Sector Unknown - A Story-Rich, Isometric RPG Set in A Shadowy Expanse of Space - Early Access on April

[CreativeStorm]

More of a revised trailer, replaced some of the old clips with new ones now that the story planets are complete.

 

[cyborgboy95]

Devlog: The Planets of Sector Unknown
A few weeks back, I wrapped up the last of the five story planets for Sector Unknown. There’s still the “point of no return” planet—the climactic final world—to finish, but every planet leading up to it is now fully fleshed out with quests, writing, and design.

Now seems like a good time to share a bit of insight into each of these worlds. Keep in mind, these are just the core story planets—there are also numerous side-mission stations, derelict ships, and other locations scattered throughout the game.

Maku

A barren, wind-scoured wasteland, Maku is a planet defined by abandonment and decay. Its endless rocky plains stretch unbroken to the horizon, disturbed only by dust storms and the skeletal remains of long-failed industrial projects.

This is the first planet you set foot on; a forgotten world cast aside by Star Frontier after repeated failed attempts to mine its resources. The old, abandoned mining facility you manage to recover—after dealing with a band of opportunistic pirates—becomes your headquarters, a tenuous foothold from which you begin your expansion into the sector.

Situated in the Svion (SVN-8912) system, Maku is littered with the scars of past efforts: derelict facilities, hollowed-out mines, shattered starships, and rusting junkyards. What was once a hopeful frontier world is now little more than a graveyard of forgotten ambitions—until you arrive to stake your own claim.

Nabi

A vast desert world, Nabi is a land of shifting sand dunes and deep-cut canyons, its arid expanse stretching as far as the eye can see. Beneath its stark beauty lies an unforgiving landscape, where survival is a constant struggle and only the most determined endure.

One of only two habitable planets in the Fivo system (the other being the ocean world Sjo), two structures can be seen on the otherwise unremarkable surface of Nabi:

• Outpost Sirocco – A research hub once staffed by technicians and scientists studying terraforming viability, atmospheric conditions, and long-term habitability. Star Frontier abandoned them when they pulled out, leaving the researchers to fend for themselves.
• The Microwave Power Facility – A state-of-the-art energy station built to harness Nabi’s relentless sun. The plan was to turn the planet into a “battery world”, beaming power across the sector and providing energy boosts to passing freighters. During their chaotic retreat, Star Frontier left behind only a skeleton crew of soldiers to guard the facility.

Survival on Nabi isn’t just about enduring the desert—it’s about surviving the Sunscarred. A ruthless gang of prisoners who crash-landed months ago, they’ve carved out a stronghold in the wreckage of their prison ship. Ever since, they’ve waged a relentless campaign against the technicians of Outpost Sirocco, raiding their supplies and turning the planet into a war zone.

When you arrive on Nabi, it will be your decision which side to support—whether to stand with the struggling technicians or throw in with the hardened survivors of the Sunscarred. Either way, the loyalty you earn here could tip the scales in your larger battle against Star Frontier.

Sjo

A world completely enveloped by an endless ocean, Sjo stretches into infinity, its unbroken horizon a deceptive mask for the desperation beneath its waves. From orbit, it appears serene—a deep blue jewel adrift in space. But on the surface, survival is a brutal, lawless struggle.

Originally intended as the sector’s primary source of potable water, Sjo was home to Aqua Pura, a sprawling floating platform built to support the Desalination Plant. Now, after Star Frontier’s withdrawal, it has rotted into Aqua Purgatory, a place where hope drowned long ago. Those left behind after Star Frontier’s chaotic withdrawal—workers, drifters, and outcasts—cling to life in a haze of violence, vice, and scavenging. Fights spill out of brothels and bars, while smugglers make swift, wary stops to offload supplies, keeping their engines hot—ready to take off again if things get hairy.

Sjo is now a battleground between two factions, each vying for control of what little remains:

• The Executives – Star Frontier’s former corporate leadership, now seeking to reassert control. Also abandoned by their corporate master, they enforce strict rationing of resources under the guise of “order and survival.” But most see through the rhetoric as being about power, not protection.
• The Core Forty-Seven – Named for the original forty-seven workers who maintained and stabilized power cores across the sector, they first formed as an underground labor movement, resisting Star Frontier’s corporate stranglehold. Their original numbers dwindled over time—worn down by accidents, attrition, and crackdowns—until only a scattered remnant remained on Sjo. Now, they stand in opposition to the Executives, but not as saviors. They turn a blind eye to crime, believing survival matters more than order.

When you arrive on Sjo, your choice will determine the fate of Aqua Purgatory—and the Desalination Plant, now under the erratic control of malfunctioning communist robots.

Helfyr

Helfyr is a planet in constant turmoil, its surface a seething cauldron of molten rock, volcanic upheaval, and choking sulfuric fumes. Rivers of lava carve ever-shifting paths through jagged terrain, and eruptions are as common as the tides.

Star Frontier once saw Helfyr as a powerhouse of industry—its geothermal energy and molten resources fueling both massive smelting operations and geothermal plants. For a time, the planet’s brutal conditions were deemed a necessary sacrifice, with workers enduring relentless heat and punishing shifts to keep the sector’s foundries running. But when Star Frontier withdrew, so did any semblance of oversight, leaving the laborers to fend for themselves.

Yet out of this crucible, a legend was born. The Flameborn. Star Frontier forbade procreation on Helfyr—every worker was contractually sterilized before assignment to the planet. And yet, a child was born. The details remain shrouded in mystery: no records of a mother, no sign of a father, just a growing belief that the child was something more. He has become a beacon for the desperate, a prophet from the hellish wastes. His message began as one of resistance, urging the people of the sector to rise against Star Frontier’s tyranny. But something changed. Lately, his sermons have shifted—now he speaks of surrender, of the futility of struggle, of welcoming the inevitable return of Star Frontier.

Two factions have emerged in response:

• The Zealots – Those who follow the Flameborn without question, believing his word is divine, even as it contradicts itself. They see his latest message not as weakness, but as a greater truth only he understands.
• The Heretics – Those who once believed but now doubt. They question how and why his message has changed. Some whisper that the Flameborn is being controlled. Others suspect he never existed at all.

When you arrive on Helfyr, you will have to navigate this fragile balance—finding the child, unraveling the mystery behind his shifting gospel, and deciding how to use or dismantle his influence. Will you harness his followers for the fight ahead? Or strip away the illusion and force them to find their own strength?

Eremtera

Eremtera is a distant, ice-bound world, locked in an unrelenting deep freeze. Its extreme distance from the sun and thin atmosphere ensure that temperatures never rise above lethal, leaving the planet in a state of permanent cold. Daylight is a faint, constant presence, offering no relief from the endless frozen wastelands stretching across its surface.

On this frozen world sits Camp Raider, FOB Dagger, once home to a quick reaction force (QRF) tasked with protecting a secret weapons research facility buried deep beneath the ice. However, after Star Frontier’s withdrawal, the soldiers who were left behind fell into disarray. Low on morale, short on supplies, and abandoned by their command, they barely scrape by, harried by a growing force of pirates who have taken over a nearby abandoned mining facility.

Smugglers have also found opportunity on Eremtera, harvesting glaciers of frozen ethanol and turning them into bootleg liquor, a trade that fuels both the pirates and the demoralized denizens of the sector alike.

When you land on Eremtera, the situation has fully collapsed—the camp commander has barricaded himself inside a supply depot, fearing assassination at the hands of his own men, and your ship is nearly commandeered by desperate soldiers seeking to escape the base. What remains of Camp Raider is little more than a lawless band drowning in vice, held together only by instinct and desperation.

It falls to you to decide—can these soldiers be reforged into a fighting force, or are they beyond redemption? And beyond the camp, buried deep beneath the ice, the weapons research facility remains hidden, its secrets waiting for whoever is ruthless—or resourceful—enough to claim them first.

Conclusion

These five planets form the backbone of Sector Unknown, each with its own conflicts, factions, and opportunities to shape the sector’s fate. Whether navigating the lawless waters of Sjo, forging alliances on Nabi, unraveling the mystery of the Flameborn on Helfyr, taming the chaos of Maku, or deciding the future of Eremtera, every choice you make leaves its mark.

As always, I’ll continue to provide updates as development progresses. Stay tuned.

 

[Lord_Potato]

I sense here some obvious inspirations by Tatooine, Manaan, post-Sith Korriban & Mustafar, but that's okay, there is only a handful of potential 'habitable' types of planets out there, what's important is the content you can experience there.

So I'm looking forward to the adventure. Seems like the world is wide enough to get lost in it.

 

[CreativeStorm]

Single-biome planets have always been a challenge in sci-fi, especially since Star Wars popularized them. It’s easy for them to feel like clones of one another, but ultimately, I think it’s the people and their stories that hopefully define the planets.

Manaan was definitely an influence in terms of an ocean platform setting, but that’s where the similarities end. Aqua Purgatory is more of a lawless, waterborne frontier town, inspired by the "Hell on Wheels" settlements that sprang up during the construction of the transcontinental railroad after the Civil War. For Helfyr, Mustafar for sure comes to mind as far a lava planet, but the people there a bit like the prisoners from Alien 3, abandoned workers forming a newly cloistered society around the word and sermons of the Flameborn child. Having played Star Wars Galaxies many moons ago, I forget who the inhabitants of Mustafar were - if I recall, they were non-human miners, but I don’t remember anything particularly unique about them or their society. Maku is more akin to a shittier version of Mars, abandoned and strewn with junk. Eremtera has the aesthetic of Hoth, but with more a Vietnam-era military feel to it.

Sector Unknown is definitely an homage to KOTOR and Fallout 2, two games I grew up adoring, but my goal was to definitely ensure each planet had a voice of its own.

Thanks again for your interest and following the progress of the game, much appreciated!