TP RFTS is the current name for the Reach for the Stars clone being developed for Google Summer of Code 2007 by Tyler Shaub / xdotx.
- Every turn is a movement turn, every odd turn is also a production turn.
- There is a single, constant universe with a static number of planets. Each player is assigned a single planet at the start of game.
- Unlike many other games in the genre, RFTS does not have the concept of different races. Thusly, all players have the same stats and technologies.
Resource points are, appropriately enough, points that can be spent in planetary resources. Each turn, each (populated) planet is allocated a center number of RPs based upon that planet's stats. The formula used is: RPs = (population * 2) + ( (industry * social) / 16 )
- Industry - determines the max number of ships you can order.
- Population - the population of the planet.
- Social Env. - determines population growth. If less than 40 the population decreases, greater, it increases. Uninhabited planets have a social env of zero. The social env will be effected by the planetary env. as well as any possible riots, natural disasters, and warfare.
- Planetary Env. - strongly influences social env, and thus indirectly production and population growth. Building up planetary env should be considered of greater value in the long run than continual investment in social env. Planetary env is also effected by riots, natural disasters, and warfare.
- Pop. Maint. - represents the amount of consumer goods and services for the population. Each unit of population costs 1 RP to service. Providing less than a 1:1 ratio puts you at risk for riots and unrest manifested in the form of low birth-rate, industrial sabotage and environmental pollution.
- Colonists/Transports - represents the part of the population available to be transported to another planet to be colonists or invading troops. Each turn up to 25% of the population along with any population in addition to planet's capacity is available for emigration. (Note when producing colonists, transport units are produced to support them and are treated as the same object. Alone these transports have no defenses, but when escorted with a warship, they take on the highest defense of any escorting warship.)
- Scouts - unarmed, exploratory ships
- Mark I through Mark IV - warships, progressively stronger and faster.
- New PDB - orders the construction new Planetary Defense Bases. a maximum of 4 constructed per turn, and 50 total constructed. (dependent current Ship Tech)
- PDB Maint. - maintenance cost of PDBs. (also dependent current Ship Tech)
- Ship Tech. - represents the investment into ship technology, manifested in the level of Mark ships available and the power (and cost) of PDBs. All planets start out with Mark I. Note this is per player, not planet; although of course each planet may contribute to the global ship tech.
| Item | RP Cost |
|---|---|
| Ship Tech. | |
| Mark I | 0 (comes standard) |
| Mark II | 400 |
| Mark III | 1,000 |
| Mark IV | 2,000 |
| Production | |
| Industry | 10 |
| Social Env. | 4 |
| Planetary Env. | 8 |
| Pop. Maint | 1 |
| Colonists | 5 |
| Scouts | 3 |
| Mark I | 14 |
| Mark II | 30 |
| Mark III | 80 |
| Mark IV | 120 |
| PDB | 4/8/16 * |
| PDB Maint. | 1/2/2 * |
Combat takes place at the end of a turn whenever two player ships are in the same star system, or an enemy ship is in place to attack a planet. Combat is done in battles, which continue until one party is defeated or withdraws. Planetary defenses cannot withdraw from combat. When a fleet attacks a planet with no defenses, it is called "bombarding", and may only be done once. Bombarding a planet potentially damages it's industry, population, and planetary env, in addition to increasing the chance of rioting. If a transport ship is present, and the planet has no defenses, it may choose to invade and attempt to colonize the enemy planet. You must maintain a 2:1 ratio between the enemy populace and your colonists to hold the planet.
At the start of the game, a max number of turns is selected between 40 and 160. During the game, players gain Victory Points in the follow sections: Development (ship and PDB production), Battles (how well your ships do in combat), Conquest (invading/taking over planets) and Destruction (bombarding enemy planets). The total Victory Points are simply the sum of these sections. If, during the game, any player gets above approximately 2.5 times the next closest player in Victory Points, an overwhelming victory may be declared, making that player the winner. Otherwise, the player with the most Victory Points on the last turn wins the game.
RFTS, being an older game only supported multiplayer though hot-seat and play-by-email. Inevitably, TP RFTS is going to contain some appropriate differences.
- 4 player min/max - without an AI implementation there is no set player minimum, only a maximum set in the config
- wrapping map - ship movement is treated like the map wraps at the edges, though this is not really supported visually
- withdraws - RFTS supports withdrawing ships from combat after a battle; TP RFTS currently lacks support for this, and implementation is pending
- RFTS has many advanced rules, it is likely that TP RFTS will simplify some of these and incorporate some of the advanced rules into a standard game
- Original RFTS manual (from underdogs)