The sea of stars stretches on; you and I will meet again

Long time no see, everyone. It's me, your old friend — the Answer Machine (问答机), the writer of the Lightracer series.

Since Lightracer: For Judge came out, it's been far too long since I last talked with you all in a formal way like this. Many of you have @'d me in the groups, left comments on the official account, and sent private messages asking what's going on — but for various reasons we've never been able to give a clear reply. So first, let me say I'm sorry.

On leaving

The truth is, everyone from the original Lightracer team has now left Smartmelon Games (诸葛瓜).

Please don't read too much into it — there's no drama or hidden story here. The main reason we left is that my inspiration has run dry these past few years. Ever since Lightracer: Set Sail launched in 2020, Lightracer Sparks and Lightracer: For Judge have used up nearly all the sci-fi ideas I'd stored away. On top of that, a few of the PC titles didn't perform as well as we'd hoped, which made it even harder to guarantee the quality of what came next.

More than being unable to keep making works set in the Lightracer universe, what we feared most was making something we ourselves weren't satisfied with, and then putting it in front of you.

On where things stand now

The fact that I can still borrow the official Lightracer account to talk with you means our relationship with our old company is still good.

I want to give special thanks here to Smartmelon Games' CEO — Ah Gua (阿瓜), the person who first opened the door for me into indie game development. After I left, some of us from the Lightracer team founded a new company, and throughout that process I owe a great deal to his care and help. After all, even though I've made three complete Lightracer games, when it comes to actually running a company, I'm still a total rookie.

On the name "TRANXIUM" (万年人)

When we were choosing this name for the company and studio, we actually argued about it for quite a while. Some said it was too grand, too cosmic; others said it sounded like we were selling health supplements. But in the end we still chose it, because it stands for two things:

First — the Lightracer universe grew out of a tabletop campaign module I created, one that tells the story of humanity remaking the cosmos in the year 10,000 A.D. Hence the Chinese shorthand, "Wannianren" (万年人, "the ten-thousand-year people"). Lightracer may be on pause, but the core of that story should live on in the new company.

Second — the "tribe," one of humanity's earliest forms of organization, took shape gradually around ten thousand years ago. It was the earliest form of our civilization. Over those ten-thousand-plus years of growth, we invented myths, discovered science, explored the universe, and — across different languages and cultures — began raising the kinds of questions that changed the fate of civilization itself.

"Wannianren" doesn't mean that some person or group will live for ten thousand years. It's a witness to the ten-thousand-year journey of our civilization from small to great — a tribute and a hope, expressed through the symbols of science-fiction culture.

On the new game

《万念仙城》 is a story-driven indie game with a xianxia (cultivation-fantasy) theme.

This game has sects, tribulation-crossing, cultivation realms, spiritual roots, defying-heaven-to-reforge-one's-fate — many of the symbols and terms you'll recognize from cultivation stories. But those of you who know us can surely guess that we're not trying to present a wholly traditional cultivation tale.

What we hope to do in this new work is carry forward the same cultural core as before. The Lightracer series always looked outward: its narrative space lay at the boundary point between the positive and negative universes, in the endless dark void before the Great Rift. With 《万念仙城》, we want to first look inward — to stand atop the great edifice of classical Chinese fantasy and see whether we can compose a new chapter that moves from the inside out, gazing toward the sea of stars.

Warp Gate:

(For those interested, click the link above, or just search "万念仙城" on Steam to arrive in this new world.)

What we can't promise

To be honest, I don't dare promise that all of you who are used to the Lightracer style of storytelling will definitely like the new work. The differences between genres can sometimes be genuinely hard to bridge. Nor can I promise that 《万念仙城》 will have the same feel as the Lightracer series — even though we never set out to make something identical.

Harder still to promise is that development will go smoothly. 《万念仙城》 is my fifth indie game (counting Blue Planet Rondo (《蓝星循环曲》), one I never finished). I know full well that making indie games is, by nature, something that fails very easily, and we won't pretend this road is an easy one.

But what we can promise is that the team is still creating the thing we've always held to.

On Lightracer

The Lightracer IP belongs to Smartmelon Games. I can't say too much here — only that if there's ever a chance in the future to continue the Lightracer story, I will absolutely do my best to make it happen.

A few last words

By the time this article goes out, 《万念仙城》 has probably already arrived on Steam, with a free trial available. If you're willing to open the game and wander through this immortal city, you might just find some things that feel deeply familiar. Those are all the secret signs we've left for you.

Thank you all for your love and support over these long years. The road across the sea of stars is long, but you and I will meet again in the end. Whatever lies ahead — thank you for once chasing the light alongside us.