From Press Release:
Sector Unknown is a solo-created immersive isometric cRPG that places narrative at its heart. Every decision, every nuance in character development has tangible consequences. While combat remains an option, players are encouraged to strategize, leveraging their character’s unique skills to forge inventive or even peaceful pathways through challenges.
Over the years, I’ve been captivated by iconic games such as Baldur’s Gate 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Fallout 2, Fallout New Vegas, and other more recent ones like Pillars of Eternity 2, Wasteland 3, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, and Trudograd. Yet, despite my deep appreciation for these titles, I noticed a gap: the absence of a hardcore science fiction cRPG that truly embodies the spirit of choice and the richness of pen-and-paper RPG dynamics. Driven by this void, I embarked on a mission to craft such a game.
In Sector Unknown, you start off as a single escaped prisoner marooned on a distant and backwater world with little hope of survival. But from this hopeless rock, you will eventually rise from isolation, constructing a base of operations, gathering loyal followers, and eventually commanding a ship from which you will embark to the stars, leading you across a diverse range of planets and backwater stations, each awaiting your influence. Rally them to your side, using finesse and diplomacy, or assert your dominance through force.
You will embark on quests, manage factions, build fleets, and fortify planets. Together with your allies, or vassals if you so choose, your choices will spark an uprising against your captors, the oppressive Star Frontier.
Character Building
Before you begin your journey though, you will first need to build your character, including their species. The species selection provides more than just aesthetic differences—it offers both combat and non-combat advantages that deeply influence gameplay dynamics, including unlocking dialogue options.
Following that, you’ll choose a personality trait. This selection fine-tunes your character’s strengths, augmenting both combat and non-combat abilities right from the beginning. These enhancements are especially beneficial during the game’s early phases.
Attributes/Skills/Party Skills
Diving deeper, there are six main physical attributes: Strength, Coordination, Vision, Speed, Aggression, and Intelligence. These attributes form the core of the character’s combat abilities save for Intelligence which instead grants bonuses with each level-up.
Players can also hone a range of non-combat skills as well such as Engineering, Science, Computers, Biology, Finances, and Piloting. Non-technical skills include Intimidation, Persuasion, Perception, Luck, and Larceny. Each skill offers players an avenue to navigate story challenges, ensuring a multi-dimensional gameplay experience.
It’s important to note that skill checks can target either your individual character’s abilities or the collective skills of your party, depending on the context. This ensures that your party composition plays a vital role not just in combat, but in other gameplay aspects too, embodying the concept of using collaborative effort to overcome certain challenges.
The Story
Brief bit of background here before diving into next.
Prison Ship/Maku
Your adventure begins ominously aboard a prison transport. The nature of your crimes remains shrouded in mystery, but one imperative looms large: you must escape before you’re delivered to the dreaded Star Frontier Helios penal colony—a fiery prison orbiting perilously close to a blazing star. Aided by a cryptic robotic companion, you’ll weave through the ship’s corridors, seeking an escape pod for your getaway. However, when you crash-land on the desolate expanse of Maku, all seems lost.
Headquarters
But guided by your newfound robot sidekick, you’ll stumble upon an abandoned mining bunker, carved into a rocky cliffside. Once you’ve purged this hideout of its aggressive native inhabitants, it will become your sanctuary. As you build and expand your base, it will evolve into a vibrant command center, serving as a staging point for the eventual battle and uprising against your Star Frontier captors.
Crafting
From your base, you will be able to do many things, including crafting, enabling you to forge weapons, armor, shield generators, narcotics, injectors, and even construct starships. The crafting system boasts a rich matrix of over fifty organic and inorganic materials, encompassing everything from metals and inert gases to chemicals, fungi, and various flora. Successful component combinations yield superior items, tipping both combat and non-combat scenarios distinctly in your favor.
Bounty Hunting
Your base will of course serve as a nexus for other activities as well. You can dive into the black market to peddle items and goods or bolster your ranks by recruiting skilled mercenaries. You can even build a bounty terminal which will allow you to engage in death mark contracts, tracking down elusive individuals or hunting rogue alien megafauna causing unrest across the various planets, with more perilous and rewarding bounty contracts unlocked through the research system.
Research System
The research system in Sector Unknown is built upon the non-combat technical skills of your character. Take Biology for example: its research tree unfolds uniquely, unlocking components based on your character’s skill level in that area. Similarly, Computers, Science, Engineering, Finances, and Piloting each come with their own distinct trees. These branches not only offer enhancements, bonuses, and unlocks but also underline the importance of your character’s skills and leveling choices.
Party Selection/Support Roles
Along the way you will meet certain characters that can be recruited in either combat or support roles. Take, for instance, if you’re playing as a Blorflax species character. During your escape from the prison transport, you might encounter a Blorflax guard. Leveraging shared cultural ties, you can swiftly bring him to your side as an early companion. Such recruitment opportunities are featured throughout the story. And as highlighted previously, your party members will also lend their unique skills for collective party skill checks.
But your roster won’t be limited to just combat allies. You can also enlist background characters who bolster your base with distinct advantages. Consider Chef Gustav, a master of the culinary arts. By recruiting him, you’ll treat your crew to gourmet meals, translating into combat perks. Similarly, bringing N-689, a financial savant, on board ensures you get the upper hand in black market deals and vendor transactions. These characters, while operating in the background, play a pivotal role in assisting in the uprising.
Planet Management/War Score
The uprising itself will be undertaken on a galactic scale, adding a strategic layer to the game. As you progress through the story, you will bring new planets and factions into your alliance, expanding your influence and reach. However, with each new planet added to your coalition, the stakes rise, thrusting you deeper into conflict with Star Frontier. Meeting this growing challenge requires reinforcing newly acquired planets, recruiting specialized allies, building formidable fleets, and tackling pivotal side missions. The culmination of these efforts is reflected in your War Score. This score not only dictates the game’s climax but also the destiny of your star systems.
Combat
In Sector Unknown, combat is turn-based, allowing you the flexibility to command your party members directly or let them autonomously engage alongside you. While the game doesn’t adhere to traditional classes, its combat skill tree offers a variety of customization options, tailoring both your character and their approach to battle.
Dialogue
As you delve into the game’s universe, interactions with diverse alien species and key story characters play a pivotal role. Sector Unknown boasts a comprehensive dialogue tree, underscoring the significance of characterization and player choice. Moreover, your diverse skill set will shape interactions, affecting outcomes with a range of characters—be they alien thugs, bumbling pirates, snarky robots, or inebriated priests. And as previously highlighted, your chosen species further refines dialogue options, especially when interacting with members of specific alien races.
