Locus Equation — A Hard-Sci-Fi CRPG About AI, Human Identity, and the Ethics of Choice

[deft mango]

We’re developing Locus Equation, a dialogue-driven sci-fi RPG built in Unreal Engine.

You play as a being created by an AI, trying to understand the meaning of existence through dialogue with more then 40 unique characters and 6 voices that live inside protagonist's head — RAZUM (logic), OBRAZ (art), NUTRO (instinct), ABBYS (despair and depression), GAMMA (emotions), and EGO (which is ego :)). Inner voices comment on every choice, arguing, advising, and even trying to manipulate your path.

Player can expect moral dilemmas, branching stories, and a world shaped by philosophy, psychology, and player agency.

Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2243310/Locus_Equation/

[deft mango]

Brief Locus Equation development update (+new screenshot!):

Main quest — 75% complete (8 out of 11 acts). The entire available portion is fully playable, with all branches and consequences.

3D characters — almost done: only 2 bodies left out of 34 (one model takes about a month of work).

Environment assets — 100% complete (all buildings and interior props finished).

World — ~80%: foliage (jungles and grass) and final lighting setup still ahead.

Script — over 105%: we added several mini-quests that were originally planned for post-release.

Yes, Locus Equation will release much later than originally planned. We started with a compact 4–6 hour game and a 3-year plan, but playtests showed that the story truly grips players, and the “short version” only limits its potential. We deliberately expanded the scale and tripled (or even quadrupled) the length. It’s now a full-fledged dialogue-driven RPG packed with branching choices, surprises, and lively conversations.

[deft mango]

This is Gamma (the inner voice responsible for emotions). Fortunately, the portrait managed to fit all six basic emotions identified by Paul Ekman: anger, disgust, fear, happiness (joy), sadness, and surprise.

By the way, GAMMA was originally called FLOW, but the new name better conveys the multiplicity of this inner voice.

Bonus question: Why do you think the surface on which the emotions are depicted is cracked at the center?

[deft mango]

““Four and a half years ago our team had no idea how to make games. You know that helpless feeling when you run into a task that seems impossibly hard? We realized that after every collision with difficulty, a person always has a choice: drop the idea and keep living on dreams, or keep clawing upward. We chose the latter—and decided to make a game about that very choice.

How do you write a branching, engaging story where the player isn’t fighting enemies trying to put a bullet through the protagonist’s body, but is instead battling their own convictions? How do you build communication with 2D and 3D artists? What is a 3D pipeline, how does optimization work, what even is UE5, and is Nanite worth using? What should the main story’s interest curve look like, and how do you keep it consistent for every possible playthrough? We found the answers to these questions gradually. As it turned out, we didn’t stop in time, and the game ended up looking better than we originally intended.

We’re ju—st a sma.ll collec—tifv

[note: [writers (2 cognitive versions available), an IT engineer (one cognitive version), and artists (4 cognitive versions available)]]

u-uh-uhh enthusiasts wh0 dr_eam o[f—[ENCRYPTED]]””

Error.
Sea.of.Wishes unavailable.
Photonic crystal encoding not responding.

Archiving secret data…
Compiling build…
Initializing protocol MIR.autumn.2026
Activating GPU systems.
Launching video editor.

!!Enter the project name in the field!!:

“VERALOMNA.Locus_Equation_trailer.”

[deft mango]

Consciousness is the most essential and the oldest form of gameplay. Even in prehistoric times, without any iPhones or cookie crumble, the frontal lobes of early humans kept trying to make sense of what was happening: short lives, hard hunts, harsh nature…

Remember the shot from 2001: A Space Odyssey where an ape throws a bone and, in the very next cut, it becomes a high-tech spacecraft? We no longer need to run around in hides and threaten thunderclouds with a flint-tipped spear—we have technology now. Yet neither the Cro-Magnon nor Homo sapiens ever got a final answer to the question, “So who am I, really?”

And it is a frightening question indeed: how can one not know this? How can I not know who I am? “There’s a body, its reflection in the mirror, acquaintances who greet me by name, a passport with first and last name.” You can invent a thousand soothing labels and hide far, far away in the murk of your own mind until, piece by piece, you turn into the Ship of Theseus.

But there’s a second option Less pleasant, more effective: to make a leap of faith into yawning uncertainty.

A person looks into the mirror hoping for answers, and from there amorphous sub-personalities stare back in surprise- each wanting something different from you. This isn’t just the old angel-and-devil on the shoulder; it’s a full-on existential slaughterhouse in which only death ever “wins,” and only because life tends to end. Until then - endure, choose, live, and study your “self” while there’s still time.