Developer Journal - The Desertum Region

Hello Survivors!

We know you're all incredibly excited for the Dunes and Moons update and everything in it! We're here with our first ever developer journal, featuring our friends over at Haemimont Games, to talk about the new Desertum region and some of the new challenges you can expect to run into there. Let's dive right in to learn more about this new addition to the alien world:

Hello! We are absolutely thrilled to have you here with us. Could you please introduce yourself to everyone reading? Yes of course! Hello everyone, my name is Bisser Dyankov, and I am CEO of Haemimont Games. I am also the producer of Stranded: Alien Dawn. That means I do my best to keep track of all the different threads of development and production in check. I'm also the main point of contact with the great team at Frontier Foundry who are working on the publishing side of the game.

The Desertum region is very unique, and very different to the temperate Sobrius region that players are used to. What can they expect from this new region? You will run into some new challenges where solutions that would work on Sobrius won't work as well, as expected, or at all in Desertum. This ranges from the availability of base resources, to extreme temperatures, different food sources, and so on. You'll be facing a wide variety of challenges to boot. You'll be facing new and unique plants and animals, some of which might not be too friendly, and also some biome specific weather effects. 

The scarcity of wood means you'll have to use different strategies with regards to construction, and the widely varying temperatures will need to be addressed to ensure the survival and long-term comfort of the survivors trying to make it through the Desertum region.

It sounds like a very dangerous place! Can you tell us more about the new types of flora and what sort of resources they give? There's a variety of new flora – mainly different types of cacti, but also palm trees and bushes. Some of these will give you what you expect, like sticks and wood, but there are also specific plants whose names are direct references to the resources they give you, like Teaball trees and Juiceleaf plants. The cacti are definitely my favourite! They can provide food with different levels of edibility, like cactus slime, distasteful flowers, and the most delicious of all – cactus fruits!

You can use the cactus slime and teaballs to make antibiotics and tea, respectively, because who can survive in the desert without tea? Distasteful flowers can be eaten, or used for pickling, but they might not taste very good!

We're sure there are some new and unique animals in Desertum as well. Could you tell us about them? There are two unique animal species to the Desertum biome – the Dromadda and the Tecatli. The Dromadda is a peaceful herbivore, while the Tecatli is a daytime hunter. Like other species they can be hunted down and used for resources like meat or hides. You'll also run into animals you've already seen on Sobrius like insects and birds of prey.

Deserts are usually very hot during the day, and very cold during the night - how will temperature play a part in Desertum's challenges? Temperature already plays a significant role in Stranded: Alien Dawn, but even more so in the Desertum region. As you can probably expect, days are considerably hotter, while nights are considerably colder. This presents challenges to both the short and long-term comfort of the survivors, as well as things like disintegration of resources out in the open, and so on. It'll be tricky having an outdoor pantry in 12 hour scorching heat!

How does this affect the seasons and weather? The seasons in Desertum are different than on Sobrius. There's no temperate climate, and no spring, summer, autumn, or winter. There are just two seasons – the wet season and the dry season. The weather, in conjunction with the temperature amplitudes, affects everything – from the need for heat at night, to clothing required for long-term survival, to the pacing of plant growth. The weather also has its unique effects and disasters like dust storms, and of course, heat waves.

What was the most challenging part of creating Desertum, and how did you overcome it? For me the most challenging part was having to re-define the approach to construction - ultimately Stranded: Alien Dawn is a base-building survival simulation. When the players are not dealing with an urgent crisis, they spend a lot of time - and resources - on construction. The lack of wood, and the need to re-define the player's approach to construction - was simultaneously the most challenging part, but also my favourite when it finally clicked together! I also love how the bases look in longer games - and they do look different from the Sobrius region. It makes me think of all the real-world traditional desert dwellings that have their unique signature look, based on locally available resources.

That's what we had time for this time, survivors! Please join us in thanking Bisser for joining us for this Developer Journal. We hope you've enjoyed this insight into the Desertum region, and we're looking forward to seeing you all jump in. It's not long now until the release of the Dunes and Moons Update on 1 December 2022. Don't forget to join the Stranded: Alien Dawn Discord and you'll never miss any news! You can also follow the game on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, or join the discussions on Steam and the Frontier Forums. On 30 November at 3:30pm GMT, the community team will be joined by developers from Haemimont Games for a run-through of Desertum and the new update on Twitch and YouTube. We'll see you there!