Combat in Stellar Evolution runs on an ATB system. Enemies run on a timer and possess their own Shield (HP) and Attack (Attack - duh!) values. Squads are treated as one huge entity which must be whittled away at in order to reduce their numbers to one and then destroy. Obviously when their timer is full they attack, damaging your own shields and drawing you ever closer to that killing blow.
You as the player pilot a 'Kite' class fighter which has its own Shields rating, as well as a visable 'Recharge' timer. When the timer is full you can do one of three default actions:
Attack - which fires standard Lasers directly damaging the enemy unit.
Scan - which will give you the Name, Shield total and Damage total for each time it attacks.
Escape - which has a 50/50 chance of either successfully fleeing a battle or wasting this rounds action.
Outside of battle you can level your fighter in-dock on the H.M.S Iago, which will increase both the speed of your recharge meter and the total damage dealt when you attack. Your shields do not increase in total, making purchasing items an essential part of prepping for larger battles, but otherwise regen fully between fights or if you flee.
There are three items that you can purchase with your Credits (this game's currency won from battles or after completing missions and sub-missions) whilst in dock. These items are seperate from the timer in battle and appear as three small icons on the bottom left of the screen to be used at any time. Missiles (M) count as an extra attack and deal a single point of damage, Ion Charges (I) shoot a single shot that scatters an energy dampening wave across the battlesite, a single-hit kill on some enemy types but useless on others. Finally the Reboot (R) resets your shields to full. Each of these items can only be used once but you can stock up in up to 10 of each at a time.
DEVELOPMENT NOTE:
At this time I have a working model of the complete battle system made and animated, as well as the levelling and items system in place - but no Shop/Outfitter's in which to purchase or level the fighter. I have also completed an opening cinematic using the in-game engine to show the fleet arriving at the start of the game (with seven layers of panorama-style scrolling!)
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Ben Warren 
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