Tuesday, July 12, 2016

The Factions of Infinite Space, Part 1

The Factions of Infinite Space, Part 1: An Overview


The 12 factions of Sea of Stars. The Terrans are the only one you can play as in the campaign, but every faction is selectable in custom scenarios.

There are ten regular factions in Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars. In order of appearance, they are the Terrans, Garthans, Zorg, Urluquai, Muktians, Tan Ru, Klakar, Tchorak, Ravians, and Calatians. There are also two boss factions, the Yellow Kawangi and the Pirates, both of which only appear in their respective quests. Supplementary material also stated that there are rivalries involving pairs of factions: the Garthans are the Terrans' (and possibly Muktians',) arch-enemies, and the Urluquai are the nemesis of the Zorg (and also the Terrans), while the Tan Ru are hostile to every other race in the sector - unsurprising, since they were described as "oblivious to biological life". Moreover, the Klakar also despise the Garthans, as do the Calatians, who also happen to hold a grudge against the Ravians and Tan Ru (as stated in one of their pre-battle quotes when they are allied with you). Finally, the Tchorak and Ravians are also hostile to everyone else, although the former can be forced to ally with you if you give them a Crystal Fish.

You can only play as the Terrans in the campaign, but any and every race can be selected in user-generated battle scenarios. However, in any campaign, the map will be populated by flotillas from seven other factions. The Klakar (which are the only faction to always be allied with you) will always be among them, but there will also be flotillas from two of the three "neutral" factions (Muktians, Zorg, Calatians), and you will also encounter vessels from four of the five "hostile" factions (Garthans, Urluquai, Tan Ru, Tchorak, Ravians).




Above, from top: When encountering a flotilla from a neutral faction, you can withdraw or attack them, preserving their neutrality or causing them to become hostile towards you respectively. However, if you have a vessel from a normally neutral faction in your flotilla, and you encounter a flotilla from that faction, they will become your allies for the rest of the game.

There is a key difference between neutral and hostile factions. The latter always attack on sight (with the exception of the Tchorak as stated previously), unlike neutral factions, which will only attack if you provoke them, and will leave you alone if you withdraw from a system under their control, but will ally with you whenever you engage any of their flotillas (or arrive at their homeworld, if it is undefended) with one of their own vessels (or, in the case of the Calatians, while carrying Calatian castaways in your cargo bay). Both boss factions are also hostile, but due to the absence of the Mantle of Babulon (which forced non-allied races to join forces with you in previous games), you must engage in combat with the Garthans or Urluquai whenever you encounter them. Worse, attacking a neutral faction's vessels is the only way to explore the systems they occupy if you have no chance of negotiating them, such as when you have to explore the Muktians' home system but a noble Muktian vessel is not among the allies you can encounter, befriend and ultimately add to your flotilla.

Finally, the two special factions (Yellow Kawangi and Pirates) are guaranteed to be hostile whenever you encounter them, and must always be eliminated altogether from the sector in that case. Failure to do so within the time limit will lead to the destruction of the entire Glory system (where the Terran home world, Hope, is located) at the very least. Defeating them outright, however, effectively completes your quest since although some systems may remain unexplored by then, Glory cannot be annihilated. I hope you are equally skilled both in combat and negotiation - you'll need em to conquer the galaxy!

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