In a barren world of mutated creatures and scarce resources, what you manage to scavenge up, craft together or buy off other players becomes extremely valuable. But even in a post-apocalyptic world lies hidden "treasures," salvaged or tucked away from the ruins that only the bravest of players may venture out far enough to discover. The thought of stumbling across an uncharted territory, learning its secrets and reaping its rewards can be very exciting for the lone clone.
In the expansive world of Fallen Earth, there are many remote areas where players may find "secret" missions, lost "cities" and settlements and obscure creatures--a good find in the desolate wasteland.
The Fallen Earth development team will explore a few of these "hidden" areas--revealing just a fragment of what players can expect to find lurking in the outskirts.
Monkeytown
Nestled away in the north end of the Kaibab Forest, far from the prying eyes of humans, a small company of apes has made its home. However, they didn't just wander in. Oh, no. These are talking apes, and they have a plan.
Why apes? Well, Monkeytown is, to some extent, a labor of love. It was originally Lead Designer Lee Hammock's idea, and everyone knows he's nuts about apes and monkeys! It was first planned as a hidden city of talking gorillas, but we soon realized a major problem with the plan--people would notice a giant city in the Kaibab. As such, Monkeytown became a tiny, concealed settlement in the far north.
The real challenge with Monkeytown was avoiding plagiarism; it was very tempting to write in a Zaius and a Grod. The alpha of Monkeytown is named for one of the gorillas observed by Dian Fossey, but we avoided any other derivative names.
Their story is fairly typical of the Fallen Earth setting--a world in which people are trying to survive and rebuild civilization. Can the apes establish a safe haven in the forest? Will their human neighbors treat them as test subjects, entertainment, or equals?
While the outside world fights over scarce resources, the Monkeytown apes continue to learn about technology, agriculture, and trade. With all these advancements at their stumpy fingertips, maybe Monkeytown can be expanded one day into that great ape city we first imagined...
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Lost City
It all starts with a book that lies on the counter of a tavern in New Flagstaff. It relates to the tale of a real-world adventurer who claimed to have discovered an underground city of gold in the Grand Canyon.
Ultimately, it leads to the scorched remnants of a crashed pre-Fall jetliner and a creepy little collection of bungalows in the wilds of Northfields. In Lost City, a strange woman named Cantata Maxwell keeps watch over those she considers "lost," and each bungalow contains a number whose significance may be known only to Cantata...
Besides spinning an eerie riff off a true Grand Canyon legend, this off-the-beaten-path area serves as a tribute to the popular LOST television series. And, if you finish the mission sequence here, you can earn a pretty handy trinket that boosts your character's Charisma....
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Hive of the Changed
Hidden deep in Kaibab Forest south of Warhall, there is a cave full of deformed savage mutants lying in wait for weary merchants and travelers.
As one may or may not suspect, the inspiration for the Hive of the Changed came through Content Team Lead, Marie Croall's, weekend binge of cannibal movies and the original Hills Have Eyes, if one could imagine. And while the area had been in development for some time, it wasn't implemented until years later--working to our advantage. Players who venture out to the Hive of the Changed can now experience an exciting boss encounter and battle.
As it goes, many of the settlers who attempt to make the journey from the CHOTA stronghold to Gaia are never seen again, pulled into the Hive of the Changed, home to the ravenous Slaith and his followers. Here, a lone soldier (a Gamburian) waits on the edge of their territory, hoping the men sent into the cave to kill Slaith might return, willing to pay brave clones to enter the hive, find what's left of his troop and put down Slaith for good...and for players who haven't yet had a chance to meet Slaith and his buddies in Kaibab, there are plenty of other Changed Hives waiting to be discovered...
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