K-Project Is there an email address to contact Slitherine?

[NativeTexan]

Dear Slitherine K-Project Team,

Updated 02-22) to include link to two video's describe combat deck creation and video of actual combat (2 parts)

Video #1: https://youtu.be/bWlgwofKwZI (Walks the viewer through the Deck building process, describing different features and rules. Additionally, a brief description of the opposing factions.)
Video #2: https://youtu.be/Wf23MQ9arak (Displays the card combat system using the deck developed in Video #1)

I didn't see an email address to send my Idea too, so considered this the next best option! I tried sending using your contact marketing form, but it wasn't working for me.

### Who I Am

My name is Scott Kendall, and I am a software developer with over 20 years of professional experience building large-scale systems in the telecommunications industry. I have led and contributed to complex software projects throughout my career, and I bring that same engineering discipline to game development.

Ashes of Empire is a passion project -- the game I have wanted to make since I first played Master of Orion and Civilization decades ago. It draws from the science fiction I grew up on: Isaac Asimov's *Foundation* series, with its grand theme of an empire too vast to see its own collapse; and Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's *The Mote in God's Eye*, with its first-contact tension and alien civilizations that feel genuinely alien. On the gaming side, *Federation Space* -- the strategic-level Star Fleet board wargame where you commanded entire fleets across a galaxy of rival empires -- planted the seed for what this genre could be. Its dual-layer design, using a strategic map for fleet movement and then resolving pivotal engagements with detailed tactical combat, is a direct ancestor of what Dying Empire does with its galaxy map and card-based battles. I believe strategy gaming is overdue for a title that combines the depth of 4X empire management with the tactical satisfaction of card-based fleet combat, and that is exactly what Dying Empire delivers.

### The Game

**Dying Empire** is a 4X space strategy game built in Unity with a single-player campaign and PvP multiplayer combat, featuring a
dual-layer design:

**Strategic Layer -- Hex-Based Galaxy Map**
- Procedurally generated galaxies (16x16 to 64x64 hex grids) with scalable map sizes
- 6 playable factions plus event-spawned pirates, each with unique lore, ships, and playstyles
- Full economic simulation: Production Points, supply hubs, merchant freighters, trade route interdiction
- Infrastructure development (10 levels), research trees, shipyard networks
- Fleet management with an Empire Card Pool system -- your ships are cards drawn from a central reserve
- Diplomacy, empire tribute, system loyalty, and random empire decline events
- AI opponents with persistent multi-turn strategic planning (no ping-pong behavior)

**Tactical Layer -- Card Battle System**
- 5-layer battlefield with slot-based positioning (5 slots per layer)
- Ship cards with full stat blocks: hull, shields, armor, attack, range, deploy cost
- 50+ order card effects, counter orders playable on the opponent's turn
- Torpedo and missile systems with interception mechanics
- Carrier operations, cloaking, electronic warfare (ECM/ECCM)
- 30+ ship abilities across combat, defensive, support, and control categories
- Multiple HQ types offering distinct strategic trade-offs
- **PvP multiplayer** via Photon networking -- players build custom decks and battle head-to-head online

**Community & Longevity**
- Built-in modding system -- players can create new cards, rebalance existing ones, and add custom art without touching code
- Training campaigns with progressive tutorials for each faction
- Deck builder for deep fleet customization and theory crafting

**The Premise:** The player holds an Imperial Charter to govern the outer rim -- a convenient fiction from a dying Empire that cannot hold its territory. The Empire demands tribute. Alien races are emerging. Pirates raid the frontier. The player must build quietly, expand carefully, and be ready to seize power when the Empire finally collapses. Every fleet battle is fought card-by-card on the tactical layer, making each engagement feel personal and consequential.

### Current State

Dying Empire has a **playable build** with the following systems implemented and functional:

- Complete battle system with AI opponents (3 difficulty levels, 10 fleet archetypes)
- Galaxy map with procedural generation, fleet movement, and supply networks
- Full economic pipeline: PP generation, trade routes, merchant ships, hub storage
- Ship production, research, infrastructure construction
- AI brain system with strategic planning, fleet upgrades, and expansion logic
- Diplomacy and empire tribute system
- Planetary garrisons with budget-based generation
- Save/load system
- Training campaigns (5 race-specific tutorial scenarios)
- Deck builder for fleet customization
- **Modding support** -- players can create new ship and order cards via JSON, override existing card stats, and replace ship art with custom PNG assets. A full modding guide and example mod are included.
- 6 faction card sets with race-specific ships and abilities
- **PvP multiplayer combat** (Photon PUN 2) -- online head-to-head tactical battles with custom decks, synchronized card play, and matchmaking lobby

Quick Walk through video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KihUCa1TGzg

Player Manual is attached to this email.

I can also provide a playable build directly if preferred.

### Why Slitherine

Slitherine's audience is exactly who Dying Empire is built for: players who appreciate strategic depth, meaningful decisions, and games that reward long-term thinking. The combination of 4X empire management and tactical card combat creates a gameplay loop that is immediately accessible but deeply replayable. I believe this fits naturally within the K-Project's mission of bringing distinctive strategy games to the audience that will appreciate them most.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss Dying Empire further, whether through a live presentation, a demo build, or a conversation about where the project is headed.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Regards
Scott Kendall

[pipfromslitherine]

I will ensure this gets in front of the appropriate people.

Cheers

Pip

[NativeTexan]

Pip,

Thank you!

I updated the initial message with 2 additional videos to better demonstrate the card combat system and game features. The original video tries to showcase alot of information in a brief span. How to make a short story long .

Regards
Scott