Until now Abyss Drifter had a ship you could fly, fuel, breathe inside and break. What it didn't have was a reason to go anywhere.

That part is now in.

An exchange at every post

Every trade post runs an open exchange. You can see what a good fetches locally, compare it against the other posts, and work out where a particular cargo is actually worth carrying. Buy low, load the crates by hand, and hope the spread holds while you fly.

Contracts, and deadlines

You can also move somebody else's freight for a fixed fee. Every contract comes with a delivery window.

Beat it and your standing improves. Miss it and you lose a quarter of the payment and a quarter of the reputation for each day you're late — and on the fourth day the contract fails outright, leaving you with a hold full of crates nobody will pay for.

Those crates aren't yours forever. Any post will scrap them, along with the empty ones you're left with after drinking the water and eating the rations they came in.

Standing with factions

Six tiers, one of them negative. Reputation decides how many contracts you can hold at once and how large a load each one can carry. Do the work well and the system opens up. Do it badly and it closes.

There's a journal now, tracking your active contracts and where you stand with everyone.

Shops, and somewhere to dump the rest

Settlements have retail shops: general goods, food, medicine and tools.

And there's a terminal for everything else. Drop your leftover bottles, ration tubes and odds and ends into the tray, watch the monitor total it up, press the button and take the money. Not much money. But money.

What it adds up to

The loop is closed. Buy cargo, carry it, deliver it, get paid, refuel, go again — while keeping yourself and the ship alive along the way. That's the first time all of that has been true at once.

What's next

Carts, so you stop walking crates across a landing pad one at a time. Suit upgrades. Navigation charts and beacons. Radio traffic for landing requests. Then points of interest worth finding, and a demo.

There's no playable build yet. When there is, this page is where you'll hear about it first.

Wishlist Abyss Drifter