On steam, the game description reads as follows: This describes, in a few words, what the game itself will offer you in terms of what activities and opportunities are basically available. This is of course something you would expect, when searching through the steam catalogue, in order to find a game that fits your likings. Empyrion is more - it is not just a sandbox, an open world or a place to fight, explore and crush your enemies with the ships and structures you have build. You noticed that part about the "mysteries", did you? This is not just a filling word or phrase. While playing the game, in its current version (Alpha 10.5 at the date of this writing), especially when completing the story missions, you might have noticed some references to an ancient threat. Some tidbits here and there, which are currently spread across the starter planet and its orbit. You might also have noticed some of the NPC factions in the game play a certain role and that the "Earthlings", unintentionally arriving in Andromeda, might have started something, that has smoldered behind the scenes until their arrival...maybe for centuries. Diving into this part of the game - the Story - will eventually reveal, what "Galactic Survival" really means. Said that, it will be quite a while, until we will reach that point and there will be a few iterations of the game (for required tech and features) until we can completely lift that secret in playable missions As a tiny little spoiler: The story arc is already written... and the title does NOT mean you win over all your opponents and destroy any opposing NPC Faction. (Of course you can call this your goal in MP or in the Game as well, as this is what our game, as a true sandbox and open world, ALSO offers ) Now you have read through these lines and might wonder, that this text is in no way an answer to the question what Empyrion Galactic Survival is all about. You are absolutely right! Because this topic is nothing you can put into one single thread, as it spans over so many different aspects, we opened this sub-forum to tell you more about, what is going on in Andromeda, the reasons why the Terrans went there (or better: why they unintentionally went there), what your role as a (single) player in these events has been (your avatars role). We plan to tell you more about the Factions, what makes them tick, possibly also a bit of "Empyrion Tech", maybe shed some light on certain buildings and what they mean for the Factions - or Empyrion - and more. Of course we will also add some background info about missions and story..without too many spoilers (and if we do so, tagged as such). So, if you are interested in LORE & STORY , join us as a follower of this sub-forum and its threads. We will add more topics in the next weeks and months (as our time between updates and patches permits). Feel free to ask questions or express your thoughts on what we offer you here. Said that, be welcomed, fellow Empyrion Survivalist, you have made the first step into a bigger world! As closing word, here is a little but very important info : the story of you, the player, hitting the ground at a remote place in Andromeda, starts at 1st of August 2774, one year after the Operation Phoenix Fleet was leaving earth. How'd that happen? Well, we'll reveal that in new posts and story bits. cheers, Christoph Eleon Games Community Manager PS: don't expect all that to be taken overly and 100% serious all the time. Let's have fun! It's a game, after all. Not a drama.
Important Note: The intro-story (currently available here: http://empyriongame.com/story/ ) has been rewritten to some extend and has not yet been updated on the product page.
one question is the mission to find Empyrion which may or may not exist. or to win a secure a new home for humanity?
Sry that i have to answer this a bit like an oracle, but otherwise i would spoil too much: It contains both - to some extend. The term „Empyrion“ has a very specific meaning, but not for the group that you might possibly think. The terrans did not really seek for a new home, but their voyage was the „ignition“ for events that will now slowly unfold their destiny.
While the "Story" is in its unfolding format within a "3D" realm/experience (ex-pe(e)r-(sc)ience), answers of a bigger picture lie beyond the sand "box". In the story that is called "life" one begins it with no memory , birthed in innocense (in-no-sense). Dis-covering its tools of play room within story , the player utilises them to ex-press them selves in order to seek and implement meaning of existence (ex-is-stance), to seek them selves, to seek "out" the mystery (mist-story) of creation. In-prisoned within foolishness of unknowing the fire that fuels the drive of humanity in-evitably e(nergy)-volves through in-tention, e(nergy)-motion and re-ali(gn)-sation of all sorts of accomplishments of enlightening mastery, yet also to its counterpart web of misguided self centered feats of personal power to the extreme. Through the detriment of powerplays, extreme dominating behaviour of survivalistic nature plaging the very existance of life on earth ,unwilling to bend with balanced natural evolvement, the planet has the last word in the matter and let it's inhabitants play out their right of free will. The drive of the search leads eyes beyond the ex-pressions of the home planet towards other types of existances beyond, allready dis-covered within former presence of ancient visitors on earth assosiated from the Andromeda sector. And so the plan of Operation Phoenix unfolds, embarks, and crashes literally on a distant planet. -------------------- While i've copied the background story somewhat in a nutshell and gave it a small personal twist, i'm curious to where the Dev-team wants to lead it further , reflecting their idea of the definition of Empyrion/Empyrean. - Will they take matters beyond the limitation of the 3D mindset ? - Will there be some sort of representations on their behalf of "dimensions" and "densities" explained involved ? - and more, but just let me start with these ... If they don't want a perpetual conflict type of game as they say in the OP, i wonder where they will jump on the spiritual element. Wich in my view is what originates 3D life forms in the first place, and where the real mystery lies. When i was first introduced to the back story of the game i was intrigued by their choice of source, and consequently by their interpretation of it. Still to this day, to some extent, the interest in these questions are present. Allthough in less anticipation i might add. Nevertheless i subbed to the thread ... for now.
Great to read that there will be development of the vanilla story that comes with the game. But I think (even if obvious) it needs to be stated that this is just that, the standard game story/Universe. One of the amazing features of this game, is that the toolbox can be used to create other stories/universes and game experiences. Sure the standard "shipped with" senario/story/law will be the most highly polished and supported. It should be a massive selling point for Empyrion, that there are whole new stories and universes to explore, alone/with friends, long after the initial story is played through. Thus I hope the tools are also developed and shared to allow as much independent universe and content creation through the community, to enrich the game and it's long term appeal.
Separate thought, but i think relevant. I do remember that the first few hours in Empyrion were some of the most enjoyable for me, as you truly knew nothing. It was all exciting! Never really going to get the chance to experience that again (or probably now give accurate feedback of that new player experience). The initial few hours of the default scenario really are massively important to hook the player. I wonder if the dev team can in someway canvass the views of very new players on that aspect? Perhaps after steam unlock?
I would actually be excited to see more star systems added, it would be interesting to find if I am right about finding talons being on more then one planet, that would be suited for them to survive on with there lower level of tech. Also would love to see what you do with there story, and if we can help them reclaim there birth right. and maybe find out why the Zrax where keeping them at an iron age level of tech.
Must agree. - Currently, there is a significant consistency/quality issue with the 'story' as is in-game (as of 10.5). Like many, I understand this is an issue of place-holder assets and game systems, a chopped-up intro/tutorial, etc. We're just seeing hints of a story. Continue forth with that, make sure there is some focus on 'WorldCreating', a deep backstory, a good setting, deep faction plots, etc. As a gamer, some of the best games we remember were not due to gameplay mechanics, but due to the setting, story, and characters. Keep on that, to maintain consistency in creating game assets. - Vanilla NPC factions. Make sure they all have a very unique look and feel, in terms of POI design, behaviour, etc. In my mind, the Polaris faction needs a little more work on this, a lot of their stuff seems to be very human-ish. - And most importantly, maintain the sand-box/open-world aspect. Sure, a good story/world-building experience is vital for Introduction plays, and tutorials, and the like. But do not lock players into a linear experience. Give the community full access to create more. Allow players to build, recreate, expand, or simply ignore. Having a bad intro and setting can drive players off before they even get into the game. And as mentioned, the biggest selling points will be the truly open-ended gameplay (single player 'campaign' mode, Co-Op, Multiplayer, custom scenarios, etc.) that allow for the game to be imagined into any form the player(s) wish. These sandbox tools need to be be maintained, and further polished, along with the story.
Absolutely! We have access to almost all of the same tools as the devs when it comes to creating custom content. Everything that the base game has, can be done in custom scenarios too.
I'm trying to make sense of the plot/universe. With 50 years to spare before civilizational collapse, humanity sent out a fleet to explore Andromeda... that fleet ran into the Zirax and there was a fight. Others we find crashed. Interestingly enough, there is some time shenanigans in the works, so it appears 100 years passed or something (which also means Earth is fugged). So where are other humans? They can't be all dead, they also had escape pods and surival tool. And the logs indicate that some ships retreated/escaped. Polaris structures and ships are very human-like in design, and you can buy human crew on the Polaris station. Furthermore, the mining ship Ilmaren is also very human looking, with the crew logs having typical human names. So what exactly is going on here? Did the surviving humans run to Polaris for protection? Have they created the Polaris corporation? Also, is the floating planetary fragment with the station on it part of some mission? There's a Talon Chief inside for some reason (who doesn't talk to me) and teleporters. PS: Whenever I hear the words "Chosen One" I cringe. Cryptic shenangans aside, how did even the 3 aliens inside the Ilmaren survive with all the hostile monsters around?
It's only been 2 years iirc between the UCH fleet arriving in Andromeda and the player waking up in the escape pod, according to the logs on the Titan. The UCH fleet fled local space after running into the Zirax warfleet on patrol around Akua after exiting warp; losing The Titan and several other ships in the process. The Terran faction will probably turn up in a future version when there's NPC chat/communication and a way to bring narrative into the game that doesn't involve PDA pop-ups or projectors.
I find it somewhat odd that the Polaris appear to be truly alien looking with misshapen body parts, and that the Zirax appear to be quite human looking. Granted, Ive never played the campaign, so I am unaware of any revealed secrets there. Another thing Ive noticed, is that the Zirax have become an aggressive mining monopoly after spending so many years as a successful copy machine manufacturer.
I'm pretty sure I recall something about the fleet arriving at the wrong point in time as well, like centuries before they actually left. There's just enough story/lore elements in the game right now to leave all manner of options open for whatever back story is already written. I particularly like: "Emyprion (or Empyrean from the Medieval Latin empyreus, an adaptation of the Ancient Greek ἔμπυρος empyrus “in the fire”) is the place in the highest heaven beyond the firmament, which in ancient cosmologies was supposed to be occupied by celestial beings made of pure light that are the source of creation." The suggestion here, as well as the allusions to an Ancient Threat, the distinct 3-faction alliance (Talon/Zirax/"Alien") that already exists, suggests strongly that human involvement was never intended and we're seeing things we were never really meant to see. The mention of "Empyrion Tech" as well reminds me a bit of "Anthem", and the Shaper Relics - powerful devices used by the "gods" to mold reality itself. It seems to me that we're really looking for "the engine of creation" and the "firey forge in which all of existence was created" - something we likely have no business actually finding - because what would we really do with that kind of power?
So is this the story empyrion will eventually have ingame but writen down in this forum? Or is this extra lore? If it's the ingame story i'll wait till it's in there but if this is extra stuff i'll read along
For now it is the actual „Lore“ that is told in mini-stories - mostly to accompany the game with elements that cannot be done as missions, or are kind of a „prologue“ or extra info (background info for those that are interested). So for now, unless i find a good way to add this to the game itself, following the forum will reveal what happened „before“ the game and maybe will indicate some changes IN the game (One is coming soon) So i suggest to follow the forum and check the story missions ingame to „know it all“
For prologue, I would recommend a tried-and-true method of introducing the story: The Animated Cut Scene. Picture, if you will, after the initial loading, a video sequence, made up of game assets, that plays out the initial story, showing us the events depicted in these posts - the discovery of alien craft in Antarctica, experiments with alien tech, the Hyperion Incident played out, Commander Mercer and IDA having a discussion about the Waverider Protocol, Commander Hendrick, Dr. Greyson, and Dr. Dawson playing out the events of Apollon Station. Commander Hendrick's harrowing escape and the destruction of Apollon Station, the launch of the TITAN, and the disaster that starts us on our first actual mission: Reach the Escape Pod. Insert Player, and have them learn the control basics as they make their way through the doomed ship and to the Escape Pod, where we begin our Grand Adventure. Lots of work? Sure it is, but work that's worth it in the end. That initial mission scenario could well give players the opportunity to grab some basic gear along the way - a few bandages, a couple health packs, a survival tool, a flash light (handy for navigating the dark areas of the TITAN, where power has failed), and helps set the mood of the game before we really start playing. As for background info, historical data and the like - this could be injected into the game by finding bits of the TITAN and interacting with various terminals to call up audio, AV or even simple data logs that contain this information, much in the same manner as the Find the Rear of the TITAN mission segment concludes that mission. What would really make the game's story "work" is chaining the story missions, much in the same manner the Robinson Protocol was chained, so that each segment concludes by starting the next segment. It can be easy to miss, forget, or neglect the story missions, as they're manually initiated.
