Kethara-IV · Terminator Zone · The Arcology

Holdredge's
Crusade

An Action RPG

Ascend the Spire, a vast arcology rising above the terminator of a tidally locked world. Seven zones. Five factions. One final boss who might be right.

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// signal received. you'll hear from the Spire //

World

Built to last.
Everything else
already ended.

Kethara-IV orbits a red dwarf star in permanent tidal lock. The day side burns. The night side freezes. Life survives in a narrow band along the terminator, and below it, in the Spire.

The Spire is a pre-Collapse megastructure: seven stacked zones of industry, biology, incarceration, and power. It was built to house a civilization. The Collapse took most of that civilization with it. What remains are the factions, the infrastructure, and the Quieting: an artifact at the apex that everyone wants and nobody fully understands.

"The Collapse did not happen to us. It happened because of us. Weakness. Division. The refusal to be unified. We will not repeat the error." — Holdredge, Address to the First Muster
Ascent // Zone Map
7
Aurum Apex Bureaucratic remnant, final zone
Apex
↑ ascent
6
The Needle Crusade home territory
Hostile
↑ ascent
5
The Drift Exotic physics technology
Unknown
↑ ascent
4
The Crucible Extreme heat, faction warfare
Contested
↑ ascent
3
Garden of Forms Bioluminescent fungal overgrowth
Occupied
↑ ascent
2
Mechanica Industrial processing, coolant hazards
Contested
↑ ascent
1
The Brine Cells Flooded prison, geothermal brine
Entry

↑ All lighting artificial. Surface uninhabitable.

What Kind of Game

Destructible World
Chunk-based geometry with dynamic RGB lighting. Every zone is a physically distinct environment: flooded cells, fungal jungles, molten refineries. All lighting is artificial. None of it is safe.
Fast Gunplay, Brutal Melee
Fast, fluid, uncompromising. Eight weapon categories. Projectile physics. Melee with stamina. On-hit proc system. Stealth approach to every encounter, or just run in and find out.
Faction-Driven World
Five factions with asymmetric agendas. Your reputation with each opens different vendors, questlines, and endings. Faction economies shape every drop. The final boss leads one of them. He might be right.
Metroidvania Progression
Locked verticality. Acquired abilities open new paths. Zones interlock. What you learn in the Brine Cells matters in the Crucible. No handholding.
Handcrafted World
No procedural generation. One continuous world, built by hand. Every room, trap, and sightline is placed with intent. If something looks wrong, it was put there on purpose.
Environmental Storytelling
Lore through terminals, item descriptions, and enemy behavior. The Spire's history is in the walls. No exposition dumps. Holdredge's journal, if you find it before the final fight, unlocks new dialogue.

Power Structure

Five Factions.
One Spire.

The Crusade
Militant theocracy. Purge order. Holdredge at the top.
The Banded
Salvage traders. Wire-band identity. Pragmatic survivors.
Drift Collective
Exotic physics. Solen Vey. The only ones who never lie to you.
Aurum Council
Pre-Collapse legal remnant. Sister Valdrez. A secret deal.
The Hollow
Post-human descendants. No leadership. No intent. Cluster near Kel infrastructure.