Hello everyone! Welcome back to Blueprints, where I explain some of the design decisions of Aerostrike. In this issue, I will explain a bit about the design of the various battles and what makes them stand out.

One of Aerostrike's main components is its combat. Brawling in the depths of the various underground UHG facilities with all kinds of foes. However, there is a surprisingly delicate balancing act that has to be performed when setting up these engagements. Each encounter has to be set up to have just the right amount of difficulty for each part of the game. If the battle is too hard, it may create frustration, while an easy encounter may give little satisfaction. They also have to demand something out of the player to keep things fresh, be it finesse, awareness, adaptability, or even just a strong enough sense of survival. So, let's look at how this is achieved.

One of the main aspects used to balance an encounter is the enemy types fought. There are a lot of enemy ships, and each one of them has something unique to offer. Mix-and-matching them in various ways will create different results. However, certain combinations are a lot more difficult to tackle, as they compliment each other and reduce the impact of their individual weaknesses. A Javelin can snipe freely if it has a wall of Titans between it and its target. The arena itself also impacts how easy or difficult it may be to deal with an opponent. Enemies that require you to dodge their attacks will thrive in enviroments where you cannot easily maneuver. Getting caught in a corridor by a swarm of Scouts may quickly send you to the scrapyard.

Another important balancing aspect is the amount of foes encountered, and how they are fought. Skirmishes in Aerostrike are very chaotic, and almost never end without both sides sustaining damage. Long battles will slowly wear out its combatants, requiring them to be more careful than usual. Fighting large groups of opponents at once puts a strain on one's situational awareness. It is relatively easy to keep track of 2 Brawlers, but not so much 8 Brawlers. Consecutive battles force a constant change of tactics, as the conditions will change between each one of them. They test the knowledge and adaptability of the pilot. Creating different styles of battles makes for a much more interesting experience than just slowly increasing how many Destroyers spawn each time.

With these tools, the various combat scenarios of Aerostrike are crafted and tested until a (mostly) ideal balance is reached. But these are all just normal battles. What about the real fights against boss-type enemies? Join me next issue to find out. Stay safe, Pilots!