Riftborne - Introduction Guide

Game Storyline / Premise

• Riftborne is a terminal-based real-time strategy set in space where you command a culture/faction and its commanders.
• The campaign begins with 42 commanders: you + 41 AI commanders, spanning six factions.
• The ultimate goal is to win by accumulating your faction’s “visions” (an endgame mechanic tied to your faction’s special hall) and by controlling central special tiles (the map center is a major victory trigger).

Factions & Key Identity (Starting Choice)

The intro mentions three cultures with distinct play patterns and unique buildings/mechanics:

• Astrian (Economy-focused)
  • Stronger mid-to-late economy and infrastructure.
  • Example special infrastructure: Nano Storage for early strength.
  • Likely includes strong upgrades such as Overclocker access only to certain cultures (later notes Xel’Naga access for Overclocker).
• Varkon (Aggressive / assault-oriented)
  • Emphasizes fast war and early pressure.
• Veil (Wild-card / shard & void infrastructure)
  • Uses shards and transmutation mechanics (converting one resource into another over time).

The narrator specifically starts as Astrian.

Core Gameplay Loop (What You Do)

• Manage a colony in real time
  • Maintain production by building resource extractors and related infrastructure.
  • Expand with storage silos and infrastructure upgrades.
• Build fleets & ships
  • Construct ships via shipyards (light/heavy/siege categories).
  • Track ship stats (speed, cargo, evasion/tracking, upkeep).
• Recon first, then exploit
  • Use spies to learn enemy status (resources, defenses, ship stations).
  • Follow with raids to steal resources or attacks to attempt destruction.
• Use the logistics / trade system
  • Move resources via cargo/market offers and/or automated routes to allies.
• Advance time efficiently
  • Play continuously (full real-time immersion) or use a time-warp / advance time tool for faster simulation during planning.

Major Interface / Systems Explained

Main Screen Panels

• Top: date/time and pause/game state.
• Bottom-left: queues (building/training/ship/movement) and player/colony identity.
• Left panel: resources (amount, cap, hourly income, depletion timing).
• Right menu categories: infrastructure, shipyards, logistics, empire/faction/military/intel, codex, notifications, beacon, directives, statistics, system controls.

Colonization

• Building and expansions rely on colony ships and Sunspire level thresholds (see “Timings & Expansion” below).

Recon & Intelligence

• Sun Scope acts as radar/tracking, affecting how long you can cancel missions before they resolve.
• Combat logs + spy reports provide actionable “what to do next” information.

Timings & Early Priorities (Key Tips)

• Don’t stagnate early: start by building level 1 extractors for each basic resource.
• Pick expansion timing consciously: reaching very high Sunspire levels won’t happen quickly; plan around simulation time.
• Storage matters eventually: early you may not hit caps, but later resource flow/sinking and transport become important.
• Use the Codex and Simulation: the video recommends estimating losses before committing using combat/math tools.

Timings & Expansion Requirements (Sunspire)

Sunspire milestone unlocks described:

• Level 5: unlocks a strategic outpost on empty space (early usefulness described as limited)
• Level 10: unlocks asteroid outposts (resource mining)
• Level 15: unlocks mining outposts for rare metals
• Level 20: unlocks ability to establish a child colony anywhere (considered long to reach)

Additional notes:

• Sunspire increases building speed (10% per level).

Resource Model & Why It Affects Survival

Construction Resources

Example resources mentioned:

• Volcron, Auralite, Deuterium

Culture choice gives discounts on one of these (Astrian discounts Auralite heavily in the example).

Astra (Fuel/Energy)

• Astra is treated as energy/fuel and used for ship upkeep.
• If Astra hits zero, ships begin to attrit.
  • Rapid losses occur if you can’t recall/starve prevention—especially dangerous for colonization ships.

Shipbuilding Highlights & Composition Considerations

Shipyard Types

• Light shipyard (light hulls)
• Heavy shipyard (heavy hulls)
• Siege shipyard (siege hulls)

Key Ship Roles

• Recon / intel ships
  • Fast and specialized for combat/spy roles.
• Fast “workhorse” ships
  • Repeatedly highlighted as good for frequent pressure/raids.
• Freighters
  • Strong for cargo movement.
  • Described as effectively safe/invulnerable during travel when not part of attacks.
• Carriers
  • Provide fleet-wide tracking/evasion benefits.
  • Scaling model based on number of carriers.
  • Doesn’t boost siege.
• Siege ships
  • Required to break defenses and buildings.
  • Warning: without enough siege, attacks mostly lose ships with little structural gain.

Raid vs Attack (Explicit Strategy)

• Raid
  • Goal: steal resources
  • Favors: the attacker
  • Intended for grabbing loot while expecting your ships to return intact.
• Attack
  • Goal: destroy enemy fleet first, then loot
  • Favors: the defender
  • Warning: don’t early-attack without siege capability, or defenders can absorb losses without you destroying key structures.

Intel-First Strategy (Practical Workflow)

The recommended approach demonstrated:

• Spy the neighbor first
• Check their ship stations / defenses
• If they appear underprepared:
  • “Scramble” with a raid force such as:
    • a cruiser + ~10 skirmishers + a freighter (example composition)
  • Use fast ships for speed, and the freighter to carry captured resources.

Star Map & Fleet Movement Rule

• Ships are permanently stationed to their home base.
• You generally cannot fully transfer ships between stations.
• Your options are:
  • Attack
  • Spy
  • Raid
  • Reinforce (main method to station forces at outposts, with limited control)

Victory Conditions (As Stated)

Endgame triggers include:

• Your base (example given: 0,0) needs Sunspire level 20 under your faction’s control.
• You must control central special tiles:
  • Center requires majority / 50% control as a win trigger.
  • Mentions the “center tile (B)” and control of three central white tiles (as seen in the UI explanation).

Economy / Financial Tools (Knockmarks and Org Play)

Once Knockmarks are available, you can found an organization to engage in:

• Shares (buy/sell/issue)
• Loans (lend + set interest)
• Contracts (e.g., raids/destroy objectives/loot targets/obliterate plans)

The video suggests this becomes more useful later, since early-mid game lacks Knockmarks.

Beacon & Diplomacy (Random Encounter Prompts)

• Beacon can surface deep space transmissions that prompt decisions.
• Outcomes can change:
  • relations with commanders/factions
  • resource gains or costs
• Advice: don’t rely on it constantly early—decisions can be costly.

Directives (Long-Term Goals with Buffs)

• Directives automatically grant buffs when objectives are completed.
• Examples mentioned:
  • Launch first spy mission(s)
  • Build specific buildings (e.g., Solar Slipway level 1)
  • Complete “constellation sweep” / total spy-mission goals

The video encourages scanning directives early because some buffs can be substantial.

Queue Management & Time Warp (Quality of Life)

• Building queues can be managed:
  • cancel tasks
  • move tasks
  • set a policy to wait for resources or skip if blocked
• Time warp
  • Runs simulation faster in the background.
  • Can be paused/cancelled when important events are near.
  • Warning: CPU load may increase when speeding time.

Bugs / Pitfalls Explicitly Called Out

Colonization Ship Recall Problem (Astra Upkeep Flaw)

• If you send a colony ship to found an outpost, the ship may not carry Astra.
• After the colony exists, the ship is considered reinforcement and may starve quickly.
• Requires rapid recall to prevent losses.
• The narrator reports losing colony hulls so far and says a developer is aware.

Key People / Sources Featured (Mentioned at End)

• Beyond All Reason soundtrack composers (specifically thanked for background music)
• Jontar (credited; narrator includes uncertainty about spelling)
• Ontae / Yontae (possibly an alternate spelling/identity; mentioned in thanks)
• “everyone who’s watching” (generic audience thanks)