Encased - Design Corner I - Vehicles

The latest update for Encased focuses on vehicles.

Design Corner I - Vehicles

In this update, we’re going to tell you about the various vehicles that roam and/or rust in the desert under the Dome, as well as the backstory of the company manufacturing them for CRONUS.

Although the Dome is far removed from civilization, its motor pool is diverse and extensive. There were approximately 5,500 functioning vehicles before the incident. By the time of the main story around 2,000 of them are still on the road, since a vehicle’s lifespan is significantly reduced without access to parts. Some vehicles were stripped, some destroyed in conflicts, and others were completely redesigned and thus not counted in the official statistics.

Aside from the Dome’s dozens of research facilities, many small towns were built as well. CRONUS employees enjoyed white block houses, supermarkets, movie theaters and, of course, cars. With generous salaries, many employees enjoyed a personal vehicle.

The main supplier of both civilian and work vehicles was Stanton Motor Company. Established 17 years before the Dome’s discovery, Stanton was a big name with great ambitions in the industry, and a rather odious head honcho.

Stanton Motor Co. is our concept of a company which miraculously survived the oil crisis of the 70’s. Its history is counterintuitive, its end predictable, and that’s done on purpose: we want every detail of Encased’s setting to build on the atmosphere of the game and create a real feeling for the era.

Stanton is made up of two divisions. One is called Marks and Manfred Trucks; it specializes in manufacturing trucks, buses and other heavy work vehicles using a universal chassis.

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The most renowned vehicle of MM Trucks is already on display in our screenshots and concept art — an orange transport designed for delivering research teams to remote desert facilities.

But if Marks and Manfred Trucks is the dutiful workhorse of the corporation, then its second child, Jupiter Moon, is the scandalous black sheep. Jupiter Moon stamped out small cars, known as Type 72, with a high emphasis on quantity. Type 72 was infamous for its underpowered 4-cylinder engine (6-cylinder available in the luxury model), climate control in the form of a triangular quarter glass window on the driver's side, leatherette upholstery destined to crack and discolor, a "kicking" gearbox, and several other nasty surprises.

Despite all this, the machine became fantastically popular, and remains so even after the catastrophe: you will see Type 72 regularly converted into mobile storefronts, rental accommodations, and insanely painted tanks. The variety of applications for machines not even fit for spare parts is truly limitless: houses, fences and fixed fire points made from old Jupiters are a common sight across the world of Encased.

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It can be said with certainty that the success of Stanton Motor Co. changed the face of the world under the Dome. And everything, from its rapid rise to every triumph and failure, the company owes to its founder, Stanley Stanton.

In the first act, Stanley is 62 years old. He is a thin, unpleasant man with red hair fading to gray, a long nose, the gold teeth of a gypsy, and the general appearance of a washed-up comedian. At first he makes a quite positive impression: joking and smiling with an easy confidence. Stanley has the air of a reliable business partner, a man you can count on to fulfill any order and solve any problem.

But after a longer acquaintance with Stanley, different qualities come to the fore. His business is growing rapidly due to optimistic investors, profitable contracts, and aggressive PR. Maybe too rapidly. Deadlines are regularly missed and scheduled deliveries delayed. Cars often arrive incomplete, or in such poor shape they must be scrapped for parts. Though MM Trucks have a more or less consistent level of quality, Jupiter Moon has a well-deserved reputation as a manufacturer of rolling (sometimes) trash cans. The enterprise by some miracle does stay afloat however, and the boss perseveres.

The true face of Stanton is an arrogant, insolent grifter, an expert at making bank on other people’s trust. He thinks himself a genius salesman and wheeler-dealer and in a sense he is right, as long as the profits continue to offset his infamy. Unlike almost every other corporate executive, the man himself relocated to the Dome and transferred a large part of his production there. Even the incident couldn’t turn Stanley Stanton into anything but a businessman, though his business now has shifted from production to repair. In the game, you can even visit the Stanton Motor Co.’s decrepit main plant, and a huge warehouse full of dusty Jupiters.

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