Game Options & Mechanics

This page describes the various skirmish & multiplayer game options and modes available in Project Phantom, as well as some miscellanneous game mechanics, details of which might not be immediately apparent to players.

Game Options

When setting up skirmish or online / LAN multiplayer game, there are following game options available.

Short Game: All objects owned by players must be killed or destroyed before they are defeated.
MCV Redeployable: Construction Yards can be re-packed back into MCVs at will.
Limit MCVs: Only one MCV or Construction Yard can be owned at time.
Predeployed MCVs: Game starts with MCVs pre-deployed into Construction Yards.
Limit Heroes: Limits players to one hero infantry out of choice of three for each faction.
Superweapons: Superweapons will be available.
Naval Combat: Allows construction of shipyards and naval units.
Crates Appear: Random powerup crates will be spawned.
AI Cheats: AI players gain significant advantages in build speed etc, have no restrictions on unit build limits and construct multiple factories which will 'clone' built units.
Build Off Allies: Allows building off your allies' buildings.
Building Auto Repair: Enables AI-controlled building repair for human players which is initiated immediately after buildings are damaged.
Build Off Tech Buildings: Allows building off captured neutral structures. Oil Derricks & Power Plants are exempt from this and never allow building off them. Similarly, mercenary faction buildings always allow building off them.
Unlimited Ore Storage: Credits gathered from ore are not stored in and limited by amount of Ore Refineries or the small built-in storage.

Game Speed: Sets the upper cap for game speed.
Credits: Sets the amount of credits the game starts with for each player.
Starting Units: Sets the amount of basic infantry each player starts with.
Experimental Tech: Changes restrictions on experimental tech: By default only one option can be chosen per side, but it can also be disabled entirely or set to Unrestricted so that you can choose all options.

Game Modes

List of game modes available in skirmish and multiplayer games.

Standard

A basic game mode with no special rules with the Standard map list.

Unholy Alliance

Players have access to technology of all factions, including their superweapons. Restrictions imposed by game settings for hero infantry and experimental units still apply as normal. Shares map list with Standard.

Scavengers

Players start with a Mobile War Factory on battlefields littered with powerup crates. Funds & units must be collected from these powerup crates, and the MWF is able to acquire blueprints from vehicles sent into it, allowing players to construct copies of the said vehicle while destroying the original. Unlike in normal gameplay, infantry squads, including Engineers, and air units & infantry can also spawn from the powerup crates. Air vehicles are accompanied by a Technology Truck that can be reverse-engineered to unlock the said air unit to be built. A single Engineer can also occassionally be paradropped near the MWF. Shares map list with Standard and is only available in multiplayer and for human players only.

Island Combat

Maps geared towards naval-based combat, with no land routes between starting locations.

Hold the Line

Maps that can be played with 1-4 players with scaling difficulty where you are placed in various scenarios where you must repel waves of enemies and usually protect some critical target.

Challenges

Maps presenting scenarios where up to two players are pitted against three AI opponents, with odds stacked agains the players and various map-specific conditions and modifiers will be in effect.

Cooperative

Missions that can be played by two human players, with varying objectives and scenarios. Is only available in multiplayer and for human players only.

Game Mechanics

Information on various game mechanics.

Armor Types

Every structure, infantry, vehicle & aircraft has an armor type assigned to it. Armor type determines what weapons & certain other effects can affect the unit, and by how much. Following is a list of most of the armor types used, using same names as in unit & structure descriptions on this website.

Standard Infantry: Baseline infantry armor type.
Heavy Infantry: Additional resistance against basic infantry weapons and other small arms.
Armored Infantry: Heavy Infantry + Additional resistance to most non anti-infantry weapons.
Hero Infantry: Armored Infantry + Additional resistance against scout infantry & basic anti-infantry base defense weapons.
Mechanized (Hero) Infantry: Armored / Hero Infantry + Generally susceptible to EMP.
Drone: Light drone armor that is comparable to Standard Infantry and is susceptible to EMP.
Flightsuit Infantry: Special armor type used by airborne infantry, which has similar endurance level as Armored Infantry.
Light Vehicle: Light vehicle armor that is generally more susceptible to anti-armor weapons but generally more resistant against airborne attacks.
Medium Vehicle: Baseline vehicle armor, takes reduced damage from basic infantry weapons and other small arms.
Heavy Vehicle: Medium Vehicle + Additional resistance to most non-anti-armor weapons.
Experimental Vehicle: Heavy Vehicle + Additional resistance against superweapons and support powers.
Light Aircraft: Light aircraft armor that is more susceptible to mobile anti-aircraft weapons than stationary base defenses.
Medium Aircraft: Baseline aircraft armor.
Heavy Aircraft: Heavy aircraft armor that is more susceptible to stationary anti-aircraft base defenses than mobile AA weapons.
Experimental Aircraft: Heavy Aircraft + Added resistance against superweapons and support powers.
Light Ship: Light Vehicle + More susceptible to anti-ship weapons.
Medium Ship: Medium Vehicle + More susceptible to anti-ship weapons.
Heavy Ship: Heavy Vehicle + More susceptible to anti-ship weapons.
Light Structure: Used by smaller structures like power plants. More vulnerable to direct-fire weapons like tank cannons.
Heavy Structure: Used by larger structures like factories. More vulnerable to artillery.
Base Defense: Base defense structure armor type.
Heavy Base Defense: Base Defense + Additional resistance against most ground vehicle weapons.
Trap: Similar to Base Defense in terms of endurance, used by land mines and similar things and is unaffected by certain things that affect regular defenses.

Capturing Buildings

In skirmish and multiplayer (exluding co-op missions), capturing buildings owned by other players, AI or human, requires multiple Engineers, depending on the percentage of health the building has remaining. Each engineer used reduces the building's health until only one is needed.

3 Engineers at 100% HP.
2 Engineers at 66% HP.
1 Engineer at 33% HP.
Neutral structures can be captured by just one Engineer regardless of their current health. In missions, this applies to every capturable building.

Self-Heal & Repair

Practically all of the available units in Project Phantom have an ability to regenerate health over time, provided they are not in combat. For the self-heal / repair to start take effect, the unit must not have been fired at by damaging weapons or other effects for 10 in-game seconds.

Self-heal & repair is applied every 3 in-game seconds and amount of health restored depends on type of unit as well as their veterancy level. Below is a table of self-heal & repair amounts (rookie / veteran, respectively) for specific groups of units.

Infantry: 5 / 10
Vehicles: 10 / 20
Experimental Units: 20 / 40

Veterancy

As units, and in Project Phantom, base defense structures kill enemies, they accumulate experience. Accumulating experience worth of five times the unit's or defense's own cost of killed enemies results in their veterancy level being raised. There are three veterancy levels, including the one they start with, marked by different icons for regular units, base defenses and hero infantry, or in case of former two, absence of icon for the first veterancy level. The second veterancy level, referred to as 'veteran' and the third one, 'elite', grant following benefits to units and base defences that earn them.

Veteran Level Benefits:
- +50% increase to armor strength.
- +100% increase to self-heal / repair rate. Does not apply to base defenses.
- Phantom units that do not already have the ability, also gain radar invisibility at this level.
Elite Level Benefits:
- +50% increase to weapon firepower.
- +25% increase to movement speed. Does not apply to base defenses or teleporting units.
In addition, there are few cases where experience gained by a single unit is actually split off in a non-uniform fashion:
- Combat Transports: Transports that allow passengers to fire out will get all experience from enemies killed by passengers, unless the transport is already at elite level or can't gain experience, in which case it will go to the passengers.
- Mind Control: Controlled units will gain full experience from enemies they kill, but the controller will in addition get half of the experience for enemies killed by their victims.
- Spawned Aircraft: Unit spawners like aircraft carriers will split the experience evenly between the spawner and the spawnee that killed the enemy.

Powerup Crates

If game option Crates Appear has been enabled, random powerup crates appear around the map and can be collected with units. Following benefits can be granted from collecting a powerup crate, listed in order from most common to rarest. Note that in Scavengers gamemode, some of the benefits work differently and the odds of receiving them have been altered.

Money: Grants 3000 credits to whomever collected the crate.
Unit: Grants a random unit from selection of ground vehicle units to whomever collected the crate, at crate's location.
Heal: Fully restores health of all of your units currently on the battlefield.
Firepower: Increases firepower of the unit that collected the crate and those around it by 10%, if applicable.
Armor: Increases armor strength of the unit that collected the crate and those around it by 10%.
Speed: Increases movement speed of the unit that collected the crate and those around it by 10%, if applicable.
Veterancy: Increments veterancy level of the unit that collected the crate and those around it, if applicable.
Map Reveal: Reveals the entire battlefield to to whomever collected the crate.

Resource Types

There are a total of three resource types your Ore Miners can collect from across the battlefield, some rarer and more valuable than the others. The value of ores listed below is per unit, and Ore Miners can carry varying amounts of ore measured in units (Amphi / Tunnel Miner: 15 units, Warp Miner: 10 units and Crimson Crown Ore Miner: 20 units).

Fortium Ore: Most common resource, Fortium is iron ore altered by the presence of Particle-X. Fortium steel manufactured from it is much more durable than a regular steel and is particularly desirable for military construction. Fortium is valued at 40 credits per unit.
Luminum Ore: Luminum is more rare and valuable than Fortium, being a similarly common element of earth altered by the elusive Particle-X, in this case silicon. Much like silicon, it is valued for its semiconductor properties and practically revolutionized electronics and computing - again. Luminum is valued at 80 credits per unit.
Exolite Crystals: Exolite Crystals are extremely rare and valuable. They are quartz crystals infused with Element X, or Exolis in free, yet unstable state. It is difficult to harness the energy within them coveted by everyone, something that only those with most advanced knowledge and technology can efficiently do. Be warned, provoking the crystals with explosive and energy weapons can set off a destructive chain reaction that will burn up most of the energy within the crystals and inflicts serious damage to anything nearby. Ore Miners carrying them are also subject to exploding violently if destroyed. Exolite crystals are valued at 160 credits per unit.

Temporary Effects & Stat Changes

Several weapons and support powers temporarily change stats of units and buildings or apply other effects. These are either indicated by downwards (decrease) or upwards (increase) arrow icons, or different types of icons. The most common effects and their associated icons (and colors) are listed below.

Red Arrow: Weapon firepower modifier.
Green Arrow: Armor strength modifier.
Blue Arrow: Movement speed modifier.
Red X: Weapons disabled - Unit or base defense will be unable to fire its weapons.
Bullet icon /w arrows: Rate of fire modifier.
Crosshair icon /w arrows: Weapon firing range modifier.

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