Filed under: Fallen Earth

Fallen Earth's developers talk patch 1.3

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 9th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Events, in-game, Patches

Patch day is an exciting time to be playing an MMO, assuming you can look past the various instabilities, server crashes, and inevitable bugs that come with a major update. Even then, there's still the sense of doing something new and different in a familiar game, however touch-and-go the new content might be. Fallen Earth is not too far from their next major patch day, but if you can't wait for the patch to go live, there's a new developer diary and Q&A from Dev Team Lead Marie Croall and Live Team Lead Ian Lemke.

The patch's major focus was a thorough revamp of the area around the starter towns, and between those towns and the central cities. It might seem odd to add such a large patch to improve the first few levels of the game, but from the developer's point of view, it's those levels that really first get a player hooked on the game, so they wanted to make it as memorable as possible. There's also some information on Deadfall Point, a new encounter area in Sector Three, offering the higher-level players something new to experience. Be sure to take a look at both features to get a picture of what's coming in the near future for your clone in Fallen Earth.

Wasteland Diaries: What you did wrong with your first Fallen Earth character

by Shawn Schuster Feb 5th 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Guides, Tips and tricks, Wasteland Diaries

Any time a new game comes out, many players feel the obligation to be the first to explore new areas, conquer new bosses or get their character to max level. This may not be everyone's play style, but it's usually important to note that these players do this with little or no guidance from guides or wikis, and they often end up doing something wrong along the way.

Fallen Earth is a game that is set up to trickle information to you slowly as you progress. Since the tutorial area was revamped just before launch, it's been easier to learn the right way to do things... that is, if you've read the pop-up tips. Even at 5 months after launch, there is still very little information out there about the specifics of the game. There are wikis and informational fansites, but in most cases, their owners seem to have caught a case of the Shiva virus themselves.

So in this week's Wasteland Diaries, I'm going to take a fun look at the top 5 things you probably did wrong on your first character. It might be too late for many of you, but that's why there are four character slots. Spoken like a true alt-a-holic.

Choose my Adventure: Exploring Fallen Earth's PvP

by Shawn Schuster Feb 3rd 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, PvP, Choose my Adventure

Oh you evil, evil readers. Voting for us to PvP like that. You should be ashamed. Although I have to admit, it was really quite fun.

That's right, this week the Choose my Adventure clan in Fallen Earth tried their hands at PvP and I'm very excited to bring back news from the front lines. In addition to the regular in-character journal format this week, I'm also going to explain a good bit about the clan's impressions of this first jump into PvP, how Fallen Earth handles it and how you can make that first leap yourself. Follow along, won't you?

Designing the apocalypse: behind the scenes of Fallen Earth

by Rubi Bayer Feb 1st 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth

We know that the development teams at our favorite MMOs work hard at game creation, but we're equally aware of how much they love their jobs. It's a dream job, and while development of a new game can be tough and stressful, more often than not it's lots of fun.

Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in the studio? What mishaps do the developers run across during the process, and what great ideas never make it to launch day? We talked to the team at Fallen Earth, and they generously shared some of their greatest bloopers and favorite ideas. Read along after the cut, and enjoy!

One Shots: A moment to rest

by Krystalle Voecks Jan 30th 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, One Shots

It's a hard life in Fallen Earth. If those mutated prairie chicken packs don't get you, there's probably some psychopathic NPC just ready to blow your head off and make off with any chips you might have had in your pocket. That is, of course, assuming they don't make off with whatever piece of clothing your pockets were in! It's a gritty world, but there are still places you can pause and catch your breath, like the one we see in today's One Shots, sent in to us by Michael B. He writes:

[This is] my character, Cole Ryder, atop the satellite dish outside of Trumbull. I'm moments away from destroying the utility box at the base of the complex to disrupt the Enforcers plans in the area. Cole [was] level 16 [at the time this was taken]. I'm enjoying this game more than any MMORPG I've played in a long time.

With the weekend rolling, it's a great time to get your MMO on! While you're out, grab a screenshot or two for us? We love to see what players are doing. Just email them in to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post them out here and give you the credit. Easy!

Gallery: One Shots

Wasteland Diaries: Community guide to Fallen Earth

by Shawn Schuster Jan 29th 2010 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Guides, Opinion, Education, Wasteland Diaries

With community being as important as it is in any MMO, accessibility to that community might sometimes be daunting. You want to learn more, but maybe you don't want to look like a noob by asking in-game. Maybe you want to start crafting, but you don't even know where to start. In keeping with our influx of community guides that have kicked off our new game-specific columns, we bring you Wasteland Diaries for all fans of Fallen Earth.

While the game is still in its infant stages, the community has established itself quite nicely so far. There are wikis, podcasts, fansites and social media hubs to help you get started on your way. If you're a high-level player, you might find yourself starving for complete information at this point, but that's why this guide will be continuously updated as the resources grow. Follow along for our guide to Fallen Earth's community.

Fallen Earth's State of the Game: Upcoming additions and more

by Seraphina Brennan Jan 28th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Horror, Fallen Earth, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items

When it comes to transparency regarding patches, Fallen Earth might have just won that category in spades. The latest State of the Game article on their site is more than just an overview of the direction they want to take the game in, it's a patch by patch listing of the features that the development team will be bringing to the table.

Patch 1.3 will be expanding the game with the introduction of Kaibab Forest and Deadfall Point, as players will run a brand new plotline to push back the radiation zone and find more secrets hidden in the wasteland. The new areas come with a brand new level added to the cap, so all of that experience gained from the new area won't go to waste.

Choose my Adventure: Casta Gaunt must die

by Shawn Schuster Jan 27th 2010 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Lore, Hands-on, Roleplaying, Choose my Adventure

Things are moving along quite smoothly in our Fallen Earth Choose my Adventure group lately, and this week we conquered one of the greatest facilities in Sector 1: Kingman Prison. As voted upon last week, you sent us in there and we didn't disappoint.

Follow along after the jump for more info on the prison, this week's polls to vote where we will go next, and the continuing in-character saga of Mr. Gator Boudreaux.

Fallen Earth client now available via torrent

by Rubi Bayer Jan 22nd 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, News items

Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth have announced a nice surprise for fans frustrated with slow downloads. As a convenience to their users, there is now a Fallen Earth torrent file for faster downloads of their game client.

If you're unfamiliar with how it works, it's pretty simple. Just download the torrent file, provided in this handy link or in the announcement on the official site, then double-click the icon on your PC to begin the full download. Once everything is downloaded, you'll start the installation process. Again, pretty simple, and the Fallen Earth team has kindly provided step by step instructions with the announcement.

One last reminder from the Fallen Earth guys: "This is new, so if you encounter any issues, just let us know and we will try to respond quickly!"

Choose my Adventure: Toppling a fortress of junk

by Shawn Schuster Jan 20th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Culture, Hands-on, Roleplaying, Choose my Adventure

Another week, another adventure chosen. This week's Choose my Adventure group in Fallen Earth turned out to be a blast as more of you showed up to help crush the Junk Fortress just outside of Embry Crossroads.

As we begin to level our characters into the double digits, we start setting out sights on the middle of Sector 1 in cities like Kingman, Oilville and Linewood Facility. But how did we do in Embry Crossroads this week? Keep reading below for the complete story.

Icarus Studios hosting Triangle Global Game Jam

by Rubi Bayer Jan 18th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Events, real-world, News items

Aspiring game developers in the Triangle have an exciting opportunity coming up. January 29-31 is the annual Global Game Jam, an event for participants to "band together to design one or more video games from scratch-from concept art to scripting to animating". At the end of the event, they will have designed one or more games from start to finish. (We know, they are probably not the most polished games ever to be created, but will serve as a great learning experience.)

While Global Game Jam is a worldwide event, Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth will be the hosts for the event in this particular region. The event begins at 4 p.m. January 29 and continues for 48 hours straight. Participants are invited to stay at the studios for the full 48 hours. The first Triangle Global Game Jam had over 20 developers and students participating, who created four games in the 48-hour period, so expect to be busy if you attend.

One Shots: Home on the range

by Krystalle Voecks Jan 15th 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, One Shots

Feeling a little burned up with either snow or crazy summer heat? You can escape to post-apocalyptic lands of Fallen Earth from the comfort of your comfy chair, and maybe even join our very own fearless leader in his reader-chosen adventures! Today we have a great screenshot of one of the new camps from Vendayn, who writes in:

Hello Massively and its readers! Its TheExplorer, also commonly known as Vendayn. I bring you a shot of a bonfire, the first of many camps that you can set up. This is the primitive camp, with no tents or anything. Later, you can create large enough camps to attract merchants. This is my most favorite feature in Fallen Earth, as I love camping and being in the outdoors. Camps serve many purposes, from role-playing reasons, to logging out in the camp instead of the middle of nowhere to get eaten, to providing buffs. Plus as I mentioned, you can attract merchants to your camp.

Are you part of the post-apocalyptic clans of Fallen Earth? We'd love to see some screenshots from you. Just email those to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what's going on in the screenshot. We'll post it here and give you the credit!

Gallery: One Shots

Fallen Earth rolls out the second part of their graphical enhancements

by Eliot Lefebvre Jan 14th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Patches, News items

When the entire world has come crashing down around your ears, and you're doing your best to survive in the Grand Canyon with only your wits, your skills, and a bucket of shotgun shells... well, you'd like things to at least look pretty. Fallen Earth has been working hard on its graphical engine recently, having just rolled out a shiny new update to improve clouds, textures, and the general state of vegetation in the area. Now they've completed a second pass, with the newest updates improving light and shadow as well as several shader effects.

Aside from going through and improving existing player shadows, the designers have tightened up all of the shadows in the game, giving things a far more crisp and realistic look. According to project manager Colin Dwan, the result has both improved the look of the environments and actually boosted its performance slightly. If you have Shader 3.0 hardware and the Advanced Post FX setting on, the new shadows should be immediately visible upon entrance to the game. While it's not a sweeping change, it's a subtle and thorough one, and should make the life of a clone a bit more vibrant.

Choose my Adventure: Just like a Rolling Clone

by Shawn Schuster Jan 13th 2010 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Culture, Opinion, Hands-on, Roleplaying, Choose my Adventure

Join me as I brave my way through lands unknown in an adventure dictated entirely by you, the Massively readers! Vote for everything from game played to character creation to ultimate goal and watch it unfold in a series of journals and galleries here on the site. Then, as our two months is up, we'll do it all over again in a new game!

Our first real week getting our hands dirty in Fallen Earth turned out to be a lot of fun. Despite the fact that I play this game quite often anyway, I'm always learning new things in it, especially considering the fact that there are so many different starting cities, depending on your playstyle preference. My first time in Terance was almost like playing a new game, which certainly makes my addiction to "alting" more fun.

Follow along after the jump for my new Fallen Earth character's in-character journal and more of my thoughts on the game.

Fallen Earth gets extensive graphical update today

by Rubi Bayer Jan 7th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Patches, News items

If you haven't logged in to Fallen Earth for a few days, that's something you may want to rectify pretty quickly. As you may have heard from Lead Game Designer Lee Hammock on yesterday's Massively Speaking, the newest Fallen Earth patch was pretty huge and there is even more to come.

The patch notes were a long list of small fixes and tweaks -- things like "moved a tire that was sticking out of a wall," and changes to recipes, creatures, and mechanics. But these few hundred little changes weren't what made everyone sit up and take notice.

The graphics were given a significant overhaul resulting in a completely new look for the game; specifically the terrain and skies. Along with cloud movement, players will notice much more detailed and realistic surroundings both far and near. You can find some great before and after comparisons at Ten Ton Hammer from FE Graphics Programmer Kevin Coyle

The full patch notes are worth a read (you'll need to be registered on the forums to view them), but this extensive update isn't the only thing the Fallen Earth developers have up their collective sleeve. If you haven't yet checked out our interview on Massively Speaking, take a listen to see what else is coming up.