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Earthrise Dev Journals: The Cascade Mountains
The team from Masthead Studios has prepared this new developer journal for us. This time focusing on the Cascade mountains, an area in the upcoming game.
By Guest Writer on July 24, 2009
Long before the construction of Sal Vitas had begun, the Pioneer scouts roamed the hostile island of Enterra prospecting its natural treasures and outlining their path for future expansion. During their exploration of the unknown territories of Enterra, the first wave of Pioneers encountered mutated wildlife in the northwestern parts and fought back against the mutants with all the means at hand. They built facilities and machines to be used for terraforming the area into humanity's new home, but in the process major parts of the island were contaminated with the chemicals used for the decimation of various mutated life forms. Knowing that the citizens had the technology to remove such contaminants, Continoma continued with their efforts to terraform the western parts of Enterra, leaving the reclamation of the contaminated and rugged eastern region as an afterthought.
Eventually, steps were taken to begin the terraforming of the eastern region and the Core - a vast underground base of operations from where the Pioneers would launch terraforming missions in the heart of the wilderness - was constructed. The largest part of the eastern fringes was named the Cascade Mountains after the wide network of rivers and canals that sprawl the rocky terraces of the mountain.
When Noir split from Continoma before the terraform process was complete the rebels naturally occupied the Core as many of them already worked and lived there. Serving as the fortress-capital of Noir, the Core endured the long siege of Continoma forces in the first days of the civil war and became the symbol of freedom, security and resilience for the resistance. The rebel bio-engineers left much of the Cascade Mountains in their natural form, ensuring the reduction of atmospheric, water and soil toxicity to suitable levels while the wildlife was only at the initial stages of remodeling. Scientists developed ways to control the populations of the aggressive mutants in such ways that they didn't interfere with the rebel activities, but instead protected the outer sectors of Noir territory.
Unlike the buildings Continoma used to construct, all installations and camps outside the Core are compact structures built from lightweight materials in order to accommodate the guerrilla warfare strategy Noir has adopted. The only man-made structures that dominate the landscape are the Mainframe Bastions, giant towers used to observe and protect the territory of the Cascade Mountains. Noir teams are always ready to launch an intercepting teleport strike against enemy trespassers. Thus, the trained rebel forces could easily defend the rugged plateaus, overgrown ridges and the narrow bridges that connect them against any enemy attack, while exploiting defensive advantage of the mountainous terrain.
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The many rivers that flow down the primeval ridges of the Cascade Mountains pour into a giant swampland at the bed of the mountain. It is here that Noir has decided to leave the dangerous mutants that inhabit the area to breed freely as the rebels have no use for this outlying region yet.
The dreaded Strangler is derived from the mutated Rana genus of frogs. Its body is covered with a thick liquid-filled membrane that sustains a comfortable level of humidity when the creature leaves its usual habitat in the ponds and goes in search of prey beneath the jungle canopies. Its skin color varies in hue from pitch black to deep blue to olive green enabling the amphibian predator to often remain unnoticed by its victim until the moment it jumps from its cover within the shadowy thickets. Its perfect camouflage, combined with its ability to navigate the forest floor in almost complete silence, make this creature a threat to be reckoned with.
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The aptly named Boghorror is a species of crocodilian reptile that employs an intelligent hunting technique. While swimming in the shallows of their river habitat they swallow great quantities of freshwater clams and crustaceans which they later vomit in a semi-digested condition upon a shallow bank that they've chosen as their hunting spot. The putrid smell emanating from the regurgitated remains soon attracts bigger scavengers which in turn become the main dish in the Boghorror's diet. Lying in wait perfectly still on the riverbed, upon detecting its prey the large reptile springs its ambush with one powerful propelling motion of its muscular tail and in a split-second its jaws lock onto the unsuspecting victim.
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The Dreadmoth is a real bane for the unwary explorers of the Cascade Mountain foothill jungles. Purportedly belonging to the Lepidoptera order, this creature has so far defied further classification as its sub-species have exhibited parts of the genetic make-up associated with wasps, spiders, reptiles or even mammals. The Dreadmoth actually reproduces by stunning the chosen host creature with a high-pitched, ultra-sound scream that directly assaults the nervous system of the victim, thus gaining the time to inject it with paralyzing venom from its stinger. After the victim is immobilized, the parent Dreadmoth dies still attached to it and its body releases an enzyme that fuses its husk to the host. Some scientists speculate that it is during this period that the Dreadhmoth larvae actually assimilate beneficial genetic traits from their host species during their gestation period. Regardless of the truth however, excruciating agony is assured for the hapless host when the moth larvae hatches and burrows from its mother's body inside the host's flesh to proceed with eating it alive from the inside out.
These and other peculiarly mutated creatures make the approach from the swamps to the Cascade Mountains a dangerous and deadly challenge fit only for the experienced few who have reasons to brave it.
Nice! Love the trees.
Awesome lore, graphics and bestiary. Full loot PvP joined to this with player based economy, that looks incredibly promising !
Wow, so many great looking MMO"s on the horizon. Bejeesus it's going to be a fun next few years...
Keep in mind this is beta footage but I love how you can be a medic/blaster/tank depending on the armor you pick because you can train any skills you want. I think iIt also adds to the idea that a well balanced group is not just going to be a cookie cutter group hopefully.
www.youtube.com/watch
Looking damn nice.
Holy crap ... thats awesome! *Urge to play rising*
With Fallen Earth releasing September (and consequently going to be a complete crash and burn because it needs another 6 months to a year of dev) this is now my only hope for a post-apoc MMO. Looks good, let's hope they don't succumb to the "we're out of money so it's ship or cancel" shortsightedness.
I'm turning my attention back to Earthrise too, as Fallen Earth is a complete joke. 6 months wouldn't make any difference.
Earthrise: Anarchy Online 2.0.
/excited
Everything about Earthrise reminds me of what I always wished AO could have achieved. Everything they have shows just feels 'right'.
I shall continue to watch its progress.
looks really sweet.
I am not a graphics freak but I do like a game that makes me go "WOW that was totally WOW"
good game play helps also ;-)
By far this is the best dev journal from MS that has come out. I am really impressed. They seem to have polished that graphics.
Does anyone know what the combat system will be like? Wikipedia says it will be a mix of traditional rpg elements (skillbar bashing probably) and third/first person shooting.
But somehow I have in mind that they abolished manual aiming and completely switched to traditional rpg style. That would really piss me off since the game looks great in many other aspects
So is there somebody out there who knows more than I do??
It looks really nice :) Can't wait to try it.
Link>>> Unofficial FAQ
"Aiming will be a mixture of hard and soft locking targets that will function in a way to allow fans of both shooter style targeting and assisted aiming, similar to Tabula Rasa to feel comfortable with. Different weapons will provide different levels of targeting assistance, balanced against their lethal capabilities.
There is no auto-attack in Earthrise and players will have to click to shoot very similar to a shooter. However, once a successfully aimed attack is scored on an opponent, futuristic weaponry provides broader aiming scope, allowing players to keep a steady shot at distant, small or fast-moving targets without having to be pixel-perfect in their aiming.
Once a target is acquired this will not mean players can just recklessly auto shoot and score hits. Players will still have to aim and move to keep the target, it will just be assisted somewhat. The developers are aiming to make an RPG with shooter elements to make skill an important part of combat, as well as gear and ability/tactic choices."
i am one of the most jaded gamers.....and this game has my interest. awesome graphics too.
Link>>> Unofficial FAQ
"Aiming will be a mixture of hard and soft locking targets that will function in a way to allow fans of both shooter style targeting and assisted aiming, similar to Tabula Rasa to feel comfortable with. Different weapons will provide different levels of targeting assistance, balanced against their lethal capabilities.
There is no auto-attack in Earthrise and players will have to click to shoot very similar to a shooter. However, once a successfully aimed attack is scored on an opponent, futuristic weaponry provides broader aiming scope, allowing players to keep a steady shot at distant, small or fast-moving targets without having to be pixel-perfect in their aiming.
Once a target is acquired this will not mean players can just recklessly auto shoot and score hits. Players will still have to aim and move to keep the target, it will just be assisted somewhat. The developers are aiming to make an RPG with shooter elements to make skill an important part of combat, as well as gear and ability/tactic choices."
Sounds really cool :). This game got another fan. Hope it will be released in a better state than the games released recently
One thing I'm wondering is why they are making this, and then also making the Fallout MMO which is going to directly compete with their own product.
Earthrise has been on my short "OMG Must Play!" list for a while. Every time more info is released on the game, I get more excited about it.
Icarus studios is making Fallen Earth, they're based out of NC
Masthead studios is making Earthrise , based out of a Bulgaria
They aren't making the Fallout MMO, they would provide the engine. Perhaps, the Fallout MMO hasn't been announced yet hehe
trepo
It's looking really nice at the very least, will be keeping an eye on this one! The FFA PVP elements may not be to my tastes though, but we will see how it ends up.
The problem with FFA pvp is that it must be handled very carefully with a understandable ruleset as to how it is implemented. Otherwise it becomes a gankers paradise. There must be significant penalties for a being an asshat for it to be successful.
We will just have to wait and see how they implement it. Graphics to me is just eye candy, the gameplay will determine how well the game does.
The most fun I have had was with UO back in the early days. The sense of threat was always present no matter what you were doing, yet the economy kept things cheap enough that loss was not overwhelming. Skill was more a determining factor in fights than equipment. Hope they realize those important factors.
From what I have read, they are putting in an insurance feature for your items. That way, if you are getting ganked/killed and someone loots your corpse losing an item will be temporary.
I"m not sure how many items you will me able to insure.
They aren't making the Fallout MMO, they would provide the engine. Perhaps, the Fallout MMO hasn't been announced yet hehe
trepo
There is no Fallout MMO. Interplay currently holds the rights to a Fallout MMO (not Bethesda). Zenimax (owners of Bethesda) has created a seperate online studios which is currently working on an Elder Scrolls MMO...most likely.
There is no Fallout MMO. Interplay currently holds the rights to a Fallout MMO (not Bethesda). Zenimax (owners of Bethesda) has created a seperate online studios which is currently working on an Elder Scrolls MMO...most likely.
It's all rumors...
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/04/interplay-masth/
trepo
"Earthrise introduces a full loot system that will feature a unique Insurance system. This feature provides a twist to the loot system that can limit item-loss for the deceased for a cost, but it can also provide the killer with a good amount of monetary income as well as loot to counter balance it.
Insurance - The insurance system in Earthrise will allow players to recover the items in their inventory they have insured in case of death. This will allow players to prevent the pieces of gear and items they consider valuable (if they are able to be insured) from falling into the hand of the enemy that killed them, as only the items you have that aren't insured will be dropped on death and become lootable. Players will be able to use this insurance feature around Enterra by utilizing insurance terminals located in civilized settlements throughout the island. They will not be found in the wilderness and players will have to travel to use them, although they have stated they will not make them so scarce it will take a long travel to find one. Terminals will function by allowing players to choose whether they want to insure their entire inventory or just certain specific items they don't wish to lose and pay the resulting fee. Some items will NOT be able to be insured such as a Continoma player carrying illegal Noir technology or vice versa as well as some extremely valuable and sought after resources that the insurance company will not take the risk of insuring. Certain items specific to the PvE experience will not need to be insured as they will not drop on player death.
The cost of insurance will be determined by several factors. One of those is the cost of the item. There will be a nominal minimum (to discourage insurance of cheap items) and nominal maximum (to encourage insurance of expensive items). There are also items that are not completely illegal, but they are restricted. Those items will face a heavy tax in order to insure. Another factor is your faction standing - the better your standing with your faction the more of a discount you will get insuring with them. The cost of emergency insurance and re-insuring are a result of death and are described below.
Death - If a player is killed then the dead player will resurrect at a resurrection spot (only at a place they have previously visited). At this point the dead player will be able to claim all the items they had previously insured. Any items that were not insured (including ones you found/looted and hadn't made it back to a terminal to insure) are at risk of being looted by anyone at this point. The dead player will also have a few "seconds" to claim emergency insurance on some of these uninsured items if they really don't want to lose them. Using this emergency insurance will require a hefty payment - much more expensive than regular insurance to have your item returned to you. After death players will be able to re-insure by hot-lining directly with their insurance company; however, they will only be able to repeat the last insurance. In order to be able to pick and choose which items to insure individually, players will need to visit another insurance terminal.
Looting - When a player dies they will drop all their uninsured items. These uninsured items (including worn items) that the dead player has not previously insured or doesn't want to claim through the emergency insurance will be available to be looted by anyone. Even if your victim is very careful and fully insured, or has not been out picking up new items that they haven't insured yet, dedicated PvP players WON'T be left empty-handed. When a player kills another player you will receive monetary income - a premium of what it cost the other player to insure their items. This will make players with valuable gear some of the juiciest targets even if they are fully insured. Even if the killer is not able to get everything off the person they will never walk away empty handed. It is important to note that this premium the player gets from the victim's insurance replaces full monetary loss on death. Players will not be able to loot all the money the other player has after killing them."
This game is looking amazing. With Jumpgate Evolution turning out to be WAR in space, this game and Mortal online are my last resorts before I completely lose faith in the genre, leave, and never look back. I'd prefer this over Mortal, as I like Sci-fi a lot more than fantasy.
Masthead has also released screenshots of a conyon in the desert region through facebook... comparing these screenshots with them show you the diversity of landscape.
There is no Fallout MMO. Interplay currently holds the rights to a Fallout MMO (not Bethesda). Zenimax (owners of Bethesda) has created a seperate online studios which is currently working on an Elder Scrolls MMO...most likely.
It's all rumors...
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/04/interplay-masth/
trepo
Ya I know of that. What I think is happening is basically a last ditch effort by Interplay to LOOK like it's making a Fallout MMO while they try to secure funding. The original deal stimpulated that if Interplay hadn't begun full scale production by Apri 4th 2009 AND secured 30Mil in liquad cash for development the IP would default to Bethesda.
The announcements of a Fallout MMO started surfacing in April of this year...coincidence. I think not. Doesn't matter much, Bethy is sueing Interplay for breach of contract now.
http://www.edge-online.com/news/bethesda-wants-fallout-mmo-rights-back
http://kotaku.com/5214020/bethesda-to-take-action-against-interplay-over-fallout-mmo
I have been burning several copies of SWG and sacrificed a copy of Vanguard on the anvil of hate in the hope this game shall be released soon.
Fallen Earth will not be bug free when released. But Icarus is clearly focusing on performance and the most game disrupting bugs and it is much more playable than it was just two weeks ago for example regarding bugs and performance. Rubberband effects and invisible mobs was there for a long time but has been fixed and those where the most "serious" bugs until latest patch.
Anyway the reason why I am not intrested in Earthrise is... *drumroll* the looks!
When I am looking for a post-apoc game I am looking for something that reminds me of the Mad Max movies but with mutants. Meaning a world that was technological not unlike our own when it went to hell. Earthrise is too much SF-pretty post-apoc world for my taste. Talking in SF terms instead of post-apoc terms it feels more like "Star Trek" and Fallen Earth is more like "Aliens".
They are less alike than one might think and don´t really compete with each other. Icarus has focus on content, 3000 quests, EvE-like crafting system and keeping the graphic basic and functional rather than spectacular.
We know that Earth Rise will be good looking but will there be enough things to do? Anarchy Online had an awful start due to bugs and it was released far more unpolished than Fallen Earth was even at stress test start, yet it managed to survive. The other extreme is Tabula Rasa, it was released very polished compared to AO, yet it couldn´t survive due to lack of content.
The big unkown question is: Will Earthrise have enough content to avoid being the next Tabula Rasa?
Earthrise is all about PvP. The players basically create their own content within the territorial warfare and the fight for the ressources.
If you look for PvE-content, well... then you'll maybe find something like in EvE Online, where there's repetitive quests to gain faction standings and rewards.
If you don't like engaging in PvP however, then it could be that Earthrise won't offer very much content for you.
Please please make good animations and a Tabula Rasa/Mass Effect combat system to go with these beautiful graphics!