My Time at Sandrock "It’s a Wild, Wild, World Out There!" story video

Recently fully-funded on Kickstarter, a new video has been released for My Time at Sandrock, going over the story of the upcoming game. Check it out above.

Today, let’s talk a little bit of history.

As most of you know by now, the world of Portia and Sandrock went through a little war about 330 years before the current in-game date, resulting in the Day of Calamity. Before the Day of Calamity, human technology was at its height: people lived in luxury, robots did most of the work, ships carried men to the stars… Scientists were able to crystalize energy into power stones that powered nearly everything: think of them as more powerful and longer lasting batteries. This earliest period in recalled history is now known as the Age of Corruption.

During the Day of Calamity, men used advanced weaponry of enormous power in a war that engulfed the planet and beyond. The results were devastating. Records show entire continents vanished; chemical and biological weapons created new biomes and new species; the human population fell dramatically; the AI machines became uncontrolled; entire cities were buried; but most prominently: the sky darkened for the next two hundred years. This time period is now called the Age of Darkness.

During the Age of Darkness, the vast majority of the human population lived underground. In the darkness, they faced starvation, loneliness, civil war, and even mutant monsters that lurked about in the tunnels. They were not able to produce crops above ground, as the world was trapped in a perpetual nuclear winter. Throughout the two hundred plus years, new countries were formed underground. New religions were also formed, such as the Church of the Light, who at the time predicted a savior would appear to bring light back to the world.

As the Age of Darkness continued, industrial production grinded to a halt. Most of the knowledge developed from the old world was lost or forgotten. People begin to “ruin dive” to search for working condition machinery from the old structures. The Ruin Divers had to brave many dangers to get these items, thus gaining the respect of the population. At the same time, a profession called the Builders begin to arise. These people helped put the items from the ruin divers together into working machines. Over time, these two professions melted together somewhat.

About 100 years ago (98 years in game time), a man named J. Peach built a machine that tore a hole in the clouds, bringing light back to the world. Peach was a resident in the ruins under what is modern day Ethea. The machine he used has been lost to history, but record has it that he used it in several places before it broke down. The light brought about by Peach gave hope to the masses; they believed the day when they could once again live under the sun was not far off. The event of Peach’s machine tearing a hole in the clouds is celebrated today in the form of the Day of the Bright Sun. People call this Year 0 on the Peach Calendar (it’s currently Year 98).

After Peach’s achievement, the clouds thinned and gradually parted over the next 30 years. Most people started living above around again during this time. Some kept their underground affiliations, such as the nations of Seesai, Ethea, Barnarock, and Duvos. The followers of the Church of the Light formed their own country in Meidi. Some ruin divers and settlers from Ethea and Barnarock set off south to form what is known today as the Alliance of Free Cities.

And that’s all for today!