Nova Eridani
Steam · coming later

Development ·

A colony that makes its own

Test build 0.1.366: the rover comes down as a kit, a mission to make the colony's own plate, glass and circuits, one zoomable view with a round minimap, a new habitat and the capsule it lands in, and sleeping through the night.

A white cargo capsule hangs just above the meadow under orange-and-white parachutes, its retro rockets lighting the grass beneath it.In development
A delivery from orbit: the retro burn, a few metres above the beacon.

Development update. Everything here is in the current test build, 0.1.366. Details will change.

Making our own

Everything the colony builds at first comes out of the Meridian's stores: the care package, a drop pod taken apart, a parts drop from orbit. They run out. A new mission, Making Our Own, takes you from the ground up: break stone and dig clay, find ore where the rock is stained rust-red or green, and build a field furnace. Then the robots take over: a smelter rolls iron into plate, a machine shop turns plate into fasteners and power cells, and an electronics works and a chemical works make circuit blanks and polymer.

Glass takes a little more: clean sand and crushed lime from a crusher, salt from the pans, soda ash from a chemical reactor, then the furnace. Melanie talks you through every step.

Three machine models side by side: a brick field furnace with its chimney, a yellow jaw crusher over a washing screen, and a chemical reactor with two blue towers and a kiln drum.Model render
Where the colony's first glass comes from: the field furnace, the crusher and the chemical reactor.

The Strider, as a kit

The rover now comes down as its hull and running gear. Its doors, its glass, the cells for its battery, its wiring and its seals are the colony's to make and bring to its site, and then it is whole and ready to drive.

The rover's bare hull and running gear, no doors or glass, stand on the meadow beside a drop pod, with a panel listing what its assembly site still needs: alloy plate, glass, power cells, circuit blanks, sealant and fasteners.In development
SMV-1 as it lands: hull and running gear, beside its site and the list of what it still needs.

One view, and a round minimap

The mouse wheel now steps from first person out through third person and further, one zoom on foot and at the wheel alike; V still flips between first person and the outside view. Getting into the rover is animated: you walk to the driver's door, climb in and settle into the seat, and climb out again at the door.

In third person a round minimap sits at the bottom right. Build mode's overhead view is round too, and so is the map on the rover's dash.

Third person on the meadow: the suited player from behind, Melanie beside them and a drop pod beyond, with a round minimap at the bottom right.In development
Third person on the meadow, with the round minimap.

Zoom right in on the world map and the ground around you now sharpens into real detail.

The world map zoomed in to a twenty-metre scale: grass and scrub in close detail, the player marked by an arrow.In development
The world map, zoomed in close.

A new habitat, and its capsule

The prefab shelter is a sleeker module: one smooth white shell with rounded corners, a band of windows, a solar roof, a lit doorway and steps. It comes down in a new cargo capsule, a white shell over a tiled heat shield that opens like petals on the grass.

A white prefab habitat with rounded corners, a band of dark windows and a lit doorway stands on the meadow; Melanie in her suit stands nearby and a drop pod sits to the right.In development
The habitat, landed.
High overhead, a cargo capsule comes down under orange-and-white parachutes above a meadow, a drop pod in the corner.In development
A delivery coming down under its parachutes.

Sleeping through the night

Once it is safe to, you can shut yourself in and sleep until morning: press Z, or use the shelter's bunk. In co-op the night passes when everyone is asleep.

The habitat at dusk under a pink sky, its doorway outlined in light, a drop pod beside it.In development
Dusk at the habitat.

And

  • The colony's missions now come one at a time, in order: the shelter, the robot fabricator, the first robot, the woodcutter, water, the sawmill, storage and replanting.
  • Melanie's walk with you comes straight after you take the survey beacon, and you raise the compass with her yourself.
  • Twenty-five more of Melanie's lines are voiced.

Thank you, testers

Much of this came from your notes. Keep them coming through the tester feedback page.

More updates

Development

A home in the habitat

Test build 0.1.403: the habitat from the care package is furnished as a home, with smart glass, lights on the colony's power, a working colony terminal, a bunk, a chair, a shower and a toilet, each with its own animation and seen by the crew in co-op.

Development

Told by Melanie

Test build 0.1.385: the opening film rewritten and told by Melanie, with new scenes inside Genesis's holds and out in the trial bay, a reworked bomb, and a fly-in to the Meridian the first time the title screen opens.

Development

Your game on Discord

Test build 0.1.393: your friends on Discord see the mission you are on and where you are, with a picture for each place. Voices, music, sound effects and menu sounds each have their own volume, and the opening film's narration plays at the right level.

Private testing · Steam page later

Follow the expedition

A private beta for a small group of testers is being set up, and the store page will follow. Until then, every change is written up in the development log, with an RSS feed so you never miss one.

Read the devlogRSS feed

Nova Eridani is in development. Showcase 01 — “Arrival” is in private testing. Screenshots are from the in-development build.