The 1992 DOS game Star Control II (by Toys for Bob) chronicles the continuous conflict between the warring Alliance of Free Stars and the Hierarchy of Battle Thralls. Taking an outside-in approach to its worldbuilding, the game manages to build extensive amounts of lore to achieve a compelling sense of scale. This worldbuilding is further evidenced and reinforced through the game’s the open-world design, nonlinear storyline as well as its use of randomly generated events.

Firstly, the game features an open-world during play. As a result of the game’s open-ended nature, the game’s outside-in approach to worldbuilding is made clear. After a short amount of exposition and tutorial within the first hour of the game, the player is given complete freedom to explore the remainder of the world. This open gameplay encourages exploration and discovery, as the player is not expected to uncover all of the dialogue, let alone win on their first playthrough. Triggering key events or gathering particular items will make it easier for the player, yet very few of these conditions are actually necessary in order to win the game. Hence the developer cannot easily dictate the player’s next objective, but merely influence it. By compensating for every potential action and scenario beyond the main plot, the game is able to better present a more robust world.

This modular and open-ended design is complemented by the amount of random generation that is prevalent throughout the game. Influenced by a variety of factors such as the player’s equipment and progress, the player may encounter any of the alien races at any time. Each alien race is discussed with a comprehensive history, as well as motivation, which plays a role in their relationship and diplomacy with not just the player, but also other races. These individual species also function and interact entirely independent from each other, creating the illusion of an organic universe that continuously adapts to the player’s decisions and actions.

Thus the world also serves to supporting this amount of random generation within the game. If the game were to be designed through an inside-out approach, there would be a multitude of inconsistencies in the comprehensiveness of lore between races. It is almost immediately clear that this is not the case, as seen during the early introduction and discussion with Earthling Commander Hayes. The extent of detail that is explained and addressed shows that the game’s world was not built solely around the storyline, but rather in tandem. Any enquiries relating to history, lore, species and languages, whether of actual use to the player, are accounted for and accessible.

Star Control II‘s outside-in approach to worldbuilding not only aids in creating a believable world, but also supporting the game’s open-world design, nonlinear storyline as well as its use of randomly generated events. By expanding beyond the immediate storyline, the game’s world truly becomes its own universe.

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