Rainforests & Radiation Update is live!

[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]