Xenocell : The Sojourn Settlement

Finally, I could take the time to show off some of the things I did for Xenocell. My time lately was more or less focused on the BG Cliff Construction Kit, but of course the game is also making progress.



The Kali desert

The player takes the role of a survivor who crash lands on an alien planet as a part of the crew of a science vessel sent to terraform the first planet beyond our own system - planet Ibelis in Alpha Centauri.



Kali is one huge Atlas zone

There are two starting zones, as the science vessel's survivors reach the planet in two different regions. One of them is the Kali desert, which was named after the Hindu goddess associated with death and destruction.

The name Kali means "black", but has by folk etymology come to mean "force of time (kala)". Despite her negative connotations, she is today considered the goddess of time and change. I figured her name will fit the desert and it's wildlife perfectly, while also sounding like the name of a desert. :)



The Sojourn settlement from a distance

The first survivors have gathered materials from the ruins of crash sites, and wood from the desert's tentacle-like trees. By the time the player's life pod leaves orbit, several weeks pass. During this time, the first human village, the Sojourn settlement is created. This serves as a base of operations for a smaller human force, who stayed in the desert to help other possible survivors that crash land on Kali.



Built above the sand in the protection of the western mountains



Afraid of heights?

The Sojourn settlement was my first attempt at creating something using Constructor. I still have much to learn, but I like how it turned out.



The first floor corridor and the second floor tactical room.

There is a platform for airborne vehicles to land and refuel. This is where the player is brought to after being found by a rescue team.



The landing platform

The player model is still not finalized. I'm currently using Maxim Lyulyukin's futuristic soldier, although later on this model will be used for ai characters only, and a new male and female model will replace it with the appropriate gear.



The player character while a Mosquito approaches the landing platform.

I will try to cover the vehicles in the game in the next blog, though they definitely still need some work.



Here's the corridor before the hospital and the barracks from both ends. I tried to add some detail through decals.



The barracks from the inside, the settlement from a distance, and the marketplace on top of the barracks.

This place still needs lots of work, but I'm beginning to like what it's turning into. I already have AI path nodes all around the place, but I want to tweak my random, seed based AI face and cloth generator before I show that off. I'm hoping it will feel like a place that is alive.

I will add defense turrets and desert creatures that occasionally attack the members patroling around the settlement to create some tension and variety in the life of Sojourn.

Thank you for reading, thoughts and suggestions are very welcome.

@konradkiss
KonradKiss @ GitHub
konradkiss.com