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* ThatOneLevel: One step in advancing the Singularity theory involves finding a Muteki vessel that has an Oracle system and commandeering it ''without powering it up''. Which means that all your TacticalDoorUse is off the table, as you cannot open powerless doors without a Pry upgrade -- and you cannot close them ''at all''. This in turn means you better have enough Mines, Traps, or (ideally) Turret ammo to kill each and every threat that you'll be literally opening the door for. And if you screw up, the threat you've lost control of will be free to charge through all the open rooms to get to the rest of your drones. So to complete this step, you not only need a very specific set of upgrades (Pry and as many combat upgrades as you can get), but the margin of error separating you from a TotalPartyKill is as thin as it gets in ''Duskers''.
to:
* ThatOneLevel: ThatOneSidequest: One step in advancing the Singularity theory involves finding a Muteki vessel that has an Oracle system and commandeering it ''without powering it up''. Which means that all your TacticalDoorUse is off the table, as you cannot open powerless doors without a Pry upgrade -- and you cannot close them ''at all''. This in turn means you better have enough Mines, Traps, or (ideally) Turret ammo to kill each and every threat that you'll be literally opening the door for. And if you screw up, the threat you've lost control of will be free to charge through all the open rooms to get to the rest of your drones. So to complete this step, you not only need a very specific set of upgrades (Pry and as many combat upgrades as you can get), but the margin of error separating you from a TotalPartyKill is will be about as thin as it gets in ''Duskers''.
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*** The hardest-hitting part of these logs is that they may have been meant for ''the player''.
to:
*** The hardest-hitting part of these logs is that they may have been meant for ''the player''.player''.
* ThatOneLevel: One step in advancing the Singularity theory involves finding a Muteki vessel that has an Oracle system and commandeering it ''without powering it up''. Which means that all your TacticalDoorUse is off the table, as you cannot open powerless doors without a Pry upgrade -- and you cannot close them ''at all''. This in turn means you better have enough Mines, Traps, or (ideally) Turret ammo to kill each and every threat that you'll be literally opening the door for. And if you screw up, the threat you've lost control of will be free to charge through all the open rooms to get to the rest of your drones. So to complete this step, you not only need a very specific set of upgrades (Pry and as many combat upgrades as you can get), but the margin of error separating you from a TotalPartyKill is as thin as it gets in ''Duskers''.
* ThatOneLevel: One step in advancing the Singularity theory involves finding a Muteki vessel that has an Oracle system and commandeering it ''without powering it up''. Which means that all your TacticalDoorUse is off the table, as you cannot open powerless doors without a Pry upgrade -- and you cannot close them ''at all''. This in turn means you better have enough Mines, Traps, or (ideally) Turret ammo to kill each and every threat that you'll be literally opening the door for. And if you screw up, the threat you've lost control of will be free to charge through all the open rooms to get to the rest of your drones. So to complete this step, you not only need a very specific set of upgrades (Pry and as many combat upgrades as you can get), but the margin of error separating you from a TotalPartyKill is as thin as it gets in ''Duskers''.
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* NightmareFuel: Oh geez, where do we even begin? '''SPOILERS AHEAD'''
** For starters, you're the last living breathing human in the '''''UNIVERSE''''', which can also border on [[TearJerker Tear Jerker]] [[FridgeLogic (Assuming you're even human to begin with.)]]. Something destroyed everyone else and left behind a vast sea of ruined ships and space stations. You're almost out of fuel to keep the ship running, and no one's answering your distress call. No one's out there to help you. No one's coming to save you, and aside from a few dogs, everything out there that somehow survived the apocalypse wants you and your drone companions '''''DEAD'''''.
*** There's not a single planet in the entire game for you to land on, meaning there's no hope of finding safe harbor or establishing a reliable home base. The game doesn't even bother asking the question as to why there's no planets, which begs the question: what happened to them all?
** The game's interface oozes with paranoia comparable to 1979's ''Alien''. Your only view of the outside world is through a computer monitor, through which you command your drone teams to explore the ruins of the universe. The vector graphic-style visuals combined with the abandoned darkness of the derelicts' halls and the game's eerie sound design and you've got a recipe for constant paranoia of your surroundings, especially if you enter a derelict with an infestation count that isn't '0'. The fact that you can only see the parts of the map that the drones see doesn't help matters.
** Wandering into a room with an inconclusive scan, only to have your drone instantly destroyed by something from out of your field of vision. No warnings besides a beep and a red square before the drone's video feed cuts out. Made even worse if your drone's video feed is decaying to the point where you can't see what's happening until it's too late.
*** That, or an asteroid comes out of nowhere and blows open part of the map, threatening to irradiate your helpless drones before sucking them through the breach should a door be jammed open by the impact.
** Duskers' enemies might be simple in design, but the game's isolated, seemingly claustrophobic nature makes running into them all the more terrifying as you desperately try to save your drones from certain doom. Let's go down the list, shall we?
*** Security Drones are malfunctioning automatons that quietly patrol the derelicts. While they have the same drawback as your drones (limited field of view and vulnerability to radiation), once they find a drone they'll hunt it relentlessly. Why malfunctioning? Because they don't attack other enemies, though this may even hint that they've been reprogrammed by someone... or some''thing'' if the singularity plotline is anything to go by.
*** Leapers are alien creatures capable of leaping across a room to attack your drones, made only worse by their ability to deal massive amounts of damage that can easily one-shot weaker drones. One leaper attack on your drones, especially if you don't have a turret to defend them with, can easily end your entire run in the blink of an eye. Oh, and despite them being organic, they're immune to radiation, so you can't lure them to a busted pipe or irradiated room to do them in.
*** Swarms are the game's [[DemonicSpider Demonic spiders]]. See 'Demonic Spiders' for more info.
*** Slimes may be related to the 'Grey Goo' plot line, and their behavior only reinforces the theory. They start small, but they gradually self-replicate to hunt down your drones. Maybe you can stop them and make them recede temporarily with a sonic emitter, but once you turn it off... the slime is back within ''seconds''. Also, you can't spot slime with the motion tracker since it's not a mobile entity, and unlike the other threats, it can appear ''anywhere outside your boarding craft'' (even in closed, ventless rooms) with no warning... a nasty surprise for a generator drone that you're not paying attention to. Finally, because slime reproduces constantly, it can quickly outpace your supply of bullets, mines, and traps, leaving you stuck with it blocking entire areas of the map.
** Even the derelicts themselves are practically out to get your drones. Older derelicts are more unstable, meaning they'll be even more prone to damage and malfunctions ranging from no longer accepting commands to operate doors to having their airlocks fail, sucking everything out of a room and filling it with deadly radiation. As such, you'll be on edge as you listen for the sounds of failing metal coming through the drones' microphones.
** Some of the storylines you can follow each produce their own grade of nightmare fuel:
*** Pandemic: Some kind of supervirus ran loose and seemingly infected innumerable humans without any sign of how it got transmitted. Not even the genius of Dr. Holmes could figure out how to stop it, and eventually the trail goes dark. The game does hint that the leapers and dogs carry the virus, which only makes things worse for you. Did you risk infecting yourself when you brought back that dog?
*** Grey Goo: Human nanotechnology seemingly went rogue and consumed everything around it that wasn't what became the derelicts. Logs hint that the systems were malfunctioning, which may reinforce the possibility, and could explain the presence of slime enemies and the absence of corpses on the derelicts (save for the ones created during a mission).
*** Super Predator: Something more advanced and very vicious might have destroyed humanity, and was dangerous enough that the military used a superweapon to try and stop it. This could hint at said superweapon being turned on humanity, but could also explain the fact that the player never finds any aliens beyond the leapers. Whatever it was the military was going to fight, it was enough to make their General Nomak afraid.
*** This theory opens another can of worms, however. Are the leapers some kind of stray war dogs for a Super Predator civilization that has already annihilated humanity?
*** Cosmic Event: Something big and unknowable happened and wiped everyone out system by system. Whether that be a mere cosmic fluke (like a massive gamma ray burst) or something more Lovecraftian, the game never answers the question.
*** Singularity: An AI got too smart and went rogue, killing off humanity. If there's any explanation for the security drones all going after just your drones, this might be it. In short, there's an AI hiding out there with enough broadcast power to hack every security drone in the universe to come after your drones as you venture through the derelicts. Combined with the Super Predator and Grey Goo theories and it might explain why security drones ignore other enemies.
** The whole plot of the game can essentially be nightmare fuel for anyone worried about what the future could hold, even after we reach beyond our own solar system. Will we end up wiped out by something we don't understand and have our legacy reduced to malfunctioning machines and floating ruins plagued by hostile extraterrestrial creatures hiding in the dark? Sweet dreams.
** For starters, you're the last living breathing human in the '''''UNIVERSE''''', which can also border on [[TearJerker Tear Jerker]] [[FridgeLogic (Assuming you're even human to begin with.)]]. Something destroyed everyone else and left behind a vast sea of ruined ships and space stations. You're almost out of fuel to keep the ship running, and no one's answering your distress call. No one's out there to help you. No one's coming to save you, and aside from a few dogs, everything out there that somehow survived the apocalypse wants you and your drone companions '''''DEAD'''''.
*** There's not a single planet in the entire game for you to land on, meaning there's no hope of finding safe harbor or establishing a reliable home base. The game doesn't even bother asking the question as to why there's no planets, which begs the question: what happened to them all?
** The game's interface oozes with paranoia comparable to 1979's ''Alien''. Your only view of the outside world is through a computer monitor, through which you command your drone teams to explore the ruins of the universe. The vector graphic-style visuals combined with the abandoned darkness of the derelicts' halls and the game's eerie sound design and you've got a recipe for constant paranoia of your surroundings, especially if you enter a derelict with an infestation count that isn't '0'. The fact that you can only see the parts of the map that the drones see doesn't help matters.
** Wandering into a room with an inconclusive scan, only to have your drone instantly destroyed by something from out of your field of vision. No warnings besides a beep and a red square before the drone's video feed cuts out. Made even worse if your drone's video feed is decaying to the point where you can't see what's happening until it's too late.
*** That, or an asteroid comes out of nowhere and blows open part of the map, threatening to irradiate your helpless drones before sucking them through the breach should a door be jammed open by the impact.
** Duskers' enemies might be simple in design, but the game's isolated, seemingly claustrophobic nature makes running into them all the more terrifying as you desperately try to save your drones from certain doom. Let's go down the list, shall we?
*** Security Drones are malfunctioning automatons that quietly patrol the derelicts. While they have the same drawback as your drones (limited field of view and vulnerability to radiation), once they find a drone they'll hunt it relentlessly. Why malfunctioning? Because they don't attack other enemies, though this may even hint that they've been reprogrammed by someone... or some''thing'' if the singularity plotline is anything to go by.
*** Leapers are alien creatures capable of leaping across a room to attack your drones, made only worse by their ability to deal massive amounts of damage that can easily one-shot weaker drones. One leaper attack on your drones, especially if you don't have a turret to defend them with, can easily end your entire run in the blink of an eye. Oh, and despite them being organic, they're immune to radiation, so you can't lure them to a busted pipe or irradiated room to do them in.
*** Swarms are the game's [[DemonicSpider Demonic spiders]]. See 'Demonic Spiders' for more info.
*** Slimes may be related to the 'Grey Goo' plot line, and their behavior only reinforces the theory. They start small, but they gradually self-replicate to hunt down your drones. Maybe you can stop them and make them recede temporarily with a sonic emitter, but once you turn it off... the slime is back within ''seconds''. Also, you can't spot slime with the motion tracker since it's not a mobile entity, and unlike the other threats, it can appear ''anywhere outside your boarding craft'' (even in closed, ventless rooms) with no warning... a nasty surprise for a generator drone that you're not paying attention to. Finally, because slime reproduces constantly, it can quickly outpace your supply of bullets, mines, and traps, leaving you stuck with it blocking entire areas of the map.
** Even the derelicts themselves are practically out to get your drones. Older derelicts are more unstable, meaning they'll be even more prone to damage and malfunctions ranging from no longer accepting commands to operate doors to having their airlocks fail, sucking everything out of a room and filling it with deadly radiation. As such, you'll be on edge as you listen for the sounds of failing metal coming through the drones' microphones.
** Some of the storylines you can follow each produce their own grade of nightmare fuel:
*** Pandemic: Some kind of supervirus ran loose and seemingly infected innumerable humans without any sign of how it got transmitted. Not even the genius of Dr. Holmes could figure out how to stop it, and eventually the trail goes dark. The game does hint that the leapers and dogs carry the virus, which only makes things worse for you. Did you risk infecting yourself when you brought back that dog?
*** Grey Goo: Human nanotechnology seemingly went rogue and consumed everything around it that wasn't what became the derelicts. Logs hint that the systems were malfunctioning, which may reinforce the possibility, and could explain the presence of slime enemies and the absence of corpses on the derelicts (save for the ones created during a mission).
*** Super Predator: Something more advanced and very vicious might have destroyed humanity, and was dangerous enough that the military used a superweapon to try and stop it. This could hint at said superweapon being turned on humanity, but could also explain the fact that the player never finds any aliens beyond the leapers. Whatever it was the military was going to fight, it was enough to make their General Nomak afraid.
*** This theory opens another can of worms, however. Are the leapers some kind of stray war dogs for a Super Predator civilization that has already annihilated humanity?
*** Cosmic Event: Something big and unknowable happened and wiped everyone out system by system. Whether that be a mere cosmic fluke (like a massive gamma ray burst) or something more Lovecraftian, the game never answers the question.
*** Singularity: An AI got too smart and went rogue, killing off humanity. If there's any explanation for the security drones all going after just your drones, this might be it. In short, there's an AI hiding out there with enough broadcast power to hack every security drone in the universe to come after your drones as you venture through the derelicts. Combined with the Super Predator and Grey Goo theories and it might explain why security drones ignore other enemies.
** The whole plot of the game can essentially be nightmare fuel for anyone worried about what the future could hold, even after we reach beyond our own solar system. Will we end up wiped out by something we don't understand and have our legacy reduced to malfunctioning machines and floating ruins plagued by hostile extraterrestrial creatures hiding in the dark? Sweet dreams.
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* DemonicSpiders: Swarms, a 20-or-so numbered cloud of buzzing bastards that move fast, [[VillainTeleportation can use vents to transport from one room to another]], and [[BatteringRam will bash down doors]] [[OhCrap just to get to you]] ([[DoorJudo Simply opening the door]] will not work, and in fact will get your drones killed). Oh, and those aforementioned vents? [[MookMaker They can spawn more of them]].
to:
* DemonicSpiders: Swarms, a 20-or-so numbered cloud of buzzing bastards that move fast, [[VillainTeleportation can use vents to transport from one room to another]], and [[BatteringRam will can bash down doors]] [[OhCrap just to get to you]] ([[DoorJudo Simply opening the door]] will not work, and in fact will get your drones killed). Oh, and those aforementioned vents? [[MookMaker They can spawn more of them]].
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Hindsight shoehorn (that more or less admits it's misuse).
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* HilariousInHindsight: "Hilarious" is an odd word to use, nonetheless this game is not to be confused with ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}''...... whose developer has also made [[VideoGame/IronLung a game that has the player rely on a limited view to explore what's left of the universe where most of the humanity and habitable planets have vanished]].
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* Heartwarming: Rescuing a dog from a derelict. While they might get annoying with their various background noises, it's nice to know that even with how grim the game's setting is, you've found something that won't try to rip your drones apart at a moment's notice.
to:
* Heartwarming: SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: Rescuing a dog from a derelict. While they might get annoying with their various background noises, it's nice to know that even with how grim the game's setting is, you've found something that won't try to rip your drones apart at a moment's notice.notice.
* HilariousInHindsight: "Hilarious" is an odd word to use, nonetheless this game is not to be confused with ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}''...... whose developer has also made [[VideoGame/IronLung a game that has the player rely on a limited view to explore what's left of the universe where most of the humanity and habitable planets have vanished]].
* HilariousInHindsight: "Hilarious" is an odd word to use, nonetheless this game is not to be confused with ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}''...... whose developer has also made [[VideoGame/IronLung a game that has the player rely on a limited view to explore what's left of the universe where most of the humanity and habitable planets have vanished]].
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Defunct trope
Changed line(s) 24 (click to see context) from:
** For those who like animals, killing a dog by mistake isn't too pleasant to think about. That is, unless you're not in the mood to hear them in the background while you work, but even so, ''you've killed one of the last friendly beings in the universe'', making you [[NotSoDifferent just as much of a bastard as the leapers and the swarms]].
to:
** For those who like animals, killing a dog by mistake isn't too pleasant to think about. That is, unless you're not in the mood to hear them in the background while you work, but even so, ''you've killed one of the last friendly beings in the universe'', making you [[NotSoDifferent just as much of a bastard as the leapers and the swarms]].swarms.
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*** Slimes may be related to the 'Grey Goo' plot line, and their behavior only reinforces the theory. They start small, but they gradually self-replicate to hunt down your drones. Maybe you can stop them and make them recede temporarily with a sonic emitter, but once you turn it off... Also, it's immune to the motion tracker since it's not a mobile entity.
to:
*** Slimes may be related to the 'Grey Goo' plot line, and their behavior only reinforces the theory. They start small, but they gradually self-replicate to hunt down your drones. Maybe you can stop them and make them recede temporarily with a sonic emitter, but once you turn it off... the slime is back within ''seconds''. Also, it's immune to you can't spot slime with the motion tracker since it's not a mobile entity.entity, and unlike the other threats, it can appear ''anywhere outside your boarding craft'' (even in closed, ventless rooms) with no warning... a nasty surprise for a generator drone that you're not paying attention to. Finally, because slime reproduces constantly, it can quickly outpace your supply of bullets, mines, and traps, leaving you stuck with it blocking entire areas of the map.
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** For those who like animals, killing a dog by mistake isn't too pleasant to think about. That is, unless you're not in the mood to hear them in the background while you work, but even so, ''you've killed one of the last friendly beings in the universe'', making you just as much of a bastard as the leapers and swarms.
to:
** For those who like animals, killing a dog by mistake isn't too pleasant to think about. That is, unless you're not in the mood to hear them in the background while you work, but even so, ''you've killed one of the last friendly beings in the universe'', making you [[NotSoDifferent just as much of a bastard as the leapers and swarms.the swarms]].
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Changed line(s) 24,26 (click to see context) from:
** For those who like animals, killing a dog by mistake isn't too pleasant to think about. That is, unless you're not in the mood to hear them in the background while you work.
** Losing a drone can be painful, especially if it's one you've grown attached to over numerous missions. Maybe you'll try and tow it back for repairs, but chances are that once a drone goes down, whatever killed it will be coming for the others, forcing you to leave it behind.
** No matter how many times you reset and follow a new string of galaxies across the universe, you find nothing out there. Whatever killed off humanity was extremely thorough, and it seems like nothing's going to change that.
** Losing a drone can be painful, especially if it's one you've grown attached to over numerous missions. Maybe you'll try and tow it back for repairs, but chances are that once a drone goes down, whatever killed it will be coming for the others, forcing you to leave it behind.
** No matter how many times you reset and follow a new string of galaxies across the universe, you find nothing out there. Whatever killed off humanity was extremely thorough, and it seems like nothing's going to change that.
to:
** For those who like animals, killing a dog by mistake isn't too pleasant to think about. That is, unless you're not in the mood to hear them in the background while you work.
work, but even so, ''you've killed one of the last friendly beings in the universe'', making you just as much of a bastard as the leapers and swarms.
** Losing a drone can be painful, especially if it's one you've grown attached to over numerous missions. Maybeyou'll you can try and to tow it back for repairs, but chances are that once a drone goes down, whatever killed it will be coming for the others, ''rest'', forcing you to leave it behind.
behind if you don't want your whole fleet to join it in death.
** No matter how many times you reset and follow a new string of galaxies across the universe, you find nothing out there. Whatever killed off humanity was extremely thorough, and it seems likenothing's going to change that.there's no hope of ever finding any survivors (beyond a stray dog).
** Losing a drone can be painful, especially if it's one you've grown attached to over numerous missions. Maybe
** No matter how many times you reset and follow a new string of galaxies across the universe, you find nothing out there. Whatever killed off humanity was extremely thorough, and it seems like
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*** This theory opens another can of worms however. Are the leapers some kind of stray war dogs for a super predator civilization fighting humanity?
*** Cosmic Event: Something big and unknowable happened and wiped everyone out system by system, whether that be a mere cosmic fluke... or something more lovecraftian, the game never answers the question.
*** Cosmic Event: Something big and unknowable happened and wiped everyone out system by system, whether that be a mere cosmic fluke... or something more lovecraftian, the game never answers the question.
to:
*** Cosmic Event: Something big and unknowable happened and wiped everyone out system by
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Changed line(s) 2 (click to see context) from:
* Heartwarming: Rescuing a dog from a derelict. While they might get annoying with their various background noises, it's nice to know that even with how grim the game's setting is, you've found something that won't try to rip your drones apart at a moment's notice.
to:
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Changed line(s) 14 (click to see context) from:
** Even the derelicts themselves are practically out to get your drones. Older derelicts are more unstable, meaning they'll be even more prone to damage and malfunctions ranging from no longer accepting commands to operate doors to having their airlocks fail, sucking everything out of a room and filling it with deadly radiation.
to:
** Even the derelicts themselves are practically out to get your drones. Older derelicts are more unstable, meaning they'll be even more prone to damage and malfunctions ranging from no longer accepting commands to operate doors to having their airlocks fail, sucking everything out of a room and filling it with deadly radiation. As such, you'll be on edge as you listen for the sounds of failing metal coming through the drones' microphones.
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Changed line(s) 10 (click to see context) from:
*** Security Drones are malfunctioning automatons that quietly patrol the derelicts. While they have the same drawback as your drones (limited field of view and vulnerability to radiation), once they find a drone they'll hunt it relentlessly. Why malfunctioning? Because they don't attack other enemies, thought this may even hint that they've been reprogrammed by someone... or some''thing'' if the singularity plotline is anything to go by.
to:
*** Security Drones are malfunctioning automatons that quietly patrol the derelicts. While they have the same drawback as your drones (limited field of view and vulnerability to radiation), once they find a drone they'll hunt it relentlessly. Why malfunctioning? Because they don't attack other enemies, thought though this may even hint that they've been reprogrammed by someone... or some''thing'' if the singularity plotline is anything to go by.
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Changed line(s) 27 (click to see context) from:
** The map screens themselves can be both unsettling and convey the painful fact once you zoom all the way out; the universe is an empty void, and now all that fills it is the remains of mankind's creations. Abandoned spaceships and space stations, unused stargates, and the only things that now inhabit it are you, numerous hostile monsters, dogs, and of course, the drones.
to:
** The map screens themselves can be both unsettling and convey the painful fact once you zoom all the way out; the universe is an empty void, and now all that fills it is the remains of mankind's creations. Abandoned spaceships and space stations, unused stargates, and the only things that now inhabit it are you, numerous hostile monsters, dogs, and of course, the drones.drones.
**The 'Hey You' logs that you get over the course of the game detail a scientist awaiting the return of their significant other from space as they investigate an anomaly, questioning if they'll ever get a response as they try to alleviate problems on a tense Earth. They even mention 'building a pet' to keep the receiver company.
*** The hardest-hitting part of these logs is that they may have been meant for ''the player''.
**The 'Hey You' logs that you get over the course of the game detail a scientist awaiting the return of their significant other from space as they investigate an anomaly, questioning if they'll ever get a response as they try to alleviate problems on a tense Earth. They even mention 'building a pet' to keep the receiver company.
*** The hardest-hitting part of these logs is that they may have been meant for ''the player''.
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Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
* Tear Jerker: You're the only human left in the universe. Terrible things happened and you missed it all, being left to search the derelicts for anything that can give an idea of what happened. Except that none of the plot threads have a proper conclusion.
to:
* Tear Jerker: TearJerker: You're the only human left in the universe. Terrible things happened and you missed it all, being left to search the derelicts for anything that can give an idea of what happened. Except that none of the plot threads have a proper conclusion.
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Added Tear Jerker to YMMV.
Added line(s) 3 (click to see context) :
*Heartwarming: Rescuing a dog from a derelict. While they might get annoying with their various background noises, it's nice to know that even with how grim the game's setting is, you've found something that won't try to rip your drones apart at a moment's notice.
Changed line(s) 3 (click to see context) from:
** For starters, you're the last living breathing human in the '''''UNIVERSE.''''' [[FridgeLogic (Assuming you're even human to begin with.)]] Something destroyed everyone else and left behind a vast sea of ruined ships and space stations. You're almost out of fuel to keep the ship running, and no one's answering your distress call. No one's out there to help you. No one's coming to save you, and aside from a few dogs, everything out there that somehow survived the apocalypse wants you and your drone companions '''''DEAD'''''.
to:
** For starters, you're the last living breathing human in the '''''UNIVERSE.''''' '''''UNIVERSE''''', which can also border on [[TearJerker Tear Jerker]] [[FridgeLogic (Assuming you're even human to begin with.)]] )]]. Something destroyed everyone else and left behind a vast sea of ruined ships and space stations. You're almost out of fuel to keep the ship running, and no one's answering your distress call. No one's out there to help you. No one's coming to save you, and aside from a few dogs, everything out there that somehow survived the apocalypse wants you and your drone companions '''''DEAD'''''.
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** Wandering into a room with an inconclusive scan, only to have your drone instantly destroyed by something from out of your field of vision. No warnings besides a beep and a red square before the drone's video feed cuts out.
to:
** Wandering into a room with an inconclusive scan, only to have your drone instantly destroyed by something from out of your field of vision. No warnings besides a beep and a red square before the drone's video feed cuts out. Made even worse if your drone's video feed is decaying to the point where you can't see what's happening until it's too late.
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*** Swarms are big groups of hostile bugs that pop out of vents to patrol their surroundings. Stray to close and they'll quickly outrun and rip your drones to shreds. If you find one, the game will eventually spawn another, plus they can use vents to ignore doors. Think you're safe just because you closed a door? Think again, because they're more than happy to break the door open to continue the hunt if said door is weak enough.
to:
*** Swarms are big groups of hostile bugs that pop out of vents to patrol their surroundings. Stray to close and they'll quickly outrun and rip your drones to shreds. If you find one, the game will eventually spawn another, plus they can use vents to ignore doors. Think you're safe just because you closed a door? Think again, because they're game's [[DemonicSpider Demonic spiders]]. See 'Demonic Spiders' for more than happy to break the door open to continue the hunt if said door is weak enough.info.
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** No matter how many times you reset and follow a new string of galaxies across the universe, you find nothing out there. Whatever killed off humanity was extremely thorough.
** The whole plot of the game can essentially be nightmare fuel for anyone worried about what the future could hold, even after we reach beyond our own solar system. Will we end up wiped out by something we don't understand and have our legacy reduced to malfunctioning machines and floating ruins plagued by hostile extraterrestrial creatures hiding in the dark? Sweet dreams.
** The whole plot of the game can essentially be nightmare fuel for anyone worried about what the future could hold, even after we reach beyond our own solar system. Will we end up wiped out by something we don't understand and have our legacy reduced to malfunctioning machines and floating ruins plagued by hostile extraterrestrial creatures hiding in the dark? Sweet dreams.
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*Tear Jerker: You're the only human left in the universe. Terrible things happened and you missed it all, being left to search the derelicts for anything that can give an idea of what happened. Except that none of the plot threads have a proper conclusion.
**For those who like animals, killing a dog by mistake isn't too pleasant to think about. That is, unless you're not in the mood to hear them in the background while you work.
**Losing a drone can be painful, especially if it's one you've grown attached to over numerous missions. Maybe you'll try and tow it back for repairs, but chances are that once a drone goes down, whatever killed it will be coming for the others, forcing you to leave it behind.
** No matter how many times you reset and follow a new string of galaxies across the universe, you find nothing out there. Whatever killed off humanity was extremely thorough, and it seems like nothing's going to change that.
**The map screens themselves can be both unsettling and convey the painful fact once you zoom all the way out; the universe is an empty void, and now all that fills it is the remains of mankind's creations. Abandoned spaceships and space stations, unused stargates, and the only things that now inhabit it are you, numerous hostile monsters, dogs, and of course, the drones.
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***Singularity: An AI got too smart and went rogue, killing off humanity. If there's any explanation for the security drones all going after just your drones, this might be it. In short, there's an AI hiding out there with enough broadcast power to hack every security drone in the universe to come after your drones as you venture through the derelicts. Combined with the Super Predator and Grey Goo theories and it might explain why security drones ignore other enemies.
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Added a Nightmare Fuel section to YMMV. Could use some refining. -Jesse
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* DemonicSpiders: Swarms, a 20-or-so numbered cloud of buzzing bastards that move fast, [[VillainTeleportation can use vents to transport from one room to another]], and [[BatteringRam will bash down doors]] [[OhCrap just to get to you]] ([[DoorJudo Simply opening the door]] will not work, and in fact will get your drones killed). Oh, and those aforementioned vents? [[MookMaker They can spawn more of them]].
to:
* DemonicSpiders: Swarms, a 20-or-so numbered cloud of buzzing bastards that move fast, [[VillainTeleportation can use vents to transport from one room to another]], and [[BatteringRam will bash down doors]] [[OhCrap just to get to you]] ([[DoorJudo Simply opening the door]] will not work, and in fact will get your drones killed). Oh, and those aforementioned vents? [[MookMaker They can spawn more of them]].them]].
* NightmareFuel: Oh geez, where do we even begin? '''SPOILERS AHEAD'''
** For starters, you're the last living breathing human in the '''''UNIVERSE.''''' [[FridgeLogic (Assuming you're even human to begin with.)]] Something destroyed everyone else and left behind a vast sea of ruined ships and space stations. You're almost out of fuel to keep the ship running, and no one's answering your distress call. No one's out there to help you. No one's coming to save you, and aside from a few dogs, everything out there that somehow survived the apocalypse wants you and your drone companions '''''DEAD'''''.
*** There's not a single planet in the entire game for you to land on, meaning there's no hope of finding safe harbor or establishing a reliable home base. The game doesn't even bother asking the question as to why there's no planets, which begs the question: what happened to them all?
**The game's interface oozes with paranoia comparable to 1979's ''Alien''. Your only view of the outside world is through a computer monitor, through which you command your drone teams to explore the ruins of the universe. The vector graphic-style visuals combined with the abandoned darkness of the derelicts' halls and the game's eerie sound design and you've got a recipe for constant paranoia of your surroundings, especially if you enter a derelict with an infestation count that isn't '0'. The fact that you can only see the parts of the map that the drones see doesn't help matters.
**Wandering into a room with an inconclusive scan, only to have your drone instantly destroyed by something from out of your field of vision. No warnings besides a beep and a red square before the drone's video feed cuts out.
***That, or an asteroid comes out of nowhere and blows open part of the map, threatening to irradiate your helpless drones before sucking them through the breach should a door be jammed open by the impact.
**Duskers' enemies might be simple in design, but the game's isolated, seemingly claustrophobic nature makes running into them all the more terrifying as you desperately try to save your drones from certain doom. Let's go down the list, shall we?
*** Security Drones are malfunctioning automatons that quietly patrol the derelicts. While they have the same drawback as your drones (limited field of view and vulnerability to radiation), once they find a drone they'll hunt it relentlessly. Why malfunctioning? Because they don't attack other enemies, thought this may even hint that they've been reprogrammed by someone... or some''thing'' if the singularity plotline is anything to go by.
*** Leapers are alien creatures capable of leaping across a room to attack your drones, made only worse by their ability to deal massive amounts of damage that can easily one-shot weaker drones. One leaper attack on your drones, especially if you don't have a turret to defend them with, can easily end your entire run in the blink of an eye. Oh, and despite them being organic, they're immune to radiation, so you can't lure them to a busted pipe or irradiated room to do them in.
*** Swarms are big groups of hostile bugs that pop out of vents to patrol their surroundings. Stray to close and they'll quickly outrun and rip your drones to shreds. If you find one, the game will eventually spawn another, plus they can use vents to ignore doors. Think you're safe just because you closed a door? Think again, because they're more than happy to break the door open to continue the hunt if said door is weak enough.
***Slimes may be related to the 'Grey Goo' plot line, and their behavior only reinforces the theory. They start small, but they gradually self-replicate to hunt down your drones. Maybe you can stop them and make them recede temporarily with a sonic emitter, but once you turn it off... Also, it's immune to the motion tracker since it's not a mobile entity.
**Even the derelicts themselves are practically out to get your drones. Older derelicts are more unstable, meaning they'll be even more prone to damage and malfunctions ranging from no longer accepting commands to operate doors to having their airlocks fail, sucking everything out of a room and filling it with deadly radiation.
**Some of the storylines you can follow each produce their own grade of nightmare fuel:
***Pandemic: Some kind of supervirus ran loose and seemingly infected innumerable humans without any sign of how it got transmitted. Not even the genius of Dr. Holmes could figure out how to stop it, and eventually the trail goes dark. The game does hint that the leapers and dogs carry the virus, which only makes things worse for you. Did you risk infecting yourself when you brought back that dog?
***Grey Goo: Human nanotechnology seemingly went rogue and consumed everything around it that wasn't what became the derelicts. Logs hint that the systems were malfunctioning, which may reinforce the possibility, and could explain the presence of slime enemies and the absence of corpses on the derelicts (save for the ones created during a mission).
***Super Predator: Something more advanced and very vicious might have destroyed humanity, and was dangerous enough that the military used a superweapon to try and stop it. This could hint at said superweapon being turned on humanity, but could also explain the fact that the player never finds any aliens beyond the leapers. Whatever it was the military was going to fight, it was enough to make their General Nomak afraid.
****This theory opens another can of worms however. Are the leapers some kind of stray war dogs for a super predator civilization fighting humanity?
***Cosmic Event: Something big and unknowable happened and wiped everyone out system by system, whether that be a mere cosmic fluke... or something more lovecraftian, the game never answers the question.
**No matter how many times you reset and follow a new string of galaxies across the universe, you find nothing out there. Whatever killed off humanity was extremely thorough.
**The whole plot of the game can essentially be nightmare fuel for anyone worried about what the future could hold, even after we reach beyond our own solar system. Will we end up wiped out by something we don't understand and have our legacy reduced to malfunctioning machines and floating ruins plagued by hostile extraterrestrial creatures hiding in the dark? Sweet dreams.
* NightmareFuel: Oh geez, where do we even begin? '''SPOILERS AHEAD'''
** For starters, you're the last living breathing human in the '''''UNIVERSE.''''' [[FridgeLogic (Assuming you're even human to begin with.)]] Something destroyed everyone else and left behind a vast sea of ruined ships and space stations. You're almost out of fuel to keep the ship running, and no one's answering your distress call. No one's out there to help you. No one's coming to save you, and aside from a few dogs, everything out there that somehow survived the apocalypse wants you and your drone companions '''''DEAD'''''.
*** There's not a single planet in the entire game for you to land on, meaning there's no hope of finding safe harbor or establishing a reliable home base. The game doesn't even bother asking the question as to why there's no planets, which begs the question: what happened to them all?
**The game's interface oozes with paranoia comparable to 1979's ''Alien''. Your only view of the outside world is through a computer monitor, through which you command your drone teams to explore the ruins of the universe. The vector graphic-style visuals combined with the abandoned darkness of the derelicts' halls and the game's eerie sound design and you've got a recipe for constant paranoia of your surroundings, especially if you enter a derelict with an infestation count that isn't '0'. The fact that you can only see the parts of the map that the drones see doesn't help matters.
**Wandering into a room with an inconclusive scan, only to have your drone instantly destroyed by something from out of your field of vision. No warnings besides a beep and a red square before the drone's video feed cuts out.
***That, or an asteroid comes out of nowhere and blows open part of the map, threatening to irradiate your helpless drones before sucking them through the breach should a door be jammed open by the impact.
**Duskers' enemies might be simple in design, but the game's isolated, seemingly claustrophobic nature makes running into them all the more terrifying as you desperately try to save your drones from certain doom. Let's go down the list, shall we?
*** Security Drones are malfunctioning automatons that quietly patrol the derelicts. While they have the same drawback as your drones (limited field of view and vulnerability to radiation), once they find a drone they'll hunt it relentlessly. Why malfunctioning? Because they don't attack other enemies, thought this may even hint that they've been reprogrammed by someone... or some''thing'' if the singularity plotline is anything to go by.
*** Leapers are alien creatures capable of leaping across a room to attack your drones, made only worse by their ability to deal massive amounts of damage that can easily one-shot weaker drones. One leaper attack on your drones, especially if you don't have a turret to defend them with, can easily end your entire run in the blink of an eye. Oh, and despite them being organic, they're immune to radiation, so you can't lure them to a busted pipe or irradiated room to do them in.
*** Swarms are big groups of hostile bugs that pop out of vents to patrol their surroundings. Stray to close and they'll quickly outrun and rip your drones to shreds. If you find one, the game will eventually spawn another, plus they can use vents to ignore doors. Think you're safe just because you closed a door? Think again, because they're more than happy to break the door open to continue the hunt if said door is weak enough.
***Slimes may be related to the 'Grey Goo' plot line, and their behavior only reinforces the theory. They start small, but they gradually self-replicate to hunt down your drones. Maybe you can stop them and make them recede temporarily with a sonic emitter, but once you turn it off... Also, it's immune to the motion tracker since it's not a mobile entity.
**Even the derelicts themselves are practically out to get your drones. Older derelicts are more unstable, meaning they'll be even more prone to damage and malfunctions ranging from no longer accepting commands to operate doors to having their airlocks fail, sucking everything out of a room and filling it with deadly radiation.
**Some of the storylines you can follow each produce their own grade of nightmare fuel:
***Pandemic: Some kind of supervirus ran loose and seemingly infected innumerable humans without any sign of how it got transmitted. Not even the genius of Dr. Holmes could figure out how to stop it, and eventually the trail goes dark. The game does hint that the leapers and dogs carry the virus, which only makes things worse for you. Did you risk infecting yourself when you brought back that dog?
***Grey Goo: Human nanotechnology seemingly went rogue and consumed everything around it that wasn't what became the derelicts. Logs hint that the systems were malfunctioning, which may reinforce the possibility, and could explain the presence of slime enemies and the absence of corpses on the derelicts (save for the ones created during a mission).
***Super Predator: Something more advanced and very vicious might have destroyed humanity, and was dangerous enough that the military used a superweapon to try and stop it. This could hint at said superweapon being turned on humanity, but could also explain the fact that the player never finds any aliens beyond the leapers. Whatever it was the military was going to fight, it was enough to make their General Nomak afraid.
****This theory opens another can of worms however. Are the leapers some kind of stray war dogs for a super predator civilization fighting humanity?
***Cosmic Event: Something big and unknowable happened and wiped everyone out system by system, whether that be a mere cosmic fluke... or something more lovecraftian, the game never answers the question.
**No matter how many times you reset and follow a new string of galaxies across the universe, you find nothing out there. Whatever killed off humanity was extremely thorough.
**The whole plot of the game can essentially be nightmare fuel for anyone worried about what the future could hold, even after we reach beyond our own solar system. Will we end up wiped out by something we don't understand and have our legacy reduced to malfunctioning machines and floating ruins plagued by hostile extraterrestrial creatures hiding in the dark? Sweet dreams.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* DemonicSpiders: Swarms, a 20-or-so numbered cloud of buzzing bastards that move fast, [[VillainTeleportation can use vents to transport from one room to another]], and [[BatteringRam will bash down doors]] [[OhCrap just to get to you]] ([[DoorJudo Simply opening the door]] will not work, and in fact will get your drones killed). Oh, and those aforementioned vents? [[MookMaker They can spawn more of them]].
