Substructure

Futuristic visions of space mining have accustomed us to the fact that the extraction of raw materials from alien celestial bodies is most often talked about in the context of relatively safely located planets, moons and asteroids. Dubious Design studio, however, decided to approach this issue a bit differently, in its strategy game with simulation elements titled Substructure, forcing us to thoroughly explore a stray planet on a collision course with the solar system.

Gameplay

In Substructure, we view events from a bird's eye view. During the gameplay, our task is to build a thriving agricultural and industrial complex on a newly discovered planet. Although we start the whole venture on the surface, as we progress we gain resources and technology that allow us to dig deeper and deeper, all the way to the very core of this globe.

Agriculture and industry

The land here is very fertile, so green fields cover most of the planet. Although industrialization plays a key role here, agriculture r?also is important in terms of development, making it worthwhile to ensure a r?alance between crops and factories instead of turning the entire planet into an industrial complex. Another thing is that the two branches of our business overlap; for example, the crops we grow can be used to power diesel generators, while we use drones to operate megafarms.

Drilling into the ground

As we progress, we are creating more and more complex production chains and automating more processes (making use of programmable transport platforms, among other things). As a result, over time we can start digging through more layers of the planet. In the depths, we are finding new materials and energy sources, which we process into various products and use to expand our infrastructure.

Challenges and development

It is important to remember that the deeper we drill, the more challenges await us, and thus the more advanced tools we need. For example, some rocks can only be mined without sunlight, selected plants can only grow underground, and certain materials become easier to extract the closer they are to the planet's core.