Planetary Annihilation gets intergalactic lore download ahead of tomorrow's beta release

Planetary Annihilation is still winding its way through the final stages of development, but lost in all of the galactic domination and throwing-planets-at-other-planets is the real question: what's my motivation? A new update for Kickstarter backers details the lore and various factions, also known as the planet-throwers and the planet-throwees.

“The world of Planetary Annihilation is a complex one,” the post reads. “It's filled with untold numbers of scarred, warring machines with identities molded by the philosophies of their Commander. There are four known factions in the universe, and though every Commander and his troops have assimilated their machine-parts, each has a wildly different outlook on the world.”

The Commanders are mechanical beings that move throughout space, exploring and reactivating other dormant Commanders and recruiting them. The first faction to be detailed is begun by a Commander that finds himself on a “desolate volcanic world.” He's got a penchant for the ancient Romans and sketchy memories of a hated enemy: the Progenitors.

Kickstarter backers will have a hand in directing the lore, starting with this first faction: on the backers-only message board , backers will be able to vote for the name of the faction, its leaders, and its symbol.

Planetary Annihilation is headed for a beta release tomorrow, September 26. The full release is slated for later this year.