Generation Exile News

[h3]Rainforests & Radiation Hotfix - v0.7.2d [/h3][hr][/hr]

• [p]Addressed an issue that would sometimes cause the "No Rubble present" objective near the end of the first Grasslands biome to not be calculated correctly and thus not able to be completed[/p]

[p]This content update features the next major chunk of the game- a third biome is now available aboard the ship, joining the Grasslands and Taiga biomes already available. While this was the major focus of this update, there are a handful of other additions as well, bringing GenExile one step closer to our complete vision for the game. To do something a little different this time, we have put together a developer-narrated trailer highlighting the biggest parts of the update:[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h2]Rainforest Biome[/h2][p]The biggest addition in this update is an entire new biome- the Rainforest! This lush tropical rainforest biome is the most dangerous aboard the ship.[/p][p]Because the thing is- space is full of basically nothing, except for radiation. It's super, duper full of radiation. How to manage long-term exposure to cosmic radiation without the protective bulwark of a planet and its atmosphere is one of the bigger challenges in long-term human habitation of space.[/p][p]The initial hasty plans for the generation ship for managing excess interstellar radiation was to encase the hull in an abundance of metal plating, above and beyond what was needed for structural integrity, and hope it would be enough.[/p][p]It wasn't.[/p][p]As has occurred elsewhere in the ship, ecological systems evolved to meet this challenge. In the rainforest biome, great colonies of radiotrophic fungi appeared. While they're able to absorb and metabolise interstellar radiation, they also discharge spores incredibly dangerous to people.[/p][p]Gameplay in this biome centres around first creating networks of elevated walkways to stay at least mostly above the radiotrophic fungi while working to reclaim and repurpose the ineffectual hull plating in concert with these fungi to ensure shipboard life can be truly protected from dangerous levels of cosmic radiation.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][h2]Family Trees[/h2][p]These trees, at least, are completely free of radiotrophic fungi! One aspect of Generation Exile that even we as developers continue to be delighted by is the procedurally generated characters that appear in the game. As the source data for the NPCs is so deep and multi-variate, we’re still ending up quite surprised by discoveries made looking through an NPC’s ancestry.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]So as you wander through these familial forests, what will you discover? A pair of grandparents so into each other they got literally identical haircuts? An aunt named Fabiola Babalola? Three siblings whose parents (bafflingly) gave them all the same first name? (these are all real things we’ve found just recently, although that last one might have been a bug…)[/p][p][/p][h2]Inter-Biome Resource Exchange[/h2][p]First previewed in the Resources & Reclamation Update, the radioactive perils of the Rainforest biome necessitate even greater planning and specialisation among the ship’s various biomes. Determining where to focus certain production chains is a key part of creating a sustainable settlement throughout the ship and essentially for the journey’s long-term success.[/p][p][/p][h2]Gameplay Improvements[/h2][p]While this update was primarily focused on simply adding more to the game, we did revise and rebalance some existing portions of earlier portions of the experience as well. Ensuring that certain spatial pinchpoints are less pronounced and streamlining out some other more commonly mentioned sources of friction were areas of iteration here, and we’re planning further revisions of a similar nature for the near future.[/p][p][/p][h2]The Road Ahead[/h2][p][/p][p]We’re keeping the announcements today centred on this update but we will have some news about the next stage of Generation Exile’s development soon as well! Returning to Generation Exile in 2026 has not been without its challenges, but the incredibly kind interactions we have had with players who had decided to check the game out has been really wonderful. If you too would like to share in such lovely interactions (and get a peek at the game in one of its earliest forms), come join us over on Discord!
[/p][h3]https://discord.gg/dKaCuJm3M6[/h3][p][/p][p]See you among the stars,[/p][p]Nels & everyone else at Sonderlust Studios[/p]

[h2]Content Update 2: Rainforests & Radiation in beta[/h2][p]We are preparing for our next major content update, the Rainforests & Radiation Update! As we’re fully heads down finishing up everything for this update, we’ll keep the post quite brief.[/p][p]A preview of the update is now live in opt-in preview beta branch. It’s a snapshot of a build in progress, so be forewarned that there will almost certainly be a few rough edges, but we wanted to give any folks who might be curious a chance to take a early look.[/p][p]As a small tantalising tidbit, here's a cropped screenshot of what's in store for this update:[/p][p][/p][p]Details about how to switch to the beta preview branch and how to provide feedback on the update are all available in our Discord, so please come visit us there if you’re curious![/p][h3]https://discord.gg/dKaCuJm3M6[/h3][p][/p][p]For everyone else, the next Content Update should be live in about a week and we’re excited to get the next hefty chunk of Generation Exile in front of everyone soon![/p]

[p]We'll keep this update short and sweet, so cutting right to it...[/p][h2]
Preview of our next Content Update is coming soon![/h2][p]Next week we'll make a preview of the next Content Update live in our beta branch. We'll re-post details about how to opt into that branch once it's live, but it's an extremely simple process here on Steam.[/p][p]There will likely still be a few rough edges in the preview, but we want to get some hands-on feedback early so we can refine the Content Update even further before it goes live to everyone.[/p][p]And what will be contained in said content update preview? We'll keep details on that just in our Discord until the Content Update is live in the main branch, in deference to those folks on Steam who don't know anything until the Content Update out in full, but as a small visual amuse-bouche:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Anyone wanted to jump in on this and share your feedback on the Content Update preview once it's in the beta branch can join our Discord here:[/p][h3]https://discord.gg/dKaCuJm3M6[/h3][p]

We're very much excited to get this into everyone's hands next week![/p]

[p]One of the... exciting* things about returning to features that were technically present in the game and giving them a presentation polish pass is you get to discover all kinds of... exciting* that had been right under your nose the whole time.[/p][p][/p][h2]Navigable Family Trees[/h2][p]Each of the procedurally generated characters in GenExile has a multi-generational lineage preceding them (back several generations to before the ship left Earth) and this continues to simulate as time within the ship moves forward. All this data has been in the game for quite a while, but surfacing it hadn't gotten to the front of the priority queue until now.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Here's the family tree of good ol' Harvey Holub and his kin. The visuals here are first-pass placeholders that are now having proper UI styling applied to them, but the functionality is more or less complete. It's possible to browse up and down the family tree, seeing who is related to whom and watching that develop as generations continue onward.[/p][p][/p][p]And also, let's just take a moment to appreciate that Harvey's grandparents were so into each other that they even had the same haircut:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p](as a genuine aside, this is one of those things that technically we could write data selection rules to detect and prevent but in doing that, would kind of exciting/dramatic/touch/just-plain-funny emergent moments would up as unintended casualties? it's always a fine balance trying to prevent things that are so unexpected they just appear like bugs and in this instance, two old people who identical haircuts seems like a hilarious moment worth preserving)[/p][p][/p][h2]Supporter Collaborations Continue Apace[/h2][p]We're continuing to step up the Support Collaborations for GenExile, so if you've purchased the Supporter Sustainability Pack DLC, we'd love to ensure you're included in future possible collaborations. If you haven't yet, jump into our Discord and then follow the directions included therein:[/p][p][/p][h3]https://discord.gg/dKaCuJm3M6[/h3][p][/p][p]We continue to tremendously appreciate all the folks who have shared their thoughts about the game, either as players or just as someone looking in the shop window. It's genuinely tremendously appreciated. More updates coming soon![/p][p][/p][p]See you among the stars,[/p][p]Nels & everyone at Sonderlust Studios[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]*ahem,.. incest, it was incest, because some (simulated!) people just couldn't stop marrying their (simulated!) uncles, I guess, but we're pretty sure we've shaken out all of the... problematic relationship edge cases that were lurking in generation simulation, much to the chagrin of perverts everywhere[/p]