Entertainment archetype Exodus It is still far away, but that has not prevented it from quickly becoming one of our most anticipated Upcoming space games.
So far, we have learned a little about their game and its construction building in the world trailers And videos Narrated by Matthew McConaugheyBut Peter F. Hamilton’s massive Exodus: The Archimedes engine – The first of the two prequel novels – has done most of the heavy work in advance.
Recently I had the opportunity to sit with Hamilton to talk about the process of helping to build a new science fiction universe with a video game in mind, how that experience has deferred from its past projects and where it is with the sequel. In addition, I had something to say about the next appearance this month McM comic with London (May 23-25).
The following interview has been editorialized and edited slightly, and fruted for the flow.
Peter F. Hamilton
Peter F. Hamilton is a renowned British author who specializes in space science fiction operas. He is better known for the trilogy of Greg Mandel, which includes his debut novel, Mindstar Rising, along with the Dawn trilogy of the night. Hamilton’s last work, ‘Exodus: The Archimedes Engine’, is a prequel to the next video-gam exodus, which also helps create the universe and background history.
“They wanted it to be more than the video game. They are also the board game and the books,” he told us about the beginning of this collaboration with Wizards of the Coast (Editor of the game) and Archetype. While the basics for the history of the game and the universe already moved when he joined the creative effort, it seems that he was the space to tell his “own stories” within that giant sandbox.
“Certain things had to mention about the universe … much of [the guidelines] They were mine … History installed several points in the sense that it explained parts of the universe … the limits of it … there are No. Trip faster than light. There are non -terrestrial aliens. “The study provides certain” contours “, and Hamilton says it was asked to” build “those elements.
For those who come fresh, the brief premise of the game is as follows: in the year DC 2,200, humanity is forced to abandon Land To find a new home in Centauri. Arca ships reach their destination in 18,000 AD, at which time the colonization of several worlds begins. The big problem occurs when the first arrivals establish fixed interest societies and empires that rise and decrease around many centuries, while the ARKs responded to a sign of “green worlds” that still traveled slowly still arrived. At the moment when most late arrivals arrive at Centauri systems, transhometers who call themselves “heavenly” have gone up on many factions. An important war ends with a species known as Elohim that rises to power.
As for our protagonist? They belong to a small human civilization from a human ark for a long time in the current environment of the game (approximately 41,500 AD 41,500). It is not necessary to say that “regular and simple humans” are on the back of the back of the heavenly.
However, Hamilton’s two novels are prequels of the “current” game. In the Archimedes engine, we find the domain of the crown, where uranic humans (descendants of the late) are relegated to a second -class citizen state. “The heavenly ones that occur to me, the protagonists of the book, are the heavenly imperial … although you do not have non -land extraterrestrials, thesis crops and people, the biological bodies that created for them … are oblivious to the uses.
Of course, with a story set approximately 40,000 years in the future, there are also several opportunities to have fun with extravagant concepts and almost as a fantasy. Hamilton mentioned King’s Nest’s mass scenario as an example:
“TO Giant-The transparent sphere size that has been pumped full of an oxygen nitrogen atmosphere … the interior is completely unknown. Humans have established Arrecife oaks, they are like circular trees that turn like the space station in 2001 to give gravity inside. You fly between them in what are basically the navigation ship. “This mixture of very advanced technology and a” culture of almost the eighteenth century “may or may not reach the game, according to Hamilton, but it is something for some part for.
When asked about his greatest influences when he entered the Archimedes engine, he was not shy and also recognized his love for fantasy: “Much of the science fiction I read when I was growing was Clarke, Asimov, HeinleinMcCaffrey … So it was good to mix the type of high -level engineering … It is not a fantasy element, but I could certainly let my image be a bit. “
On the celestial themselves, he said so much and “regular” humans had to be “related to what we are today.” However, “you have to introduce elements that make it very clear that they are not just like us.” It was not only the “physical differences”, so it spent some time discovering “cultural differentials” and their “perspective of life.”
While I did not try to extract an attempt window for his game (why does he know?), He mentioned that we would be “a little optimistic” to wait for him before 2026. “I think most of the Stachthy work.” Asking for information on the rhythms and scenes of history while implementing. That said, most of that work was done “a couple of years ago”, since the largest structure of the game met.
Many readers and science fiction players who hope Exodus have been wondering about the book implementation plan. Were they always destined to launch a little before the game, or that has changed due to the reality of the development of the game? Hamilton did not avoid the question:
“I think it’s a bit of both of them, the first book always planned to leave before the game … It is a book by Reina, so I had a lot of time to write. But I didn’t know anything on the Yeaf, so I found it as that element instead of taking it out and hastening it to stores.” As for the second book, he tells me that he is “made” and “in the middle edition.” There is no public publication date, but keep your eyes open.
I thought Hamilton’s career has been extremely prolific, just asks about The trilogy of dawn of the night or the Commonwealth saga – The writing will not instantly click to him. It was the duration later of the 20s that really referred: “I had to go home to help take care of my mother because I was very sick at that time. And I thought:” Well, if I don’t try now, it will never happen. “So I left and bought a Tytewriter and began with the stories.”
Hey, he also added his appreciation for science fiction always felt clear: “I live in a very rural area in the 70s.
Looking back in his first novel, Mindstar Rising -A combination of detective and science fiction stories, admits that his favorite character was Greg Mandel, the protagonist. “It was very fun to try to build someone identifiable, who has gone through many traumas … I guess that reflected what had happened at that time to a very different degree … He left the other side and finally he was doing something of his life again, which I think, hopefully, that attracted many people.” I think it is sure to say that many of us relate to such characters to everything that now is that now it is what is the most in the days.
Finally, but not least, we wanted to ask about his presence mentioned above in the MCM Comic with London, where he will be part of a large panel on May 24 With other authors. Until now, he hears that “he will receive many questions about book two and when he comes out and how the game is.”
Hamilton clearly enjoys interacting with fans and his questions, thought he warns that sometimes it is difficult for him to remember the ancient details he has written thought: “The problem with that is, although the leaves and the leaves, enjoy. Something I wrote 15 years ago and want a definitive answer, really fight to remember these days.”
Exodus: The Archimedes engine It is now available in hard and rustic cover, as well as in the form of a child and audio cook. The exodus of the game is expected to arrive in 2026 as soon as possible, launching on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
