Infinite Realms (Part One)

Infinite Realms is a free browser-based MMORTS that is played using your facebook account. According to its makers, Joyport, Infinite Realms is supposedly the next-generation strategy game that will potentially redefine your experiences in playing RTS games.

Generally, what players do in this game is explore the universe, travelling through the galaxies with the sole mission of expanding their territories and pulverizing any who stands in their way.

Before you rush off to pummel others or get pummeled yourself, you must first learn the ways of Infinite Realms. And thankfully for that, the game spares you from suiciding by starting you off in a "protected" environment.

While in this environment, you will get a mentor called "Ten'lev" who will show you the ropes.

Basically, all he ever does is blah blah blah and yap yap yap and then assign you missions. Upon clearing these missions, you will get rewarded with resources or speed-up items.

Although it might be boring, I would advise that you bear with him and go through the missions as they are vital in showing you the various features of the game.

Perhaps a plus point, the more complex functions and features are locked and hidden from the player initially. As the player progresses by completing missions or fulfilling some criteria, these features will slowly be unlocked and introduced to him.

In my opinion, by introducing the features this way, it will make the game easier to digest for the player. This prevents the player from dumping the game due to an information overload.

Being an RTS, Infinite Realms naturally have the elements of building structures and managing resources in it. The picture above shows the "Outpost" view. It is in this view that you will build the various resource producing structures and military training facilities.

Outpost Buildings
As far as I know, from playing the game these few days, there are six buildings which you can build in the outpost. Three of the buildings are for producing resources and the other three for producing military units.

• Rations Depot
  The rations depot produces rations necessary for training units.
  
• Refinery
  The refinery extracts and refines verdium gas.
  
• Lucium Processor
  The lucium processor mines and processes lucium crystals.
  
• Barracks
  The barracks is where you train your basic ground units.
  
• Armory
  The armory is where heavy armor units are assembled.
  
• Fleet Hangar
  The fleet hangar is where aircraft units are built.
  

These six buildings can only be built upon those green squares that are highlighted as construction zones (as shown in the picture). However, there is no limit to the number of each type that you can build.

If you build more refineries, you will gain more verdium gas per hour. If you choose to build more barracks, you can then pump out ground units at a faster rate. There is no right or wrong number of each buildings to build. You just have to find your own balance depending on your needs.

Apart from these six buildings, there are five other buildings that you will encounter in the outpost. Some of these buildings are given to you right from the start while others are unlocked as you progress in the game.

• Command Center
  The command center determines the level cap of buildings at its outpost. From here, you can view your building status, rename your outpost and change its location by clicking the "relocate" button (this action uses 1 relocation plans).
  
• Lounge
  The lounge is where you'll find heroes available for hire. Each time you visit the lounge, you will only find two heroes in it. These heroes will stay in the lounge for one hour before new ones appear. If you don't like the heroes that you see, you can override the one hour cooldown by clicking the "refresh" button (this action uses 1 reinforcement permit).
  
• Radar Tower
  The radar tower is what you'll use to scan enemies on the surface map to gather information regarding the size of the attacking force and the commanding hero's stats. Another useful function of the radar tower is its ability to locate players that have recently attacked you (this action uses 1 residuum tracker).
  
• Defense Perimeter
  The defense perimeter is your first line of defense against other players attacking you. This is where you build turret defenses to fend off aggressors and protect your outpost.
  
• Stargate
  The stargate is used to unlock the mothership and transfer heroes and their armies to your other outposts. It is automatically built once your command center is upgraded to a certain level, and becomes functional as soon as you click on it. Once you've unlocked the stargate, it will be immediately available at every outpost that you own, regardless of their command center levels.
  

Resources
A major part of Infinite Realms involves collecting the resources necessary for construction and training troops. And wars are sometimes unavoidable when collecting the scarcer resources.

There are five types of resources in Infinite Realms. Whilst these resources aren't consumed over time, you will still need a steady supply coming in such that your constructions and trainings do not come to a stand still.

• Rations
  Rations are basically the food which you use to feed your troops and your workers. They are used in just about everything from training of military units to the upgrading of buildings.
  
  You can produce rations by building rations depots in your outpost and seizing control of food sources on the surface map. You can also acquire rations by defeating enemy camps, raiding other players' outposts and surveying defeated enemy camps on the surface map.
  
• Verdium
  Verdium is a sort of fuel that is usually required when training the more advanced military units and in advanced building upgrades.
  
  You can produce verdium by building refineries in your outpost and seizing control of verdium fields on the surface map. You can also acquire verdium by defeating enemy camps, raiding other players' outposts and surveying defeated enemy camps on the surface map.
  
• Lucium
  Lucium is a kind of crystal with a variety of uses. It tends to be quite rare and therefore fairly expensive and highly sought after. You will start needing lucium once you have upgraded your command center to level 6.
  
  You can produce lucium by building lucium processors in your outpost and seizing control of lucium mines on the surface map. You can also acquire lucium by defeating enemy camps, raiding other players' outposts and surveying defeated enemy camps on the surface map.
  
• Credits
  Credits are the main currency used in Infinite Realms. You will need credits to build, hire heroes, move heroes on the surface map and research technologies.
  
  Credits are obtained by completing missions and collecting your pay based on your rank. You can also get credits by selling equipment obtained from your skirmishes.
  
• Population
  Population is used when you train military units. This can include the unit itself, its crew (in the case of tanks and aircrafts) as well as its support staff such as maintenance technicians.
  
  Your population limit is determined by the conditions of your living quarters (found on the mothership). You can increase the population limit by upgrading buildings found in the living quarters and researching organic phasing technology in the laboratory (also found on the mothership). Once that limit is reached, you can only decrease it by losing units in battles, or dismissing them from service.
  

Next: Infinite Realms (Part Two)

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