For one, it seems the USSR exists, whether it's revived or if this is an alternate history timeline. You can see on a shed on the surface flags of multiple countries, including the US, UK, Germany, China, and the flag of the USSR.

This is some past project that prisioners send there some people control them for mining and after they find one alien life form (probably dead) one of the otopsie report (one that torn one) is alien's one after humans find aliens place and they never manage to open door and run away aliens long gone anyway. Their high tec still there but they leave this place. Or I think they have high tec that they can teleport and they don't need to stay there 24 hour everything automatic. Thats why this alien place look lifeless they don't come here maybe like eras. How elves in fantasy worlds can postpone wars because they have long life for analize.

danggg

I personally think that it was some kind of penal colony

For these 5 nations during some kind of space race

this was probably a alternate timeline where soviet/commuist aggression didnt exist and nato aproves of the ussr joining them even though it was bloc against them they changed it's purpose into some kind of super alliance these 5 nations together united made space expansion faster thus reaching this planet also i believe the ancient alien techology proves their were once a sentient race of alien before going extinct

we do know that
"Windswept takes place on an alien planet called "Zephyrus" a dangerous one at that.
Giant planet-wide windstorms blast anything not bolted down away, even if you somehow survive that, the planet's ozone layer is still forming, meaning most of the suns radiation still reaches the surface. Despite this, life is still being born here, though almost all of it lives underground or in deep ravines.
However another type of life lives here, humanity! While planets with developing life such as this are illegal to mine, multiple large space mining powers were able to secretly set up outposts here. Often times, anything will be done in order to keep Zephyrus a secret."

I think the way people show up to zephyrus is being there when it was made, being born in it, or maybe some sort of prisoners taken there

I don't think it's a prison colony. It seems to be more of a colony with a prison attached to it.

My take is that this is a colony set up by Zephyrus, operated by contractors signed to work for the company. The banners seen around town that say "Freedom isn't Free!" are likely a reference to the same American saying, where by living in this place, you pay a social contract; You work in order to receive the right to exist in this town. The town also contains two key pieces of evidence that support this; Multiple restaurants (Good Food and Cafe Baltic) and at least one confirmed shop. There's also the hotel, which if it was a penal colony, would likely be in the government sector. The suspended cages scream "hastily built prison to contain angry workers."

Originally posted by Karl_penguin:

I personally think that it was some kind of penal colony

My interpretation of the lore is a bit different.

Workers from all over the earth are contracted to work for the Zephyrus Mining Collective, in return for a place to sleep and a hefty paycheck. As the employees began mining, they started coming across alien flora (Mycilite and the strange algae in the water canyon) and fauna (leeches, Goliath Snare Shrimps, Amalgapods, unknown subterranean animals). The company wrote off accidents as being "Employee Failures" instead of taking responsibility. The company's lack of accountability led to unrest among workers, leading to protesting. On November 6, 2015, a 51 year old named Levi Lincon was shot multiple times after fighting a corporate peace officer. This sparked more resentment among workers, and it was not rare for the prison within the government facility to be full.

Following the shooting of Levi Lincon, the company contracted some engineers and a construction crew to quickly establish Skarn Prison. In its rush to finish this penal facility, they chose to suspend prisoners above a chasm instead of constructing proper cells. This was known only to the builders, the engineers, the higher ups at the company, and the prisoners. Upon its completion, prisoners kept in the government wing's prison were often seen being brought away to Skarn through the industrial district to be never seen again. Executions were written off as just dissonance. General opinion of Zephyrus was low, and with the prison just across the cave from Red Rock, it was becoming worse.

The presence of the prison meant mining crews now had to dig somewhere else, and they began to dig deeper. The change of plans meant that engineers had to create new pathways, and the thick rock blocking sensors meant unseen chasms were a larger threat. This of course led to accidents. During excavation, a mining team found a strange artifact which was given to the science team up above to be examined. This of course was kept under wraps by the collective. A separate team came across another chasm, and after exploring it, they found alien ruins and reported it to the collective. Not wanting anyone to use the ruins against them, the collective arrested the miners and sealed off access to the ruins. The disappearances and elevated alien attacks only caused fear, causing workers to protest and revolt violently more often.

The attitude among workers led to the company reducing shipments of products it deemed unnecessary, such as condiments, spices, beverages, and most notably coffee. They also stopped tending to the already poorly built residential district in the north. This led to the Good Food restaurant sourcing more exotic local foods, such as leeches and algae. This was harvested in the canyon and transported through the sewer system into the abandoned restaurant. These sewers became a hub for illegal trade, ranging from leech harvesting to arms deals. The increase in illegal sewer access eventually led to curious citizens coming across a service shaft that led to the prison, and the chasm where prisoners are suspended before being executed. This news spread faster than the company could contain it.

Workers destroyed the heavy industry sector connected to the residential sector. This caused a major spill of radioactive material and rendered it uninhabitable. Other saboteurs sealed off the agricultural sector and blew holes into the walls, unleashing fauna that decimated the mycilite farms. The frequent terrorism and increased alien traffic led to the structurally weak eastern wing of the residential sector to cave in, killing several people including corporate peace officers. The western wing of the government sector was hit by a suicide bombing, leading to its closure as people began fearing the risk of alien fauna breaking in.

By the time you, the player, arrive, the town is at the brink of its self destruction.



Oh and the br*tish have a small outpost outside for some reason to listen to music idk