AFS/Cores

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Cores, what they are, and a brief history


What is a Core?

As you're a new player to Allegiance you're probably not aware that different servers run slight variations of the game. These different versions are called cores. Cores in Allegiance are somewhat like mods in other games, but they have distinct limits on what they can affect. That is, Core files determine the statistics of all the various ships, weapons, equipment, structures, and technology present in the game.


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Example Think of it like this. You are playing a FPS set in World War II and you run out of ammo for your M1 Garand. It takes you 3 seconds to reload. Now you jump into another WWII game and everything is exactly the same except the developer of this one decided the M1 Garand was a bit overpowered and so increased its reload time to 3.5 seconds. Same game, tiny difference.

Different cores in Allegiance have thousands, if not tens of thousands, of these tiny differences affecting everything from the scale of the model to ship speed to damage per second. What you have is technically the same game, but add all these differences up and it's effectively a different one.


There's quite a bit of flexibility in terms of creating new kinds of ships, weapons, and so on. However since core files are simply data files they have no ability to override the 'rules' of the game. For example, you can create a new kind of item that is equipped in a ship's cloaking slot, but all it can do is modify the signature level and energy consumption of the ship.

Cores come and go, but there are several which are regularly played for pickup games and squad games. Cores also have varying levels of popularity within the community and there is no longer a "standard" core. However all cores have evolved from either each other, or from the last official core released by Microsoft, MS 1.25. MS 1.25 is no longer hosted on any servers.

Ultimately this means while all cores are Allegiance-like, different cores favor different styles of play, and it's important to know which core you're playing on. Why? Because equipment you're used to seeing in one core may not exist in another, and some ships may require different tactics to use effectively.

Cores which you may commonly run into are:

  • Community core (CC) - The most commonly played pick up game core, this core is developed by community feedback.
  • Dark Nebulae (DN) - Features several player-designed factions and unique equipment. CC is based upon this core.
  • Good Old Days (GOD) - One of several cores attempting to stay close to the MS 1.25 core, while addressing its balance issues.
  • A+ - The first player made core, based on MS 1.25.
  • Edge of Reality (EoR) - EoR attempts to provide a different Allegiance experience, based on outfitting your ships with the right tools for the right job.
  • Pook Core (PC) - Pook's attempt at creating a core based closely on the MS 1.25 release. Features only the original factions, and strongly favors the scout.
  • Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) - This core is based on the concept of an arms race, containing a total of 5 tech levels (compared to the standard of 3). It also contains some unique structures, such as teleops.
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Optional: The core development forum holds most of the ongoing discussions and information on each of the major cores.
Early concept art