Gameplay

THE MAIN GAME MENU
The main menu allows you to start a new game, continue your last game or to load previously saved games. You can also exit Horizon from here.

New Game: Takes you to New Game Setup screen to start a new game Continue: Loads the most recent saved game and brings you to the Galaxy Map Load Game: Brings up a list of saved games to select a game to load Credits: Takes you to the credits screen Website: Takes you to the Horizon Game webpage Quit: Exits the game to Windows

NEW GAME SETUP
We begin where most strategy games begin by setting up and customizing the game by choosing the galaxy settings, customizing our race and selecting opponents. The game setup screen is divided into 3 main parts.

The player window: The player window, found on the left of the screen shows your government name and flag. Clicking on this window takes you to the race customization screen where you can choose and change default racial settings including your Government, Homeworld, racial aptitude and special abilities.

The opponents window: The opponents window, found on the right of the screen lists the alien civilizations enabled as your opponents. Clicking on this window takes you to the opponents’ selection screen where you can see the description of each alien race and their profile and relations with you which you can optionally change (profiles are locked in story mode).

Galaxy settings: The third window at the bottom allows you to set various settings that can change the pace and style of game played. These settings pertain to how the Galaxy will be populated (Quantity of stars, Anomalies, Planets per system, Amount of life-sustaining planets and Special Planets with additional benefits). You may also choose whether to play a Normal or Classic game scenario. In Normal mode, civilizations start at different levels where as in Classic mode everyone begins the game at the same level. Missions/Tutorials can be toggled on/off. The Tutorial requires missions to be enabled.


 * Quantity of Stars
 * Galaxies are vast in space and Horizon imparts this important aspect by keeping the galaxy size fixed yet allowing you to choose the number of stars available for exploration and colonization in the game. The settings are between Low (30 stars) to very high (200 stars), with the largest setting allowing a galaxy with more than a thousand planets to explore. For quick and faster games choose galaxies populated with less star systems where contact with other races is more immediate. The more stars you select the longer a game is likely to last with a longer development time, more resources and more time to build vast empires and massive fleets. Note: With older or slower computers playing a game with a large number of stars may be slow at the end of the game.


 * Quantity of Anomalies
 * The quantity of anomalies refers to the number of irregularities in the galaxy such as black holes, wormholes and neutron stars. These can have various effects for an empire if they happen to be near and can be strategically invaluable. This setting is dependent on the Qty of Stars in the galaxy and refers to the total number of anomalies in the galaxy.


 * Quantity of Planets
 * The quantity of planets setting lets the player set the maximum number of planets per system. Certain systems (like the solar system) are not affected by this setting but the majority in the galaxy will be limited by this.


 * Habitable Planets
 * Not all planets are suitable for sustaining life. The habitable planets’ setting sets the general amount of such planets. The more common they are in a galaxy the more likelihood of finding a suitable planet to colonize.


 * Special Planets
 * The last setting sets the amount of planets with specials on them. These specials give planets additional bonuses that can give significant benefits and make them highly valuable for colonization.

RACE CUSTOMIZATION
This screen allows changing the default attributes and abilities of the player race.

GOVERNMENT
The Government section allows you to define your government type and empire name. You may choose from three types: Representative, Feudal and Unified.

Representative: This type of government is formed by elected representatives who work for the interests of their people. It involves a parliamentary system where decisions are made by majority.

Feudal: Powerful clans or families make up the governing body in this type of government. While they are not elected, their popularity and strength in the eyes of their people determine the length of their rule.

Unified: When everyone works for the needs of the many, it forms a collective society. This society is supervised by a unified body that makes up their government. Individuals in such a society readily put the needs of the whole society before their personal interests or advancement.