong, no one can truly claim to rule the galaxy unless Coruscant is securely in their territory. Because of this, Coruscant was chosen to have a unique role even among the special Star Wars planets we have been adding.

Most Star Wars planets have a single rare chance to spawn on random maps. Coruscant on the other hand is tied to the new "Galactic Capital" victory condition, which replaces the occupation victory from Rebellion. Activate this condition on any map, and Coruscant will spawn with a large Imperial fleet defending it. Anyone who can take her will not only have a powerful planet with a massive population, but they will win the game after controlling it for a long enough period of time.

For those of you who'd rather see Coruscant as an ordinary planet (that won't win you the game), we have also added support for Coruscant on custom maps without this victory condition. One of which may be released with the new update...

Secrets of the Ancients

Yet while Coruscant has long been the capital of the Galactic Republic, before Humans and most other species began exploring the stars, there existed civilizations so ancient they are almost unknown to the current inhabitants of the galaxy. Yet their wondrous technology has from time to time been found, occasionally on a massive scale that rivals such modern feats of engineering (and technological terrors) as the Death Star. Two of them, the Star Forge and Centerpoint Station, have been added to the mod as replacements* for Enhanced 4X's ancient structures.

Like the ancient structures in Enhanced 4X, Centerpoint Station and the Star Forge have a small chance to spawn at any colonizeable planet, where they can be captured by your forces. However, learning how to use these massive and powerful space stations is not easy. You will need to explore your planets to find examples of the ancient technologies they were based on to begin using their potentially game winning abilities. For example, if you should manage to find the new Infinite Engine artifact while controlling the Star Forge, you will gain the ability to duplicate any frigate or cruiser in your fleet, giving a free supply of permanent units to crush your foes with.

*For those of you who like this extra exploration element pioneered by E4X, we will release a minimod allowing the old E4X ancient structures to spawn in Interregnum as well. This will give you a total of 7 ancient structures to acquire.

Arsenal of the Rebellion

Out gunned and out produced by the Empire, the Rebellion might have forever remained a bunch of idealistic farm boys with stunt fighters had Mon Calamari not joined the Alliance. After fighting off the Imperial garrison themselves, the Mon Calamari transformed their shipyards from one of the largest civilian ship factories in the galaxy into a vast military production and refitting center, making it perhaps the most vital world controlled by the Alliance and now New Republic.

While well guarded by Alliance forces, the planet Mon Cala (also called Dac and sometimes Mon Calamari by confused outsiders) offers a lot to anyone who controls it. Its well designed floating and underwater cities allow it to support an unusually high population. Its shipyards use unique technology not used anywhere else in the galaxy, having evolved from Mon Calamari underwater construction techniques. This not only allows the planets shipyards to produce units at lower prices, but some of these improvement may be transferred to other planets, increasing ship construction rates at every planet in your Empire.

A Glimpse of the Future?

Wish you could see some of these cool features in action? Don't take my word for it here, you can! Popular Sins YouTuber and fellow modder Gul Dukat was kind enough to play through a special build of Interregnum while we chatted about the Mod, and in the process discovered many of the features discussed in this article. Here's episode 1 below.