Dev Update for July 2020

[slerk 6]

Thanks for the update.

 

[Lydia Day 14]

Wow, my mind flooded with dopamine and serotonin when I saw that armor rendered in. I appreciate the continued effort on Fallen Earth, for the first time in years I feel like I might actually see something done with this title. Keep up the work Little Orbit and you will not lose our support!

[SolomonBull 17]

This is a great update! I love these in-depth technical updates, partially because I just like them and partially because they reconfirm my suspicion that this game as originally built is weirder than anyone really knows. There's a preservation and digital archaeology angle to this where you're reverse-engineering how the game is built that I think is rally valuable. Hopefully it also shows people the kind of difficulties that come up during this kind of process so they adjust their expectations about how quickly this is going to come together. 

 

Looking forward to more updates coming up, and for things to pick up a little more momentum in the fall. 

 

@MattScott, one of the things I'm noticing here is that the texture you shared is pretty rudimentary. I feel like many of the textures in FE are that way, some end up looking pretty OK once they've got all the maps applied but in general the original art itself is a little... I dunno, amateurish? Is there any plan to remaster or remake the art assets so they're a little slicker and hold up better to 2020's expectations about what game assets should look like?

Edited August 1, 2020 by Julian Bull

[Ardenn 41]

7 hours ago, Julian Bull said:

 I feel like many of the textures in FE are that way, some end up looking pretty OK once they've got all the maps applied but in general the original art itself is a little... I dunno, amateurish? Is there any plan to remaster or remake the art assets so they're a little slicker and hold up better to 2020's expectations about what game assets should look like?

Sorry, I just had to comment because this stirred up an old memory. I remember when I first got into the game, I ended up getting really invested in Bloodsports entirely because of how beaten and bloody the earn-able PVP gear looked. But when I joined, the popular color to dye your gear was Pure Black. People back then told me it was to make it more difficult to be seen in PVP, but it also made me remember the art styles across some of the old gear was inconsistent. I wont say I was the first person who did it, but it was fun seeing the shock from people when I ran into PVP in a bright yellow duster and cowboy hat on the plainest clothing I could find. I had people tell me I was the 'trigger' that started people wearing more colorful outfits in general, because everyone had been so entrenched in Mad Max fandom that it all had to be either black or brown and what was this horrible eyesore charging into their territory. XD

I was one of the worst PVPers in Fallen Earth, and tons of people thought I was Pro "because only pros wear bright colors to lure in noobs".

I miss you guys.

[Lukaso 72]

On 7/26/2020 at 3:33 PM, cowhorseman said:

Just curious to ask. but will there be a chance of going back to the old armor system in this engine. Were its one per each arm hand leg for gloves thigh upper/lower forearms and shoulders. I only ask becuase it seems you can work more freely in unity and what ever else this is i can do any sort of coding or modeling

Halcyon days

 

[MattScott 15242]

On 8/1/2020 at 2:03 PM, Julian Bull said:

This is a great update! I love these in-depth technical updates, partially because I just like them and partially because they reconfirm my suspicion that this game as originally built is weirder than anyone really knows. There's a preservation and digital archaeology angle to this where you're reverse-engineering how the game is built that I think is rally valuable. Hopefully it also shows people the kind of difficulties that come up during this kind of process so they adjust their expectations about how quickly this is going to come together. 

 

Looking forward to more updates coming up, and for things to pick up a little more momentum in the fall. 

 

@MattScott, one of the things I'm noticing here is that the texture you shared is pretty rudimentary. I feel like many of the textures in FE are that way, some end up looking pretty OK once they've got all the maps applied but in general the original art itself is a little... I dunno, amateurish? Is there any plan to remaster or remake the art assets so they're a little slicker and hold up better to 2020's expectations about what game assets should look like?

I could answer with "anything is possible", but not all things are feasible.

 

It's much easier to resurface environment materials. A good artist can use Substance or any number of tools to generate unique, but more high fidelity versions of concrete, dirt, or brick.

However, it's a much more difficult task to entirely recreate the textures for characters, clothing, and critters. 

 

Right now, we've taken the direction to pretty much up-rez, convert to PBR, but leave the original textures intact. You're right that a lot of them are hand drawn in a very crude sort of way. I think it's better for now to have a solid base across everything up and running before we jump in and start creating replacement textures. 

On 8/2/2020 at 4:44 AM, Lukasocz said:

Halcyon days

 

I found some of this floating around in the code. It looks intriguing, but I want to stick with what was there at the end before trying anything "new" (or going back to something that was discarded).

[Zolerox 564]

3 hours ago, MattScott said:

I could answer with "anything is possible", but not all things are feasible.

 

It's much easier to resurface environment materials. A good artist can use Substance or any number of tools to generate unique, but more high fidelity versions of concrete, dirt, or brick.

However, it's a much more difficult task to entirely recreate the textures for characters, clothing, and critters. 

 

Right now, we've taken the direction to pretty much up-rez, convert to PBR, but leave the original textures intact. You're right that a lot of them are hand drawn in a very crude sort of way. I think it's better for now to have a solid base across everything up and running before we jump in and start creating replacement textures. 

I found some of this floating around in the code. It looks intriguing, but I want to stick with what was there at the end before trying anything "new" (or going back to something that was discarded).

Looks promising, Like the direction being taken here "nostalgic textures" I gobble that all up

then of course we can talk about adding more "create/refine recipes" something I was concerned about many many many years ago.

 

@MattScott Any idea what will become of the "hazmat" group In F.E. , Disbanded? recruit more people (talking about the future of course) or a new program entirely?

[Phrozen 32]

Looking forward to playing this game again, with the added ability to recommend it to my friends. The controls were too clunky, the quests too boring, and overall it was a poor experience for lots of people, with the more enthusiastic people being rather toxic.

 

I'm hoping with all the hard work you guys are putting in, that this pretty awesome game can get the respect it deserves, because it was a pretty good game that just needed a lot of polish.

 

Hopefully my GM application is approved for this and APB as well, as I intend to enforce a less toxic environment which will encourage people to stay as well.

[cowhorseman 441]

13 hours ago, MattScott said:

I could answer with "anything is possible", but not all things are feasible.

 

It's much easier to resurface environment materials. A good artist can use Substance or any number of tools to generate unique, but more high fidelity versions of concrete, dirt, or brick.

However, it's a much more difficult task to entirely recreate the textures for characters, clothing, and critters. 

 

Right now, we've taken the direction to pretty much up-rez, convert to PBR, but leave the original textures intact. You're right that a lot of them are hand drawn in a very crude sort of way. I think it's better for now to have a solid base across everything up and running before we jump in and start creating replacement textures. 

I found some of this floating around in the code. It looks intriguing, but I want to stick with what was there at the end before trying anything "new" (or going back to something that was discarded).

So that means if we the players vote for this after release there COULD be a chance. becuase i think this system is cool + rpers can make more of there players

[cyasoon 31]

6 hours ago, Phrozen said:

Looking forward to playing this game again, with the added ability to recommend it to my friends. The controls were too clunky, the quests too boring, and overall it was a poor experience for lots of people, with the more enthusiastic people being rather toxic.

 

I'm hoping with all the hard work you guys are putting in, that this pretty awesome game can get the respect it deserves, because it was a pretty good game that just needed a lot of polish.

 

Hopefully my GM application is approved for this and APB as well, as I intend to enforce a less toxic environment which will encourage people to stay as well.

"the more enthusiastic people being rather toxic' ?..... i found most all of the enthusiastic players being helpful ,trying to keep players.

Edited August 4, 2020 by cyasoon

[Maximillian Singh 20]

Excited to see the progress, I can't wait to return.  Thanks Matt and tell your team thanks also plz. 

 

[mitr 0]

it will be a great joy to re-enter the game that you have played for so many years! Thanks so much for the encouraging update.

[Phrozen 32]

3 hours ago, cyasoon said:

"the more enthusiastic people being rather toxic' ?..... i found most all of the enthusiastic players being helpful ,trying to keep players.

Well yeah, there's that; but I had an experience where I was trying to help a player, and gave advice that wasn't considered "in the meta" and I got flak for it. Some of the players are toxic, and there's not many in the control group. Either way, whenever I'm in a higher position in a community I try to make it welcoming for everybody.

[slerk 6]

Will Blood Sports be included in the rebuild?

 

[Jacksporrow9 2]

would be possible about add a new armor slot like if i'm wear a jacket and i want to put on body armor but have the body armor shown over the jacket? plus add other armor slot on the head like if i'm wear a helmet and a gas mask that i could also have a ski mask under the gas mask?

[cyasoon 31]

3 hours ago, Jacksporrow9 said:

would be possible about add a new armor slot like if i'm wear a jacket and i want to put on body armor but have the body armor shown over the jacket? plus add other armor slot on the head like if i'm wear a helmet and a gas mask that i could also have a ski mask under the gas mask?

wardrobe unlock ?

 

[Jacksporrow9 2]

no i mean adding other armor slot on the head and other on the chest part on the character screen because it like if you wear a shirt under the jacket but then you want to put on body armor it would replace the shirt for the body armor but with this by adding other armor slot were you can keep the shirt on under the jacket and you put on the body armor it would be over the jacket to make it more like in the real world. Same goes for the ski mask have add on slot for the head part were if you wear a helmet and a gas mask were you can put the ski mask in between the helmet and gas mask and again just like in real life.

[Amerisun 1]

I signed in just to say thank you for the detailed update!  I have not posted, and have been watching from the sidelines for a while and looking forward to playing Fallen Earth again when it's updated and ready to rock! :-)  Also my gamer group has been wanting to try it out, so that's another 10+ people.

[Kishoot 36]

Nice update, thanks for taking time for us.

Don't forget to balance hitbox between male and female like in APB

Edited August 12, 2020 by Kishoot

[Phrozen 32]

On 8/12/2020 at 11:47 AM, Amerisun said:

I signed in just to say thank you for the detailed update!  I have not posted, and have been watching from the sidelines for a while and looking forward to playing Fallen Earth again when it's updated and ready to rock! Also my gamer group has been wanting to try it out, so that's another 10+ people.

You're lucky they're updating it. When I tried to get my friends into it, they didn't get past the starter area. It's very clunky, but has a lot of soul behind it. It's definitely the sort of game that had to be pushed out before it was ready, or was made by a loving creator who wasn't skilled enough to polish it to its maximum, and due to the lack of interest, didn't have the funding to get the polish it deserved; but now, it's looking like it will!

I'm very damn excited to see how it turns out.

[Sang 66]

Still missing this game and community so very much. Every time I see updates it makes me hopeful.

 

I never had trouble with the occasional toxic player since the ignore feature always worked flawlessly and tbh, almost everyone there was as nice to me as I  treated them. I never had any problems making a new toon and either questing solo or with friends and I honestly enjoyed reading the humorous little tidbits sprinkled in.  I had at least 5 or 6 level 55's.

 

While being a rather low end pvp'er, my enthusiasm came from facing another player, usually being sent to the cloner and emerging like an immortal instead of a woman battling cancer.  It never made me angry or rage, to me it was victory over death and I needed that frame of mind. I think the pvp gods appreciated my attitude and the respect I had for their talent and many became very dear friends. 

 

As many years as I spent in this game (since alpha testing) I never ran out of points, people and places of interest,  

 

Please bring it back soon<3 

 

Oh and please do fix hit boxes like Kishoot mentioned, so not everyone in pvp has to roll a small female char, I do enjoy seeing large male characters as well and can relate to guys getting tired of games where all chars are male (not sure if any of those still exist).

[cowhorseman 441]

On 8/16/2020 at 2:43 PM, Sang said:

Still missing this game and community so very much. Every time I see updates it makes me hopeful.

 

I never had trouble with the occasional toxic player since the ignore feature always worked flawlessly and tbh, almost everyone there was as nice to me as I  treated them. I never had any problems making a new toon and either questing solo or with friends and I honestly enjoyed reading the humorous little tidbits sprinkled in.  I had at least 5 or 6 level 55's.

 

While being a rather low end pvp'er, my enthusiasm came from facing another player, usually being sent to the cloner and emerging like an immortal instead of a woman battling cancer.  It never made me angry or rage, to me it was victory over death and I needed that frame of mind. I think the pvp gods appreciated my attitude and the respect I had for their talent and many became very dear friends. 

 

As many years as I spent in this game (since alpha testing) I never ran out of points, people and places of interest,  

 

Please bring it back soon<3 

 

Oh and please do fix hit boxes like Kishoot mentioned, so not everyone in pvp has to roll a small female char, I do enjoy seeing large male characters as well and can relate to guys getting tired of games where all chars are male (not sure if any of those still exist).

speaking of pvp sang. marry (im sure you remeber her) told me that tall toons much like her alt summer had issues with aimming down. due to the camera would go behind objects and thus she would hit them instead of the person that was infront of her. figure i'd added that too

[Kishoot 36]

On 8/16/2020 at 9:43 PM, Sang said:

Still missing this game and community so very much. Every time I see updates it makes me hopeful.

 

I never had trouble with the occasional toxic player since the ignore feature always worked flawlessly and tbh, almost everyone there was as nice to me as I  treated them. I never had any problems making a new toon and either questing solo or with friends and I honestly enjoyed reading the humorous little tidbits sprinkled in.  I had at least 5 or 6 level 55's.

 

While being a rather low end pvp'er, my enthusiasm came from facing another player, usually being sent to the cloner and emerging like an immortal instead of a woman battling cancer.  It never made me angry or rage, to me it was victory over death and I needed that frame of mind. I think the pvp gods appreciated my attitude and the respect I had for their talent and many became very dear friends. 

 

As many years as I spent in this game (since alpha testing) I never ran out of points, people and places of interest,  

 

Please bring it back soon<3 

 

Oh and please do fix hit boxes like Kishoot mentioned, so not everyone in pvp has to roll a small female char, I do enjoy seeing large male characters as well and can relate to guys getting tired of games where all chars are male (not sure if any of those still exist).

Thanks for highlighting this game mechanic.

Never surrender and keep calm is the key to progress even it's even more easy to talk than doing it. I will deal with the most toxics and i will send you power Grandma even if you will be a big man and me a small girl :)

 

[Reaps989 17]

On 8/16/2020 at 3:43 PM, Sang said:

Still missing this game and community so very much. Every time I see updates it makes me hopeful.

 

I never had trouble with the occasional toxic player since the ignore feature always worked flawlessly and tbh, almost everyone there was as nice to me as I  treated them. I never had any problems making a new toon and either questing solo or with friends and I honestly enjoyed reading the humorous little tidbits sprinkled in.  I had at least 5 or 6 level 55's.

 

While being a rather low end pvp'er, my enthusiasm came from facing another player, usually being sent to the cloner and emerging like an immortal instead of a woman battling cancer.  It never made me angry or rage, to me it was victory over death and I needed that frame of mind. I think the pvp gods appreciated my attitude and the respect I had for their talent and many became very dear friends. 

 

As many years as I spent in this game (since alpha testing) I never ran out of points, people and places of interest,  

 

Please bring it back soon<3 

 

Oh and please do fix hit boxes like Kishoot mentioned, so not everyone in pvp has to roll a small female char, I do enjoy seeing large male characters as well and can relate to guys getting tired of games where all chars are male (not sure if any of those still exist).

I think he's stating it based on the fact a small female's hitbox is considerably smaller than the smallest male.

Easiest fix would be to allow the male's slider to go even further to equal them out, rather than having dead-spots in a male's hitbox or hitboxes for female characters outside of their visible frame. As long as it's damn near even, it should be enough.

[Hereogar 7]

Good to hear there's progress.

 

I need this game up and running. I have a craving, deep desperate need, to bug people about skill templates.