A large portion of the game content and its core mechanics, the "Solar System", have been released under a Creative Commons license, as well as being published using only open source tools.

The Shadow of Yesterday has been translated into Finnish (2006), Spanish (2007), German (2007) and Polish (two editions: abridged in 2009 and a new, extended and modified in 2011, also published on paper in a short limited run of 250 copies).

The Shadow of Yesterday takes place in Near, a post-apocalyptic fantasy world set three hundred years after the destruction of the previous civilization.

The Finnish edition has expanded the setting with minor cultures and other details and a revised map.

The World of Near for Solar System is a separate 190-page treatment of the setting from the creator of the Finnish translation.