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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Author Topic: The gates  (Read 21456 times)

Embercloud

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The gates
« on: March 06, 2017, 11:32:45 PM »

Will there be a mission or similar to enable us to re-activate the gates that were shut down?

Are there any plans regarding a sort of quest chain or campaign?
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arcibalde

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Re: The gates
« Reply #1 on: March 07, 2017, 12:51:52 AM »

So you would really want to know that now? Seriously? If Alex or David answer this i would appreciate answer in some heavy duty spoiler tag.
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Embercloud

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Re: The gates
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2017, 12:54:47 AM »

Maybe you're right, I wouldn't want intricate details, just a simple yes or no would suffice
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AxleMC131

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Re: The gates
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2017, 01:15:28 AM »

I ain't hugely savvy with Starsector lore, but from what I've gathered the Gates were the system ships used for travelling interstellar before they had Jump Points and hyperspace. Why they stopped running or were disabled, I got no clue. Probably some war between the Hegemony and the Tri-Tachyons...  ;)
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Embercloud

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Re: The gates
« Reply #4 on: March 07, 2017, 01:16:35 AM »

I ain't hugely savvy with Starsector lore, but from what I've gathered the Gates were the system ships used for travelling interstellar before they had Jump Points and hyperspace. Why they stopped running or were disabled, I got no clue. Probably some war between the Hegemony and the Tri-Tachyons...  ;)

Yes, but how, and why?

How is earth doing?
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AxleMC131

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Re: The gates
« Reply #5 on: March 07, 2017, 01:29:28 AM »

*Shrug* Not a clue.  :P
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Sy

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Re: The gates
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2017, 06:52:55 AM »

for anyone interested in the lore behind the gates, their shutdown and the following chaos, i recommend reading this old old blog post. i believe a few details may have been changed since it was written, but it still explains the general idea of why the Sector is what it is.

TL;DR: the Sector (= everything we see and can travel to in-game) was once merely a fledgling colony of a massive empire (the "Domain of Man"), with gates allowing instantaneous travel between the empire's various regions. about 200 "cycles" (aka years) ago, all the gates in the Sector suddenly closed without warning or explanation.
since the rather recently colonized Sector was still dependent on the Domain for supplies and technology necessary for survival and further terraforming, the local economy and order quickly collapsed, as people got desperate to secure their own survival. even two centuries later, much of the Sector is still plagued by poverty, crime and war, and available technology has been slowly but surely deteriorating.

like most major factions, the Hegemony was formed after the Collapse, as a self-appointed successor to the law and might of the Domain. iirc, Tri-Tachyon existed as a megacorporation before the Collapse, but what we know as Tri-Tachyon in-game was formed from just the local branch of the original company that got isolated when the gates closed, and has since become a ruling faction just as much as a business corporation in order to ensure profits in the lawless environment of the Sector.


i don't think we will ever get an answer on why the gates closed, as that mystery is kinda key to Starsector's background story. and i don't think we'll ever reopen them, since the game focuses on the Sector and its struggle, which would be kinda moot if the Domain returned to save us all. if the gates do reopen at some point, i imagine it would be to create a new endgame danger through some kind of massive invasion force that threatens the entire Sector.
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Megas

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Re: The gates
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2017, 07:14:57 AM »

It seems the point of Starsector is to deal with life without the gates.  If the gates open, the game is practically over because either friendlies come through and old order is restored (which the sector powers may not want) or hostiles come through with overpowered hardware and you try to survive the final boss fight.

Opening the gates and dealing with the other side (beyond the endgame fight with space zombies) seems like sequel material.  Starsector 2: Beyond the Sector.
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Tartiflette

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Re: The gates
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2017, 07:40:30 AM »

Or there could be nothing at all, either because the gates no longer lead to the same places or because the Domain completely vanished.
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Clockwork Owl

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Re: The gates
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2017, 07:41:43 AM »

Starsector 3: the Old Earth
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Sy

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Re: The gates
« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2017, 08:29:07 AM »

i like to think the gates were closed by someone pulling the plug of the entire network in an attempt to save humanity from some sudden threat that didn't leave time for explanations, like an incredibly rapidly spreading plague, a rogue super-AI, or an overwhelming alien invasion force appearing out of nowhere.

so reopening them would at best leave us with an empire's worth of ruins to explore that lead to more questions than answers, and at worst lead to the immediate annihilation/enslavement of all life in the Sector.
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Megas

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Re: The gates
« Reply #11 on: March 07, 2017, 11:01:13 AM »

Or there could be nothing at all, either because the gates no longer lead to the same places or because the Domain completely vanished.
While true, if the gates could be opened and the player found nothing, it would be a waste of perfectly good excuse plot for endgame fight and/or sequel, unless the point of that is some brick joke or trolling to throw off expectations.

so reopening them would at best leave us with an empire's worth of ruins to explore that lead to more questions than answers, and at worst lead to the immediate annihilation/enslavement of all life in the Sector.
Or, alternately, annihilation/enslavement of all life outside the Sector...

I like to see gate as a prison to seal the worst war criminal in the galaxy - the player character!  (Even though whoever shut the gates down had no way of knowing of a future warlord born post-collapse.)  In a game where conquest is enabled (Nexerelin for now, hopefully the base game itself later), the only thing stopping a Ming the Merciless wannabe from ruling the universe is shut gates, and opening the gates would let him out.
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AxleMC131

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Re: The gates
« Reply #12 on: March 07, 2017, 01:52:03 PM »

Either that or someone straight-up destroyed the gates at the other end.
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Voyager I

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Re: The gates
« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2017, 02:36:41 PM »

From what Alex has said, the basic idea of the game isn't that you're a hero who will discover what caused the collapse of the gate network, solve the problem, and restore mankind to another Golden Age.  Instead, you are just another person trying to make their way through Interesting Times.
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Sy

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Re: The gates
« Reply #14 on: March 07, 2017, 03:16:50 PM »

well we are supposed to be able to "leave our mark upon the world and determine the fate of the Sector with our decisions", either slowing/halting or accelerating civilization's decay. but i imagine even the 'best' outcome will just mean things don't get worse anymore (for now) rather than everything becoming awesome again.
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