In Halcyon Online, player progression hinges on the resources at their disposal. Without the right resources, players are limited in what they can build and achieve, just like in most RTS games.

However, Halcyon Online distinguishes itself by departing from the levelling systems commonly seen in other MMO RTS games. Here, you won't find yourself pouring vast resources and time into incremental upgrades of your resource structures, aiming to reach level 40 just for a minor output boost. Instead, players will expand their resource structures using specific modules, which do have finite levels (up to 4). These modules create a fixed resource pool that can be utilised at specific locations, such as planets, moons, asteroids, or even stars – yes, you read that correctly!

Each location in Halcyon Online offers a baseline value for three vital resources:

1. Materials: These represent the raw materials available at a given location, including ores, gases, glass, silicone, and more. Materials serve as the foundation for nearly every project you undertake.
2. Energy: As expected, Energy is the lifeblood that powers your structures and keeps your civilization running. It can also be harnessed to produce other resources and has additional undisclosed applications.
3. Pylonium: Pylonium is the game's first rare resource, essential for mid and late-game endeavours like constructing large spacecraft and specialised infrastructure. It can only be extracted from specific planet types and certain asteroids, making it a highly sought-after and valuable commodity in the game world.

Resource management

In Halcyon Online, when players embark on their journey in a new galaxy, they initially establish a colony with the following foundational resource statistics: 3 Materials, 3 Energy, and 0 Pylonium.

This might seem unusual if you're familiar with games like OGame and its many iterations. The key distinction in Halcyon Online is that you're not accumulating and stockpiling vast resource quantities. Instead, the resources a location offers are fixed values – you can't hoard them, and they are immune to theft. These resources can however, be enhanced through various means.

In Halcyon Online, you work with a static resource value, and each project initiated at a location consumes one or more resources as a requirement. Let's consider the starting colony as an example. A player on this colony begins with 3 materials and 3 energy. One of your initial projects may involve constructing a solar plant, which consumes 1 material but yields an additional 3 energy at that colony. Consequently, you'll have 2 materials and 6 energy at your disposal.

Following that, you might opt to build an Extractor, which necessitates 2 energy but generates an extra 5 materials. Now, that same colony becomes a resource hub, producing 8 materials and 4 energy. This dynamic resource allocation system ensures that your choices and projects have a direct impact on the output and efficiency of your colonies within your Empire.

Spacecraft production

You might be wondering how this resource system integrates with spaceship production – a valid question indeed. In essence, the creation of spacecraft in Halcyon Online doesn't involve expending resources for each individual ship. To put it differently, you don't continuously spend resources during the construction of a single spacecraft. Instead, spacecraft production necessitates a certain reserve of resources to initiate the production process. This temporarily diminishes those specific resources until the spacecraft is completed, at which point those resources are freed up for other projects.

For instance, let's assume you desire to manufacture a mid-tier cruiser, which requires 12 materials and 6 energy for construction. If your planet lacks these required resources, you won't be able to commence the spacecraft's production. Your initial task would then be to strategise how to enhance your resource generation to meet the demands of constructing that particular craft.

In Halcyon Online, the availability of resources serves as a gateway to various opportunities for players. This system empowers players to tailor their development and project priorities, optimising their construction orders to unlock specific options as efficiently as possible.

Consequently, resource management in the game is intricately linked to the unique needs of each of your colonies. Some colonies may possess the essential resources for producing particular types of spacecraft, allowing you to specialise in those craft at those locations. For instance, planets with high Pylonium output could facilitate the construction of specific spacecraft types. Conversely, if you aim to mass-produce Fighter-class units, you can set up such operations on planets with abundant Materials output. This dynamic resource allocation system encourages players to strategically choose their colony projects based on the resources available, thereby influencing their overall gameplay and objectives in Halcyon Online.

Trading

Resource trading in Halcyon Online departs from the conventions of other games within this genre. Instead of merely dispatching, let's say, 10 million units of metal to another planet, you'll engage in a unique system involving the establishment of trade routes. These routes allow you to specify the quantity of resources you want to transfer from your planet to the designated destination. It's important to note that trade routes take time to establish, and so do not confer an immediate benefit. Plan ahead to ensure your Empire maintains an effective use of its resources!

Once a trade route is operational, if you've chosen to send, for example, 2 materials to the target location, the source colony's materials will be reduced by 2, while the destination's materials production will increase by 2. This shift in resource levels for both the source and target locations will persist until the trade route is canceled.

Of course, you have the flexibility to send larger quantities, provided you possess the necessary spacecraft capable of carrying the additional load. Moreover, you can establish as many trade routes as needed to efficiently distribute your resources to their intended destinations. This distinctive resource trading mechanism in Halcyon Online emphasises strategic planning and efficient resource management to facilitate the flow of essential assets throughout your burgeoning empire, without requiring you to boringly acquire resources just to level up your resource infrastructure!

I take great pride in the resource system featured in Halcyon Online, and I sincerely hope that you find it equally appealing. In my humble opinion, it introduces a more intricate and captivating resource management system to the MMO RTS genre, all the while streamlining the process of acquiring and managing resources spread across the vast expanse of the galactic realm that you find yourself in.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this system, please join me on the Halcyon Online Discord :)