[Dev Note] The World of Dysterra, Pt. 1
Greetings from Orbis!
The world of Dysterra can seem a little confusing at times, and I’m sure you all have questions about the world.
This week, I’ll answer some basic questions that have likely come to mind while playing the game.
I’ll assume that you’ve watched the opening story video, but for those of you who haven’t, you can open up Dysterra and watch it before you read the rest of the dev note.
[h3]Buuuuut… if you’re in a rush, here’s a heavily condensed version:[/h3]
Humanity discovered a new power source underground, and called it terrasite.
The more terrasite that humanity mined, the more Earth’s core became unstable.
Eventually, Earth was plagued with continuous volcanic eruptions, and so a large portion of humanity fled the planet to live permanently on a satellite, called Orbis, in outer space.
Orbis eventually started to run out of terrasite(its energy source), so you and others have been sent down to find more. You’re expected to mine as much as possible before returning; That’s why Orbis won’t send an escape rocket until the island’s volcano is about to burst.
If you want to hear the story in detail, you’ll have to open the game and watch the intro.
So now on to what I deem are the questions that aren’t answered in the opening story scene.
Ararat is just one of many islands on Earth. Just as Noah’s ark landed at Mount Ararat following the great flood, Orbis named this island “Ararat” to signify its first time returning to Earth following the great catastrophe that caused humanity to abandon the planet for the space station.
What’s special about this island is that there has been recent seismic and volcanic activity, bringing large amounts of terrasite to the surface through earthquakes, as well as through recently formed lava flows in the Delta Region. The sheer amount of easily accessible terrasite makes it a prime location for mining.
While playing Dysterra, you’ve probably wondered about the relationship between Orbis and the Hyenas.
A lot has happened in the few hundred years that humanity has been confined to outer space.
As the government of Orbis slowly replaced human jobs with robots, more and more people lost a way to support themselves.
Without their livelihood, they turned to crime. The Hyenas were once a small, back-alley group of smugglers based on Orbis, but they eventually became a full-on organized crime group positioned against the government of Orbis.
The branch of the Hyenas that’s based on Earth is spread across a multitude of islands, and uses dropships to transport troops and supplies between their bases.
They’ve currently occupied most of the Orbis structures on Ararat already, but the Orbis robots have been able to maintain control over the main facilities and the many installations they have around the island by using radiation to make the areas inhospitable to humans.
I’ll be sharing the story of Dysterra over the next several weeks, and I have a good idea of what I think is important for survivors to know. However, I’ve been building and designing the world of Dysterra for so long that a lot of things seem like common knowledge to me. I’d like to hear your questions about the world of Dysterra.
Please send any story-related questions you’d like answered in my next dev note to Dev_Armond or Dev_Beckenstein on our Discord server. I won’t be able to answer everything, but I’ll pick the more common questions and answer those.
Stay warm out there! (Or stay cool if you’re not in the northern hemisphere!)
- Director K
[OFFICIAL DYSTERRA COMMUNITY CHANNELS] 🔗 Steam Community Forum 🔗 Discord 🔗 YouTube 🔗 Twitter 🔗 Facebook 🔗 Twitch
The world of Dysterra can seem a little confusing at times, and I’m sure you all have questions about the world.
This week, I’ll answer some basic questions that have likely come to mind while playing the game.
I’ll assume that you’ve watched the opening story video, but for those of you who haven’t, you can open up Dysterra and watch it before you read the rest of the dev note.
[h3]Buuuuut… if you’re in a rush, here’s a heavily condensed version:[/h3]
Humanity discovered a new power source underground, and called it terrasite.
The more terrasite that humanity mined, the more Earth’s core became unstable.
Eventually, Earth was plagued with continuous volcanic eruptions, and so a large portion of humanity fled the planet to live permanently on a satellite, called Orbis, in outer space.
Orbis eventually started to run out of terrasite(its energy source), so you and others have been sent down to find more. You’re expected to mine as much as possible before returning; That’s why Orbis won’t send an escape rocket until the island’s volcano is about to burst.
If you want to hear the story in detail, you’ll have to open the game and watch the intro.
So now on to what I deem are the questions that aren’t answered in the opening story scene.
Why Ararat Island?
Ararat is just one of many islands on Earth. Just as Noah’s ark landed at Mount Ararat following the great flood, Orbis named this island “Ararat” to signify its first time returning to Earth following the great catastrophe that caused humanity to abandon the planet for the space station.
What’s special about this island is that there has been recent seismic and volcanic activity, bringing large amounts of terrasite to the surface through earthquakes, as well as through recently formed lava flows in the Delta Region. The sheer amount of easily accessible terrasite makes it a prime location for mining.
Orbis vs. Hyena
While playing Dysterra, you’ve probably wondered about the relationship between Orbis and the Hyenas.
A lot has happened in the few hundred years that humanity has been confined to outer space.
As the government of Orbis slowly replaced human jobs with robots, more and more people lost a way to support themselves.
Without their livelihood, they turned to crime. The Hyenas were once a small, back-alley group of smugglers based on Orbis, but they eventually became a full-on organized crime group positioned against the government of Orbis.
The branch of the Hyenas that’s based on Earth is spread across a multitude of islands, and uses dropships to transport troops and supplies between their bases.
They’ve currently occupied most of the Orbis structures on Ararat already, but the Orbis robots have been able to maintain control over the main facilities and the many installations they have around the island by using radiation to make the areas inhospitable to humans.
Ask Me Your Questions
I’ll be sharing the story of Dysterra over the next several weeks, and I have a good idea of what I think is important for survivors to know. However, I’ve been building and designing the world of Dysterra for so long that a lot of things seem like common knowledge to me. I’d like to hear your questions about the world of Dysterra.
Please send any story-related questions you’d like answered in my next dev note to Dev_Armond or Dev_Beckenstein on our Discord server. I won’t be able to answer everything, but I’ll pick the more common questions and answer those.
Stay warm out there! (Or stay cool if you’re not in the northern hemisphere!)
- Director K
[OFFICIAL DYSTERRA COMMUNITY CHANNELS] 🔗 Steam Community Forum 🔗 Discord 🔗 YouTube 🔗 Twitter 🔗 Facebook 🔗 Twitch