I love exploration games. There’s something really rewarding about being able to discover a world for yourself. There are a bunch of different genres doing this in their own way. Whether it be a good procedurally generated dungeon crawl or a trip into the depths of space, there is a real draw to the unknown. The problem with this genre is it can be over-complicated really easily. You can take the sense of realism to the Nth degree and end up needing an astrophysics doctorate just to get your ship to do as it’s told (not looking at Elite Dangerous at all). Alternatively, you can do a No Mans Sky. Yes, I know you’ve gotten better, Hello Games, but you have to admit it was a bit ropey at the beginning. Earth Analog, our subject of conversation for today, is hoping to get the balance right and is on your PC screens as we speak.
There is a little bit more to Earth Analog than jumping from planet to planet. This is obviously a massive part of the game and you’ll see yourself exploring distant start systems and uncharted worlds. Aside from this, though, you’ll have to keep your ship in good working order or you won’t be going anywhere. If you’re going to upgrade your vessel and fix parts that can, and no doubt will become broken, you’ll need resources. This being said, there will be a certain amount of mining and prospecting involved if you are to succeed.
That’s the basics down, but there’s a bit more to Earth Analog than just hopping onto a planet, mining stuff, and hopping onto the next one. You’ll have to hunt for precious stones and alien artifacts which will in turn unlock new routes and help you continue your journey. There is also the mysterious Dimension Device to consider. Whether you’ll be able to unlock its secrets will remain to be seen.
Earth Analog uses a special render engine to create its fractal environments. This engine uses the unconventional ray-marching technique to get the job done. You’ll get a better idea for this in the trailer I’ll be showing you in a little bit but it all looks rather clever.
“Ever since the day I watched Interstellar I wanted to create a space sim game that captures that sense of mystery and excitement,” said nkm, CEO of Funcraft Games. “When I discovered the innovative render technique called ray marching and learned how that could be used to display real-time fractal worlds I knew that my dreams could become reality.“
If you fancy having an explore around a completely new set of planets, Earth Analog could definitely be your next adventure. I mentioned that trailer earlier, didn’t I? We’ll leave you with that now so you can get a better idea of what I’m rambling on about. If you like that, get over to Steam and have a look for yourselves.
