(Okay this'll be my first attempt at a proper OP so please be kind to it.)
FALLEN EARTH
From the oficial site:
"The world as we know it has fallen to ruin in the wake of the Shiva plague and a nuclear holocaust.
Civilization’s last flickering flames gutter in a small portion of the American Southwest, around the Grand Canyon.
While humanity fights to survive and rebuild on the ashes of the old world, new factions struggle for dominance: the stern Enforcers, the spiritual Lightbearers, the nature-loving Vistas, the gadget-happy Techs, the merchant-minded Travelers, and the savage Children of the Apocalypse. The conflicts and alliances between these factions create a dangerous ebb and flow that could make even bleaker the future of the Grand Canyon Province ... and of humanity as a whole.
What side will you choose? Where will you stand in the fight for the Fallen Earth?"
What is it?
-Fallen Earth is a post-apocalyptic MMO being developed by Icarus Studios (release date TBA). It's based on the earth ~150 years from now, centered around the Grand Canyon area. It looks to be in the same vein of cult post-apoc fiction as the Mad Max series, and the environments and gameplay are somewhat reminiscent of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
-It plays as a third-/first-person shooter, features a customizable (and player-made) item system based on scrounging and looting. Unlike the typical MMO, the "150 levels" in FE aren't the sole indicator of your character's strength, as AP (points you use to boost your stats and skills) can be attained through completing quests as well.
-The game world is heavy on the massive aspect, featuring a 7,000 square kilometre area surrounding the Hoover Dam. There will be horses to ride and vehicles to drive (though I'm not sure on the ready status of those at the moment). To compliment the great big desolate world, the view and draw distances are impressively far.
What are the factions all about?
Blatantly ripped from Wikipedia, here's a list of all the factions in FE:
Enforcers
Roots: Military and police forces, first responders and emergency support personnel.
Since The Fall: Dedicated to the belief that order and civilization will only be restored and willing to place their weapons and their lives behind that belief, the Enforcers march a narrow and precarious path – balancing between defending order and becoming a dictatorship.
Children of the Apocalypse
Roots: Anarchists, survivalists, paramilitary militia, rebels of society.
Since The Fall: Gathered into a loose confederation, the primal and nomadic CHOTA harass and disrupt attempts to re-build and re-establish society - striking, destroying, and then moving on in search of their next target.
Vistas
Roots: Environmentalists, alternate energy entrepreneurs, seekers of holistic forms of medicine, health and organic food.
Since The Fall: Devoted to the preservation of the natural world, the Vista’s kept knowledge in plant and herbal medicine alive, expanded research with genetic and agricultural skills essential to survival, but their opposition to the resurrection of advanced synthetic technologies creates tension with those who remember how comfortable things seemingly were – and could be again.
Techs
Roots: Scientists, technologists, professors and researchers in all science fields.
Since The Fall: Primarily devoted to maintaining what vestiges of pre-Fall science and technology remain, the Techs are also constantly on the alert for opportunities to rediscover and re-implement the technologies that some say played a part in causing the Fall.
Lightbearers
Roots: Visionaries and followers of spirit paths, faithful devotees of mind powers and healing arts.
Since The Fall: Devoting themselves to their vision of bringing Light into the shadows and darkness of the Fallen Earth, the Lightbearers view their path as the only true path, and their mastery of mental and mutational powers makes theirs a faith to be feared as well as followed.
Travelers
Roots: Crime syndicates and cartels, street gangs, secret societies, triads, con artists and thieves.
Since The Fall: using their skills and secret networks to create an “underground economyâ€, the Travelers blend in to deceive… and are both a threat to the re-establishment of civilization and providers of otherwise unobtainable goods and services.
What's the story behind it?
Here's a cool timeline I found on the official site that explains the events leading up to, and following the "Fall":
Pre-Fall
2022 - Several towns in Kansas are ravaged by a series of super-tornadoes.
2033 - Hauptmann Brenhauer makes a gambit that gives Brenhauer Investments controlling interest in the major international megacorp known as GlobalTech.
2034 - GlobalTech acquires the Grand Canyon and surrounding national park lands.
2037 - An earthquake off the Pacific Coast sparks a tsunami that hits Seattle.
2040 - Brenhauer Investments opens its majestic new headquarters on the north rim of the Grand Canyon.
2049 - GlobalTech moves its headquarters to the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, effectively creating its own little mini-state within Arizona, complete with military controlled borders. GlobalTech creates a corporate-feudal state by 2050.
2051 - GlobalTech operations in the Grand Canyon make it self-sufficient, needing no outside food, raw materials, or manufactured goods. Instead it becomes a producer of minerals and finished goods.
2052 - Environmentalists and eco-terrorists called the Vista Society covertly infiltrate the Grand Canyon Province, setting up communes in the more remote areas of the Province far from the corporate settlements. They go unnoticed for several months until they start sabotaging lumbering operations in Kaibab Forest.
2054 - The Shiva virus is released on the world and begins to spread. The United States government begins construction of the Hoover Dam Garrison.
2055 - As the situation deteriorates, nuclear attacks are initiated in and from southern Asia. The Hoover Dam Garrison begins operation under Colonel Orson Masters.
2056 - The Shiva virus strikes the Grand Canyon Province. 90% of the population is killed off before the year is out.
2057 - Hoover Dam Garrison loses all contact with the outside world. The Grand Canyon Province seems to be alone in surviving the Fall.
2058 - The last refugees reach the Hoover Dam Garrison from outside the Grand Canyon Province, specifically from Las Vegas.
Post-Fall
2065 - The first rumors of the Lightbearers and their leader Shakti begin to circulate.
2090 - Colonel Orson Masters promotes himself to General to better reflect his increased responsibilities in leading the community that the Hoover Dam Garrison has become.
2099 - Command of the Hoover Dam Garrison is passed on to William Masters, son of the former leader.
2126 - Responding to attacks on its scouts and the rise of the CHOTA leader Redhand, forces from the Hoover Dam Garrison attack the CHOTA settlement of Five Points. In response the CHOTA send a group of mutant assassins into the Hoover Dam Garrison, killing General William Masters. His son Alec Masters assumes control of the Garrison.
2127 - Under Alec Masters, the Hoover Dam Garrison becomes a despotism. The CHOTA are forced back to CHOTA Gulch and Siller's Canyon. Mutants are rounded up by the hundreds for experimentation, most never to be seen again.
2132 - Alec Masters attacks the Monastery, home of the Lightbearers, capturing their leader Shakti and scattering the order.
2150 - After years of conflict, the CHOTA storm the Hoover Dam Garrison with assistance from the Travelers and Vistas. Tired of years of abuse, the people of the Garrison rise up against Alec Masters as well. The Garrison is destroyed in the ensuing battle and the dam abandoned. Alec Masters is killed by the CHOTA.
2154 - Current day.
And here's the background:
The enemy that brought about the Fall didn't wear a uniform. It didn't speak of jihads or crusades. It didn't rally extremists to the cause.
Immune to metal detectors, oblivious to terror status rankings, Shiva moved without sound and without fury.
The microscopic virus originated in southern Asia, somewhere between India and Pakistan. It manifested first as a deadly flu epidemic, but how it came about isn't entirely clear. Was it just a quirk of biology? A secret government project gone awry? A purposefully targeted biological weapon? No one ever found out for sure, and with the heightened tensions of the region, few wasted time looking for an answer.
Pakistani radicals almost immediately assumed it was a weaponized virus unleashed by India and retaliated with a nuclear bomb that sparked a devastating exchange between both countries that left hundreds of thousands dead within just a few hours.
Neither fire nor radiation brought humanity low, however. The blasts flung irradiated dust laced with the Shiva virus into the atmosphere, where it mutated into a new and more potent form.
Shiva 2 descended on Asia, spreading rapidly and sparking further nuclear exchanges between ancient enemies. As chaos overwhelmed the world, major cities in Europe and North America, including cities in the United States, fell prey to similar attacks. Civilization collapsed within a few weeks, leaving only a handful of sheltered areas habitable.
The Shiva virus mutated again and again, and stymied scientists who struggled to find a cure. Eventually, the virus reached its final incarnation: Shiva 7. Although it exhibited symptoms similar to those of its predecessors, Shiva 7 was non-lethal. Once the illness ran its course, the virus fell dormant within its host. But by the time Shiva 7 became the dominant strain of the virus, more than 90 percent of the world's population was gone. Nearly all of the survivors were infected with Shiva 7, but its effects seemed minimal for decades.
In subsequent generations, however, hidden effects of Shiva 7 became apparent. The virus caused mutations - some benign, some malignant, and some...quite strange, giving a few people the ability to manipulate the world around them. The virus had altered the fundamental genetic makeup of humanity.
Now, in the year 2154, you find yourself in the Grand Canyon Province, isolated from the rest of the fallen world. Hoover Dam, the last bastion of civilization in the region, has fallen to the Children of the Apocalypse and their allies after decades of conflict. The Enforcers and Techs, once servants of the reviled ruler of Hoover Dam, Alec Masters, now search for a new place in the world. In one of the last habitable regions on earth, humanity struggles to hold on to the last scraps of the old world. The savage Children of the Apocalypse, the wily Travelers, the militaristic Enforcers, the technology-friendly Techs, the nature-loving Vistas, and the mystical and altruistic Lightbearers all struggle for dominance.
They'll become your allies or enemies as you explore, share the adventure, and shape the future of Fallen Earthâ„¢.
More info please!?
The Fallen Earth
Main Site.
Check out the
trailer at Warcry.
Here's an in-depth, four-part gameplay video on YouTube:
Discuss!
Posts
psn: lankyplonker
Comfortable, permanent
Undisputed, every tense
Not a trace of what went left
More equal than the best
Unparalleled success
Everybody, V-impressed
EDIT: And spoiler those videos. My Scroll-finger is tired.
I haven't consumed all of the material available, does anyone know if there will be player built houses/forts/cities (dare to dream)?
Here's to hoping we'll end up with a playable bug-ridden husk of a game or better.
Comfortable, permanent
Undisputed, every tense
Not a trace of what went left
More equal than the best
Unparalleled success
Everybody, V-impressed
Hooraydiation wrote: And I don't care how distraught you are. It's just impolite to shoot yourself when someone has their dick inside you.
There is no way in hell this could be anything less than godly.
FPS elements (ala Tabula Rasa)
Nice draw distance.
Mounted Combat.
Seamless world.
Body mutation that changes the physical look of your model.
Zone based/Faction controlled PvP areas with quest unlockables for the factions in control.
Crafting items take actual real world time to complete and can be queued to finish/continue other projects while logged out of the game.
Definately something worth keeping an eye on.
Edit: Looks like you can sign up to try and get into the closed beta.
http://www.fallenearth.com/index.php?page=signup
Participate in the Fallen Earth Closed Beta
We need your help testing our game! We are currently in the Closed Beta development phase are are looking for qualified testers. In order to participate, you’ll first need to set up a forum account. After signing up, interested testers should visit “Fallen Earth Testing” in the User CP portion of the forum navigation. Upon completing this section, interested testers are placed on a waiting list. The Fallen Earth team will accept qualified testers as they are needed, and participants will be notified via the email address provided in the forum acount settings.
Signed up for beta. Thanks.
Comfortable, permanent
Undisputed, every tense
Not a trace of what went left
More equal than the best
Unparalleled success
Everybody, V-impressed
Need more screens? Okay, sure!
I couldn't get the trailer in the OP to work, so
Beta signups have been made even more simple.
Fallen Earth lead designer says 'We're not the Fallout MMO'
Fallen Earth E3 Demo Video with Lee Hammock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aa296wJiLs&feature=related
I am, of course, speaking on entirely hypothetical terms.
Found out about the game from their email. Looks vaguely interesting, at least.
funny, because that first screenshot in there looks strikingly similar to Fallout 3
I mean that looks literally almost exactly like any number of places in the wasteland
I'd hypothetically agree with that, the visuals may possibly leave something to desire, that is what I read on websites
http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/fallen-earth/
You know what I got out of that article?
"We are totally not influenced by Fallout!"
"Okay. . . maybe we are a little. . . "
Still, this game looks pretty cool. Its a nice change of pace from sword and sorcery.
Anybody else have one?
I'm looking at my download cap at the moment thinking 5+GB is going to be putting the family into a squeeze so I might download it onto my laptop at uni.
I'm pretty sure the NDA says that you are not even supposed to acknowledge that you got into the beta.
Comfortable, permanent
Undisputed, every tense
Not a trace of what went left
More equal than the best
Unparalleled success
Everybody, V-impressed
the first rule of NDA is that you don't talk about NDA
About six weeks till launch ...
The winning clan? Brotherhood of Steel.
There is an NDA.
Yeah, so no one can tell you how awesome the game may or may not be.
From what I've heard, the actual game looks much better than what's been shown. Maybe they're from an older build?
The NDA would prevent anyone from telling you that the game looks like complete ass and handles like a blue whale on rollerskates, that the UI is the worst you've seen in quite some time, the quests are awful and the game is just complete shit.
I've never seen a blue whale on skates, he might be very graceful
I guarantee you, sir, he is not.