Sciences provide an avenue for specializing a character in Population Zero, and there are currently four disciplines for players to focus on: chemistry, mechanics, metallurgy, and survival. Advancing in these areas will require exploration of the game’s animals, plants, minerals, and more, and the chosen disciplines will inform what technologies are available.
These technologies materialize as schematics that will allow players to craft certain items. For example, someone that specializes in the chemistry and metallurgy sciences will have access to the “Steel Processing” technology, granting them the ability to “study steel weapon production” as they build their base.
As some will expect, technologies require resources to enact, but it seems that there is more going on here than a simple crafting system. That is, the developers have noted that the technology tree draws influence from the Civilization series, and “players can get an increase of one of their related technologies” when “exploring a technology.”
Furthermore, it has been indicated that players will be limited in the number of technologies that they can master. One way that Population Zero does this is through its faction system — players may find themselves aligned with a particular faction that prohibits the study of a certain science, thus preventing them from obtaining the related technologies.
The reason behind such a limitation is that Enplex wants to encourage players to interact with one another in order to access the technologies that they may be missing. Specifically, it has been confirmed that players can share schematics with those that are not able to obtain them through their own scientific research.
While fans that are following the production of Population Zero may still be catching up on everything that the developer’s have shared thus far, including details on how the title’s unique art style is realized, Enplex is showing no signs of slowing down. It appears that the next word from the company will be on the game’s quest system — information that will certainly be welcomed by a number of players.
More details on Population Zero’s science and technology system can be found on the game’s website.
