Story/Pre-1.0

A main Story was introduced to Raft on December 3rd, 2019, when the First Chapter was added to the game. This page will attempt to explain the progress of the story line, as well as notes and pictures found underway. The story can be started by crafting and installing a Receiver and three Antennas on the Raft. Four-digit codes found around the world of Raft can then be entered into the Receiver, and the story line can be started. All such codes are randomized from player to player.

The First Chapter

Radio Tower

Main article: Radio Tower

The first available code will lead the player to the first destination of the journey: the Radio Tower.

In and around the tower you can find various hints in form of notes and transcripts about the survivors previously stationed at the tower. In the topmost room of the Radio Tower, there are more clues about an Island which is assumed to house a gathering of scouts - the island is later discovered to be Balboa Island. The location of the Island is unknown, but instead the code to an abandoned cruise ship named Vasagatan is provided. Apart from the notes concerning the engineers' story, a number of useful Materials can be found in and around the tower and the Blueprint: Head Light item is provided.

Notes and Lore

There are four story-related notes found on Radio Tower platform. Three of these are diary entries, while the last is a transcription of received radio communication. Story of the Radio Tower The diary entries talk of a team of four engineers, who are tasked with maintaining a number of nuclear reactors, which will in turn help "save the world". However, things are not going well as multiple parts of the reactors are failing. The engineers have all received nicknames as a result of a leak that has outed their actual names to the world that existed at the time of writing. They were seemingly situated on a platform in the ocean together with at least four nuclear reactors. The four engineers are nicknamed Owl, Sparrow, Wren, Cuckoo - all names of birds. Cuckoo is the person writing the diaries. It is written in the diary that Cuckoo suspects Wren of collaborating with their shady employers, who are seemingly up to something. The four engineers are tasked to keep the reactors functioning, as these are possibly few of the last remaining efficient power sources in the world; which at the time of writing has already been submerged in water. However, it is clearly dangerous work, and the engineers have stalled in an attempt to stay safe. After realizing this, Wren informs the employers, and they leave Owl and Cuckoo behind, taking Sparrow, a skillful and female engineer, and the reactors with them. Cuckoo and Owl set out on a boat to catch up to the employers and Sparrow, as well as shut down the remaining working reactors, numbered 12 and 24. However before catching up, they bust the boat's engine. Luckily, Owl and Cuckoo arrive at the Radio Station, where the diary notes are then found by the player an unknown amount of time later. Radio Traces The radio traces contain six entries, hinting at two different locations and some events that have taken place. The first mentioned location is Tangaroa, which was later released in the Second Chapter. The transcription refers to gunshots which are heard in the distance. This may refer to an episode later revealed in notes found on Tangaroa, where the commander issues an order to shoot at a group of outsiders arriving to Tangaroa by a raft. A possible second mention of Tangaroa is transcribed just after. The message is in Malay: "Kota Jangkhar". This may be a misspelling of "Kota Jangkar", which in Malay translates to "Anchor City". The transcript capitalizes the first letter of both words, hinting at this being the name of a location. However, it can also be the command "anchor the city", which would fit the fact that Tangaroa is both a vessel and floating city. One of the locations of the Third Chapter has been revealed to be a sunken city, which the name "Anchor City" may also refer to. The second mentioned location of the transcript is Balboa Island, which is the last location of the First Chapter. Having had to abandon the current location, the transcriber calls for "Mike" to meet him at Balboa, given that the place is still above water. Of course, this turns out to be the case as the player later finds Balboa well above water.

Vasagatan

Main article: Vasagatan

Vasagatan is a deserted cruise ship beached on a small island. It introduces a new enemy to the player, the Lurker, which is a large rodent that leaps at players within range. The ship consists of many corridors and decks, which means the player will be moving around in and searching dark rooms. It is therefore recommended to bring and equip a Head Light in order to combat the high level of darkness. The player will face a number of obstacles that may be cleared by collecting and crafting quest-specific items. A number of colored keys are also used to progress. Once the player has made their way to the top of the ship, they will find the two blueprints: Blueprint: Engine and Blueprint: Steering Wheel. Crafting the items on the Blueprints is key to reaching Balboa Island, as the player will be forced to sail against the wind direction. Story wise, Vasagatan provides a number of notes, transcripts and scenes that gives the player insight in the events prior to its abandonment.

Notes and Lore

Vasagatan holds an entirely different story than the one started at the Radio Tower. The main character of the Vasagatan story is Olof Wilkstrom, who has gathered a Swedish crew and covertly departed from Södertälje, Sweden - a city within Stockholm county. According to one of the transcripts found, Wilkstrom has abandoned his office and is fleeing Stockholm. It is unclear why, but the texts hint at the fact that rising water levels is about to affect Stockholm, and Wilkstrom has some responsibility in providing a solution. However, Wilkstrom realizes there's no way to help everyone and decides to abandon the city together with a paid crew. After having set out to sea, a number of things are made apparent in the notes written by both the ship's captain and the crew: Wilkstrom has skimped out on providing enough food and resources - including vaccines for well-known diseases, the sea-level has risen more than anticipated making resupplying impossible, and Wilkstrom brought joy-girls, which is causing trouble on the ship. The captain of the ship contracts tetanus cutting himself on one of Kasper, the cook's, knives. The captain gradually loses control over the crew as his sickness worsens leaving him with a bad case of lockjaw (locking of the jaw muscles) and fever. Eventually, the captain dies of his illness and the crew is without a person to steer the ship. One of the girls on the ship, Hanne, seems to be getting on the good side of all the important male characters, making an impression on both the captain and Wilkstrom. Different transcript describes how the ship, now without its captain, drifts in the ocean with the crew becoming more and more bewildered. Large rats, likely referring to Lurkers, start appearing and seem to survive any attempts to kill them with rat poison, drowning and even gun shots. Eventually, holes appear in the ship and the engine gives out. Having had enough, Wilkstrom is seen stealing a lifeboat leaving his crew behind. Many of the crew-mates follow suit, and only a handful of sailors are left behind on the ship. A transcription of a crew conversation describes how the ship, mid discussion, suddenly beaches on an old mountaintop, which is where the player finds it. A letter from Hanne, addressed Ruben, is also found on Vasagatan. In this letter it is revealed that she left Ruben behind, but is regretting her decision. She hopes that he will find her. She and the remaining crew will attempt to make it further down South. The last two topics of the notes concern possible destinations the crew considered traveling to, and one of Wilkstrom's projects. In a news paper article, Wilkstrom is rumored to be underway with modifications to his personal yacht. The articles features a picture as well as mentions the existence of floating cities near the Indian ocean. It is unknown if Wilkstrom has anything to do with the floating cities or if he's attempting to replicate the idea on his own yacht. As for safe destinations, the last note found on Vasagatan mentions a "terraforming" project near Cape Town and Niger, noting its status as "stabilized". Terraforming concerns the act of making an area suitable for human life. Other notes mention both the North and South Pole as safe-heavens for rich people, who managed to build housing and escape. Lastly, the crew of the Vasagatan ship found a Chinese person, possibly referring to Wren - one of the nuclear reactor engineers mentioned in Radio Tower notes, floating around in the ocean. Before passing, the Chinese person manages to mention that there are "three places, down South, powered by fusion reactors". Trivia Note Olof Wilkstrom's name may be a reference to Professor Per-Olof Wikström, who's a docent from Stockholm University and works mainly with criminology, matching in background with Olof Wilkstrom's title of "Ombudsman" - a person who is officially appointed to investigate crime done by individuals and organizations.

Balboa Island

Main article: Balboa Island

The final location of the first chapter is Balboa Island: an Evergreen Island inhabited by Bears. Among these bears lives a boss-level bear fittingly named Mama Bear. Dealing half the player's health in damage and having a life pool the size of roughly five Sharks, she is the toughest enemy the player has faced so far. It's recommended to bring several Metal Spear or plenty of arrows because the number of Bears faced are too many to be handled with a single weapon. The Island has several entrance points all of which lead to dirt paths with direction signs. Around the Island, the player may find a couple of new Materials: Honeycombs harvested from Natural Beehives, Birch Seeds, and Pinecones found from felling the Island's trees. The main story objective consists of activating three antennas atop the islands three relay stations. After activation, the next code for the receiver is revealed on a screen, leading to Caravan Island, marking the start of the Second Chapter. A Machete is required to clear some vegetation blocking a path leading to Relay Station 6. To obtain this Machete, the player must either lure Mama Bear away from her cave by collecting Wild Berries from bushes around the Island and feeding them to her in a large container near her cave, or kill her.

Notes and Lore

Balboa Island, previously a mountain top, holds three radio towers and a ranger station. Because of its now ideal location and key function in radio communication, engineers were sent to the location to maintain the towers and ensure that they remain functioning. The documented events that have taken place on Balboa take place between December 7 and February 6. An engineering couple, Alberte and Bruno Correa, are tasked with managing the radio towers in the period. A series of entries, written on regular notebook paper, tell the story of the two engineers. The first entry, written by Alberte, describes how she felt forced to leave the island and Bruno in order to find someone out at sea. It can be deduced that Bruno and Alberte have received a distress signal that Alberte acted upon. She chose to do so without Bruno's acceptance, for which she apologizes in the note. In the following entries, numbered 2 to 9, it is clear how Bruno's mental state slowly deteriorates. He alternates between sane and delusional comments, commenting on the state of the radio equipment as well as introduce new characters. It turns out these characters are his "children", which he has created with scraps found on the island. In his notes he refers to a comment he has previously heard; that more people are needed. These children seem to be his delusional state trying to come up with solutions for a truly dire situation. The children are given names, and Bruno even makes up internal conflicts and situations between them to give them life. Bruno addresses Alberte multiple times in the notes, showing both signs of affection, frustration and confusion. He blames her for leaving him alone, as well as questions whether she left at all and is simply playing games with him. However, in the later entries some sense of reality seems to have sunk in, and as the water levels continue to rise, Bruno finally decides to leave the island in the auxiliary boat along with one of his children, Henry. Small slips of paper written as if they were written by the children discuss the lack of space in the auxiliary boat and Bruno's dilemma of having to choose a single child to bring along. One of the notes is particularly interesting, as it states that Bruno, referred to as "Father", already made up his mind of whom to bring along. On the bottom of the note a handwritten word is written, only half of it visible, which seems to say "Murder?". Apart from the entries and notes mentioned above, the Balboa notes include a handwritten map of the island, with the location of Mama Bear marked on it, and a Christmas card with the picture of Alberte and Bruno looking out from one of the radio tower roofs.

The Second Chapter

Caravan Island

Main article: Caravan Island

Caravan Island is a desert-like island type. It is primarily made out of old-school RVs and old and rusty containers. Caravan Island consists of three pinnacles connected by bridges and Ziplines, which make out Caravan Town - as the place is also referred to in many notes. A new hog-like creature called Mudhogs is found on one of the island's pinnacles. Mudhogs are rabid, aggressive pigs, which chase the player around until killed.

The main objectives of Caravan Island consist of finding three Battery Charger Parts and three Zipline Parts, unlocking the Metal Detector Blueprint and Zipline Blueprint. Using the new Zipline Tool and a series of keys, the player will find their way to the mayor's office, which holds the note for the next location: Tangaroa.

Having acquired the Metal Detector, the player can now search for buried treasure, unlocking a new series of collectibles in form of Toy Robots, Tiki Pieces, and Developer Paintings, as well as a new material; Titanium Ore, which is used to craft some of the new Blueprints found on Tangaroa.

Notes and Lore

The notes collected on Caravan Island comes from three sources: most are from the child Detto's self-proclaimed 'Scientific Journal', two notes are from grown-ups; one from a Mariam and one from a doctor Henrik Scholl, and the last is a page from a newspaper. The newspaper page hints at Caravan Island being a piece of land maintained by what was previously a "raft-town". After the mainland started disappearing, homeowners in Indonesia's Jakarta were forced to make floating homes made from "drifting vessels", as the newspaper article puts it. This system of living on the water caught on. Considering the array of names of different origin on Caravan Island and hints at nationalities (e.g. eating seaweed), the "raft-town" consisted not only of native Indonesians but people from other countries, too. It is likely that multiple raft-towns have been in existence and that the previous tenants of Caravan Island was a mixture of the people of one such raft-towns and possibly others, who arrived earlier. It is clear from Dr. Henrik Scholl's note that Caravan Island was deserted because of an outbreak of salmonella in one of their primary food sources: the pigs. While salmonella by itself is not a huge threat to healthy people, it can be devastating to communities living under poor conditions with limited medical supplies. The initial cases were treated with antibiotics provided by 'Heng', but there wasn't enough to cure everyone, and as salmonella is a bacterial disease it would stay alive as long as it had a host. Unable to battle the disease, the occupants had to leave. In his note, Dr. Scholl explains how the pigs were considered a huge treat due to the rarity of meat post-apocalypse. He regrets not thinking the situation through logically, as it should've been obvious that the pigs could not have been sanitary. The remaining notes are that of Detto, a child who has taken it upon himself to fix various issues using the scientific method. Among his ideas are draining water from the ocean (and into the well), a diving suit, eating kelp, and building a space rocket to travel to other planets. Signs of these ideas are found throughout Caravan Island, and show that despite being a child, Detto put great effort into his projects which were quite advanced for a child with limited resources. The bicycle would pump air into a long tube which would allow a person in an air-tight suit at the end to walk underwater - an old, reoccurring idea known as an atmospheric diving suit. The ocean pump is found near the docks, where the player is required to pump seawater into the well in order to retrieve a Battery Charger Part. Lastly, an additional rocket was built but never fired. The player finds this and can launch it in order to retrieve Major Tom after the rocket fails. From the subtext of the notes it is clear that Detto's experiments are partly child's play and partly serious attempts to help the grown-ups. There are multiple children on the island, but their functions are unknown. It is however clear that Caravan Island was too small to hold all the people who arrived there, so the occupants decided on who could stay based on the skills they would provide the island. Any future rafters who arrived would likely receive the same evaluation. The last note not yet mentioned here is a letter written by 'Mariam'. It is addressed Samir, her son, and tells of her work on the ReFormation project mentioned in the Vasagatan notes described above. It is described in more detail that the terraforming project consisted of planting trees and digging out rivers in Africa, and is overseen by rich people. However, it would seem the project failed and the people who funded it fled to the South Pole, as it is also described in Vasagatan notes. This seems to confirm that those who have money have fled to either the North or South Pole, leaving everyone else behind. From the coordinate note to evidence on Caravan Island, it is implied that the residents of Caravan Island left on rafts to find Tangaroa. More information about this can be found on the Caravan Island page.

Tangaroa

Main article: Tangaroa

Tangaroa is the final location of the Second Chapter. It is technically a vessel with a city of skyscrapers on top covered in a sphere of glass. Accessing the city requires finding an indent in the side of the sphere, which leads to a hangar area. Navigating through a bunker-like underground system and overcoming a crane puzzle, the player must find a limited amount of rolls of Tape in order to fix a number of fuse boxes used for enabling doors - including the one leading to the surface area. Exiting the underground area, players will find themselves inside the dome, which is overrun by Butler Bots. Fighting the Butler Bots will disable them momentarily, allowing the player to loot Tangaroa Keycards, which give access to the city's buildings. Scouring the upper-class apartments will lead the player to fighting off Lurkers, as well as looting loads of resources as well as Tangaroa Tokens, which is the currency of Tangaroa. Using the tokens, the player may purchase different kinds of Sustenance in order to stay healthy during their exploration.

Looting the apartments will eventually lead the player to looting enough rolls of Tape, which allows the player to return underground to repair all the fuse boxes. Having done so, an elevator leading to a key skyscraper allows the player to continue their journey of finding a way to the control tower marking the center of the city. The player must use Ziplines in order to reach the tower's balcony, which has a ladder leading to the tower's bridge. Upon further exploration, the player will find a keypad and a note instructing the player to uncover a secret code in order to gain access to the bridge. The player must find specific buildings on specific streets of the city and mark down their number. Putting these numbers in the correct order on the keypad will launch the bridge, shooting it into the air and landing outside the city in the ocean. Backtracking to the raft, or running on the outside of the glass dome, the player must sail or swim to the ejected bridge, which houses the final notes as well as the first code for the currently unreleased Third Chapter.

On Tangaroa, the player will find blueprints for the Electric Purifier, Water Tank, and Large Storage, which all make use of the newly introduced Titanium Ingot.

History

Early Access
Update 12		Second Chapter added to the game.
Update 10		First Chapter added to the game.