The Tick System
Orbitarion is a tick-based space strategy MMO. Unlike real-time games where things happen the moment you click, everything in Orbitarion is calculated at fixed intervals called ticks. One tick fires every 30 minutes — and in those 30 minutes, the entire universe updates simultaneously.
This is what separates tick-based strategy games from other MMOs: you don't win by clicking faster. You win by thinking ahead.
What is a tick?
A tick is a heartbeat. Every 30 minutes, the game engine wakes up and processes every planet, every fleet, every construction order, and every battle in the universe — all at once.
Between ticks, you plan. You queue up ships, start research, send fleets, initiate orbitals, or prepare a coordinated attack with your alliance. When the tick fires, all of it happens simultaneously across the entire game.
This means a single session can be as short as 2–5 minutes — check your planet, make your decisions, log off. Or it can be 30 minutes of intense alliance coordination right before a big tick. The game adapts to how much time you have.
What happens each tick?
When the tick fires, the game engine processes everything in strict order:
1. Resources
Every planet collects resources from its orbitals and core income. Titanium, Silicon, and Uranium flow in before anything else is calculated — so new resources are available for everything that follows.
2. Research
Ongoing research counts down by one tick. If a research project finishes this tick, it completes immediately and the unlock is available from the next tick onward.
3. Buildings
Construction orders count down. Completed buildings come online and start providing their bonuses.
4. Ship production
Ships being built in your Shipyard count down by one tick. Finished ships are delivered to your planet and are ready to deploy.
5. Fleet movement
Every fleet in transit moves one tick closer to its destination. Fleets that arrive this tick are marked as arrived. Fleets returning home land and ships rejoin your planetary defense.
6. Combat
All battles resolve. If one or more enemy fleets have arrived at a planet this tick, the combat engine runs a full battle simulation — EMP freezing, initiative-based firing order, targeting chains, and all. Losses are applied, winners are determined.
7. Orbital theft
After battle, surviving capture ships (Orbital Pods and Transports) steal orbitals from the defeated planet. The number stolen depends on how decisive the victory was.
8. Score update
Every planet's score is recalculated based on current fleet value, orbitals, and buildings.
9. Notifications
Push notifications are sent to players whose planets were attacked, whose fleets arrived, or whose research completed.
The 30-minute rhythm
The tick interval is what gives Orbitarion its distinctive tempo. You have a 30-minute window to make decisions before the consequences play out.
This creates a fundamentally different kind of tension compared to real-time strategy games. A well-timed attack isn't about reaction speed — it's about prediction. If you send a fleet that arrives at tick 847, your opponent has until tick 847 to react. If they don't notice, you win. If they do, they have time to evacuate their fleet, call allies, or send a counter-attack.
This is the core of tick-based strategy: reading the board, anticipating your opponents, and making moves that pay off two or three ticks down the line.
Tick timing and tactics
Because everything resolves simultaneously, the exact moment you send a fleet matters.
Sending a fleet with 30 seconds left before a tick gives your opponent almost no time to react — the fleet appears in their scan results and hits in the same tick. Sending it right after a tick fires gives them nearly the full 30 minutes to respond.
Experienced players use this deliberately:
- Last-second attacks — send fleets in the final seconds before tick to minimize defender reaction time
- Fake-out attacks — send a fleet, let the defender scramble to respond, then recall it before it lands
- Two-wave strategy — send a kill fleet on tick N, then a second fleet with Orbital Pods on tick N+1. The first wave clears the defenders; the second wave steals orbitals while the planet is unprotected
- Fleet evacuation — when a superior force is incoming, send your own fleet away so it isn't destroyed. You lose orbitals, but your ships survive to fight another day
Ticks and the season
A full season of Orbitarion runs for thousands of ticks — roughly 6–8 weeks. The season is divided into phases:
| Phase | Ticks | What's happening |
|---|---|---|
| Protection | 0–96 | New players are shielded from attack. Focus on building your economy and unlocking ships. |
| Early game | 96–400 | First fights break out. Fighters and corvettes clash, alliances form, orbitals start changing hands. |
| Mid game | 400–1200 | Destroyers and cruisers dominate. Alliance wars begin in earnest. Scanning becomes less efficient than raiding. |
| Late game | 1200–1800 | Battleships appear. Large-scale coordinated attacks decide the rankings. |
| Havoc | 1800+ | The final push. Massive bonus resources flow in, and the gloves come off. |
Protection is relative to when you join — not to when the season started. A player who joins at tick 200 is protected until tick 296. You can always join a running season and still get your full protection window.
Why tick-based strategy is different
In most online games, the player who is online the most has the biggest advantage. Tick-based MMOs like Orbitarion are designed around a different philosophy.
Because everything resolves at set intervals, a player who logs in twice a day for 5 minutes each can compete against someone who is online constantly — as long as their decisions are better. You can queue up hours of production and research in a single session. Your fleet flies and fights whether you're watching or asleep.
This makes Orbitarion one of the few strategy MMOs where a thoughtful casual player can hold their own against the most dedicated ones. The skill gap is in reading the game, not in screen time.
Quick reference
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Tick | One game engine cycle, fires every 30 minutes |
| ETA | How many ticks until a fleet arrives at its destination |
| Tick timing | Sending fleets strategically based on when in the 30-minute window they are sent |
| Protection | The first 96 ticks after you join — you cannot be attacked |
| Havoc | The final phase of a season, with accelerated resource income |