Fallen Earth
Encyclopedia
Fallen Earth is a free-to-play
MMO
developed by Reloaded Productions (formerly by North Carolina-based Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth). The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic
wasteland located around the American Grand Canyon
. Fallen Earth's gameplay features FPS/RPG hybridization, first-person/third person views, hundreds of items including improvised equipment and weapons, a variety of functional vehicles, a real-time, in-depth crafting system (which includes vehicles), various skills and abilities, factions and tactical PvP, all existing within 1000 square kilometers of usable terrain based on real-world topographical maps of the area.
The game was released on September 22, 2009 with pre-orders from Direct2Drive
, Steam and the official website granting early access from September 9, 2009.
On June 15th 2011, it was announced that GamersFirst had purchased the intellectual property of the game and that the game would be going "free to play" on August 1st 2011 the transition was implemented.
On 30th July 2011 the Icarus accounts were merged with GamersFirst accounts, a process which had been due to happen on 1st August 2011. Players now log into the game using GamersFirst details rather than their old Icarus account details. At this point the game is still subscription based, new GamersFirst players are automatically put onto 14 days free trial. The game went "Free to Play" on 13th October 2011.
The game supports PhysX
and Vivox
, Inc.'s in-game voice communication technology.
Outside the protective confines of the Hoover Dam Garrison, the player will encounter ruins of the old world, genetically-altered creatures, strange technology, and six warring factions. Some factions seek to rebuild the old world, others wish to build a new one in their own image, and some simply desire chaos and anarchy.
Among its features are first-person and third-person views, classless system, Player-versus-Player combat, and crafting.
However, there does exist a system that allows you to select a general archetype (Medic, Melee, Rifleman, etc.) and then the system provides you with guidelines with how to mold your character to that type. This is not a rigid system, if you select one pre-made archetype you can still train in any skill. (this feature was removed after the game went Free2Play)
A re-spec system has been added. You can buy items from certain Mutagen Merchants which will allow you to re-spec 5 points per use. (you can also buy respec items from the cash shop)
There are three main methods of dealing damage in the game. These are broken down by weapon's effective ranges. Rifles, pistols, and melee are the primary weapon types. Rifles specialize in long distance damage, but are capable of using some short distance weaponry. Pistols are considered the most balanced of the weapon types, able to do damage at medium to short range. Melee is the short range up close damage.
Furthermore, the balance between the three weapon types is facilitated in various ways. As an example, rifles come with a severe melee-defense debuff. Thus allow melee to quickly dispatch a rifleman once they get up close.
The alignments of the 6 main factions can be arranged into a "wheel". Each faction has 2 allies, 2 enemy and 1 arch-enemy faction, with the arch-enemy being the faction on the opposite side of the wheel.
Primary factions also have a number of sub-groups that hold to various motives and differences in ideology. While some of these sub-factions are known, many are secretive and will only reveal their existence to those they trust. Characters can become members of a sub-faction and gain special titles, abilities and equipment. Some sub-factions are mutually exclusive, but not all are.
Factions are: Tech, Traveler, Children of the Apocalypse, Vista, Light bearers, and Enforcers.
As part of a promotional campaign, Fallen Earth announced a National Tour on their website in February 2009. They planned to sponsor IGDA meetings, and participating in events across the United States, doing public demonstrations promoting the game and taking part in question-and-answer sessions with the audience.
On March 10, 2010, Icarus Studios announced the beta release of Fallen Earth for the Mac OS X
platform. The Mac OS X version of Fallen Earth uses Wine
technology and requires an Intel-based Mac system with a discrete graphics processor.
Fallen Earth was acquired by Reloaded Productions in June, 2011.
Fallen Earth has been criticised by reviewers for low-quality animation and numerous bugs.
to Director of Content Development.
On May 4, 2010, Fallen Earth, LLC, announced a new distribution partnership with Interactive Gaming Software (IGS), a subsidiary of Atari USA.
On June 16, 2011, it was announced that Fallen Earth's development would be taken over by Reloaded Productions and GamersFirst
.
Free-to-play
Free-to-play refers to any video game that has the option of allowing its players to play without paying. The model was first popularly used in early massively multiplayer online games targeted towards casual gamers, before finding wider adoption among games released by major video game...
MMO
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
developed by Reloaded Productions (formerly by North Carolina-based Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth). The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
wasteland located around the American Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
. Fallen Earth's gameplay features FPS/RPG hybridization, first-person/third person views, hundreds of items including improvised equipment and weapons, a variety of functional vehicles, a real-time, in-depth crafting system (which includes vehicles), various skills and abilities, factions and tactical PvP, all existing within 1000 square kilometers of usable terrain based on real-world topographical maps of the area.
The game was released on September 22, 2009 with pre-orders from Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive
Direct2Drive is an online game store offering PC videogames via direct download. On May 25, 2011, Gamefly acquired Direct2Drive from IGN Entertainment Group .- Competition with Steam :...
, Steam and the official website granting early access from September 9, 2009.
On June 15th 2011, it was announced that GamersFirst had purchased the intellectual property of the game and that the game would be going "free to play" on August 1st 2011 the transition was implemented.
On 30th July 2011 the Icarus accounts were merged with GamersFirst accounts, a process which had been due to happen on 1st August 2011. Players now log into the game using GamersFirst details rather than their old Icarus account details. At this point the game is still subscription based, new GamersFirst players are automatically put onto 14 days free trial. The game went "Free to Play" on 13th October 2011.
Gameplay
The game world of Fallen Earth is based on a real-world topographical map of the Grand Canyon. The world map covers more than 1000 square kilometres of usable terrain. The environment is zoneless and set in sectors which can be advanced through at the players own pace, each of which continue the story-arc of the game. Parts of the map will be unreachable at release, but will be gradually opened as more content is developed.The game supports PhysX
PhysX
PhysX is a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware SDK developed by Ageia with the purchase of ETH Zurich spin-off NovodeX in 2004...
and Vivox
Vivox
Vivox, Inc. specifically provides managed communication services in the form of integrated voice chat, Instant Messaging and presence to online games, virtual worlds and other online communities...
, Inc.'s in-game voice communication technology.
Plot
The Fallen Earth story begins in the 21st Century, when the first in a series of natural disasters hits the United States. As Americans struggle to recover, an investment tycoon named Brenhauer buys a controlling stake in a mega-corporation named GlobalTech. By 2051, he moves his headquarters to the Grand Canyon Province, where GlobalTech eventually creates a self-sufficient economic and military mini-state. Meanwhile, in India and Pakistan, the Shiva virus, named for the dance-like convulsions that it caused in its victims, appears among the human populace. As the infection starts to spread, countries accuse each other of engineering the virus. Political paranoia turn to open aggression and nuclear conflict. The nuclear conflict combined with the virus devastates the planet. Less than one percent of Earth's population survived the Fall, and the Hoover Dam Garrison and Grand Canyon Province are the only known outposts of human civilization.Outside the protective confines of the Hoover Dam Garrison, the player will encounter ruins of the old world, genetically-altered creatures, strange technology, and six warring factions. Some factions seek to rebuild the old world, others wish to build a new one in their own image, and some simply desire chaos and anarchy.
Among its features are first-person and third-person views, classless system, Player-versus-Player combat, and crafting.
Character Creation
Fallen Earth offers customizable features including: clothing, facial features, skin tones, hairstyles and colors, age, body and facial hair, body art (tattoos and piercings), and makeup.Character Development
Fallen Earth does not have a fixed class system. It utilizes skill-based character development with a strong emphasis on flexibility and player preference. The game features active skills—trade-skills as well as mutation-based skills—which can be increased through Advancement Points or skill usage. Advancement Points (APs) are earned alongside level experience, and aside from increasing skill points, can also be used to boost Attributes. Originally there was no opportunity to undo any selections you make as there was no "re-spec" system in place so if you make a mistake or decide you do not like your selections you needed to start a new character from scratch in order to fix it.However, there does exist a system that allows you to select a general archetype (Medic, Melee, Rifleman, etc.) and then the system provides you with guidelines with how to mold your character to that type. This is not a rigid system, if you select one pre-made archetype you can still train in any skill. (this feature was removed after the game went Free2Play)
A re-spec system has been added. You can buy items from certain Mutagen Merchants which will allow you to re-spec 5 points per use. (you can also buy respec items from the cash shop)
Combat
Combat in Fallen Earth is generally in a first-person shooter format. The camera can be moved to alternate between third and first person modes. Players will need to manually keep their targets in a targeting reticle to actually hit them in combat. Skills can be used to influence combat in different ways, but again, enemies must still be manually targeted. There is no "target locking" as in other MMOs.There are three main methods of dealing damage in the game. These are broken down by weapon's effective ranges. Rifles, pistols, and melee are the primary weapon types. Rifles specialize in long distance damage, but are capable of using some short distance weaponry. Pistols are considered the most balanced of the weapon types, able to do damage at medium to short range. Melee is the short range up close damage.
Furthermore, the balance between the three weapon types is facilitated in various ways. As an example, rifles come with a severe melee-defense debuff. Thus allow melee to quickly dispatch a rifleman once they get up close.
Equipment
Fallen Earth has thousands of items as well as equipment and accessories of varying strength for players to craft and equip in up to 22 separate equipment slots.Weapons
Fallen Earth allows its players to carry as many as 6 active weapons which will be a part of your character's appearance (visible to yourself and other players.) Screenshots, videos, and subsequent newsletters have revealed a small list of weapons to appear in Fallen Earth such as a baseball bat and rocket propelled grenades.Vehicles
Fallen Earth features a range of vehicles, from small, fast motorcycles with little carrying capacity to a heavy duty Tornado jeep-style vehicle with a large carrying capacity. Each of the available vehicles differs in speed, fuel type and efficiency, ability to scale different terrain, cargo capacity, armor and weaponry. Vehicles also come with varying storage capacities. Characters can own up to 5 vehicles, which are acquired through research and crafting (up to 3 weeks non-stop in some cases).Factions
Players start out neutral in Fallen Earth and can remain neutral or choose to align themselves with a particular faction. Aligning with a faction will give characters a head start in skills and equipment that the faction specializes in (e.g. they will have easier access to learning certain skills). There are also a number of NPC factions that players can build alignment with. Helping or disrupting factions will affect the player's relationships with them. Killing faction members can also influence your faction alignment.The alignments of the 6 main factions can be arranged into a "wheel". Each faction has 2 allies, 2 enemy and 1 arch-enemy faction, with the arch-enemy being the faction on the opposite side of the wheel.
Primary factions also have a number of sub-groups that hold to various motives and differences in ideology. While some of these sub-factions are known, many are secretive and will only reveal their existence to those they trust. Characters can become members of a sub-faction and gain special titles, abilities and equipment. Some sub-factions are mutually exclusive, but not all are.
Factions are: Tech, Traveler, Children of the Apocalypse, Vista, Light bearers, and Enforcers.
Development
After a number of years in the making, Fallen Earth developers announced in a June 2008 press release that the game had reached feature-complete status. In October 2008, the Fallen Earth website reported that the game had reached content-complete status. The first wave of Alpha tests began in August 2008, and closed Beta testing began in February 2009.As part of a promotional campaign, Fallen Earth announced a National Tour on their website in February 2009. They planned to sponsor IGDA meetings, and participating in events across the United States, doing public demonstrations promoting the game and taking part in question-and-answer sessions with the audience.
On March 10, 2010, Icarus Studios announced the beta release of Fallen Earth for the Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
platform. The Mac OS X version of Fallen Earth uses Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
technology and requires an Intel-based Mac system with a discrete graphics processor.
Fallen Earth was acquired by Reloaded Productions in June, 2011.
Reception
Fallen Earth earned the runner-up spot for Best New MMO of 2009 by Beckett Massive Online Gamer. The award was announced on March 11, 2010 The game also won the Best Online-Only Game of 2009 award by Game Industry News.Fallen Earth has been criticised by reviewers for low-quality animation and numerous bugs.
Corporate Restructuring
On April 5, 2010, the Fallen Earth team announced that Lee Hammock was leaving Fallen Earth to work as story designer on a new MMO title, Gargantuan. On April 30, 2010, Chief Executive Officer of Icarus Studios, Inc., James Hettinger, announced a restructure of the company resources and staffing, effective immediately. Among these changes was the promotion of Fallen Earth writer/content developer Wes PlattWes Platt
Wes Platt is a former professional journalist, game writer/designer, creator of the online games OtherSpace, Chiaroscuro and Necromundus, and one-time Director of Content Development for Fallen Earth.-Biography:...
to Director of Content Development.
On May 4, 2010, Fallen Earth, LLC, announced a new distribution partnership with Interactive Gaming Software (IGS), a subsidiary of Atari USA.
On June 16, 2011, it was announced that Fallen Earth's development would be taken over by Reloaded Productions and GamersFirst
K2 network
K2 Network, Inc. is a computer game service company in Irvine, California. K2 Network brings games from Asia and services them for North American, South American, and European markets. In addition to providing localized game versions, its other services include community management and customer...
.
See also
- Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fictionApocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fictionApocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
- Chadd PierceChadd PierceChadd Pierce is a voice actor, who has portrayed characters in video games Fallen Earth, commercials, TV and radio stations, and smart phone applications in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas...
, Male User-Interface Voice of Fallen Earth
External links
- Icarus Studios Official Website
- Unofficial Fallen Earth Wiki (Wikia) Unofficial community wiki
- LifeNet A weekly Fallen Earth podcast series