Shields are an iconic part of science fiction drama – if there’s a spaceship involved, chances are that shields are involved. Whether someone is redirecting power to the forward shield or reporting to their commanding officer that shields are seconds away from failing, their existence has become an unquestioned piece of standard equipment in future worlds.

In space game design, shields serve another purpose. In their earliest iterations, like the original Wing Commander, shields were a way to alter gameplay significantly from traditional air combat encounters. Players could engage the enemy safe in the knowledge that there was a regenerative buffer should they suffer damage… meaning that head on attacks and other maneuvers were suddenly more of a viable option.
 

As space sims ‘grew up’ they adopted varying systems of shield management. Players could live their own microcosm of Star Trek’s “she needs more power!” moments by changing how much energy went to individual systems (typically shields, engines and weapons.) Shield management is the perfect distillation of the high stakes strategy and anticipation of space combat, gambling your life and your crew on the next move your opponent will make. There’s a lot going on in those tense moments, weighing resources against reality to squeeze out those few extra moments that can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Which is to say: shield management is a pretty important thing to get right in Star Citizen! As we hope to go deeper into a science fiction world than ever before attempted in gaming, we know we need a comprehensive shield system that goes beyond ‘shields up’ versus ‘shields down.’ It’s an incredibly important thing to get right, and the task ahead of the design team is to define all the little pieces that will begin to add up to those memorable moments.

Today, shield and power management in Arena Commander may seem simplistic… but it’s going to get much, much more interesting!
 
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