Ascendancy is a 4X science fiction turn-based strategy computer game. It was originally released for MS-DOS in 1995 and was updated and re-released for iOS in 2011 by The Logic Factory. Ascendancy is a galactic struggle to become the dominant life form, hence the title. The game's introductory cinematic states: "Wildly different cultures competed for the same worlds. In the enormous upheaval that followed, one of these species would gain ascendancy."
The iOS version of Ascendancy was a Universal app, meaning it was designed for both the iPad and the iPhone / iPod touch platforms.
The original Ascendancy was released during a golden age of 4X space games in the mid-1990s. Several reviewers praised the game for having great graphics being entertaining, and being fun to play.
The original version of the game won the Software Publisher's Association Codie award for Best Strategy Software of 1996, as voted on by games industry members.
The music of the game was composed by Nenad Vugrinec.
Gameplay
In Ascendancy the player takes on the role of leader of an alien species, tasked with guiding their people into space to explore and colonize other worlds. The player does this by building structures and space ships, researching technology and growing stronger through war or diplomacy.
Players begin with a single colony planet which must be developed. They can select several types of buildings to construct on the planet's surface and can eventually construct spaceships and leave the planet altogether. Ships travel to other solar systems along determined paths, called star lanes. Spaceships can peacefully colonize unoccupied planets or invade inhabited planets and usurp structures. They can also do battle with enemy planets or other ships.
Ascendancy's primary display is a three-dimensional rotatable model of the star cluster, which details the star cluster's solar systems, starlanes, and civilizations. The player can "zoom in" to view rotatable models of solar systems (including planets and ships); view a planet's surface and use various screens to manage their fleet, planets and research. This play style is similar to the Master of Orion series.
Planets
On each planet the player must manage three areas of development: Research, Industry and Prosperity. Research points are shared among all colonies and allow the player to learn new technology, such as advanced building structures or spaceship components. Industry, meanwhile, is local to each colony and determines how quickly that planet can complete projects. Prosperity determines how quickly a planet's population will grow, providing additional workers for future construction. Players begin with the ability to construct buildings for each of these areas and can discover more as the game progresses.
Planet topography is expressed as various colored squares. White squares are general purpose, where any structure can be built. Green squares increase the output of Prosperity-producing buildings, while red squares improve Industry and blue squares improve Research. There are also black squares, which are initially uninhabitable but can be used later in the game as the player researches technology. Planets have ten orbital squares that can be used to build shipyards, planetary defenses, space ships, and other space structures.
As the player explores other planets they may occasionally find ruins from an ancient civilization. These ruins can be harvested to gain undiscovered technologies, which can significantly alter the game.
Diplomacy
Ascendancy contains a Diplomacy screen where players can offer alliances to other species, declare war and exchange information on star lanes, planets or research. Players can request military assistance from their allies or attempt to end declarations of war with hostile factions. There is also an Intelligence display where the player can view information on the relative power of known species.
Game parameters
When starting a new game players select several parameters, including their species, a star density, a political atmosphere and the number of opponents.
There are 21 species to choose from in Ascendancy, each of which has a unique special ability. Some abilities can be used at regular intervals, such as the Capelon's ability to make their colonies temporarily invulnerable. Other abilities, such as the Chronomyst traveling quickly through star lanes, are continually active. All opponent species (numbering from two to six) are controlled by a computer AI and are selected randomly.