We are excited to be part of the Earth Appreciation Festival with a demo on Steam as nature plays a huge part in our game!
Popular belief might think that god games are an escape route for us to destroy things, and let our rage and power break the world like a kid would with a Lego tower… However, even if you may let chaos speak in Reus 2, our main goal was to show the beauty of life and how life is all about collaboration.
One can not live without the other
Reus is by no means a nature-first simulation. In the end, people who care about nature are a rare vintage. These nature lovers are the people who know birds by their beaks or have studied barnacle reproductive lives for their living. Most people care about nature through the relationship it has with themselves. This is not a negative aspect: they enjoy beautiful things nature produces, they like the calm of it, or they feel dependent on it. A real nature simulator is therefore fundamentally disinteresting to them.
In Reus 1, the focus was more nature-oriented but as one IGN reviewer put it: "I don't care about the Ginkgo tree". (we got a 6 from them). In Reus 2, we try to elevate the humans in the equation. This influences everything in this new Reus.
Nature gives (and Humans sort of give back)
In Reus, you create harmonious ecosystems to help humanity forward. This has a thick layer of fantasy because this is different from how humanity interacts with nature in real life as we know it. The most biodiverse places are often devoid of humans and humans actively try to create places of low biodiversity, much to their benefit. We hate parasites, vermin, weeds, scavengers, pest carriers, and predators around us despite them being a vital part of nature.
In a larger sense, we can say we need a healthy nature for our own good, so we take shortcuts to illustrate that. For example, a hyena by itself is never going to be of much value to humanity. But as part of an ecosystem, they keep things stable. For the sake of a fun and diverse game, we put a reward tag on the hyena: they are directly valuable to humanity in the game.
To complete the loop, we say that humanity adds spirit and creativity to the planet. And that itself is valuable to the universe!
We wanted to have a very specific place for humanity in Reus 2. They are special and at the heart of what you seek. But they're just as puny as all the other things you create. And no group is above the other!
Symbiosis
Symbioses are representations of how nature works together and keeps things in check. The fox does better with rabbits to eat around it. Plants enjoy being close to a river. Since we focus on the relationship with humanity and a fun strategic game, we have to get a bit creative sometimes.
For example, ores and minerals are a vital part of the human-nature relationship but ores are not organic, so they can't "fare better". In that case, we take things differently and more straightforwardly: rocks are a part of a beautiful natural garden, and iron is a heavy metal, prone to overexploitation.
Every giant is designed with two biomes and affinity in mind. It is shown by their colors, the small vegetation or life on and around them, and of course the nature of their design! Often, the design already implies their affinity: the ocean is mostly used for its animals, so the ocean giant gets that affinity! But in truth, if you truly think about it, every combination should be possible!
We have to strike a balance: there must be enough of each type. Minerals are chosen based on their usefulness, as are most plants. But animals are picked by how cool they are, and we're happy to take a shortcut. We don't care that there is no such thing as a Marabou farm, that bird is awesome!
That’s it for today’s dev journal, we hope you learned more about our vision of nature and humanity working together! Enjoy the event on Steam and we will be back with more news in the days to come!
Share your feedback on the demo in our Discord!
- Adriaan and the Monks at the Abbey
