Alien Races / Characters:

[Last Updated: 13th January 2016 by Brendan Drain]

[Progress: 6 / 12 races complete] Predestination will have 13 alien races in total, with 7 designed exclusively by our team and 6 designed in conjunction with Kickstarter backers. Each race has a set of stats that modifies their gameplay, 2D artwork used throughout the game, written dialogue, and recorded voiceovers. Each race in the game will also have its own singleplayer story scenario that tells the tale of what happened to them after the final battle with the Revenants.

Character design: The 2D artwork for each race consists of:

• A background image that’s used in diplomatic negotiations
• A header image featuring the race’s name in a style befitting that race. Used on the race select screen.
• A scientist or engineer character
• A soldier or worker character
• A diplomat or civilian character
• A smaller hex icon containing a head-shot of the race’s diplomat.
• NEW: A custom shader that adds animations and effects to each race in-game to bring them to life and add more immersion.

Race #1 – The United Colonies:

Race Lore: The United Colonies are high-tech humans who rose to power by plundering the hidden technology in ancient ruins throughout the galaxy. It was while plundering one such ruin that they unwittingly awakened the Revenants from suspended animation, dooming the entire galaxy to inevitable extinction. In the final battle with the Revenants, a United Colonies ship attempted to use a captured Revenant time device to freeze the solar system in time, but instead it opened temporal rifts that cast dozens of ships back through time. Having crash-landed on a Terran planet, the survivors now seek to regain their lost technology and rediscover the Revenant homeworld.

Archetype: Humanoid (Terran environments)
Personality: Arrogant colonial technocrats.
Racial Traits: Creative (can research multiple paths through tech trees), +10% Science, -10% Diplomacy, +10% Beam Weapons.
Homeworld: Medium Terran planet named “New Earth”, orbits Orange star named “New Sol”.

Singleplayer Scenario: The United Colonies singleplayer scenario will follow the story of what happens to them after they get sent back in time. They will initially start the game alone, but half way through the scenario you’ll discover another human empire has sprouted up from another United Colonies ship. As the game progresses, they make contact (via a wormhole) with a high-ranking member of the Renegades, a small radical faction who split off from the United Colonies during the Revenant war when it became known that it was the United Colonies who unwittingly unleashed the Revenants into the galaxy. This second United Colonies empire will become increasingly accusatory throughout the story and eventually defects to the Renegades throughout the story mission. The result of the scenario will see you either make peace with this new Renegade empire or conquer/destroy them, unlocking the Renegades singleplayer scenario.

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Race #2 – The Renegades:

Race Lore: The Renegades are a race of human survivalists descended from the crew of a cruiser that was sent back in time during the final battle with the Revenants and crash-landed on a Terran planet. The Renegades used to be part of the United Colonies, but broke away as their own independent faction after the Revenant war when it became known that it was the United Colonies’ brazen plundering of the Revenant homeworld that woke them up and started the war. Renegade society focuses on functional technology rather than flashy gadgets.

Archetype: Humanoid (Terran environments)
Personality: Humble, industrious farmers and engineers.
Racial Traits: Hardy (can survive in Ice, Desert, and Terran environments), +10% Food Production, +10% Armour HP, +10% Projectile Weapons.
Homeworld: Medium Terran planet named “Terra Prime”, orbits Orange star named “Terra”.

Singleplayer Scenario: The Renegades mission will start after the United Colonies mission and follows the story of the main Renegades faction. The goal of this mission is to find a wormhole hidden in the galaxy and use it to contact the United Colonies and turn them to your cause. Special Data Disks will be scattered throughout the galaxy that must be recovered by scanning the planets, and each one must be shared with the United Colonies. Once you’ve shared all of the data with the United Colonies, they will turn to your cause. If you destroyed the Renegades in the previous mission,  you receive a report at the end of the mission that the Renegades were destroyed. If you made peace with them, you get a report that peace has been made.

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Race #3 – The Starforged:

Race Lore: The Starforged are sentient robots descended from a stranded United Colonies AI troop transport that crash-landed on an icy world. The robots were forced to redesign themselves to survive until rescued, adapting to run on the heat from internal fossil fuel furnaces. No-one knows how long the Starforged were stranded and tinkered with their own designs before finally becoming sentient, but they have now emerged as a fully autonomous race. Having detected signals from other races emerging from temporal rifts across the galaxy, The Starforged have now changed priorities and set their eyes on the depths of space.

Archetype: Robotic (Ice environments)
Personality: Curious, Precise.
Racial Traits: Internal Combustion (consumes coal for food), -10% Science, +10% Drone Weapons, +10% Ground Combat, +5% Ship Armour
Homeworld: Medium Ice planet named “The Foundry”, orbits Orange star named “The Singularity”.
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #4 – The Kazzir:

Race Lore: The Kazzir are feline humanoids with powerful intellects and keen negotiating skills. Rather than making technological advances due to the necessity of war, Kazzir society made its greatest advances by turning difficult challenges into publicly televised competitions. Scientists, Fighter Pilots and Diplomats are all celebrities in Kazzir society, and war is good for ratings. A squadron of small Kazzir ships were pitched back in time during the final battle with the Revenants, crash-landing on a Terran planet. They now seek to rebuild their interstellar empire and discover a way to get back to their own time and stop the Revenants once and for all.

Archetype: Humanoid (Terran environments)
Personality: Easy-going, friendly, ebullient, technocrats.
Racial Traits: Charismatic (Attract more legendary leaders, diplomatic bonus), +20% Diplomacy, +1 Combat Speed, +10% Shield Regen, +10% Tax Income, -20% Ground Combat.
Homeworld: Medium Terran planet named “Kazzir”, orbits Orange star named “Kazzir”.
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #5 – The Sauros:

Race Lore: The Sauros are an ancient reptilian race and the last remnants of an powerful empire that once spanned half the galaxy. Though normally xenophobic by nature, the Sauros broke their silence when the Revenant war began and led the younger races into battle. Saurosian society is led by the purple-coloured Monitor Sauros ruling class, with all research performed by an intelligent Albino Sauros sub-species and manual labour falling to the Jungle Sauros slave caste. With their vast empire now gone, the Sauros have begun force-breeding new population in hacheries to compensate for their slow reproductive cycle.

Archetype: Reptilian (Desert environments)
Personality: Ancient, slow-to-react, superior, treats other races like children in need of guidance.
Racial Traits: Ancient Cruiser (homeworld starts with bonus crashed ships), -20% Population Growth, +10% Armour HP, +10% Beam Weapons.
Homeworld: Medium Terran planet named “Sauros”, orbits Orange star named “Sauros”.
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #6 – The Z’loq:

Race Lore: The Z’Loq are highly aggressive and ruthless military warlords with the innate ability to see warp currents that allow faster travel between stars. Spurred on by overcrowding on their homeworld and a lust for conquest, the Z’loq are one of the few Aquatic races ever to explore space and claim the oceans of other worlds for themselves. It’s rumoured that the Z’loq possess a weapon that can liquify the ice caps on a planet and will gladly use it against populated worlds. Though dozens of their ships were sent back in time, only one crash-landed on a planet with suitable oceans to begin rebuilding a space-faring civilisation.

Archetype: Humanoid (Terran environments)
Personality: Aggressive, xenophobic, limited communication skills.
Racial Traits: Transdimensional (bonus FTL speed and can see wormholes), Warlord (bonus troops in cities, bonus command points), +20% Ground Combat, +10% Missile Damage, -10% Diplomacy.
Homeworld: Medium Ocean planet named “Z’Loq”, orbits Orange star named “Z’Loq”.
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #7 – The Revenants:

Race Lore: The Revenants are a mysterious alien race of unknown origin who possess extremely advanced technology. The Revenant homeworld was discovered by a United Colonies deep space expedition, with millions of Revenant citizens were discovered deep underground in stasis chambers. When awakened, the Revenants reclaimed their homeworld and began launching ships out from the planet to destroy all life in the galaxy. They have slept underground on their planet for millions of years and now see the other races that have colonise the galaxy as a plague on a galaxy that is rightfully theirs.

Archetype: Unknown
Personality: Aggressive, uses apocryphal language.
Racial Traits: Cloaked Homeworld, +20% Beam Weapons, +20% Armour HP, +20 Ground Combat, +2 Combat Speed, Starts with powerful endgame Revenant technologies.
Homeworld: Medium Tech planet named “Cloaked Planet”, orbits Orange star with random name near the center of the star map.
Singleplayer Scenario: Non-Playable Race.

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Race #8 – [To be determined] (Backer-designed)

Race Lore: [To be determined].
Archetype: [To be determined]
Personality: [To be determined]
Racial Traits: [To be determined]
Homeworld: [To be determined]
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #9 – [To be determined] (Backer-designed)

Race Lore: [To be determined].
Archetype: [To be determined]
Personality: [To be determined]
Racial Traits: [To be determined]
Homeworld: [To be determined]
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #10 – [To be determined] (Backer-designed)

Race Lore: [To be determined].
Archetype: [To be determined]
Personality: [To be determined]
Racial Traits: [To be determined]
Homeworld: [To be determined]
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #11 – [To be determined] (Backer-designed)

Race Lore: [To be determined].
Archetype: [To be determined]
Personality: [To be determined]
Racial Traits: [To be determined]
Homeworld: [To be determined]
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #12 – [To be determined] (Backer-designed)

Race Lore: [To be determined].
Archetype: [To be determined]
Personality: [To be determined]
Racial Traits: [To be determined]
Homeworld: [To be determined]
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

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Race #13 – [To be determined] (Backer-designed)

Race Lore: [To be determined].
Archetype: [To be determined]
Personality: [To be determined]
Racial Traits: [To be determined]
Homeworld: [To be determined]
Singleplayer Scenario: [To Be Determined]

 

Race archetypes:

Each of the four race archetypes (Humanoid, Reptilian, Aquatic and Robotic) now has its own specific version of the tech trees with a few technologies swapped for race-specific ones that are marked in green. Each archetype also has slightly different planetary gameplay, and race-specific buildings and infrastructure. We made sure each race archetype has a particular preferred environment not just because of an arbitrary limitation but because planets work well with their unique racial stuff. Robotic races can only build ByteCoin Miners to make money in Ice environments, Aquatic races need lots of ocean area to build their infrastructure in, and Reptiles need desert environments for their farms to work.

• Aquatic – Aquatic races start out on Ocean planets and most of their infrastructure is limited to Ocean environments. Their core mechanic is that they can plant Coral Reefs which grow resources over time. The Metallic Coral Reef generates metal and grows deposits of coral over time, while the Fishing Coral Reef generates food and grows clusters of fish over time. The reefs take up a lot of space but don’t require existing resources to be exploited, so the Aquatic races fare best on planets with large oceans. If the reefs are ever destroyed, the deposits they grew are instantly destroyed. Unique technologies include upgrades for the reefs.

• Reptilian – Reptilian races start out on Desert planets and have access to standard starting infrastructure such as the ore refinery and fossil fuel power plant. They have a Desert Farm instead of a standard farm, which only generates food on Desert terrain hexes. Their core mechanic is that each city contains a central Hatchery building that grows population and gives global bonuses across the whole planet, so you can stack the bonus from multiple cities together to create more specialised planets. Unique technologies for Reptilian races include different Hatcheries and techs relating to slave labour.

• Robotic – Robotic races start on Ice planets and consume Energy Cells instead of food, which are produced in the Robot Charging Station infrastructure. The planets of Robotic races always have 100% Health and Morale ratings, but robotic population don’t generate tax. Instead, they generate money directly through an infrastructure called the ByteCoin Miner. Robots also don’t have population growth, but build new population manually at a cost of 1000 BC and 4000 energy cells for 1000 population. Robotic races are all about directly managing all resources rather than things growing or changing over time. Rather than being tied to an environment for food production, they are tied to the Ice environment by finances because the ByteCoin miner must be built in an Ice environment. Unique technologies for robotic races include distributed computing techs, upgrades to the Forge building, and antivirus and networking buildings for security etc.

• Humanoid – Humanoid races start out on Terran planets and have access to standard starting infrastructure such as the ore refinery and fossil fuel power plant. Humanoid farms can only produce food from terran hexes on a planet, and can only natively use the Terran environments on their starting planet until they get biosphere technology.  Humanoids don’t have a special core mechnic but function just as the game has always played, and they have the standard set of technologies.

Race traits:

In addition to bonuses to stats such as metal production or beam weapon damage, a number of unique race traits have been added to make the races of the game really differentiate from each other and have a more unique play style:

• Internal Combustion: Robotic races have the optional trait of Internal Combustion, which means they consume fossil fuels instead of Energy Cells. They produce Fuel Pellets in the Fossil Fuel Pellet Factory infrastructure, and gain access to a Nuclear version in their tech tree. (The Starforged have this trait)
• Hardy: Humanoid races have the optional Hardy trait, which makes them easily adapt to Ice and Desert environments. They will no longer require infrastructure or city biospheres in these environments, which saves you money each turn in upkeep costs. (The Renegades have this trait)
• Creative: At any point where the technology trees split into multiple options, normally you can only research one of the choices and the others will be locked, making them obtainable only from diplomatic trade with other races or random tech discovery events (not yet implemented). Creative races don’t have this limitation, so they can go back and research multiple paths through the tech tree. (The United Colonies have this trait)
• Trans-Dimensional: Some races have a perception that goes beyond the standard three dimensions, enabling them to see warp currents and shortcuts through space. Races with this trait gain +2 lightyear per turn warp speed of all fleets and can see all wormholes at the start of the game. (The Z’loq have this trait)
• Escort Ships: Though mostly small individual ships survived the transition through the temporal rift from the future, races with this trait were lucky enough to have companion ships that also crashed on the planet. They start the game with two crashed ship deposits next to their city to be excavated, giving a huge boost in initial research. (The Sauros have this trait, though it is mistakenly named Crashed Cruiser).
• Warlord: Warlord races have double the chance to spawn elite crew members on ships, train ground troops at double the normal rate, and +15 combat rating when defending their own colonies from ground troops. They get a -5% planetary morale penalty for each city without a Marine Barracks building and each star system colonised produces +1 command point. (The Z’loq have this trait)
• Other traits: Other traits that aren’t currently used by any races but have been implemented include Lucky / Unlucky (will be used for random events and Revenant attacks), Uncreative (one path through the tech tree is pre-selected and the others locked), Telepathic (bonuses to spying, security and diplomacy, and may in future be able to control space monsters), and Orbital Scan (homeworld is fully scanned at the start of the game).