System76 Gets Animated For New Handcrafted Computer
System76 is releasing a new open-source computer, available for preorder next month. In the coming weeks, before the finalized hardware is announced, a four-part animation will be released weekly, with design updates hidden within a game portion of the story.
The animated videos follow the journey of two characters: Zoe, the Pop!_OS installer bot for System76 computers, and Tenzen, an engineer. Tenzen travels through a dark corner of the universe, called the Thelio System, to find the origins of Zoe’s damage in order to repair her.
An interactive game portion for each chapter allows players to explore unique settings in order to guide Tenzen on his journey. These settings contain easter eggs for players to unlock secrets pertaining to the design of the new computer.
The story itself contains different worlds, each representing an antithesis to open source ideals. These themes are utilized to draw attention to the importance of open source in the evolution of technology. The parallel drawn between open source and the Thelio computer also helps System76 celebrate its milestone as the company transitions to manufacturing its own open hardware. CEO Carl Richell has been striving to achieve this goal since the company’s inception in 2005, and is eager to bring the new hardware to customers and open source fans alike.
Those who are interested in learning more about Thelio can subscribe for updates and follow the saga at thel.io leading up to the preorder release next month.