Environments & Biomes - Developer Blog #7
Greetings Overseer!
Today we are talking a little more about exploration and the different environments of Surviving the Abyss.
To survive, you must explore. Exploration is a key theme of Surviving the Abyss, and as such it will reveal the hidden world around the base, with rare wildlife, new resource deposits, abandoned structures, and many other wonders and oddities discoverable in the darkness. Exploration will also provide subtle hints of the world's backstory, letting you piece together the events and context of the world above.
[h2]Environments and Biomes[/h2]
There are a variety of biomes throughout the map, each with unique characteristics. Each biome has a unique aesthetic and accompanying features that can be utilised for the survival of the crew and for advancing research. The types of resources, Points of Interest, supported wildlife, and other factors vary between biomes - something that you must harness to take full advantage of your surroundings.
When you discover a new biome (by placing and powering a light tower within the biome, or by sending an expedition submarine there) you will learn some of its attributes, which can be viewed in the biome information panel.
Seagrass Dunes: specifically chosen as the location of the research facility, this biome contains a variety of basic resources to support the growth of the base. Small deposits of standard building resources are present throughout this biome, with large concrete and coal extraction points also available. Various wildlife are also present within the starting biome, particularly low-potency varieties of generalist genome species.
Coral Reefs only cover 0.1% of the world’s ocean area but support approx. 25% of marine life. Expanding here will give you access to an abundance of common species, allowing you to expand your general workforce with ease once your cloning infrastructure has been established.
Expanding into the Kelp Forest will give you access to the first advanced resource resources, allowing you to make vital upgrades to your infrastructure. Additionally, the kelp forest has habitats that contain rarer species than those found in the seagrass dunes.
Dark Glows are areas of abundance, containing both advanced building resources and fuels, along with a variety of habitats. The only standard building resources present here is quartz, which is available from both small and large deposits. The biome is primarily populated with the rarer large metal deposits.
Basalt Columns biome is rich in building resources, containing each in some quantity, this area however only provides a small number of coal deposits, with no advanced fuel to be found. Due to the natural structures formed by the columns, some areas can be quite restricted for building.
The Active Volcano biome is an area with exceptional fuel resources, containing large quantities of coal and oil. This biome has little to no building resources due to the corrosive waters that are present as a side effect of volcanic activity.
[h2]Points of Interest (POI)[/h2]
While exploring you might come across several objects scattered around different biomes. These points of interest can consist of anything between a cave system that you can explore and capture new fauna or a sunken ship that you can investigate for research data.
If a POI has been discovered in the darkness through sonar scans, you can issue an expedition submarine and crew to explore it. If the expedition has been completed successfully a flare is dropped, and you can interact with the object, by investigating it and gathering any potential resources or materials.
As you navigate the treacherous waters and progress through the narrative, you will find ‘key points of interest’, vital to your progression through the game.
Next time on Surviving the Abyss:
In the next developer blog, we’ll discuss The Narrative and the Anomaly. See you next time!
Follow the Surviving Games accounts:
@Surviving_PDX Twitter
SurvivingPDX Facebook
@Surviving_PDX Instagram
Join Surviving the Abyss Discord:
https://discord.gg/invite/EB4X2MdbP9
Today we are talking a little more about exploration and the different environments of Surviving the Abyss.
To survive, you must explore. Exploration is a key theme of Surviving the Abyss, and as such it will reveal the hidden world around the base, with rare wildlife, new resource deposits, abandoned structures, and many other wonders and oddities discoverable in the darkness. Exploration will also provide subtle hints of the world's backstory, letting you piece together the events and context of the world above.
[h2]Environments and Biomes[/h2]
There are a variety of biomes throughout the map, each with unique characteristics. Each biome has a unique aesthetic and accompanying features that can be utilised for the survival of the crew and for advancing research. The types of resources, Points of Interest, supported wildlife, and other factors vary between biomes - something that you must harness to take full advantage of your surroundings.
When you discover a new biome (by placing and powering a light tower within the biome, or by sending an expedition submarine there) you will learn some of its attributes, which can be viewed in the biome information panel.
Seagrass Dunes: specifically chosen as the location of the research facility, this biome contains a variety of basic resources to support the growth of the base. Small deposits of standard building resources are present throughout this biome, with large concrete and coal extraction points also available. Various wildlife are also present within the starting biome, particularly low-potency varieties of generalist genome species.
Coral Reefs only cover 0.1% of the world’s ocean area but support approx. 25% of marine life. Expanding here will give you access to an abundance of common species, allowing you to expand your general workforce with ease once your cloning infrastructure has been established.
Expanding into the Kelp Forest will give you access to the first advanced resource resources, allowing you to make vital upgrades to your infrastructure. Additionally, the kelp forest has habitats that contain rarer species than those found in the seagrass dunes.
Dark Glows are areas of abundance, containing both advanced building resources and fuels, along with a variety of habitats. The only standard building resources present here is quartz, which is available from both small and large deposits. The biome is primarily populated with the rarer large metal deposits.
Basalt Columns biome is rich in building resources, containing each in some quantity, this area however only provides a small number of coal deposits, with no advanced fuel to be found. Due to the natural structures formed by the columns, some areas can be quite restricted for building.
The Active Volcano biome is an area with exceptional fuel resources, containing large quantities of coal and oil. This biome has little to no building resources due to the corrosive waters that are present as a side effect of volcanic activity.
[h2]Points of Interest (POI)[/h2]
While exploring you might come across several objects scattered around different biomes. These points of interest can consist of anything between a cave system that you can explore and capture new fauna or a sunken ship that you can investigate for research data.
If a POI has been discovered in the darkness through sonar scans, you can issue an expedition submarine and crew to explore it. If the expedition has been completed successfully a flare is dropped, and you can interact with the object, by investigating it and gathering any potential resources or materials.
As you navigate the treacherous waters and progress through the narrative, you will find ‘key points of interest’, vital to your progression through the game.
Next time on Surviving the Abyss:
In the next developer blog, we’ll discuss The Narrative and the Anomaly. See you next time!
Follow the Surviving Games accounts:
@Surviving_PDX Twitter
SurvivingPDX Facebook
@Surviving_PDX Instagram
Join Surviving the Abyss Discord:
https://discord.gg/invite/EB4X2MdbP9