- Crucible has a campaign set between the 25th and 29th century, which chronicles three different species' ascent to the stars (hence the name).
- The three species in question are; Humans (everyone loves those guys!), Nereides (a young, super intelligent race), and Selkies (an ancient yet slow to adapt race).
- Lore is an important part of Crucible, but due to the nature of the game each players experience of the campaign can vary, and so cannot be considered absolutely canon.
- Players will have the option to read about various aspects of the universe in-game, but will not have this forced upon them- after all I am making a video game and not a history book!
My writer- Dogac- is currently creating lore for many of the planets in the game, but these pieces are not finished, and so I will share these another time. Although I have only really started detailing the universe of Crucible, I would like to share some of my favourite entries...
NEREIDES:
As the youngest of all races the Nereides have a great
deal to prove to the galactic community. However their affinity for technology
and quick learning ability more than makes up for their lack of initial
progress. Before the uplift of the humans, the Nereides existed in a
technological state somewhere between 19th and 21st
century Earth, but thanks to the freedom of information and collaboration
between other races are now beginning to exceed the technological abilities of
their ‘parent’ races. Due to the long life expectancy and period of infertility
after childbirth, the Nereid population is always low compared to other races.
Even on their home planet their population barely exceeds one billion, whilst
total Nereid numbers account for less than 5% of the entire galactic population.
The Nereid race is one of a singular gender- all individuals possess both male
and female reproductive capabilities, an evolutionary trait born of small
community sizes and high mortality rate. Nereides have an extremely variable
life expectancy due to their need for an extremely stable living environment.
On hotter planets Nereides can live for as little as 40 years (although this is
often extended with heavy use of a micro-environment suit) to up to 300 years
on colder planets. Although the Nereid military is small it is by far the most
advanced and well equipped in the galaxy, and Nereid teams are often used for
low-profile military excursions. Nereid ships and shielding technologies are
amongst the best, surpassed only by Die Unbemerkt and SOTHIS capitol ships.
SOL:
Although Earth is the home planet of humanity, Mars if
often considered the capital of Sol. After the widespread human-caused
destruction of the early 22nd century and resulting mass migration
to a heavily terraformed Mars, Earth has been considered a nature reserve. Huge
quantities of money have been used to restore most of Earth to a
pre-civilisation state- achieved by reducing the high CO2 quantities in the
atmosphere, neutralising the oceans, and using advanced cloning techniques to
reintroduce lost species to fractured ecosystems. There are still a few
extremely high tech cities and research facilities on Earth, but most of the
human population can be found on Mars, and most of humanity reserves a feeling
of regret and fear of returning to their ill-kept home world. Mars was also the
first planet to join the free-cities and currently is experiencing a period of
prosperity and general happiness. The other planets in the system are heavily
industrialised, and have been for some time- providing the resources to lift
humanity first off of its home world, and then into other systems.
COLONISATION SHIPS:
When exploring systems with no preinstalled gate (mass relay-like object), a
colonisation ship is used. It typically contains a few thousand frozen
fertilised eggs, and is piloted by an AI. Since a colonisation ship is limited
to the speed of light, it takes much greater amounts of time to colonise a new
system than to visit an existing one. It also explains the time setting of the
game (2400AD-2800AD to allow for travel to new systems). Upon reaching the
target system a colonisation ship will use probes to work out the most suitable
planet for habitation, then use drones and worker robots to build a small
settlement and terraform the planet if necessary, all whilst allowing the
embryos to grow.
By the time the embryos have developed into adults the
target planet will have an outpost built on it within a safe area (protected
from native species), solid infrastructure and a great deal of satellite
activity on all planets in the system. The colonisation ship is also
responsible for developing vaccines for the future population, for beginning
mining operations for valuable resources, and for the construction of a gate in
the system. Colonisation can take between 15 and 50 years to complete.
DIE UNBEMERKT:
A secularist corporation whose main contact with the rest
of the galaxy is from its trade in advanced weaponry and controversial
technologies. Planets owned by Die Unbemerkt (“The Unseen”) are rarely visited,
and news from them is often limited and vague. Die Unbemerkt have a reputation
as embodying the negative aspects of humanity- originally the company started
life as a splinter group from Earth during the exodus to Mars. The company is
renowned for using scorched earth tactics on colonisation attempts they deem
too close to their own space.
As I have said, these are just a few little droplets of lore, and there is much more to come! Feel free to pop any questions in the comments below. Tomorrow I will discuss heroes and their mechanics.
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