Gamera Games revealed in June that a Dyson Sphere Program combat system is in the works for the sci fi industrial management game, but now says it’ll be next year before that system is ready to roll out into the early access build. However, the developer debuted a lengthy new trailer at the Tokyo Games Show that provides our best look yet at Dyson Sphere Program’s mechanical alien menace, the Dark Fog.
The new TGS trailer illustrates how the Dark Fog threat will escalate as you become a more noticeable presence in your solar system. When the fog first enters a star system, it’ll set up shop and start replicating as it scouts the local planets for potential resource gathering sites. It’ll probably notice your initial colony at this point, but as long as you’re still pottering away getting your first production sector set up, the Dark Fog won’t bother taking action – you’re not a threat to it.
However, as the second segment of the video explains, the Dark Fog will sit up and take notice once you’ve started building more significant structures, like Dyson spheres and defensive units. Directly attacking the Dark Fog will, of course, also raise your threat level significantly.
Dyson Sphere Program producer Xun Zhou also talks a bit about how players will be able to determine how much of this threat they want to deal with, both in difficulty settings and simply by playing a certain way. You can take certain actions to reduce the amount of threat you pose to the Dark Fog, thereby decreasing the difficulty and likelihood of combat encounters. Or you can opt for ‘peaceful’ mode – this won’t remove the Dark Fog from the game, but it will mean that it leaves you alone unless you take the first move and attack it.
Again, the Rise of the Dark Fog update is now scheduled to roll out into the Early Access build of Dyson Sphere Program sometime in 2023. Youthcat Studios says it’s currently working on several elements like enemy models and animation, and wants to take some additional time to make sure everything looks and works right before shipping the update.
Check out our Dyson Sphere Program beginner’s guide if you’re looking for tips on how to get your first planet up and running.