The month is beginning to wind down but Icarus Studios has just decided to throw up the State of the Game address for May. The fact that these bad boys keep coming out monthly is enough to make me cheer (Yay communication!). This is the first State of the Game since the restructuring at Icarus Studios/Fallen Earth LLC took place, which eliminated over 80 employees. Despite the poor turn of events, development of Fallen Earth seems to be rolling along.
Developer Archangel started off by patting everyone at Icarus on the back for the smooth deployment of the massive v1.4 or Blood Sports patch. The next patch, it hasn’t been given a label but we’ll call it v1.5, will actually contain another Blood Sports mode entitled Assault. We were only given a short description of Assault:
In Assault, two teams of up to eight players will battle another team through a series of objectives where one team attacks and the other defends.
Icarus is continuing to play with the technology running Fallen Earth. The upcoming patch will feature a handful of tech improvements, including a new weather system. Weather will initially be limited to rain, thunder and lighting, a perfect trio for the Grand Canyon setting. We’ll see more diverse offerings as time moves on. Speaking of moving, the second big tech addition is a new travel mechanic. Players have been screaming for faster modes of travel since the game launched, and they will have it soon. A system along the lines of the bus stops in the PTS (testing realms) will be implemented. Players must be level 20 or higher and complete a quest chain to access the system.
The patch will include a number of small scales tweaks including more environmental improvements, additional ambient lighting and enhanced water effects. Bug fixes will obviously be a part of the update as well. What was conspicuously absent is any mention of additional PvE content. Blood Sports – a PvP-centric patch – brought players Deadfall, a large PvE sub-sector with a new faction. There’s no mention of PvE content in May’s State of the Game. Hopefully, we’ll hear something soon.
The next patch is expected to deploy in Q3 2010. Thankfully, that isn’t all that Icarus is looking to deploy. Archangel closed the address by declaring that the mobile applications will be going live “in the coming weeks.” My new Droid phone is going to get a workout, and it won’t cost me an extra penny.
[Update]
I shot an e-mail to the PR people for Fallen Earth after posting this article querying them on the lack of PvE content. According to the rep, “the next patch won’t be quite as extensive as the last. There are, however, plans for more…[PvE] content in a future update.” The addition of rare spawns with associated rare loot, known as the Serendipity system, and new crafting patterns is all the PvE content Fallen Earth players will receive in patch v1.5.