First of all, where's the development of Fallen Earth at?
Fallen Earth is reaching feature complete in a few weeks and will be content complete a few months after that.

Is it not difficult to work on both the game and the tools to create the game? Is Fallen Earth sort of a demo for the Icarus tool suite?
Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth are two separate companies now, so the tool development process is separate from the game development process. Fallen Earth is a full MMO in its own right, and while it’s the first game to use the Icarus Tools Suite, it's much much more than a tech demo.

What were your inspirations for Fallen Earth? Is it post-apo like in Fallout or Mad Max, or more cyberpunk, or something else?
The primary influences for Fallen Earth are movies like Mad Max and books like The Postman, Canticle for Liebowitz, etc. Fallen Earth is a very low-tech game for the most part: pipes and crowbars are common weapons; bullets are rare; there's lots of scavenging from the bones of the old world, etc. It has some more high-tech elements, but for the most part it's pretty gritty post apocalyptic fare, as opposed to cyberpunk.

Will there be an important story to discover while playing Fallen Earth?
There are large number of storylines that wind through Fallen Earth, involving the different player factions, villain factions, and the overall background of the game. There isn’t really one central story, but lots of different stories that link and wrap around each other as a player progresses through the game. It’s all a matter of what players want to pursue.

Fallen Earth: MMORPG or MMOFPS? How much FPS will be in the gameplay?
It’s a mixture of FPS and RPG mechanics. The hit resolution system is strictly FPS, which means the player has to have his target in his reticle to hit. Also, hits in different locations can affect how much damage an attack inflicts. Once the hit is determined, an RPG-style system takes over, comparing the attacking player’s weapon damage and attack skill against the armor and defensive skill of the target character. So if players lack twitch skills, they won’t hit much, but if they don’t keep up with the RPG side of the game they won’t do much damage when they do hit.

Any room for PvP in Fallen Earth?
PvP in Fallen Earth is area based. When you enter a PvP area, you may attack any player in that area, including members of your faction or group. About a fourth to a third of the game is set up for PvP combat.

And what about RvR and how it might change the game's world?
In PvP areas, players can fight for control of settlements called «conflict towns.» Players can claim a conflict town for their faction by accomplishing goals in the town, such as eliminating threats or bringing supplies into the town. Each time a player accomplishes one of these goals his faction is awarded control points for the town, and the first faction to hit a certain threshold of control points takes control of the town. Once a faction controls a town, the guards become members of that faction, the merchants offer more goods for sale, more missions become available, etc. Players can solidify their hold on a town by doing missions in the town to increase the effectiveness of guards, the supplies for merchants, etc.

How important are mutations? Does it work like a piece of equipment, or a skill?
Mutations work as skills, and players have access to ten mutation paths. Each mutation path has a number of special abilities associated with it. Mutations provide a number of buffs, healing abilities, and attack powers that can’t be gained through other means. Mutations are aimed, using the reticle, in the same fashion as a normal attack.

The craft system seems complex but classic. Will it offer some innovative aspects?
Players in FE can produce the best gear in the game, and 95% of the non-mission specific items in the game are craftable. Crafters will be the primary suppliers of high-end gear in the game, including being able to make items that just can’t be obtained from other sources.

To craft items, players must locate a set of instructions for the item, which can be gained through merchants, mission rewards, or other players. Each set of instructions includes a list of components, tools, etc that the player must have to make the item. Also, each item has a real-time component, so players must spend some time crafting the item. This time passes regardless of what the player does, including logging off.

 

How will the in-game economy work in Fallen Earth? What part will players play in it? What kind of tools will the game provide (markets, auctions)?
Players will have access to auction houses in most major settlements. Crafters will be the primary source of items in the game, since they can produce items of noticeably higher quality than can be obtained through merchants or creature drops at a given level. Creatures don’t generally drop money in Fallen Earth, instead dropping components, so there won’t be a lot of coinage in the economy.

How will guilds work in Fallen Earth? Will it be possible to regroup different factions in a guild? What kind of impact can they have on the game?
Clans in Fallen Earth have most of the basic features players expect from large player groups (ranks, permission management, clan bank, etc). Clans can have members of different factions in a clan, but once we implment more of our long-term plans for clans, this won’t be an ideal situation as clans will get more benefits if they are aligned with a particular faction.

What are your views on the MMO market as it is, and where do you place yourself in it?
Fallen Earth is the first real FPS (as opposed to sticky targeting) MMORPG with a strong PVE element. We’ve got an interesting world with a massive amount of content for players to explore, along with a classless system that lets players develop how they want. FE’s place in the MMO market is that of a game providing something different from most other games.

Thanks to Lee Hammock for his time and his answers !

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