Diplomacy has failed.

Commonwealth is a game of war. You command a set of ships loyal to your faction, and it's your duty to lead your troops to victory against all who oppose you.

There can be only one Intersolar Hegemon. Are you up to the challenge?

Features

• Classic board-game play based on Ploy.
• Multiple board and piece themes, such as Classic, Chess, and the TV-inspired Squadron.
• New board layouts. Space isn't flat, and board games don't have to be either!
• Snazzy real-time 3D graphics and animations.
• A terrific, futuristic soundtrack and explosive sound effects by D.J. Pack Rabbit.
• Campaign Mode, with play across multiple scenarios and extensions to the Classic Mode rules.
• Multiplayer! Choose from Hotseat play for up to four, Play-by-Rendevous for quick network action, or even Play-by-Email.
• Built-in campaign and board editors -- share your creations on our forums. (Forums not yet active.)
• And so much more.

What are you waiting for? Download the free beta today!

Rules

The rules in Commonwealth are simple. There are only two conditions for victory: the capture of the enemy captain, or the capture of all her pieces.

Play is turn-based. During a turn, a player may either move or rotate any of their own pieces. Each piece possesses between one and for "prongs," directional markers that indicate the directions in which the piece can move at any given time. Pieces can only moved along paths that match their prong directions. Rotating pieces turns their prongs and opens up options for mobility.

You can only capture pieces the piece your moving finishes its move on an enemy-occupied space. The different types of pieces move different distances, as in chess.

Rule Expansions

In addition to the classic rules, Commonwealth supports optional rule expansions to add new strategies and exciting new gameplay. You can assign hit points and attack points by player class, add advantages and disadvantages, change movement distances, add time limits, and more.

Also, using the Board Editor, you can create your own board layouts and scenarios. Make boards multi-dimensional. Create challenging scenario battles, games that start mid-way through with the player in a tight position. Add immobile obstacles like asteroids to the game board. When you're finished, save and share your creations with friends.

Campaigning

While not available in the current beta, Commonwealth will support extensive Campaigns - games played across multiple, ever-increasingly-challenging scenarios, ultimately leading you to the heart of an enemy empire and the homeworld of your nemesis.

Campaign scenarios have preset piece locations, movement rule changes, hit points per piece, obstacles on the board, and more. v1.0 of Commonwealth will ship with one campaign of fifty scenarios, and more campaign modules will be included in future updates.

Graphics

Commonwealth uses a state-of-the-art 3D game engine based on the CrystalSpace SDK. This means that impressive 3D scenery is possible, complete with all the current industry buzzwords: pixel shaders, normal mapping, dynamic lighting (some of it cast by planets!), and high-resolution piece and board meshes.

What's more, talented artists can extend the game through custom piece sets, custom textures, and custom board models and blockades. Want to simulate the battle at Wolf 359? With a good 3D modeling package, your imagination is the limit.

Blender 2.44 integration is provided through Python scripts. Supported non-native model formats include .OBJ and COLLADA. Textures must be 32-bit PNGs only. Support for direct export from Cinema 4D is coming.

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