Falling Frontier Dev Update: Combat Overview

Hi all, I wanted to take some time to give you a preview of what combat will look like in Falling Frontier. If you happened to read my development update from November, you know that the combat system has gotten a lot of development attention, and has moved from an arcade style system to a simulated system, complete with munitions firing, explosions, and ships breaking apart.

As it exists now, Falling Frontier’s combat is broken up into what I would define as 4 distinct phases. These phases are all being played out in real time, and what determines the phase you’re in will be a mix of information, distance, and armament. Here’s a general breakdown of what each phase looks like and what you can expect to see.

Phase 1: Information Acquisition

This combat phase typically occurs at the greatest distance. There are no enemies within visual range, but they may still be active in the AO (area of operations). Anything outside of a ship’s vision, but still relatively close within the navigation plane, is presented as a LiDAR contact. The closer the object gets to visual range, the clearer it becomes.

This phase is very much about attempting to understand more than your enemy through the use of ship composition and modules, helping you understand the battlespace more effectively.

This series of screenshots shows a destroyed vessel entering visual range and becoming "known" via LiDAR.

Phase 2: The Long War

This phase is all about missiles, rockets, and VLS (vertical launched systems). You will be lobbing long-range missiles and attempting to overwhelm CIWs (close in weapons systems). The hope is to land one or two decisive shots that can take several vital systems or defenses offline, crippling the enemy ship. Strong opening moves in this phase can be incredibly valuable for what’s next.

In the screenshots below, a Berwick Frigate paints a target in close range while a Sheffield Destroyer sits behind an asteroid that's well out of range. The Sheffield Destroyer fires several missiles, and at least one hits its target. Others followed decoys, and some got lost to asteroids in the AO.

Phase 3: Mid-Range Warfare

This phase is where a lot of different things can happen. You know what the battlespace looks like, and you know what it could evolve into. Mid-range is where you start to manoeuvre your vessels based upon your assessment of the AO.

This is also when you’ll likely be able to launch a second major salvo of your VLS, if you have them. Regardless, during this phase it can be beneficial to stick close to any asteroid clusters that you can. Enemy missiles love to get confused by those asteroids.

This mid-range phase is also where your main battle guns will come online. Their shots won’t be accurate (unless you’re using railguns), but they will lay down the law as best they can.

Let's return to our Berwick Frigate. In these screenshots, it's moved into cover near some asteroid and has begun firing a rail gun. Meanwhile, a friendly Coventry Frigate has engaged in some electronic warfare, and is disrupting nearby missiles in the AO.

Phase 4: Looking Death in the Eye

This phase is where things get up close and personal. It’s all about broadsides and trying to manoeuvre your ships into the blind spot of your opponents’, while also keeping in mind that just because you’re in the blind spot of Ship A doesn’t mean that your enemy has no visibility on you. Ship B might have Ship A covered, and has moved into your blind spot.

This is the gloves off moment. If you’re in this close, you’re not having a good day. Even if you win.

When you string all these phases together, you have a complete combat encounter in Falling Frontier. Here's a preview of what that looks like -- including updated Jump mechanics, the in-world UI, scanning effects, drone squadrons, cannons, missiles, railguns, asteroid destruction, and etc.

Final Thoughts

In Falling Frontier, every combat phase has something that can change or influence what you do next. Is an enemy ship equipped with electronic warfare that can disrupt missiles or targeting solutions? That’s going to have consequences in the long-range phase of your encounter. Does your ship have a targeting module allowing long range cruise missiles to find their target from behind an asteroid? That might change how you approach the mid-range phase.

Not only will your decisions inform how you approach the battlespace, but there is also room for chance to play a role. Even if you were to play the exact same battle 10 times, you would never see exactly the same result. There’s always an element of chance with every calculation. So you will go into each battle encounter knowing that it won’t be quite the same as your last.

Transmission Channels: Join the Falling Frontier Community

Stay connected across the Frontier through the following links: [Discord] [Bluesky] [Twitter] [YouTube] [Instagram] [Reddit]