State of the Game
May 20, 2010 from fallenearth.com
Greetings Wastelanders,
With all the recent adjustments and content additions, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on where we are in development and share some of our upcoming plans for the Grand Canyon Province in our regular State of the Game address.
However, before we dive into all the new content, I'd like to first and foremost extend a big thanks to the entire Fallen Earth community and all of our supporters. You all have been amazing and we value your feedback. You are a large part of why we do this and to have your continued support is much appreciated.
So on to the good stuff... The Blood Sports content patch (v1.4) had a successful launch and we're happy to see players enjoying all of the new content-from the Blood Sports matches to clan wars to achievements, the community feedback has been great. But we have no intentions to stop there!
While the Blood Sports patch added quite a bit of PvP action to the wasteland, as we head into Q3 players can expect the next major patch to incorporate more global environmental enhancements and some new features to the game.
What does this mean? It means we're making even more improvements to the environment, incorporating more ambient lighting, enhanced arbor and water effects as well as alternating weather patterns... the forecast looks like there are storms on the way! We are introducing the start of our weather system with the addition of rain, thunder, and lightning.
With the patch, players will also enjoy the fourth Blood Sport, Assault. We have put a lot of work into the Blood Sports and Assault is a great addition. In Assault, two teams of up to eight players will battle another team through a series of objectives where one team attacks and the other defends. Look for this on the Public Test Server soon.
We are also incorporating the beginnings of a "Serendipity" system into the game, introducing rare spawns throughout the world. Upon their demise you will have the chance to receive new gear never seen in the game before, so be on the lookout-you don't know what you will find!
Additionally, there have been some concerns raised around the progression of crafting with the recent Blood Sports patch. Gear progression is being released slowly, and improved versions of the gear you are currently able to craft are already on their way. These items (improvements on the carbon hexweave and armored mesoprene pieces) will be in place in the next update along with some modified variants of existing gear (including faction elite suits) that support varying build types.
The team is also beginning to answer the requests for a faster mode of travel. As the beginnings of a broader system, we are introducing a limited travel system, similar to the bus stops on the PTS and available to players at level 20 and above. There will be a short mission chain to acquire the ability to use the system, as you work with Techs and Vistas who have modified certain LifeNet pods. Of course transporting your DNA to limited locations in all three sectors comes with a risk... Towns which will be able to be visited are Watchtower, Traders Flat, New Flagstaff and Los Alamos. These towns will also be limited by level so a level 20 player will not be able to travel to Los Alamos. We will be introducing this new system in the coming weeks to the Public Test Server as well.
We are continually working on bugs and making improvements to the current content as well as working on future content and features. We are currently working on tweaks to the Faction system and we will continue to work on that system and provide updates as it progresses.
And don't forget about the Fallen Earth mobile applications! The Fallen Earth app for the iPhone, Blackberry, Droid, Java and Brew devices will be released simultaneously in the coming weeks.
I also wanted to take some time to make you aware of a program that we're really proud of-a player organized effort-which is coming soon. We are proud to endorse the efforts of several clans in our game in the formation of the T.E.M.P.S. (To Ensure More People Stay) clan. We are excited about the mission of this clan, as they are dedicated to helping new players in Fallen Earth learn the ins and outs of the game. I would encourage all new players to take part in the T.E.M.P.S. clan and learn about them. There are dedicated, experienced players who participate in the T.E.M.P.S. clan specifically to help out. We applaud this effort and appreciate the support of our community. Our community is strong and one of the best out there. We love to see all the dedicated fan sites and wonderful things all of you do for Fallen Earth! Keep it up!
We are excited about everything slated on the development schedule as we have so much more in store throughout the remainder of the year. In the meantime, we hope you're enjoying getting to know all the members of the dev team with our weekly forum threads and community events. We look forward to seeing you all in game!
