Theories of Frostpunk

[DA BEAr]

Basically the title
Why did the Earth at this time freeze?
Are they the last survivors in the world?
Ect...

[Skirlasvoud]

I’ve had this discussion a while ago in the comment section of an official frostpunk video.

Since the cold is coming from a specific direction (the south) oddly enough, my explanation was that the disaster befalling this world is an axial tilt. The Earth is tilting away from the sun, turning England into the new polar ice cap while the north might stay habitable as the new equator. This might explain why people are moving North.

My opponent brought up how super-volcanoes were more likely - their ash blotting out the sun - but that didn’t explain in my mind why the south specifically was getting colder and why people flee North. Super-vulcanos lower temperatures globally, not just locally. If global temperatures lower, then why go north where it’s already cold? (Although, as your thread pointed out, cold-resistant animals still live up north.)


Recently I’ve seen a play through video where the player stumbled upon an observatory and a little bit more explanation was given for current events by the game:

There were indeed volcanoes, but the sun is actually growing dimmer, independent of the influences of vulcanos. This either means the sun is getting old, or we’re moving away from it.


At this point, there could be a dozen reasons for events, perhaps all happening at the same time.

I still say axial tilt, together with perhaps Earth having been knocked out of its orbit. Axial tilt could coincide with the tectonic plates tearing at themselves, in turn explaining the volcanos and the deep gorges that people have to climb in the beginning.

11bit is doing a good job at keeping reasons vague with so many coinciding, unexplained phenomena.

[MrAnimaniac]

Do you mean an axial shift i.e. the distance earth-sun is changing or do you mean an axial tilt? If you think of an axial tilt: This would have an instant impact on the day-night-cycle. The change in the world temperature distribution, catastrophic storms etc. would follow nevertheless. But the change in the day-night-cycle would have been observable beforehand and for every one.
AFAIK nothing like that has been mentioned in the prologue. Therefore I doubt this theory.

[Skirlasvoud]

Originally posted by christophas:

Do you mean an axial shift i.e. the distance earth-sun is changing or do you mean an axial tilt? If you think of an axial tilt: This would have an instant impact on the day-night-cycle. The change in the world temperature distribution, catastrophic storms etc. would follow nevertheless. But the change in the day-night-cycle would have been observable beforehand and for every one.
AFAIK nothing like that has been mentioned in the prologue. Therefore I doubt this theory.

I did indeed mean axial tilt and yeah, it's fair to doubt that theory, but it's the best one I've got. The intro never specifically states what caused all this. We can assume the people know, but it's never explained to the player.
The intro simply states that the frost came... and nothing more. The cause and history isn't given. If there were giant storms, earthquakes, vulcanos, related to an axial tilt or any other cause, the game doesn't show us.

Now that you mention it however, notice how the day-night-cycle in let's play videos is atypical of the North? It gets dark and light as if it were a typical day in Europe and America, while this is only the case for a very limited amount of time the further you go to either pole.
This might just be a game contrivence though. :P

[Skirlasvoud]

For everyone interested in tidbits of lore given by the game, here's everything I managed to find:

https://youtu.be/6RjNWtBseAs
at 43:10 , there's talk of a change in atmospheric circulation and how the cold is pushed northwards.

https://youtu.be/ax6DfHR8gEc
26:21 , there's talk of Southern Vulcanos and the sun dimming for reasons unknown, but unrelated to the vulcanoes.


I'm guessing that 11bit is just creating a world where everything is going wrong at the same time and that the true causes for the apocalypse will remain something of a mystery.

[MrAnimaniac]

Hej thanks for your videos. But first one thought to your axial tilt again. Before any climatic changes would grow apparent, you would have recognised that the sun doesn't rise any more where she used to rise. Everyone could observe this and everyone would know that this will mess with the climate. So under this condition, there wouldn't be the question: “What caused the cold?”. Instead you would ask: “What caused the tilt?”
As I watched the prolouge for the first time I got reminded on the “Year Without a Summer” and to the “Little Ice Age” in Europe. First was connected to a volcanic winter following the eruption of the Tambora. Second one is still subject of discussions but volcanos are good candidates as well. Nevertheless the Maunder Minimum has been observed parallel to a very harsh episode of the Little Ice Age. Therefore, some people argue for a change of the solar energy output as an additional reason for the temperature drop.
Your videos point to this direction: Volcanic winter and drop of the suns energy output.

Regarding the cold coming from the south: neither do we know how global this statement is nor do we know where the City has been build. Personally I always somehow expected the City to be in Scotland. This would be easily accessible from London and the local proximity would explain, why they experienced weather conditions related to those in London.
After you reached Winterhome and find it deserted, some of your people want to go back to London. This would only be possible, if it could be done by foot, also arguing for local proximity.
Now imagine a super-blizzard forming in the plains of Russia and sweeping over Europe. It could be possible that the icy winds arrive in GB from the south, from a snow-glazed France.

[GabeC1997]

Some Alien Jerks decided it was an awesome idea to build a Dyson Sphere in a system inhabited by a primitive species!
...I've been playing a lot of Stellaris lately.