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Our planets and moons often have several biomes that blend into each other. With Crusader being a gas giant and an entirely new kind of planet, does it have biomes? And if so, what are they and how are they sorted?

TL;DRNot biomes in the traditional sense, but Crusader's clouds vary vertically, from wisps at the top through canyon-like wind-stretched clouds to an enclosed cavernous layer above a hard deck.

Ian LeylandEnvironment Art Director

Let's see, in the traditional sense, biome implies it's a different asset pack, ties into the flora and fauna that you'd expect there. But one interesting part of the development of Crusader is one of the things that the tech allowed us to do is to have not a variety of visual designs spread horizontally across the planet, but we have a variety of visual designs spread vertically. So on the video last night that went out, people could see a slight glimpse of the variety there. So because it's texture driven, we were able to design a format where on the very top, around where Orison is, you have some wisps above the player that catch the light, that gives you that classic skybox vibe. But then if you go down one step below, we were able to create these kind of canyons. We wanted to describe the effect of wind. Wind is the unsung hero across everything to do with Crusader and Orison. It drives everything. So we wanted that feeling where these winds have stretched the clouds. So you have a kind of a ravine. And then lastly, on the bottom, you can actually get into a cavernous space where you're completely enclosed in cloud, but it feels like you've gone down really, really deep. And then below that, it's the hard deck. From there on in, you're just going into clouds, and then that will kind of limit the play space. So in a more traditional sense, no, but actually, I think, yes. And in the future, Todd and I were discussing that we want that to tie into a variety of play space, a variety of gameplay experiences dependent on that depth.

Star Citizen Live›All About Alpha 3.14·
Published on this date.25 Jun 2021