Hi there, exofarmers! We’ve had our heads down for a little while, but it was for a great reason: We’re so excited to share with you that Lightyear Frontier is coming out on Xbox Series S/X, PC, and Game Pass!
You’ve gotten to see all the Frontier has to offer; a fresh start for your home, a world full of discoveries to make, and a land that’s perfect for farm plots. Let’s get a closer look at your initial steps on this planet, shall we?
FIRST ARRIVAL
Oh, wow! A new arrival to the solar system. It’s so exciting to finally have someone here and on the ground. We’ve seen a glimpse from up above, but on the surface, there’s so much more! Before we get into that, since your ship is in bad shape, it might be a good idea to get you set up so you’ve got somewhere to stay.
That piece of Farmech-manufactured equipment is going to be your best friend and your mode of transportation on the Frontier! Designed for modularity and reliability, your mech is rock-steady when it comes to unfamiliar environments. It’ll take some getting used to, but since you’ve taken the piloting certification course, you’ll get the hang of it. You DID take the course, right…?
You’ll have a solid set of tools to cover your bases initially, including:
- Seed Shooter – The tried and true tool for getting a harvest planted! With a feed system that pulls directly from the mech’s storage and an auto-targeter that locks onto each plot square, you’ll be able to fill plots with just a few salvoes.
- Irrigation Hose – Your plants will need more than just sunlight to grow! Whether it’s water, fertilizer or other new materials you might discover, the irrigation hose is your delivery system for all liquids. Comes with a tool-mounted hopper and pump.
- Vacuum Harvester – Featuring a wide-brim nozzle, the vacuum harvester is excellent at collecting a significant amount of loose materials in a short amount of time. Rocks, crops, wild plants – you name it, the vacuum harvester can get it!
- Resource Drill – The land is teeming with resources to be put to good use! The drill features a miniature pneumatically-driven motor coupled with the bit, attached to the tool by a hose. Launch it at trees, rocks, and other natural materials to break them down into collectable portions!
Your mech also will have mobility options, including a set of transforming treads to quickly and easily traverse the sprawling landscapes of the planet, as well as built-in jump boosters to do some vertical exploration. That’s just your basic kit, though – over time, as you research your mech’s capabilities, you’ll be able to get your hands on more advanced part schematics to make your mech an excellent vehicle to build, farm, and explore with.
Thankfully, your mech is actually designed to be customized to the owner’s/pilot’s preferences! Adjust your tool configuration to better suit your piloting style, or modify your mech’s internal components to fine-tune performance! Even better yet, make your mech your own by customizing the color scheme, as well as adding other cosmetic enhancements to really spruce up the cockpit. This, of course, means fuzzy dice.
You’re gonna need to get building in order to start on the right foot. From starting a crop to building components and smelting, the proper facilities are essential to advancing your own knowledge, and thus, your progress!
You’ll have to start out by gathering some materials to bring back, both to start your crop AND your research. As you explore the planet and collect more alien seeds, you’ll expand your fields while selling your harvest to snag new materials from the merchant.
Once you’re farther along, you’ll have the opportunity to get started in manufacturing. Combining your resources gathered through the world and the crops you’ve been harvesting, you’ll process them into the necessary materials to create mech upgrades and advanced structures to make life easier on your farm.
Last but not least, make your home the way you want to see it! You’ll also have a wide variety of cosmetic options to spruce up your patch of the planet, so whether you keep it modest or go hogwild with creativity, you’ve got plenty of choices.
Now, to get to the heart of the whole operation: Farming! First things first, though, you’ll have to go hunting for your first seeds to plant. Once you’ve found some, load those into the seed shooter, lock onto the plots, and get planting! Atmospheric conditions on this planet are within the acceptable range for cultivating arable land, so water and sunlight should work for most plants. Each plant has different needs, though, so monitor your plots closely. Should you want to speed up the process some, feel free to utilize some of the included fertilizer, as well!
There are things you’ll need to watch out for, as well. While the atmosphere is hospitable to crops and growth, it also has changing weather systems that can come through. Sometimes this means you get additional water for your crops, which is great! And sometimes, it can mean a storm that uproots your crops. On top of that, this planet also features fauna, who are more than likely going to want to chow down on your fields.
Don’t worry, though! As your tech evolves, you can prevent your crops from being damaged with protective structures. Alongside that, you’ll even be able to start your own ranch with the fauna you wrangle! That sounds like a full-fledged farm, through and through.
Everything that you grow will have a variety of uses; you can, of course, sell your crops to the merchant for money, but interestingly enough, initial composition scans reveal that plants here exhibit similar material properties as some plants on Earth! As you expand your fields with more diverse crops, you should be able to use some of those crops to craft components for things like structures, upgrades, and tools. Pretty handy when you’re in the small pinch of being stranded on a new planet, right?
In the spirit of making the best of your situation, go and explore your surroundings! There’s so much to discover in these new wilds – maybe you’ll find a brand new plant, or maybe a new animal, who’s to say? The only way you’ll know is if you begin your journey on the right foot (or left foot). So get trekking!
Topographical scans reveal a range of terrain features, varying depending on the environment they’re located in. Your mech should be able to handle basic changes in elevation and atmosphere, but be sure to equip your mech for the trip you’re making! Your basic loadout won’t be able to handle submersion or jump up to steep heights, for example. If you find yourself unable to enter a specific environment, conduct more research into transportation modules! That should give your mech the extra oomph needed.
We’re seeing a strange optical spectrometer analysis fluctuation in features on the surface, though. Something down there isn’t part of the natural landscape… It’s reacting to light like…
An artificial structure.
We have no logs of any arrivals prior to your, ahem, rough landing. At the moment, we also don’t have enough data to make a certain call as to what’s down there, but there’s a very real possibility that you’ve stumbled onto something that no one’s seen yet. It seems dormant at the moment, but who knows if that’ll last once you walk right up to it. Go gather some data!
We want your help shaping the world of Lightyear Frontier! As we progress, we’ll have more opportunities for you to get involved and build a beautiful planet to settle and explore on. Last month, we unveiled two new roles on our Discord:
- Explorer, for those who want to see WIP assets as we work on them
- Pioneer, for those who want to participate in suggestions, feedback, and brainstorming sessions in the future
Additionally, we also have our “Questions and Suggestions” features on Discord, as well! By using this bot command, any question or suggestion will go directly to the team’s productivity tool, ensuring visibility for any feedback you might have. Come join us as we form the Frontier together.
