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You are a diplomat in interstellar negotiations when a remote station on an ocean world goes quiet. Your brother works there, so you secure the mission. Something inside is wrong. The longer you stay, the harder it gets to act like yourself. What you discover may change the very nature of humanity.
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Undercurrent is a psychological sci-fi horror game.
The year is 2250. Humankind has spread among the stars with the help of the Bakhan, an alien civilization slowly dying out from an incurable disease. From the center of the Milky Way, the Bakhan are searching the cosmos for advanced life, gifting technology in return for any medical knowledge that could end the grey death.
Thalas, an ocean planet located within Earth’s reach, may hold the answer. In bioscience, it is known as a synonym for symbiosis, all its lifeforms connected into one whole. In politics, it is a bargaining chip, one of the most politically sensitive postings in known universe.
Its science station has gone dark.
You are Ava Horvat, a diplomatic envoy to the Bakhan, guided by the motto “You wouldn’t abandon ship in a storm just because you couldn’t control the winds.” Your younger brother Andrej is a radiologist stationed on Thalas. It has been weeks since you have heard from him. You get sent in to find out what happened. Your intentions were good.
Thalas is dangerous territory. It has no land. Its islands, aptly named centimanes after the mythological Hundred-Hander giants, are enormous root-like structures rising from a poisonous ocean.
You are equipped with the Bakhan’s holo-tech, allowing you to construct bridges across the chasms between centimanes and tame the electrical currents that run through all life on Thalas. It resists.
Attune to the alien biosphere to achieve harmony with its rhythms.
Harden the alien conditions to remain unchanged in face of its hostility.
Either way, the path before you emerges.
It is immediately clear that the science crew abandoned standard protocols. They are erratic. Your training in diplomatic negotiations enables you to handle just about anything under normal circumstances. Uncovering the cause of these anomalies means getting through to them.
Decide how to achieve this.
Should you try to connect with them?
Try to make light of the situation?
Perhaps cold logic and efficiency is best to get through this?
Stick to your core principles?
Find the truth. Question everything. Where is the radiation coming from? Why do you keep dreaming of butterflies? What have the scientists discovered on Thalas? How to help the crew without becoming one of them? What is happening to you?
All you wanted was to make sure your brother is unharmed. Now you are the only way out of this darkness.
One thing is certain. You can’t stay who you are.
The choices in the branching dialogue are forms of social action. Each choice represents one of four types: emotion and personal connection, tradition and humor, cold logic and efficiency, or values and principles regardless of outcome. The more you act in a certain way, the more entrenched you become in your habits, and narrow down your future choices. This dialogue system is inspired by the work of one of the founders of sociology, Max Weber.
Our environmental mechanics allow the player to project holo-structures and manipulate electricity to either integrate into the world or architect it.
Undercurrent’s art style contrasts clean minimalism of human-built spaces with the aggressive wilderness of an alien ocean planet. Its visuals combine hand-painted 3D models with hand-crafted textures that are digitally processed, to build a world that is eerily atmospheric but tactile.
