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I have always stated that the Sci-Fi/Cyber Punk MMOG genre has been sorely neglected. Enter Fallen Earth LLC and its pet project Fallen Earth.
Fallen Earth plans to place the PC in a plague infested, nuclear wasteland that will combine elements of Mad Max: The Road Warrior with such movies as Cyborg (yes I know it was a horrible movie). Fallen Earth will include a five faction system that combines all the stereotypical post apocalytic roles.
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.
I recently got a chance to chat with Lee Hammock, Lead Game Designer, for Fallen Earth.
Let's read what he had to say:
For those not familiar with your MMOG please give a brief
history about Fallen Earth LLC and your current project: Fallen Earth
Fallen Earth LLC was
founded to bring the MMORPG Fallen Earth to market and to use it as a showcase
for the Icarus RAD Tool Suite created by Icarus Studios. The Icarus RAD Tool Suite is a set of tools
for creating massively multiplayer environments, everything from social virtual
worlds to online worlds for hardcore gamers. It really needed a proof of
concept online world to demonstrate how good these tools are. Hence the creation of Fallen Earth.
Development on Fallen Earth
began under the auspices of Icarus Studios, but to better organize the
development of the game and of the Icarus RAD Tool Suite, Fallen Earth LLC was
created in 2005 to handle everything relating to Fallen Earth. Since then Icarus Studios has continued
working on the tools used to make Fallen Earth, while Fallen Earth LLC has
concentrated on adding content to Fallen Earth.
We had our official public unveiling this past GDC and are now working
toward beginning Beta testing.
 So what is the driving force behind the creation of this
MMOG?
There are
really two driving forces behind Fallen Earth: the technical and the creative.
The
technical drive comes from wanting to show what our tools can do, so there is
constantly a push to make things look better, run smoother, and provide a
better game experience from a technical perspective. While we want the game to show how effective
the Icarus RAD Tool Suite is, working to show off the tools also improves the
game. This is the drive behind our real
vehicle physics, stunning sunsets, and dynamic lighting into the game.
The
creative drive comes from wanting to make a great game with an engaging story,
enjoyable mechanics, and an entertaining world.
The post-apocalyptic genre has been popular as long as people have told
stories. Pretty much every culture in the world tells tales of great disasters
and recovery from them, from the Flood and Noah's Ark to the Mad Max movies. We tap into fascination and allow our players
to explore and become a part of a broken world.
Post-apocalyptic stories have changed over time. The current trend is
toward viral and zombie apocalypses rather than the nuclear apocalypses of the
1980s, but the stories remain. We
incorporate as many of these apocalyptic traditions as possible in Fallen Earth
to provide a variety of experiences for our players.
How has development been progressing?
Well. Of course we all wish it would go faster so
we could share the world we've created, but we're not interested in rushing
anything out the door. We've got most of
our technical goals accomplished, so now the meat of the work left is adding
content to the world.
Since this is an independent venture what challenges have
been your biggest obstacles?
The wearing of many
hats. We all have responsibilities
beyond our basic jobs, so that can get confusing when jumping from task to
task.
What has been the most rewarding part of creating the world
of: Fallen Earth?
Going in when an area is
finished and seeing it all come together.
Sometimes you lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel when
slaving away on missions or working item balance spreadsheets, but when you get
to see it all come together it reminds you of why all that work is
worthwhile.
Also working with the folks
in the company has been extremely rewarding.
It's a great atmosphere and we collaborate a lot.
What has been the benefit of using Icarus Platform to
digitally create your MMO World?
Using Icarus RAD Tool Suite
has meant so much less work than we would have had to do without it. Our
writers can create missions, items, NPCs, etc., without any scripting training
or coding, allowing us to create a massive amount of content with minimal
scripting support.
As an independent developer you're
currently free from the oppression of big money and publisher influence. What
latitude has this given you in your creation of content and gameplay?
The first thing that comes
to mind is a free schedule. We're
releasing Fallen Earth when it's ready, not whenever it's forced out. This long schedule can be frustrating at times,
but in the end it means a much better game.
The second thing that comes
to mind is freedom of content. While I
wouldn't call our game graphically violent, we're still shooting for an overall
Mature rating. It's just nice to know
you can drop F-Bombs when the situation warrants it.
In your opinion what is the most compelling reason for the
MMOG crowd to keep abreast on: Fallen Earth?
We're creating a style of
gameplay that isn't like any other game on the market. Sure, other games have FPS elements,
missions, and crafting, but we're bringing them together like no one else
has. Pile onto that real vehicles, the
ability to craft 95% of the items in the game, no level limit, or any of the
other new features we've got and it's easy to see this will be a unique game.
 I have to ask, any word on a closed/open beta? (using the
word 'soon' will of course lead to rioting)
Hopefully closed Beta by
the end of the year.
Last question, if you could change anything about Fallen
Earth what would it be?
I wish the
work could go faster. We'd love to get
people playing the game and share our years of effort.
Thanks for
letting us bring Fallen Earth to your readers!
Players can visit www.fallenearth.com
to find out the latest developments as they happen.
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