Vorp

Overview

Who Are You?

You are a Commander. Your deep space armada is engaged in a battle with an enemy armada over Clichebangium (B!) resources. You are responsible for Defense of the Armada.

What Are You Supposed To Do?

The game takes place on the exterior of two opposing capital ships engaged in battle, broadside each other. Each capital ship has numerous automated defenses, such as towers, drone fighters and shield devices. The objective is to destroy the enemy capital ship’s energy core.

Commanders are in control of the specialized space fighters flying between the capital ships. All Commander ships start the match at Level 1, near your capital ship’s energy core. You must defend this core, while at the same time trying to destroy the enemy’s energy core on the opposite end of the map.

Every pilot and ship has completely unique loadouts (weapons and abilities) and each requires different approaches to how you play a match.

Starting a Match

To play, you first have to be matched with 9 other people to make two teams of five. Click the large green “Battle” button to place yourself in a match making queue. Once you are matched up with enough other Commanders, you will be placed in a match lobby together.

Hit ENTER or click on the chat field to chat with your team at this time to plan strategy and tactics and compose your pilot selection (the enemy team cannot see this chat). You will not be able to see the enemy team’s selections until the match begins. When everyone is ready or the countdown finishes, the match will begin.

Selecting a Pilot

Select a pilot to command for the current match by clicking any available thumbnail. You can choose from any pilot that is currently free or unlocked on your account, and that hasn’t been selected by someone else on your team yet. Read the descriptions carefully; every pilot and ship are quite different and require different approaches to be successful.

You can see which pilots your teammates are selecting in the match lobby. Some pilots will be more effective when combined with certain other pilots. Try lots of different combinations of teams and upgrade strategies to find the best ways to win. More information about current pilots is kept on the About Pilots and Ships pages.

Selecting Ops

Ops (short for Commander Operations) first become available at Commander Rank 2. They are special abilities you can use with any pilot and ship during a match. Although there are many different Ops to choose from, you can only select 2 Ops to utilize during your next match. Select the Ops panel and click two different thumbnails to choose which Ops to have available during your next match.

You can activate your selected Ops with the D and F keys during a match. You automatically unlock a new Op every few Commander Ranks.

Selecting Tech

Tech modules begin to be available at Commander Rank 3. They are enhancements that alter your current ship’s statistics and abilities during the course of a match. While a single Tech module is only a small adjustment, many Tech modules in combination can be significant. Select the Tech panel and drag and drop the modules you want into available slots.

Equipped Tech effects are automatically activated during a match as you spend upgrade points. You unlock additional Tech slots with every Commander Rank. Additional Tech modules can be acquired for B! To learn more about Tech, visit the About Tech page.

Controls

Movement

Flying a ship in Vorp is an art form. While it is easy to learn the basics, every ship has unique flight characteristics and subtlety to master. Every ship uses thrusters to accelerate and some degree of momentum drifting. Your ship will always attempt to aim in the direction of your mouse cursor.

• Aim with mouse
• Left-click fires your primary Loadout (same as Q key)
• NOTE: Mac defaults to single mouse button control, so Left-click thrusts and double Left-click afterburners
• Right-click thrusts your ship forward
• SPACE reverse thrusts
• Double R-click or SHIFT activates afterburners (costs energy but boosts speed)

Loadouts & Ops

Loadouts and Ops are your abilities and weapons. Pay close attention to each Loadout's energy cost and cooldown (how long until you can use it again) to maximize your effectiveness.

• Q, W, E, R keys each activate the corresponding ship Loadout slot.
• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 keys each spend an upgrade point on the corresponding Loadout or Hull slot.
• D, F keys each activate your selected Ops abilities.

Communication & Alerts

Hit ENTER or click the chat icon to type and send text chat with your teammates. Hit ENTER again to send whatever you type.

You can also send global chat to everyone in the match (including enemies) by hitting SHIFT-ENTER or typing “/g “ at the beginning of a chat line.

Hold the ALT key and click on the minimap to send a ping alert to your teammates at that point. This will alert your team that some kind of action needs to be taken at that location.

The game will also alert you when key strategic events are occurring, such as your Shield Emitter coming under attack, or your Core Shields going to zero.

Options

• F9 toggles full screen mode. Full screen is highly recommended during a match.
• Turning on V-sync will eliminate tearing in full screen mode (this is the appearance of a sort of horizontal stripe seeming to tear the display constantly).
• You can mute the game music, or all audio completely in the Options menu, accessible through UI buttons along the top of the screen.

Objectives

Destroy the Core

To destroy the enemy capital ship, you must destroy its core energy generator. The energy cores are shielded, and cannot be damaged until those shields are down. The capital ships are equally matched at the start of the game, and are slowly draining each other’s shields in the larger scale attack. The energy cores are connected via energy conduits to several shielding devices around the capital ship. There are two types: shield batteries, and shield emitters.

You can see how much shield energy remains and the status of all shield devices by the big numbers at the top of your HUD that are slowly decaying in value. When the core shields reach zero, the capital ship core is open to attack. The core is very fragile and won’t take much damage, so defend it at all costs if your shields are down!

Shield Emitters

Destroying a shield emitter will greatly increase the rate at which the shield energy is decaying. Destroying a shield emitter early in a match can create a big advantage. Shield emitters are themselves shielded by their linked defensive turret towers, and cannot be damaged until the towers are destroyed first.

Shield Batteries

Destroying a shield battery will cause a huge chunk of capital ship shield energy to dissipate immediately. Shield batteries are themselves shielded by their linked defensive turret towers, and cannot be damaged until the towers are destroyed first.

Towers

There are several different types of defensive towers across the capital ships. They are extremely dangerous to single enemy fighter ships, and are best assaulted in groups. Most of these are linked to other objectives such as shield devices and disruptor fields. Linked towers must be destroyed in order to damage the structures they are defending.

Disruptor Fields

Disruptor fields are usually deployed between towers at critical defense chokepoints. They severely disrupt enemy thrust engines, leaving any enemy foolish enough to dive through one a sitting duck for surrounding turrets and allied pilots. Disruptor fields are disabled when their linked defensive turrets are destroyed.

Hostiles

• Light Fighter Drone - The Light Fighter drone is usually deployed in small waves to keep constant cover fire and harassment over a target area. Light Fighter drones use an auto-aiming beam attack that negates enemy positional advantages. Commander led pilots can dispatch them relatively easily in small numbers.
• Heavy Assault Drone - Heavy Assault drones are big and slow but mount significant firepower in their dual multiple-barrel cannons. If left unchecked, Heavies can make a serious dent in enemy defenses. Approach from the sides or rear, and don’t get caught in the stream of fire from their cannons.
• Enemy Pilots - Enemy pilots being controlled by other Commanders are your biggest threat in Vorp. They have a diverse range of capabilities, are extremely mobile, and capable of unexpected tactics.

Reconstructing a Commander controlled ship if it explodes taps some of the capital ship’s energy levels. This means every time you destroy an enemy pilot, you are effectively weakening the energy core shielding as well.

Powering Up

VORP - Volatile Output Radiation Particles

Energy Is Your Life and Your Ammo - A unique aspect of Vorp is that a single pool of energy is used for everything: weapons, abilities, shields, afterburners, life support. VORP (Volatile Output Radiation Particles) is the basis of all energy in the game. When it reaches a zero point, it explodes!

You do not have “hit points” or “life” separate from your energy pool. This means if you use up too much energy blasting your guns and spamming abilities, you will be an easy target for a counter attack. You will be much more deadly if you are smart about timing your tactics instead of just zooming into a fight with afterburners on and guns blazing.

Your ship’s energy regenerates slowly automatically, and improves with hull upgrades. You can also restore energy quickly at friendly depots, and by collecting drifting green VORPs you may see after destroying enemies. Manage your energy carefully!

ATOMs - Asymptotic Transitional Omni-Molecules

You level up your ship for upgrades by collecting ATOMs (Asymptotic Transitional Omni-Molecules). You gain ATOMs through battling the enemy. If you kill an enemy, assist in a kill, or are simply nearby a kill, you will gain an automatic ATOM bounty. Once your ATOM levels reach the next level tier, you will level up!

You can also collect bonus ATOMs in your cargo by flying over any drifting purple crystals you see; bonus ATOMs must be deposited at a friendly depot before you die or they will be scattered for enemies to collect. If you have a full cargo, find a depot quickly!

Depots

Depots serve a few different purposes. To start, you deposit the bonus ATOMs you collect here to level up faster. Additionally, your ship's energy pool will recharge much quicker inside a depot. And finally, a depot's shields are impervious to hostile fire, preventing any friendly ship inside from taking damage.

Upgrading

Every time you level up, you get one upgrade point to spend. You can spend upgrade points on any of your four loadouts, or you can spend it on a hull upgrade. Experiment with different orders of spending your points throughout a match, it can make a HUGE difference in your effectiveness at various points in the game.

The higher level you are, the longer it will take to reconstruct your ship. So… try not to die, while at the same time trying to score kills on enemy Commanders.

Commander Advancement

Every match you play, you will gain XP (Commander Experience) and Bang (or B!, short for Clichebangium) which is the most precious material in the known universe of Vorp. Even if you lose a match you will still come away with some XP and B!

XP - Commander Experience

XP will level up your Commander Rank, which will unlock access to more Commander Operations and Tech Module slots. Ops and Tech can be used to customize your chosen pilot and ship even further in a match.

B! - "Bang" or Clichebangium ¹³³⁷

You gain B! for earning various achievements and accomplishing certain feats in every match, such as destroying a tower, or taking out a shielding device. B! can be spent on unlocking new pilots and ships with devastating new abilities, and you can spend it on more Tech mods as you increase your Commander Rank.

You can also purchase bundles of B! for Kongregate Kreds if you want to unlock more options sooner.

Boosts

Boosts are a great way to speed up your Commander Advancement in Vorp to give you more options every match sooner. You can spend a few Kreds to double the rate you earn XP or B! after every match!