What's it like to have a post-apocalyptic landscape as your writing canvas? According to Marie Croall, it's pure heaven. Fallen Earth's lead designer opened up to Rock, Paper, Shotgun about the joys of writing and designing the myriad of quests for the game, as well as the free-to-play transition, plans for PvP, and the dynamic world events.
Croall is part of a slimmed-down team of 12 developers who currently develop Fallen Earth's content. Saying that the team is always trying to "push the envelope" when it comes to the stories told, she notes that each area contains the imbued spirit of each writer: "I worked on a lot of the conflict towns early on and we knew that this was a place for people to kill each other, so a lot of the missions ended up being really thinly veiled insults."
One of the aspects of Fallen Earth that Croall loves is how crazy the team can get. In one instance, the team decided to redo the starter town of Boneclaw by dropping a missile right into it. "We killed off all the players that were there, all the NPCs, and left it as a radiation zone for a good two months, while we made the new town. We flat out nuked it because it wasn't doing what we wanted it to do. Boom!"
While Fallen Earth skirts the line between sandbox and theme park, Croall says the team is devoting a great deal of resources to beefing up the former. "The more features we add, the more ways for players to drive themselves, it makes the world better, it makes it feel like what we saw it as," she said.
Reader Comments (14)
Posted: Nov 6th 2011 12:57PM J45neoboy said
If they add some form of dynamic content where nukes fall out of the sky left and right, I'll definitely support this game with tons of money lol
Posted: Nov 7th 2011 12:38PM arodriguezc said
@J45neoboy
so what makes you think you are going to like the crap that comes out of FE skies? Think the formula will not work for you ^^
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so what makes you think you are going to like the crap that comes out of FE skies? Think the formula will not work for you ^^
Posted: Nov 6th 2011 3:22PM DancingCow said
"While Fallen Earth skirts the line between sandbox and theme park....."
Prior to the introduction of these new capturable towns, I don't understand how anyone could have described FE as a sandbox game, though many FE fans insist it was.
It was pure themepark.
They're not "beefing up" themepark elements now, they're adding them.
Prior to the introduction of these new capturable towns, I don't understand how anyone could have described FE as a sandbox game, though many FE fans insist it was.
It was pure themepark.
They're not "beefing up" themepark elements now, they're adding them.
Posted: Nov 7th 2011 3:30AM DancingCow said
@Grendel
Funny how you say it has the feeling of a bit of sandbox (sandbox twice removed?) rather than actually being one or having any real sandbox elements...
I think it's fine if you like the game - I think it has one of the best crafting systems around - but I love sandbox MMOs and don't get any feeling of sandbox from FE.
And I've never heard anyone actually identify any sandbox elements in the game.
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Funny how you say it has the feeling of a bit of sandbox (sandbox twice removed?) rather than actually being one or having any real sandbox elements...
I think it's fine if you like the game - I think it has one of the best crafting systems around - but I love sandbox MMOs and don't get any feeling of sandbox from FE.
And I've never heard anyone actually identify any sandbox elements in the game.
Posted: Nov 7th 2011 6:33AM Grendel said
@DancingCow What I wanted to say was: While playing often I feel like in the good old sandbox (eg UO) days. A lot of mmos pressure me to play certain questlines etc. while in FE I just sit/run/drive/ride around without thinking I'm wasting my time. So the sentence "While Fallen Earth skirts the line between sandbox and theme park" makes absolutely sense for me. So if or if not ... I don't care anyway, as long as I'm having fun. :D
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Posted: Nov 6th 2011 4:55PM Feydakin said
Oh look, more people confused and wanting to drum up arguments about what is and isn't "sandbox". Old, stupid troll argument is stupid.
Posted: Nov 6th 2011 6:34PM Plastic said
I knew there had to be a proper explanation for the quality of writing in Fallen Earth. I've said it a million times, but the quest dialogue is refreshingly well-written for an MMO.
Posted: Nov 7th 2011 11:36AM Seffrid said
@Plastic "the quest dialogue is refreshingly well-written for an MMO. "
Agreed, as is the dialogue between the various NPCs you pass, I often just hang around and listen to long exchanges about all manner of things.
The game is more sandbox than any other current MMO, that's for sure. There is no linear path to follow and you really can do your own thing. In some ways the open landscape in which you can wander off in any direction for ages is reminiscent of AC.
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Agreed, as is the dialogue between the various NPCs you pass, I often just hang around and listen to long exchanges about all manner of things.
The game is more sandbox than any other current MMO, that's for sure. There is no linear path to follow and you really can do your own thing. In some ways the open landscape in which you can wander off in any direction for ages is reminiscent of AC.
Posted: Nov 7th 2011 8:59AM Aganazer said
I certainly feel more free in FE than I do in any of the typical themepark games. That is all I care about without the need to argue about semantics.
Posted: Nov 7th 2011 1:52PM Plastic said
If you read the interview, Marie admits that they were a lot more theme-parkish in the beginning, but that both the devs, and their new owners (G1) want to now move further in the sandbox direction, which is awesome.
Regardless of how quest-driven FE is at this point, it does offer a sense of freedom typically associated with sandbox games. I often find myself avoiding progression in a quest chain because I'm busy helping out a particular town or settlement, where I've become engrossed in their story, or because I want to explore the area and search for good places to harvest. I think once more player-driven mechanics are implemented into the game it's going to be a great hybrid system.
Regardless of how quest-driven FE is at this point, it does offer a sense of freedom typically associated with sandbox games. I often find myself avoiding progression in a quest chain because I'm busy helping out a particular town or settlement, where I've become engrossed in their story, or because I want to explore the area and search for good places to harvest. I think once more player-driven mechanics are implemented into the game it's going to be a great hybrid system.







