00:00Hi, I'm Chris, Game Designer at GamingSight and responsible for the exploration part of Star Trek Voyager Across the Unknown.
00:10In this video I'll be your trusty Delta Quadrant guide and tell you about the system and sector maps as well as the overall structure of the game.
00:19For Across the Unknown we took inspiration from classic space exploration and ship management synths.
00:25And while you may choose to replace sectors to explore the different narrative paths or outcomes, the game's structure is built around steady progress rather than constant failure and restart.
00:35We want you to feel the weight of your decisions and make do with your current situation, all while depicting the harsh environment of the Delta Quadrant.
00:43The game features 12 sectors on your way home, each consisting of several procedurally generated star systems filled with a plethora of resources, hostile encounters, mission locations and events.
00:55Once you enter a new system you should start by scanning your surroundings.
00:59This will give you more information about the different points of interest and help you to locate important resources.
01:05When setting a course you should choose wisely as movement passes time in the form of cycles, consuming resources such as deuterium or food and most likely affecting a crew's morale, which when it falls to zero means it's game over.
01:20On your way through the Delta Quadrant you will encounter some systems that feature additional hazards such as asteroid fields or Neutronic storms.
01:29These can wreak havoc on your ship or crew the longer you fly through them.
01:34Nebulas can also be tricky as their interferences with our systems prevent scanning and thus we can never be certain on what awaits us.
01:44These phenomena are just some of the many examples where your ship build directly affects exploration gameplay.
01:51Upgrading your main deflector will reduce the hull damage taken by asteroids.
01:55Various sensor upgrades can allow us to penetrate dense nebulas or even provide us with the ability to scan far away systems.
02:03Points of interest come in many different forms such as planets, space stations or mysterious ships that don't answer our hails.
02:11They can host main or side quests, repair or trading stations or random encounters that require a quick command decision.
02:19While the outcome of these encounters is based on RNG, the availability and chance of each option depends on your ship build.
02:27For example, upgrading our workshop would increase our chance of success with the associated option here, while having a shield generator on level 2 is required to even unlock its use for this point of interest.
02:39Dark green indicates the best possible outcome.
02:43You usually get the maximum amount of resources or even a little extra.
02:47While red outcomes not only mean that you got less resources, they also come with ramifications in the form of ship damage, morale loss, injured or even lost crew.
02:57Note that not only the risk profile of each option differs but also the maximum rewards you might get.
03:04Another important part of the system exploration is the threat level that defines how often you will be ambushed while flying around, resulting in immediate space combat.
03:17You can influence the threat level in dialogue choices or by giving resources to a local faction using the Aero Shuttle.
03:27Sometimes during main or side missions there will arise the need to send a team of up to 3 heroes on an away mission.
03:34These are realized in a visual novel style but still possess tactical depth.
03:39Featuring multiple challenges you have to choose how to solve the different situations and which heroes you want to assign.
03:45The success chances are based on their attributes and some options are only available for characters with certain traits.
03:52Always taking the choice with the highest chance might however not be the best option for you.
03:57Rather think about which resource you currently need the most or if your choice influences the story.
04:03Also be careful when using the same heroes back to back as they get fatigued, lowering their attributes for the next challenge.
04:11And if the challenge fails, heroes might get injured or can even die.
04:17You may progress to the next sector after completing the main mission, but often have the choice to remain in the sector longer to continue exploration and gather additional resources.
04:28But beware, your crew grows increasingly restless if you stay longer within a sector, dragging down your morale.
04:34While you can counteract this with morale increasing rooms such as the holodeck or unlimited replicator rations, these require the Ethereum to power, increasing your pressure to find more and more resources.
04:45Ultimately, our design goal was that you can hardly explore the whole sector.
04:50Instead, you have to balance the resource gathering against the morale of your crew.
04:54This makes it an important decision when to move on.
04:58Thank you for watching this video and we hope to see you in the Delta Squadron soon!
05:15Thank you.
05:16Thank you.
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