Stormworks: Build & Rescue
Description
Stormworks: Build and Rescue is a physics based sandbox game developed by company Geometa. The game uses a voxel low-poly style for terrain as well as a block-based building style for player vehicles. It was first developed and made available for Early Access in February of 2018 and left Early Access on September 17th 2020.
Stormworks is available on both Windows and macOS and is available to play both single player and multiplayer.
Gameplay
Stormworks Gameplay surrounds the construction of (but not limited to) vehicles. There are thriving communities who develop everything from Submarines, Work Boats, War ships, Tanks, Race Cars, Classic Cars, Planes, Passenger Jets, Fighter Jets and so much more. You make your creations in the Vehicle Workbench where you select parts from the menu to build your craft in whatever shape desired. There are some unique features such as the Logic system where you can create dedicated PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) nicknamed "Micro Controllers" in game. Within these Micro Controllers you can use various logic gates, as well as limited Lua boxes to allow your vehicle to execute hyper specific tasks. Boats float, planes fly, cars drive, all vehicles that you build can function in the world (however the level of functionality is determined by the skill level of the user).
In-world Tasks and Opportunity
Once a vehicle has been constructed, it can be spawned into the world at the Vehicle Workbench (of which there are variety of sizes and shapes, some on land and some in the sea, some on tracks and some in runway hangers; please see Workbenches page for more information) and can be used by the Player in anyway they see fit, there are various objectives in vanilla Stormworks including attempting Search and Rescue missions wherein a collection of NPCs have spawned with a damage or on fire vessel whether it be a car, boat or crashed plane and the player is tasked with putting out the fire and returning the NPCs to the nearest hospital location. Other missions include repair requests, wherein a vehicle will be damage and in need of repair by the player (using the blow torch), long distance towing wherein a vehicle is damaged beyond repair and needs towed to specified location, NPC transport wherein an NPC needs to be moved from one location to another. There are also non-mission objectives such as cargo hauling whether it be with containers or liquids.
DLC Overview
There are also various DLC that add additional gameplay features such as Stormworks: Search & Destroy (which adds weapons and a new game mode), Stormworks: Industrial Frontier (which adds mining & processing, a new isle (the Arid Lands), as well as various wild life to the world), and Stormworks: Space (which introduces the ability to go to space, hydrogen rockets, other space-related components such as RCS, and the ability to land on the moon).
Workshop
Stormworks heavily utilises the Steam Workshop to share vehicles, addons, micro-controllers, and mods. When you subscribe to posts on the workshop you are able to utilise them on your own save, whether that be spawning in vehicles made by others, using others micro-controllers or enabling mods/addons pre-save creation.
Vehicles
The single most common upload on the Workshop is that of peoples creations, primarily vehicles. You will find a wide array of creations varying in detail and function. This is a tremendous way to show off your own work and gain notoriety within the community.
Note: These can be added mid-save and do not effect the world/save data. If they are not appearing in your Workshop tab in-game then refresh steam.
Addons
These are files that add onto the world of Stormworks; they must be activated at world creation and cannot be inserted into the world post save creation permanently, however there are ways to temporarily bring them up via the Addon Editor if in custom game mode. These can be systems like new missions such as transit based gameplay like Stormlink, new buildings or map additions such as C4V's Floating Docks, custom settings or game rules such as Custom Career Mode Settings, or alternatively sometimes users use addons to spawn in vehicles that are simply too large to be spawned in via the workbench.
Note: These cannot be added mid-save permanently, and will only persist if enabled at the beginning of creation. Some addons cannot be enabled in their entirety mid-save even temporarily.
Micro-Controllers
Stormworks has an in-depth PLC builder that allows you to make what the game calls "Micro-Controllers", they have their own separate category on the workshop and have their own challenges when it comes to compilation. These Micro-controllers do just about anything you can think of within the confines of the game; the workshop is full of various ECUs (engine control unit), logic for radars and sonar, missile guidance software, boat stabilisation, aircraft stabilisation, even sequential gearbox setups. If you are out of luck and in need of a micro-controller its more than likely the community has produced a variation of it and it resides on the Workshop.
Even if you are an individual who prioritises that all aspects of their builds are 100% produced by themselves, this is still a brilliant avenue to deconstruct other peoples micro-controllers to see how they have achieved similar goals.
Note: These can be added mid-save and do not effect the world/save data. If they are not appearing in your Workshop tab in-game then refresh steam.
Mods
The most recent addition to Stormworks workshop categories are Mods; these differ from Addons as they directly modify the game files as opposed to adding onto them. This means that the game can have new components (such as Thales: Aviation Parts), models, textures (such as various shaders like Opal or Project Reshade), as well as various new additions to the map such as new race tracks or deeper oceans. Whilst there are still limitations to Mods in Stormworks; their integration and accessibility through the workshop makes for easy download and activation.
Note: These cannot be enabled mid-save and must be downloaded and enable prior to world/save creation. Vehicles created with mods may not be available in saves without the same mods enabled, this however depends on the mod (it is recommended to check the workshop descriptions to find out).
Game-modes
In Stormworks there are a variety of game-modes one can play that have varying levels and types of challenge. These are Career Mode, Classic Mode, Custom Mode, and Conquest mode. With the exception of Conquest mode, these are selected via a dropdown menu in the world creation. For Conquest mode, if you have Stormworks: Search and Destroy purchased and installed conquest mode will be enabled by default, and can be disabled by going into the Addons tab, and scrolling down to the bottom wherein you will see "lorem ipsum - insert the name of the addon here", disabling this will disable conquest mode. Conquest mode can persist throughout any other game mode (Career, Classic, Custom).
Career Mode
In career mode the player is given a starting island that contains the Small boat Workbench (or if you have Frontier DLC and chose the starting area in Arid Isle you will also be given a small ground vehicle workbench as well). As every component in the vehicle creator costs money to place, in order to build better and bigger crafts the Player will have to complete various missions, trade cargo, or mine and process resources for income in order to build bigger and better creations. The money can also be used to purchase new islands and workbenches to make larger or more specialised creations (such as train yards for trains or rocket sites for rockets). There is also multiple spots in which the player can purchase a workbench to create static structures that remain in place to carry out tasks such as drilling for oil or communications through radio, or perhaps the player simply wants to construct their own home.
In this game mode you are locked into first person.
Classic Mode
Classic is designed to replicate the variation of Career Mode that was present in the Early Access version of the game prior to September 2020. Whilst in many respects it is similar to Career mode, it instead has a new currency of "Science" wherein you research components prior to being able to use them in your vehicles, and you are not locked into first person. Whilst the addition of research adds an additional layer of difficulty, the research costs are inconsistent with the value of each part which can lead to prolonged gameplay without much progress.
Custom Mode
Custom mode (more commonly referred to as Sandbox or Creative mode) does not restrict the players naturally, infinite money is enabled and the custom menu is fully accessible (which can be used to enable infinite fuel, electricity, lift the fog-of-war, etc). This is where the majority of players reside, and exists for the player to build and test vehicles without restrictions of fuel, cost or research. The default base in this game mode is the Creative Base, however if you have Stormworks: Industrial Frontier purchased and installed, the default base will be the FJ Warner Docks.
Conquest Mode
Conquest mode can be enabled regardless of which game-mode you have enabled (Custom, Classic, or Career). It adds various outpost trucks across the map in various islands and bases which the player must capture by standing within, additionally it adds patrolling enemy groups that capture bases slowly that the player can fight against. Unlike player vehicles, these enemy AI utilise a HP system and will sink/destruct after a certain amount of damage taken.