Welcome to another edition of Traveler’s Guide to the Galaxy. These dispatches aim to provide insights into the lore and design behind new locations coming to the Star Citizen universe. This time, we venture to the planet Stanton IV, better known as microTech.

Every time you open your mobiGlas to accept a mission, plot a course, or any of the daily activities your trusty wrist device supports, you’re using a microTech product. Widely renown for their range of personal electronics, datapads, mobile interfaces, handheld sensors, software and more, microTech is a household name in the Star Citizen universe, and today, we’re going to take a closer look at the mega-corp’s home planet and HQ, so you know what to expect the first time you touch down.

Stanton IV is a large, cold, unforgiving planet. Due to an error during the terraforming process, cloud production became unusually dense, resulting in a mostly frozen surface plagued by harsh weather and dangerous storms.

While building the outposts you’ll find scattered across microTech’s frozen landscape, the team took inspiration from real-life cold-environment research stations, studying their architecture, weathering, and more.

Travelers to microTech will doubtlessly experience harsh winter weather. Getting yourself caught in a storm can be dangerous, and with the frigid temperatures and falling snow/ice obstructing your view, you’ll want to make sure you’re properly equipped and using extreme caution if travelling on foot.

New Babbage is a major social and economic trading hub on microTech, coming in Alpha 3.9. Although New Babbage features microTech’s flagship store, the landing zone is a haven for smaller tech companies. Your first visit to microTech’s flagship city will most likely be by way of the New Babbage Interstellar Spaceport.

Hop on one of the mag-lev trams that weave their way through the city, to get from the spaceport to the action.

Rather take your ground vehicle? Claim yours in the garage and venture into the snowy landscape on your own terms.

Enclosed domes populate areas of the city to protect the inhabitants against the freezing elements.

The team created microTech’s architecture with an elegant, high tech feel in mind, in stark contrast to the dense urbanity and utilitarian style presented in Area 18 & Lorville. Clean lines and beautiful, exotic plants enhance the technological marvels you would expect to see in microTech’s headquarters.

You’ll find your friendly neighborhood mission giver at New Babbage’s hot spot for local nightlife – Wally’s.

The city’s signature building, Aspire Grand, is home to “The Nest,” your habitation center in New Babbage. You can expect incredible and unique views of the city from every apartment, as well as immaculate, high-tech spaces for you to rest, relax, and recharge your creative batteries.

Despite being generally cold and brutal, microTech features six distinct biomes that each offer different climates and terrain.

Biome 1: High altitude mountain ranges. Beware the tricky-to-traverse terrain, fraught by perilous wind & punishing storms.

Biome 2: Low frozen zones. Explore and you’ll find interesting pieces of terrain exclusive to this biome like frozen-over and petrified-in-ice trees.

Smooth transitions between these different zones create a natural feel for the planet. Mountains roll into sparsely forested-foothills, which then gradually transition into dense forests and plains below.

Weather isn’t always consistent across microTech. Some regions may receive higher annual snowfall than others, and you’ll be able to see that reflected in the snow cover and condition of each region’s trees.

Biome 3: In warmer transitional areas, the monochromatic pallet of microTech gives way to rare but beautiful floral fields, but the snowy mountains are never far away.

Biome 4: Red, orange, and green colors begin to show through in warmer forest regions, offering a bittersweet look at what microTech could have been if not for the terraforming mishap.

Biome 5: Frozen Tundras beset with glacial structures of ice and obsidian.

Biome 6: Frozen oceans and cold coasts line the edges of the landmass. If you’re flying above these bodies of water, or walking on top of them, you’ll find sheets of ice, frozen and shattering individually over time. Icebergs line the edges of the coasts after melting and refreezing into various unique shapes.

All in all, microTech offers players a vast new world to explore, and for those willing to face the elements, some of the most striking views in the Stanton system.