Fallen Earth's State of the Game: Upcoming additions and more
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.
Patch 1.4 will expand the game further with the region of Deadfall becoming available for exploration. Four more levels will be tacked onto the level cap this time, and those levels will come with brand new items to craft and more dangers to face. More mutated creatures will begin infesting plateau areas as well, so don't think the danger is confined to Deadfall alone. Players will also find that items will have a new, deeper system of decay and a brand new "overcharge" functionality.
Finally, patch 1.5 is going to be the PvPers patch of choice. Players will find bankers who will finance specialized blood sports -- arena based combat challenges and head to head PvP. Clans will be able to wage war over the plateau, giving them something to fight for outside of their own ideals. To go along with these additions, the team will be reworking the game's animations, reactions, enemy AI, and all other areas tied into combat. A brand new achievement system will also be introduced, so you achievement-chasers will have something to gloat about to your friends.
There are three additional items that aren't yet tied to any patch notes, but the team has seen fit to mention them: a revision to death tolls, the addition of respecs, and the introduction of veteran rewards. These three things are being worked on by the development team, but they aren't in a state yet where they can be tied to any specific patch number. However, the team will continue to blog about their progress on them in the future, so players will know exactly where those new introductions will stand.
All in all, this is a very bold set of notes from Fallen Earth. Not many developers offer this type of transparency with their development process, let alone talk about patches that are one or two versions away from being introduced. It's also nice to see that they are continuing to work on the graphical improvements to the game as well as the game's animation, choosing to slowly update the game over time rather than overhaul it all at once. The team is striking a good balance of updates between content and graphics; we can't wait to see what they have in store for the wasteland this year.
