Europa Radiation Lore

[Stretchytall]

Okay, fans, let's talk lore. How do the different bases survive Jovian radiation if we can't? And how do other submarines survive? Why are we the only ones that have to make this rightward trek, trying to stay ahead of the radiation?

I don't want to cry 'immersion' in a game about submarines fighting giant aliens deep in a partially frozen Europan sea after space travel to Jupiter, but, eh, it's not quite adding up. ;)

[Rotiart]

Nobody survives the radiation. It's why the outposts get abandoned when they're in the rad zone

[Stretchytall]

Originally posted by Rotiart:

Nobody survives the radiation. It's why the outposts get abandoned when they're in the rad zone

Then how was the moon first colonized on the surface? Why is the radiation only an issue now?

[[MadTs] Phyrys]

Devs confirmed long ago that Europa was precisely not colonized on the surface for this very reason. The best reason I can give to radiations, since they didn't extend on that subject, is that they're only coming down now precisely because humans pierced the crust of Europa to get inside, so radiations started to leak in.

[Buggy Boy]

Maybe it's an humongous coronal mass ejection from the sun that's engulfing the whole of Europa.

[Rotiart]

Originally posted by Nothing Personal:

Originally posted by Rotiart:

Nobody survives the radiation. It's why the outposts get abandoned when they're in the rad zone

Then how was the moon first colonized on the surface? Why is the radiation only an issue now?

The ice is thinning out, allowing Jovian radiation in

[Noble Ten]

Wouldnt that mean everyone ♥♥♥♥♥♥, about to go extinct. since theres no going back to earth ?

I turn it off myself too, cause I dont like it either. How is a colony ment to survive if it all becomes radiated. Civilians are as good as dead.

[Valrynn the Dragoness]

I never really liked the radiation thing, mostly because radiation would be ever present, not just slowly going deeper into Europa as soon as we, the submarine crew, happen to leave the first station...

[FourGreenFields]

Originally posted by Time Is A Place:

I never really liked the radiation thing, mostly because radiation would be ever present, not just slowly going deeper into Europa as soon as we, the submarine crew, happen to leave the first station...

Bruh, do you even lore? It is ever-present, but grows stronger. Has been in the lore since before jovian radiation was added in-game.

[Rotiart]

Originally posted by FourGreenFields:

Originally posted by Time Is A Place:

I never really liked the radiation thing, mostly because radiation would be ever present, not just slowly going deeper into Europa as soon as we, the submarine crew, happen to leave the first station...

Bruh, do you even lore? It is ever-present, but grows stronger. Has been in the lore since before jovian radiation was added in-game.

yeah my guy not everyone is going to pay extra for a fictional magazine

[TheSuit]

Bases don't need to really worry about wall density while submarines do.
So you can far more easily build up radiation defense in a non moving object than you can in a moving one.

[Dbat]

Originally posted by Noble Ten:

Wouldnt that mean everyone ♥♥♥♥♥♥, about to go extinct. since theres no going back to earth ?

Exactly. Barotrauma takes place during the end of Europan civilization.

[Buggy Boy]

Originally posted by Dbat:

Originally posted by Noble Ten:

Wouldnt that mean everyone ♥♥♥♥♥♥, about to go extinct. since theres no going back to earth ?

Exactly. Barotrauma takes place during the end of Europan civilization.

They all seem blissfully unaware or calmly resigned to their fate on the stations. You'd think that stations near to the radiation band would be in a state of panic, vendors selling off what little stock they have left before they get on the next sub out of there, passengers begging for you to take them with you, people trying to stow away or steal stuff, maybe even mug you for your ID card and uniform.

[Regalis]

The radiation is explained quite poorly in the game at the moment (a lot of the lore we've written about it has currently only been published in the DLC Magazines), but that's going to change in future updates.

The radiation fields around Jupiter are a real-life phenomena caused by Jupiter's immense magnetic field. Because of it, the level of radiation on Europa's surface is high enough to be deadly (which explains why the colonists settled under the ice in Barotrauma).

The part made up for the game is that the intensity of that radiation is somehow increasing, and has already gotten so intense that it's affecting the outposts under the ice. Why exactly it's increasing is a mystery to the Europans as well. The reason why the society is not in a state of panic is that people don't know for sure how bad the situation is - they don't know how long it's going to keep increasing, or whether it's going to reach a level where shielding the outposts and/or migrating deeper down won't be enough to save humanity. Some people believe it's going to be the end of civilization, some think it's a minor inconvenience, some think it's some weird fluke that's going to pass. You could maybe draw some parallels to how the society is reacting to climate change in real life.

We've also implied (again, most of this is just mentioned in the DLC Magazines) that it may have something to do with the Eye of Europa, the ancient impact crater the outposts are built around, whose center you're travelling towards in the campaign and inside which the gravity is mysteriously stronger than it should be on Europa (close to Earth gravity).

But anyhow, we're going to be shedding some more light to this in future updates. Eventually, you'll be able to discover the cause and perhaps to find a way to stop it and save the Europan civilization. ;)