Astro Empires is an MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game), which you can play in your internet web browser. You build bases, space fleets, research new technologies, form alliances, fight epic Battles, and much more! You start at your home planet, from there you can build your own Empire. The universe is yours. You write the history. All that is required to play Astro Empires is a web browser and an internet connection.

Astro Empires is played in a persistent universe. This means that Astro Empires is open around the clock, 7 days a week. Whether you are online or not, time never stops. When you’re offline, your bases and fleets stay in the world and continue to perform the orders you’ve allocated to them.

Coordinates

Astro Empires uses a specialized coordinate system to denote locations, as detailed below :

- First, the galaxy coordinate is designated by the initial of whatever server is being viewed followed by a number representing the specific galaxy on that server.
- Next, the region coordinate is designated by what row and column of the galaxy it is in.
- Third, the system coordinate is designated by what row and column of the region it is in, in the same manner as the region coordinate.
- Fourth, the astro coordinate is designated by the star orbit number and the planetary orbit number.

Credits

Credits are the monetary unit used in Astro Empires, and are the basis of the game’s economy. Credits are used to build structures and defenses on bases, to set up trade routes, to produce fleet (ships), and to invest in researching new technologies. Credits are received every hour on the hour, based on the total economy of a player’s empire.

Technologies

Researching new technologies primarily increase the capacities of a player’s ships and bases. They also unlock new structures and starships that can be built, and grant access to more advanced technologies to further develop your empire. You can only research technologies at bases with research labs on them. Nearly all technologies require multiple research labs.

Bases

Bases are representative of territory in Astro Empires. First and foremost, having a base on an astro means that a player owns that astro, and can use it to build various structures, most of which boost the base’s ability to construct new buildings, produce new ships, and research new technologies, and many of which improve its economy, thus boosting the player’s credit income. Also, a player can build defensive structures to protect the base, shipyards to produce new starships, and (as mentioned above) research labs to research new technologies or improve existing ones.

Trade

Once a base has at least one spaceport built, it can start a trade route with another base. The initial cost of the trade route is determined by the distance between the two bases; for example, a trade route from a base located in A00:49:10 to a base located in A00:59:10 will cost 10 credits, since they are 10 lightyears apart. If a trade route is set between 2 different players, both players pay half the trade route cost.

Fleets

The main way which players can attack other players is through using fleets, and can also be used to defend against another player’s attack. You build ships at shipyards, a fleet being a group of ships. A fleet can be used to protect a base, or attack another player’s fleets or bases.

Combat

Combat basics:

Attack = The amount of damage a unit deals.
Armor = The amount of damage a unit can receive before being killed.
Shielding = The shielding of a unit prevents damage equal to itself from each shot of enemy fire.
(Note: 1% of the attack always cross the shields, except Ion Bombers and Ion Frigates of which 50% damage crosses any shielding)

Guild

A guild is a group of players that work together under the same banner. It is run by the player who is designated as the guildmaster, and other players can play important roles in the guild (diplomacy, for example). Guilds can be democratic, anarchistic, totalitarian, and/or some many other types of government. Players can join for various reasons, most often due to friends wanting to work together and players wanting to find protection.

Commanders

Commanders can be recruited and trained to give specific bonuses. You can do so by using either experience points or credits.

A base can only have one base commander assigned there, giving a bonus that is based on the commander’s skill and level. When a base is pillaged or successfully attacked, there is a 10% possibility of any commanders located there being killed