Earthrise Question of the Week

Masthead Studios has posted the question (and answer) of the week. This week it's all about environment:

This week's question: We've seen some pictures of the environment now - how varied will Enterra island be, and do you plan on implementing things like weather? Will the environment be interactive (can we climb and fall from trees, or swim and drown)?

"Earthrise will provide players with environment that is rich and consistent throughout the island of Enterra. Our artists strive to create many different, visually striking environments that still create coherent and realistic feel across the whole game world. The majority of the island is covered with eye-catching and sprawling grass fields and hillsides, lush tropical jungles and high mountains with deep, foreboding canyon rifts that create beautiful vistas for players to enjoy as they walk through. Among that green paradise rises the towering cityscape of Sal Vitas, clean, almost sterile monoliths that emphasize the high achievements in technology and social advancements. The style of Continoma runs through majority of all necessities that players will have access to - from vendor terminals to local resurrection points that strive to bring back to life the unfortunate victims. Many of these technologies have been reverse-engineered by Noir and the further the players stray from the secure areas of Sal Vitas, the more obvious will become the sense of faction control.

Neutral territories will greet players with unique architecture that has grown from the roots of the past civilization, from the striking Asian flavor of Eastern Gardens to ruins spread across the land and the morbid shadows that spawn in the mutant-infested ruins of a city left behind from before the war. Many distant places will carry a deserted, derelict feel - with large scrapyards of abandoned technology that acts as a hideout of the forsaken groups, cities run by criminal organizations and forced to live in necessity. As players walk away from civilization and enter the vast territories that have been used for decades as transportation network for the rarest of materials on Enterra and now turned into contested areas open for entrepreneurs to fight for profit and control over the island's economy, they will face the ravaged effect of constant struggle over the nature. Open fields void of untouched greenery but made into a constant battlefield will reflect on the aggressive spirit of the contested territories. Much of it will be made of what players build themselves, so the environment will be constantly changing; constantly evolving among the players own needs and conflicts.

And as they reach the most remote parts of the island, players will enter the most unique, almost alien locations that reveal the true source of mutation that have changed and corrupted the island throughout the last centuries. It reveals bizarre landscape made of rocky planes, terrain broken by excessive mining and crystallized forms that hold unparalleled energy potential. Infested by some of the most dangerous species of Enterra, these lands are home of mining stations and enormous warehouses, and the environment dangers of the land will force players to use exoskeleton mechanoids to traverse, harvest resources and fight among each other.

We are planning to implement weather in Earthrise, including time of day, fog, clouds, wind and rain."

Regarding interactive environments, the developers said that players will not be able to climb and fall from trees. There is no definitive answer on swimming, but it is being discussed, and details will be forthcoming as appropriate.

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