Every world is a full sphere of editable voxel terrain. Dig, build and run a colony in first person, or from a colony view that steps through the ground layer by layer.
The core loop in the current test build.
The world is a full planet generated from a seed at one of four sizes, 4 to 120 km across. Choose a landing site on the globe; the terrain under it is solid voxels down to the core.
Concept artDig, pour, level and pack in continuous strokes. Every edit is stored in the save. Lay out a plot and the colonists cut, fill and pack it to the line.
Concept artPlay on foot in first or third person, or from a colony view that cuts through the terrain one layer at a time to place zones, orders and buildings.
Concept artStick shelters first, then fired mud brick, then stone. Each building has a foundation that bears load or fails, and it shows what holds it up.
Concept artWhat the current build does, by system.
One voxel lattice wraps the entire sphere, with up defined per point toward the centre. The other planets and moons in the sky are generated the same way.
The surface is marched from a density field, not stacked from cubes. Tools change it in the frame you use them, and every change persists.
Any job a colonist can be ordered to do, the player can do by hand, with the same tools and the same results. Give orders from the colony view or take a colonist over.
Testing is invite only. Apply, then confirm your email and we review your application, or join the Discord and ask Traveler for an instant invitation. Discord is optional.
Closed test builds go to a small group of testers. Each build is numbered and ships with a written test plan.
Builds install and update through the Acris launcher. Apply to join the test group.
Apply to testThe engine under Colony: spherical voxel worlds, marched terrain, and a server and client split from the start. Rust on Vulkan.
Not licensed or open source. If you are building something that needs round worlds, tell us what you need.
Talk to usDevelopment is organised by version, one phase of work each. No dates; the order is the plan. Test builds land when the work in them is ready rather than on a schedule — this is the core of the game being built, so the time between them varies.
Done: 0.1.1 The World · 0.1.2 Building and Orders · 0.1.3 Views and Draw Distance · 0.1.4 Models, Animation and Textures
Art track. Runs alongside the phases from 0.1.5: models, textures and animation brought to the look of the key art, landing in the build as they are finished.
The machinery under the game made consistent: one source of truth for every world fact, one work rule for the player and the colonist, the server on its own thread, and crafting and production in their full form.
Wildlife that moves and feeds because it is hungry, grazing that strips and regrows ground, and soil that tracks moisture and fertility by column through the seasons.
Vehicles assembled from parts with mass, on wheels and gear-driven running gear, under the planet's own gravity. Carts and wagons first.
