Visibility is the battlefield: designing sensors and fog of war
Why sensors, stealth, and first contact are core mechanics in Shattered Reaches — not screen filters — and what that means for how a battle actually plays.
Why fog of war matters in fleet combat
In most space strategy games, visibility is a convenience. In Shattered Reaches it is the thing the whole battle turns on. You commit move and fire orders under visibility limits, weapon arcs, and shield pressure — and you do not get to see everything before you commit.
The tools you have
Sensors extend what you can resolve. Stealth and cloak let you deny the enemy that same information. Forced contacts and first contact create moments where the galaxy surprises you. None of this is decoration; it is the decision space.
What this changes for the player
Because the sim is deterministic — seeded RNG plus command streams — the same orders always produce the same battle. That makes visibility a skill you can learn and replay, not a coin flip. It also makes the combat a fair place to test doctrine before you spend scarce campaign resources on a real engagement.