One of our next updates is about Factions.
But there is another one we have been working on for some time: and it is about Planets.
Our inhouse artists have worked on several planetary landscapes and it will soon be time to reveal these to you all. Also, planets are a central part of EXODE.
But do you know everything about it?
Let's check this out!
In EXODE there is a difference between the "first planets" you can land on and the next planets you will discover.
But all planets work with about the same rules.
To access your first planet you had to use a broken ship and its emergency scanning software.
Once your ship will be fully repaired and its first grade software becomes accessible again you will be allowed to get into space again and explore the big unknown. This is our other way of saying: we will improve the space experience for your next visit!
But for now and for the weeks to come, you are here, on your first planet.
So let's explore it and get you acquainted!
- Player, here is your planet.
She has many attributes for you to discover.
- Planet, here is your player!
He wants to discover everything about you!
A planet has global attributes such as its light level (how long does day last, how bright is a day, in most relevant locations humans can explore and live in), its comfort and danger level.
A planet has an average temperature. We are in 2325 and all average temperatures still allow people to live there, somewhere, with various costs and suits to accomodate heating or comfort.
Whatever the average temperature it has we consider there are always ways to find a place deep, or in shadows, or in protected areas to survive. Temperature influences the cost there is to heating, the use there is to cards such as the Eisen suits, etc.
Planets have several regions. First planets have 2 to 5 regions.
Every region has a name and regional modificators. Regions can have more or less light than usual on this planet, or more or less comfort, or a different temperature, and even have a different "base type" than your planet.
Regions have sectors. Sectors are the real relevant locations you target with crew members for exploration. They are also the real locations with landing sites to land. Sectors also have their own "base type", which can be sometimes different than their main region.
And yes, regions can also have special seasons, and you can see more about seasons below.
A planet usually has 40 to 80 sectors total, spread in its regions, and some more "not relevant" sectors between.
But there is more.
The first important information you see on your planet is its planetary type.
This is where you see if it's an ice planet, a toundra, a luxurious jungle planet and so on.
The planet type influences the rolls we make for generating wildlife, vegetation, ore and minerals, by influencing the number of relevant ones or the uniqueness of their attributes. The bonus that you see below is actually to the spread of these rolls, and can have a lot more difference than a +1 or +2 in the end.
Luxurious jungles will usually have more relevant wildlife and vegetation, whereas ice planets won't have that many vegetation.
The suggestions below are only common suggestions: all players with a starter will be able to 'survive' on any planet.
In addition, please note nothing may be balanced at this step, some things may change, and it's just an influence over rolls.
| Planet type | Has more... | Has less... | Nice things to have |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terrestrial | -- | -- | -- |
| Ice Planet | Ore, Minerals | Vegetation (-) | Eisen Suits |
| Volcanic Planet | Ore (+) | Vegetation (-) | Any Atmospheric Shielding |
| Jungle Planet | Vegetation (+) | Ore (-) | Good guides (risk of longer travels) |
| Oceanic Planet | Wildlife, Vegetation | Ore (-) | Antigravity vehicles (because of some impassable sectors) |
| Desert Planet | Wildlife (+) | Vegetation, Minerals | Water |
| Rocky Planet | Ore (+), Minerals (+) | Vegetation (-), Wildlife (-) | Food |
| Exotic Planet | ? | ? | ? |
Also, you may encounter Swamps, Steppes, Forests, Deadlands and all other kind of planet types in region types, and later on planet types.
And who knows what the rest of galaxy has in store for you on next planets!
All planets have 12 cycles which are like planetary months.
Planets have 1 to several seasons (usually up to 5), each lasting one or several months.
When you find your planet, it begins in one of its cycles and season, and this will be displayed on next update.
We also have an idea about how time will "elapse" in EXODE, but are refining this during alpha!
Seasons have usually three sequences, with a beginning, a middle time, and an end, and each of these three sequences also have its own attributes and can last more or less months.
These attributes are usually related to climate:
The "season normality" is the name we gave to how likely a season can be different than its usual average. Some seasons and sequences have a strong normality, but others can very much.
We tried to give season names according to their attribute profile (if you see "Scarlet Moonsoon", well then it's expected to be rainy). We have noticed some seasons failed to get a name and will check this further later.
And then of course, your planet can go through day and night phases!
And you will notice that some planetary dangers and some creatures can be entirely "seasonal".
Which gives meaning to the seasons... on some planets, there may be some seasons where you would like to "stay at home and wait it out"!
Seasons and planet attributes contribute to give some immersion and living conditions to players.
But nothing will do that better than the Planetary Dangers we released last December!
Participants to the Away Teams challenge are already well aware of the possible hundreds of planetary dangers. We are "unlocking and activating them" step by step though, to avoid killing crew members, such as from a planned danger or an unplanned bug.
Your crew members are also your testers, so they are "our testers" too!
They are of no use to us dead!
Planetary Dangers are created according to the global danger level on your planet.
We believe our last GNN episode can be interesting to understand this aspect!
Wildlife moves, can fight, and take a beating, and has biofragments.
Also, there are many other wildlife than the relevant ones.
These can still attack you and cause trouble.
Vegetation should not move that much or give such a fight. But maybe some toxic defense. Who said the new galaxy would be easy? But has other biofragments too.
Biofragments are what gives the real economical value and can determine if it's a good food, a good fuel, a good research material, and so on. Biofragments can be identified and reveal several chemicals. We'll explain chemicals in a next article!
Everything that can be eaten is usually called "food", but there will be differences once we get to our "cooking update".
Ore can contain minerals and be used in construction, such as in buildings. Everything that can be used in construction is usually called "materials".
Minerals, be it metallic or non metallic (such as gemstones) can be used for refined production, such as fixing your ship or being used in designs. There will be different steps to your exploitation:
This was already a lot of information to process!
We'll explain all the construction mechanics in a later article.
More information about EXODE can also be found on our Discord, or multiple posts such as this one about our epic characters, or this trailer made by a fan, or this review or this one . A summary of latest posts and events is also here.
And we can't believe we are at around position 100.
You can help if you think we deserve more game witnesses and EXODE is one you like!
Thank you pilots, see you soon in eXode!
