DevLog 04: Ancient Mechanisms

Richard here again, this time ready to talk about the ancient machines of the forgotten past.

The land the colonists have arrived in is an ancient, scarred place, filled with the decaying ruins of the forgotten Nytherran civilization. The crumbling splendor of their monuments still litter the tundra, just waiting for the brave, or the desperate, to pry their secrets loose.

We call them monuments, but that’s just a title they’ve earned through the lens of history. They are ruined factories, gigantic industrial complexes that once belched smoke into a polluted sky, their furnaces blazing with the fires of industry. They’re crumbling housing complexes, their corridors now silent and shadowed. And they are the broken mechs whose glassy eyes once witnessed a world of technological wonders.

Giving Exploration Real Weight

With the Mist rising and areas of the map becoming more dangerous over time, monuments are the things that lure you into the unknown. If a well-prepared expedition can reach a monument, they can extract valuable resources that drive your colony’s progress.

Resources are a big part of what drives your colony’s prospects, but there’s something else, too. It’s one thing to gather berries and logs and metal ore, but it’s Technology that propels you forward. It's the spine around which you form the meat and gristle of your colony. While the bulk of the tech-tree is fixed, providing a traditional experience, there are a number of "Branches" that are available only when you've found an appropriate monument. These additional technologies will provide you with new options for customizing your colony.

Let’s say you find an Ancient Factory, its doors long rusted shut. If your expedition happens to have brought Blasting Powder with them, then you can break them down and learn the secrets of their forge. These Blueprints will help your Smelters refine the Frosthearth Ore you’re collecting more effectively, giving you access to more resources over time.

Or a forgotten laboratory, half claimed in the swamp. If you’ve raided a nearby housing block, you might have some Access Cards that allow your Scouts to break in and retrieve Schematics for an improvement to your energy collectors. Maybe you’ll even find some Discarded Prototype Weapons and be able to equip your warriors with the armaments of a long-lost age.

The Beating Hearts of a Lost Civilization

The Nytherrans weren't just another ancient culture. They were the apex of their age, capable of reshaping the land until it bent to their will. They constructed enormous Custodians to tend to the world while they put their minds to greater, unknowable mysteries.

The Custodians are enormous constructions, truly gargantuan robots who carry the last memories of the Nytherran culture. Each of these Custodians had a different purpose, and even now, as their broken shells rust, they remember their purpose.

Completing these tasks earns the Custodian’s trust, allowing your colony to extract the Ancient Mechanisms it still protects. These technologies allow you to bring

Cold Metal, Fading Glory

The monuments of the Nytherrans aren’t sleek or pristine. They’re brutal, heavy, and imposing. These are the last expressions of a civilisation valued eternity over beauty. They are far beyond what the player can ever build, and stand in inevitable contrast to the colony’s smaller, more hurriedly assembled structures.

The feeling of the Nytherran Colony is heavy with history, and we want to bring that to life with the weight of the structures themselves. The harsh angles and unknowable mechanisms are intended to inspire a sense of trepidation, and if that wasn’t enough, the sheer scale of these places is intimidating to behold.

The Process of Visual Exploration

Our second concept artist, Stefano, is hard at work bringing these ideas to life, and we’re excited to share a couple of timelapses of his process with you.

Bug Of The Day

This week during development, we broke the visuals: the game looked completely faded and desaturated, with nothing visible through the thick mist; only the highest peaks protrude from it.

And this close-up of a thriving colony of people who are just so stoked to be here. Beautiful details!

Wrap Up

All good things, like the Nytherran Empire and this Dev Log, must come to an end. All that remains to be said is we are still so excited to be on this journey with you, and although we’ve seen a lot today, there’s even more yet to come.

Stay tuned for more and join the expedition today!

Best,

The Docklight Games Team

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