Sector Unknown News

A few weeks back, I wrapped up the last of the five story planets for Sector Unknown. There’s still the “point of no return” planet—the climactic final world—to finish, but every planet leading up to it is now fully fleshed out with quests, writing, and design.



Now seems like a good time to share a bit of insight into each of these worlds. Keep in mind, these are just the core story planets—there are also numerous side-mission stations, derelict ships, and other locations scattered throughout the game.

[h3]Maku[/h3]

A barren, wind-scoured wasteland, Maku is a planet defined by abandonment and decay. Its endless rocky plains stretch unbroken to the horizon, disturbed only by dust storms and the skeletal remains of long-failed industrial projects.

This is the first planet you set foot on; a forgotten world cast aside by Star Frontier after repeated failed attempts to mine its resources. The old, abandoned mining facility you manage to recover—after dealing with a band of opportunistic pirates—becomes your headquarters, a tenuous foothold from which you begin your expansion into the sector.

Situated in the Svion (SVN-8912) system, Maku is littered with the scars of past efforts: derelict facilities, hollowed-out mines, shattered starships, and rusting junkyards. What was once a hopeful frontier world is now little more than a graveyard of forgotten ambitions—until you arrive to stake your own claim.



[h3]Sjo[/h3]

A world completely enveloped by an endless ocean, Sjo stretches into infinity, its unbroken horizon a deceptive mask for the desperation beneath its waves. From orbit, it appears serene—a deep blue jewel adrift in space. But on the surface, survival is a brutal, lawless struggle.

Originally intended as the sector’s primary source of potable water, Sjo was home to Aqua Pura, a sprawling floating platform built to support the Desalination Plant. Now, after Star Frontier’s withdrawal, it has rotted into Aqua Purgatory, a place where hope drowned long ago. Those left behind after Star Frontier’s chaotic withdrawal—workers, drifters, and outcasts—cling to life in a haze of violence, vice, and scavenging. Fights spill out of brothels and bars, while smugglers make swift, wary stops to offload supplies, keeping their engines hot—ready to take off again if things get hairy.



Sjo is now a battleground between two factions, each vying for control of what little remains:

• The Executives – Star Frontier’s former corporate leadership, now seeking to reassert control. Also abandoned by their corporate master, they enforce strict rationing of resources under the guise of “order and survival.” But most see through the rhetoric as being about power, not protection.
  
• The Core Forty-Seven – Named for the original forty-seven workers who maintained and stabilized power cores across the sector, they first formed as an underground labor movement, resisting Star Frontier’s corporate stranglehold. Their original numbers dwindled over time—worn down by accidents, attrition, and crackdowns—until only a scattered remnant remained on Sjo. Now, they stand in opposition to the Executives, but not as saviors. They turn a blind eye to crime, believing survival matters more than order.
  

When you arrive on Sjo, your choice will determine the fate of Aqua Purgatory—and the Desalination Plant, now under the erratic control of malfunctioning communist robots.



[h3]Nabi[/h3]

A vast desert world, Nabi is a land of shifting sand dunes and deep-cut canyons, its arid expanse stretching as far as the eye can see. Beneath its stark beauty lies an unforgiving landscape, where survival is a constant struggle and only the most determined endure.



One of only two habitable planets in the Fivo system (the other being the ocean world Sjo), two structures can be seen on the otherwise unremarkable surface of Nabi:

• Outpost Sirocco – A research hub once staffed by technicians and scientists studying terraforming viability, atmospheric conditions, and long-term habitability. Star Frontier abandoned them when they pulled out, leaving the researchers to fend for themselves.
  
• The Microwave Power Facility – A state-of-the-art energy station built to harness Nabi’s relentless sun. The plan was to turn the planet into a “battery world”, beaming power across the sector and providing energy boosts to passing freighters. During their chaotic retreat, Star Frontier left behind only a skeleton crew of soldiers to guard the facility.
  

Survival on Nabi isn’t just about enduring the desert—it’s about surviving the Sunscarred. A ruthless gang of prisoners who crash-landed months ago, they’ve carved out a stronghold in the wreckage of their prison ship. Ever since, they’ve waged a relentless campaign against the technicians of Outpost Sirocco, raiding their supplies and turning the planet into a war zone.

When you arrive on Nabi, it will be your decision which side to support—whether to stand with the struggling technicians or throw in with the hardened survivors of the Sunscarred. Either way, the loyalty you earn here could tip the scales in your larger battle against Star Frontier.



[h3]Helfyr[/h3]

Helfyr is a planet in constant turmoil, its surface a seething cauldron of molten rock, volcanic upheaval, and choking sulfuric fumes. Rivers of lava carve ever-shifting paths through jagged terrain, and eruptions are as common as the tides.



Star Frontier once saw Helfyr as a powerhouse of industry—its geothermal energy and molten resources fueling both massive smelting operations and geothermal plants. For a time, the planet’s brutal conditions were deemed a necessary sacrifice, with workers enduring relentless heat and punishing shifts to keep the sector’s foundries running. But when Star Frontier withdrew, so did any semblance of oversight, leaving the laborers to fend for themselves.

Yet out of this crucible, a legend was born. The Flameborn. Star Frontier forbade procreation on Helfyr—every worker was contractually sterilized before assignment to the planet. And yet, a child was born. The details remain shrouded in mystery: no records of a mother, no sign of a father, just a growing belief that the child was something more. He has become a beacon for the desperate, a prophet from the hellish wastes. His message began as one of resistance, urging the people of the sector to rise against Star Frontier’s tyranny. But something changed. Lately, his sermons have shifted—now he speaks of surrender, of the futility of struggle, of welcoming the inevitable return of Star Frontier.



Two factions have emerged in response:

• The Zealots – Those who follow the Flameborn without question, believing his word is divine, even as it contradicts itself. They see his latest message not as weakness, but as a greater truth only he understands.
  
• The Heretics – Those who once believed but now doubt. They question how and why his message has changed. Some whisper that the Flameborn is being controlled. Others suspect he never existed at all.
  

When you arrive on Helfyr, you will have to navigate this fragile balance—finding the child, unraveling the mystery behind his shifting gospel, and deciding how to use or dismantle his influence. Will you harness his followers for the fight ahead? Or strip away the illusion and force them to find their own strength?



[h3]Eremtera[/h3]

Eremtera is a distant, ice-bound world, locked in an unrelenting deep freeze. Its extreme distance from the sun and thin atmosphere ensure that temperatures never rise above lethal, leaving the planet in a state of permanent cold. Daylight is a faint, constant presence, offering no relief from the endless frozen wastelands stretching across its surface.



On this frozen world sits Camp Raider, FOB Dagger, once home to a quick reaction force (QRF) tasked with protecting a secret weapons research facility buried deep beneath the ice. However, after Star Frontier’s withdrawal, the soldiers who were left behind fell into disarray. Low on morale, short on supplies, and abandoned by their command, they barely scrape by, harried by a growing force of pirates who have taken over a nearby abandoned mining facility.

Smugglers have also found opportunity on Eremtera, harvesting glaciers of frozen ethanol and turning them into bootleg liquor, a trade that fuels both the pirates and the demoralized denizens of the sector alike.

When you land on Eremtera, the situation has fully collapsed—the camp commander has barricaded himself inside a supply depot, fearing assassination at the hands of his own men, and your ship is nearly commandeered by desperate soldiers seeking to escape the base. What remains of Camp Raider is little more than a lawless band drowning in vice, held together only by instinct and desperation.

It falls to you to decide—can these soldiers be reforged into a fighting force, or are they beyond redemption? And beyond the camp, buried deep beneath the ice, the weapons research facility remains hidden, its secrets waiting for whoever is ruthless—or resourceful—enough to claim them first.



[h3]Conclusion[/h3]

These five planets form the backbone of Sector Unknown, each with its own conflicts, factions, and opportunities to shape the sector’s fate. Whether navigating the lawless waters of Sjo, forging alliances on Nabi, unraveling the mystery of the Flameborn on Helfyr, taming the chaos of Maku, or deciding the future of Eremtera, every choice you make leaves its mark.

As always, I’ll continue to provide updates as development progresses. Stay tuned.

“The universe is a corpse.

Nothing lives in all the known expanse of space save for the imagination and stubborn superstition of man as he continues to push forward through the folds of darkness. Buoyant in our search for something other than ourselves, the fear becomes more palpable that we will not find a peer, an enforcing and all-powerful entity, a check against our spreading.

With each infertile husk, forbidding giant, decaying rock, or hellacious furnace that we add to our collection, the verdict becomes stronger: we are alone.

Across the millennia, it has been said that man is something that shall be overcome. But this is a falsehood. For our species remains uncontested. And with nothing to resist us, humanity shall instead continue to relentlessly institute his own battle standards across a desolate and uncaring starscape.”



[h2]The Setting[/h2]

As humanity expanded into the cosmos, the narrative of "Sector Unknown" unfolded in a clandestine sector comprising three primary star systems—Xiphos (XPH-6430), Svion (SVN-8912), and Fivo (FIV-6789)—along with several minor ones. These systems were home to the planets Maku, Nabi, Sjo, Eremtera, and Helfyr (more devlogs to come on each of these planets).

For decades, Star Frontier, a colossal trading entity reminiscent of the historical East India Company, attempted to ruthlessly exploit these planets. Operating with impunity due to the sector's erasure from all official star maps, Star Frontier unrelentingly expanded into the sector, unhindered by governmental oversight.

However, after years of over-extension, failing outposts, logistical nightmares, rampant corruption, piracy, and crippling financial losses, a fierce power struggle erupted within Star Frontier's boardrooms, light-years away. This conflict precipitated a sudden and hasty withdrawal from the sector, leaving workers, executives, and soldiers stranded on harsh, unforgiving planets, struggling to survive in a rapidly deteriorating and lawless environment.



[h2]The Return[/h2]

In the aftermath of their retreat, Star Frontier remains divided. Despite continued internal bickering within Star Frontier, several paramilitary factions still operate independently within the sector. Notably, feared "sensitive operations units" have ramped up their activities, capturing former dissidents and criminals and transporting them to Hell’s Gate, a black site prison orbiting perilously close to a blazing star.

Under the command of General Benjamin Alonzo, a hard-line retired general secretly sanctioned by a group of militant stakeholders within Star Frontier boardrooms, these operations aim to prepare the sector for a possible military reoccupation. Alonzo's brutal methods and the looming threat of a military invasion—including the whispered rumors of bioweapons aimed at exterminating the planetary populations—are intended to reset the sector for a more tightly controlled second attempt at colonization.



[h2]Your Story Begins[/h2]

Amidst this backdrop, you awaken aboard a prison transport en route to Hell’s Gate. The reason for your incarceration is yours to define. In your cell, you wake up to find Chalk, a cannibalistic cellmate who chillingly "suggests" using a homemade shiv to cut off unessential parts of your body to sustain yourselves during the long journey ahead.

This marks your first challenge and where your story begins...

In Sector Unknown, your character and companions will have their own skills and attributes.

Attributes are commonly used to determine your combat skills, but can occasionally be used to outside of combat as well. Combat stats are derived from your attributes and determine your success in combat. And finally skills are used primarily outside of combat in dialogue, through world interactions, and more. The only skills that can be used in combat is Piloting, which determines your skill in space encounters, and Luck which provide re-rolls on failed critical hits and evasions.



[h3]Attributes[/h3]

Below are your attributes.

Strength - Health and Melee Damage
Coordination - Hit Chance and Armor Penetration
Vision - Initiative and Ranged Damage
Speed - Action Points and Evasion
Aggression - Critical Chance and Critical Damage
Intelligence - XP Gain, Attribute and Skill Points per level

With each new level, your Intelligence attribute determines how many attribute points you will be awarded that can be assigned to attributes.

This is as follows:

Intelligence 1, 2 = 1 Point
Intelligence 3, 4 = 2 Points
Intelligence 5, 6 = 3 Points
Intelligence 7, 8 = 4 Points
Intelligence 9, 10 = 5 Points

As well, attributes have an increased cost of adding, meaning if an attribute like Strength for example is 1, it will only cost one point.

Here is the scale for that:

Attribute 2 = next increase costs 1 point
Attribute 4 = next increase costs 2 points
Attribute 6 = next increase costs 3 points
Attribute 8 = next increase costs 4 points
Attribute 9 = next increase costs 5 points

As well, a character's origin and traits also offer bonuses to one of the above attributes (more on that in another post).



[h3]Combat Stats[/h3]

As mentioned, combat stats are derived from your attributes.

Health - Strength
Initiative - Vision
Action Points - Speed
Evasion - Speed
Hit Chance - Coordination
Critical Chance - Aggression
Critical Damage - Aggression
Armor Penetration - Coordination
Melee Damage (Base) - Strength
Ranged Damage (Base) - Vision

As attribute points are increased, the connected combat stat also increases. As well, a character's origin and starting trait also offers bonuses in each of the above combat stats.



[h3]Skills[/h3]

And finally we have skills. As mentioned, these are used primarily outside of combat. These are as follows:

Intimidation - Ability to intimidate people into doing what you want.
Persuasion - Ability to persuade people into doing what you want.
Perception - Ability to notice hints in dialogue or hidden objects in the world.
Larceny - Ability to engage in larcenous and illegal acts.
Luck - Ability to affect combat and non-combat situations in your favor.
Engineering - Knowledge of engineering and mechanics.
Science - Knowledge of scientific and abstract concepts.
Computers - Knowledge of computers and hacking techniques.
Biology - knowledge of biology and medicine.
Finances - Knowledge of finances.
Piloting - knowledge of spacecraft maneuvering and combat.

In Sector Unknown, I have taken a note from some of my favorite RPGs, offering many instances where you or your companions skills can affect situations, avoid combat, and provide more interesting story beats and replayability.

Skill points per level are also determined by your Intelligence (as well as your origin and trait).

The simple formula for Intelligence is for each point of that attribute, you gain a corresponding extra point to assign to your skills.



Closing

That's it for now. Hope this paints a better picture of the skills, combat stats, and attributes in Sector Unknown. These may be tweaked and adjusted closer to EA launch and perhaps even after, but this is the current system in place.

More updates to come!

In my last devlog, I discussed non-combat support personnel that you could recruit for your cause. This devlog will focus on combat companions/party members. These are allies you can recruit to join you on missions if you choose, or you can opt to go it alone. There might be some people that want to murder hobo everyone in the game, including potential companions. Yes, there's even room for serial killers in Sector Unknown.



Companions in your party contribute their skills to relevant checks. For instance, if your Computers skill is 20 and you have a companion with a Computers skill of 30, their higher skill will be used instead. This allows for more in-depth party customization and planning. I am currently experimenting with the system to ensure it functions well, and so far, it seems promising.



Party members also bring their own dialogue and stories, some more detailed than others. Additionally, not all party members are guaranteed to be recruitable. Some may be hidden well and may not be recruitable unless you choose the right dialogue options or meet a particular skill level (more on skills in a future update). Companions can come from the most unlikely places. For example, you might encounter a hostile Star Frontier guard whom you'd typically consider a threat, but there could be an opportunity to recruit them later in the story.



I'm also considering whether to implement a reputation system for each companion, similar to the dynamics in the old Baldur's Gate games, where companions could leave if you pissed them off. It wouldn't be difficult to implement and might add an interesting layer to the game. I'm open to any thoughts on this.



More updates to come!

In your adventures across various planets, you'll have the opportunity to recruit a diverse range of characters into your organization. While not all of these characters are suited for combat, they will each bring unique skills and contributions that are vital toward your success.

[h2]Non-Combat Support Personnel[/h2]

Among the characters you might encounter are individuals like Chef Gustav, a culinary genius whose exceptional cooking skills can boost morale and sustain your operation during challenging times. Then there's N-689, a financial AI programmed to optimize your organization's credit acquisitions, ensuring you have the funds necessary for operations and expansions.



Cleveland, the skilled metallurgist, is invaluable for constructing and maintaining anything metal-related within your base. His expertise can significantly enhance your infrastructure and defensive capabilities. Othello, the passionate mineralogist, has an eye for gemstones and can help in identifying and utilizing natural resources to fund and further your cause.

These characters, among many others you might encounter, can be recruited into your organization to provide essential services. Each one brings unique bonuses, abilities, and unlocks, aiding in your broader strategy against the formidable Star Frontier.



[h2]Integration[/h2]

Once recruited, these individuals will return to your base to support your mission, each contributing to your total War Score (details to be discussed in a subsequent post). Their varied skills and specialties not only bolster your operational capabilities but also enhance your strategic position in the ongoing conflict.

Given the broad array of characters available, it's possible that not all can be recruited in a single playthrough. This variability ensures a dynamic approach to team building, where every character you manage to recruit, regardless of their combat abilities, plays a vital role in the overarching success of your rebellion, thereby enriching the strategy and depth of your campaign.