Lightyear Frontier, a preview of an agricultural sandbox on machines

Among the innovations presented during the Xbox & Bethesda Showcase was Lightyear Frontier, a strange project that deserves to be explored that might have been overlooked amid the announcement and trailer party on June 12 and 14. Set Frame Break allowed us to gather more information and showcase it in this first project by inviting us to the presentation of their special project Lightyear Frontier previewA game with management elements that could prove to be one of the best surprises in the crowded arena of sandbox adventures.

To tell the truth, this is not the first time we are talking about this project: It was originally announced during the event dedicated to ID @ Xbox in 2021, but this year it has made us think by presenting itself in a much broader and more complete form. Although there is no official release date yet, a release not too far away.

There presentation The Lightyear Frontier game took place remotely, and we were able to see live gameplay with the game led by Frame Break’s developers, so there wasn’t yet a way to try the game firsthand, but what’s shown is still allowed to build. Get a feel for this game and place it firmly among the many interesting projects currently in development within the ID @ Xbox program dedicated to indie games.

It seems to be under development and the game systems are at least stable and largely in place, but for now we need to confine ourselves to a few thoughts on the basic idea and impressions from the few minutes of gameplay we played. will be able to see with confidence in other more in-depth visions in the coming months.

An alien farming adventure

The idea behind Lightyear Frontier is weird but not entirely new: It’s about managing some kind of farm on an alien planet that we’ve seen before in many other indie games. sandbox adventures with survival elements We have witnessed over the years.

So what makes this Frame Break game unique? The fact of using a fully customizable machine for the construction and maintenance of fields and farms: sterling It is therefore derived from the game-specific, tool used, a basic tool that almost becomes the protagonist of the whole plot. In short, it’s another experiment derived from a mix of genres, in which case it also pulls a pinch of Mechwarrior and spits it out from combat in the context of a game that has absolutely nothing to do with robot-based combat, essentially placing itself quite literally. This is against the vision.

Interestingly, the developers wanted to play around with a commendable idea: actually staging a game. Pacific and replacing weapons with farming implements. That’s not a way to say it: in fact, what looks like real machine guns and pistols are coming out of the sides of the machine, instead of just firing bullets they are sowing seeds, watering and ploughing the land or bringing forage for animals or building fences and fences. “Put some flowers in your balls: play”, in short, but not only, because Lightyear Frontier still survives and challenges are not lacking, but these focus above all on the need to protect our business from numerous environmental threats. This could unfold on the alien planet, whereas the game seems to be completely devoid of typical needs of basic survival like eating and drinking, and only focuses on the welfare of crops and livestock.

machine tractor

It is for this reason that the most distinctive element of Lightyear Frontier. machineIn this case, it rises to the role of tractor and all-round agricultural implement, with enormous possibilities for customization and modification. This is a particular focus of the developers: although some basic tools are practically essential to use, anyone can modify the tool to suit their own tastes and needs. By playing it is possible to unlock new objects and equipment to be applied, and depending on the changes made, the appearance of the vehicle changes drastically, making the relationship with the machine the main point of the whole game. The team explained that there are stages where it is also possible to get out of the vehicle, but this serves above all to increase identity in the game world and has no particular value in the game: actually in Lightyear Frontier we face every situation from inside the cockpit.

Although it seems that there is History The mystery-filled, illustrated game mechanics it proposes focus primarily on growing and cultivating for commercial purposes.

Despite the good idea of ​​the peaceful message behind the project, as well as the reaffirmed desire to achieve some kind of “sustainable” spatial farming, it is not yet clear how these deep concepts are clarified later in the game.

Here’s what we can see basic mechanics The creation and maintenance of cultivated land, the possibility of domestication of alien animal species for farms, and then the purchase and sale of produce by commercial ships periodically visiting the planet, which seems to be the typical perspective of increased earnings and economic growth, is more than just the pursuit of an agrarian planetary balance. However, there is still time to explore those aspects that may emerge more clearly from the game in the final version.

Story and cooperative multiplayer management

The mix of features also comes from the game’s structure and usage possibilities: as the developers reported, Lightyear Frontier will also have a story based on the exploration and mysteries of the alien planet. Ability to play single and cooperative multiplayer for up to 4 players. It’s hard to say at the moment whether Frame Break can best match all the elements, as they seem to point in slightly different directions from each other.

when it comes storytelling, is a story of discovery and discovery based on “mystery”, but this can also be concluded without excluding the possibility of continuing in the management part, which continues independently of the story. Put it this way, you get to think a bit about, for example, the setting of Slime Rancher, which has rather vague narrative references but pushes for exploration, linked to the exploration of new areas of the game world.

For what concern four-player cooperative multiplayerseems like a marginal addition to the game structure above all else. However, Lightyear Frontier is designed to offer perfectly entertaining single-player gameplay, so the core experience should remain with the possibility of sharing some stages with other players, possibly related to the collection of resources and the management of agricultural activities. In any case, we should expect more information from the team even on these issues.