NMS: Survival Part 3 - Exploring the first star system

Starter Base

I built a simple starter base looking out over the water. There is a portal powered manually by a biofuel reactor inside, the construction research computer and a portable refiner. No real furniture to speak of - I suppose we just throw a sleeping bag on the floor. I don't think I've ever seen a Traveller without their space suit - maybe they never take it off?

I fly to the space station to investigate the strange message received. There are quite a few aliens there and I can't understand any of them. Most of them ignore me when I ask for help. One of them though, it's like he's possessed and when he replies it's not him speaking but another voice, a voice I understand and yet it's so mysterious I don't understand. When the voice finishes, the alien stands there looking at me like nothing happened. I return to my base and access the base computer. It gives me a set of off-world coordinates to investigate.

Hexagon moon

I fly off to the moon to investigate a distress signal. It's a strange place, an anomaly, with hexagonal plants and minerals and strange jumping plates that seem to be some kind of animal. The distress beacon comes from a crashed freighter - I steer clear of the hazardous storage containers. The distress beacon contains a captain's log, but I think someone has overwritten it; it tells me to head for the stars and gives me a blueprint for building a hyperdrive for my starship.

The hyperdrive will take me to other star systems. I decide to explore this one a bit more before I leave.

Colourful bubble planet

I find a temperate rainy planet with yellow grass, red water and blue sky. And bubbles, lots of bubbles. Also, sentinels that shoot on sight. Pretty, but not a friendly place.

Frozen planet

I find a frozen planet, that looks nice at first, but then you notice the unusual square mountains and weird life-forms: plants that look like machines with thick cables hanging out of them, glowing soccer-ball like creatures that roll around, sky-eels and jumping blobs with a mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

Desert moon

Finally, I visit the red planet's second moon. It is very barren, with a few cacti and lots of dry dusty rocks. There are a few T-rex-like creatures that attack the smaller grazing ... animals. How in the world do you describe a creature like this?

Strange grazing creatures

According to the encyclopedia of discoveries, G. equusanqus is about 2.2m tall, weighs 135kg and is nomadic, constantly searching for dihydrogen crystals to suck (it doesn't chew). It also doesn't like bright colours. No wonder they ran away when they saw me in my bright yellow space suit!

All in all, this star system had a good variety of planets and moons. I haven't found paradise yet, but with the hyperdrive up and running, there's hope yet.