Corebound
Dev Notes
What changed in Corebound, why, and what it means for your strategy – newest first. The rules in detail are in the guide.
- A proper front door
Until today the start page said little more than "coming soon". Now it tells newcomers what Fleet Commander is:
- A roadmap
Where is Fleet Commander heading? The new roadmap at /roadmap/ shows it at a glance: battles, the galaxy, online play, factions and pilots, alliances and seasons are done; the website is in progress; an overview of all galaxies comes next, then more platforms and the launch.
- Commander profiles
Who is that commander who keeps taking your relays? Now you can find out:
- A press kit
Want to write about Fleet Commander or show it in a video? The new press kit at /press/ has what you need: the game in one sentence, the facts, a description, the features, eight screenshots from a phone, and the icon and banner to download. You'll find it in the footer of every page.
- A new look for the website
The website now looks like the game it belongs to:
- Named galaxies, visible gates
Two small things from your questions:
- Friends
Your friends started in other galaxies? Keep them close anyway:
- Your formation, your pilots
Two wishes from playtesting, now in the hangar:
- These notes have a home
The Dev Notes you are reading now have their own pages at /devnotes/ – every post since the first battle prototype, newest first, linked from the guide.
- How good is your deputy?
A player asked how well the AI generals actually play. So we let whole seasons run with a commander who never gives a single order and leaves everything to the deputy.
- Fleet Commander is now Corebound
"Fleet Commander" described the game well – a little too well: there are many games with that name. From today the game is called Corebound, after what every season is about: the race for the core at the heart of each galaxy.
- A bold deputy worth choosing
"Is the Bold deputy really better than Careful?" Honestly: until now it wasn't. It simply took riskier fights, lost more ships and ended a season behind.
- The swarm queen
Seasons now have a finale. In the last two days, something big settles at the core of the galaxy: the swarm queen.
- Special ships
Every faction now has a ship that only it can build:
- Seasons with a theme
Every season now has a character of its own:
- Research
A tester asked for better ships through research – "even the current ones?" – and for a simpler start. Both are in.
- Your feedback, this morning
Three questions came in from playtesting, and all three led to changes:
- Pilots who grow
Two last pieces for your crew:
- Into the nebula
Nebulae finally do what the plan promised: they hide things.
- Jump gates
Your friends started in another galaxy? You no longer have to wait for the next season.
- The guide is online
The Fleet Commander guide now has its own pages at /guide/ – eleven chapters from first steps to strategies, with tables, worked examples and the simulation boxes you may know from these notes.
- Your feedback, this evening
Five notes came in from playtesting tonight:
- Choosing your fleet
Three more notes from playtesting:
- Campaigns
Win a battle yourself and your fleet no longer has to fly straight home: while it is on the way back, the banner shows Press on.
- What happened while you were away
A player asked: "When I come back, what did my deputy actually do?" Fair question – the report only said how many orders it gave.
- Ambush!
Anomalies always promised rare rewards. Now they are dangerous, too.
- Alliances
Play with your friends: found an alliance from the ranking, share the invite link, and up to three commanders – any faction – fight on the same side.
- Alliance missions
Alliances now have something to aim for together. Every season brings four missions in your galaxy:
- Alliance history
"Do alliances get anything at the end of the season?" – a fair question from playtesting. Until now: a team ranking while the season ran, and nothing afterwards. Now:
- Your pilots have faces now
"Where are the people?" – one of the clearest things our testers said. Fleet Commander was always meant to be about the crew, so pilots are now people.
- A deputy for the night shift
Fleet Commander is played in short breaks – and between those breaks, your fleet used to wait. Now there is a deputy admiral on the bridge.
- The galaxy wakes up
A shared galaxy with only you in it is a lonely place. From this version on, every start zone without a player is taken by an AI commander.
- A goal in the centre of the galaxy
Our second playtest was honest: "I don't really see what the goal is – it feels like a big spreadsheet." Fair. So this round of changes is about direction and calm.
- Welcome to the bridge
Our first playtest said it plainly: too many numbers, too many lists, too many decisions before anything happens. Fleet Commander is meant for five-minute breaks, so this step is about doing more with fewer taps. The rules did not change.
- Deep space behind the map
The galaxy map used to float on a flat dark gradient. Now there is a starfield behind it, from Cozy Space Lite by Spaceyyy.
- The fleet finds its voice
Until now every sound in Fleet Commander was a beep generated in code – good enough to know something happened, not much more. This update brings real sound effects.
- You are not alone
Until now every account had a galaxy of its own. From this version on, commanders share one.
- Fleet Commander on your home screen
Fleet Commander is built for short breaks, and short breaks start on a phone's home screen. From this version on you can install it like an app.
- Goals, and a faster first evening
We let a bot play the game by following nothing but the Next step card, and counted how often it had something useful to do. The first twenty minutes were busy – four sectors, ships, pilots. Then it hit a wall: the next pirate sectors need about 24 command points, and the bridge upgrade that gives them took more than six hours. After half an hour there was simply nothing to do.
- Faces in the galaxy
Two places got a picture instead of a placeholder.
- Easier to play
This step adds no new rules. It makes the game easier to start, easier to read and playable without a mouse.
- A map you can read, a bridge without spreadsheets
The map
- Your game on the server
Until now Fleet Commander lived entirely in your browser. From this version on you can create an account, and your game moves to the server.
- A galaxy to conquer
The game page now opens on a galaxy: a hex map of 331 sectors with asteroid fields, gas giants, shipyards, academies, relays, nebulae, anomalies and jump gates. Everything still runs in your browser – the server comes in a later step.
- The first playable battle
The battle prototype is playable at
/play/. You set up your fleet on the grid, pick a doctrine and two abilities, choose one of five test opponents and watch the battle – at normal speed, two or four times faster, or straight to the result. - Battles in rows
Fleet Commander has no home base: your fleet is your realm. That makes battles the heart of the game, so they are the first thing we build, before the galaxy map and before the server. The question for this first prototype is simple: is a battle fun to plan and fun to watch?