Thursday, April 14, 2011

Current progress

Our team is working at the moment on following features:
- dialogues - every single dialogue file is going to be written from the scratch, or completely rewritten from what was in Fallout 1. There will be no copy-paste; we're going to create a world with interesting NPCs and even more interesting dialogues. Part of them is already done and according to our testers, they are really good. Nevertheless, our writers have a big job and it will take some time before most of NPCs are ready,
- maps - various maps are being created and those already existing improved; we're not gonna stop till they are all of at least good quality,
- skills - they're almost done and need testing - this will happen in the next CBT; all non-combat skills were reworked and you can be sure that skills such as lockpick, steal, traps or gambling will be handy,
- encounters - they are being made from a scratch and you can expect many interesting encounters here and there; friendly ones and those who will be your deadly enemies; we're gonna make sure that some of them will be a challenge even for organised groups of high level characters, so beware!
- many others, smaller things - we'll keep you informed.

We planned CBT in April, but it was postponed and will happen as a bigger test later, with more content and game mechanics to be tested. As always, we'll announce it here.

Q: When can we expect the release?
A: We have a boring answer for you here, saying "When it's done". We're not gonna release completely bugged and partially done server - it'll be later and thus, it'll better.

Q: Is there any forum established for this project yet?
A: No, but it will be later, certainly, probably along with changing the project's working name from "2077" to the more appropriate, and final one. Of course it will be announced on this blog.

Q: I'm worried that 2077's ruleset will be to harsh. Will it be?
A: It might be harsh when compared to "open" servers, but there is no option that you'd get a warning for shooting someone without a reason. Ruleset will apply mostly to prevent using exploits, bots and other abuse, and less to your behaviour in game. Of course, going beyond a reasonable limit of insults and curses will not be tolerated, as well as insulting the player instead of his character. Same with not using out-of-character chat while talking about out-of-character things, or things like some nasty racist flood. While it may seem a bit uncomfortable at first glance, we're pretty sure you'll just get used to it. After all, we're going to make gameplay enjoyable and not painful.

Base maps

In the early concept of 2077, there was no place for individual players to set up a base, which would be invisible for others. Basing on players' opinions about it, we quickly came to a conclusion that we should include bases in the mod and started working on it. We have designed a simple but efficient mechanics of the bases, where one can set it up without putting much effort into it (as long as we're not talking about bottle caps, as more interesting bases are as always - more expensive), same with making it visible or invisible for others. Our mappers have already made some maps that are used as base maps:

Basement of a ruined house
An old shack
A small house

The first one is a part of a ruined house. Sadly, only its basement survived the Great War and is still intact, while the part on the surface is demolished a bit (and not included above).
The second one is an old shack, which can be your shelter in the desert. While not too comfortable, it's gonna be easy to be found and adapted as a base, so it might be the best option for a start.
The last one is an abandoned house in a quite good condition, though getting one will be probably not so simple.

All of these maps were made recently by Wichura, following the earlier designs. As you probably have noticed, they are all houses more or less - there are already few base types more (and very different when compared to them) but we're not gonna uncover all the details yet. We aim at about ten base types at the time of the release, but there will be no problem with adding more as long as they are of good quality.

Also, you'll be able to customise them a bit and by customising, we don't mean just putting junk of some sort on the ground.


FOnline UT Mod

Meanwhile, a side-project called "FOnline UT Mod" was created by John. It's a sophisticated script supposed to fulfill all the needs of those who don't care much about roleplaying, but rather want a piece of action in fast-paced arena battles. It allows you to set up a fight easily, using a map of your choice. Who knows, maybe one day we'll release a server with few maps designed for "FOnline UT mod", where you could jump into action in no time, without leveling your characters and worrying about picking up a wrong build, or getting your equipment. It would be connected to a website with statistics, listing best players (most kills, most critical hits, best kill/death ratio and others) or even containing a small league for team battles. Interesting, eh? Some screenshots from "FOnline UT mod" small testing here:

Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2
Screenshot 3
Screenshot 4

Keep in mind that UT mod is not a part of 2077 server - it's a side-project which might be released in the future as another server, PvP-focused.


Announcements

We're currently looking for a person that can make small fallout-style graphical details, as few scenery images for a mapper and also, few items images for inventory. If you think you're good at graphics editing, mail us at fonline2077@gmail.com. If it is good, we'll place it in the final release and you'll be listed in credits.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

To make some things clear

As most of you probably guessed, the last news was an April Fools joke :)

We are a bit surprised that we fooled so many people with our little joke and we hope also that you're not too deeply disappointed :P Do not take our last news too seriously :) However, the part about a working anti-alt system which is already implemented is real.

Also, as we mentioned long ago, "2077" has nothing to do with our server except being its temporary name, set in times where we had no idea about what we are going to design. As you might expect, action will take place closer to Fallout 1 times. The project will be officially renamed in the future.

For now, we're still busy with development and you can be sure that any beta test, where you could participate, will be announced in some better time than 01.04 ;)

Friday, April 1, 2011

A Big Day Tommorow!

After a long and fruitful development process, the FOnline 2077 Team is proud to announce that we are launching the Open Beta tommorow. To play on our server, you will be required to register via a form that is going to appear on this website exactly at 00:00 GMT+1.
To give you a taste of the things to come, here are some key features that we already have implemented:
- a working anti-alt system which was specifically designed to operate with our new and improved character mechanics; only 1 character per player is allowed!
- characters can advance to level 30 and can be tailored to suit your particular needs; now you can choose whether you want to be a mechanic, a scientist or a soldier
- no "jack of all trades" characters to increase realism and force player interaction
- a new and enhanced crafting system based on resource mining and inteligent use of time sinks to prevent flooding the wastes with hi-tech items
- an improved banking system accounting for things like inflation, deflation and stock exchange mood shifts
- over 80 new and exciting perks
- the ability to join both the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave and wield high tech weaponry in our redesigned PvP battlespace, including Powered Armors, Nuclear Grenades, Gauss Support Weapons and more
- a dynamic quest system assigning demanding tasks to player factions on a weekly basis
- an entirely new food mechanic, including starvation, dehydration and food poisoning
... and more!
Of course that doesn't mean we aren't going to add any features in future - expect at least monthly updates based on your feedback on our suggestion forums. We hope you're going to enjoy playing on our server as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Regards,
2077team