Author Topic: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features  (Read 33214 times)

Offline Shangalar

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FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« on: November 11, 2013, 07:36:56 pm »

Hello everyone!

Time has finally come to release more concrete information about FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix's content and future development steps.

So first, let it be known that the open beta test will start around January 10th, 2014. We're working hard in order to meet that deadline and have a stable release and we'll keep you informed of the progress.

What's the goal of this beta test and how long is it going to last?

We're cordially inviting all interested players to come and test the game in its first advanced state of development. There is no other goal for you other than having fun with your friends exploring Phoenix and giving us as much feedback as you can. There will be a lot of bugs to be found and fix so please don't hesitate to report them.

As we developed the game, we realized that its gameplay and mechanics are different from everything we know and that we can't always clearly foresee all potential consequences of all the mechanics working together as a whole. Every player will react to the game systems and challenges differently and it is very important for us to observe the game in progress in order to ensure that we're going in the right direction. The first phase of this open test on our side will be bug fixing and tweaking the systems so that they fit to your taste and to our long term vision. Then, as soon as the game is stabilized properly, a second phase will start during which we'll finalize and implement all the more advanced mechanics we have in store. All in all, this beta test should last around 6 months maximum, though this is of course subject to change.

What does Ashes of Phoenix have to offer?

For people who don't yet know anything about AoP, we advise you to first have a look at the game description and FAQ.

Building a proper changelog based on FOnline servers or even on Fallout games wouldn't be possible as too much has changed. Of course, it is still a FOnline game, with its cruel world in which anything can happen anytime. It also still is a Fallout game, inheriting many of the concepts that contributed to make Fallout a so famous franchise. Every single mechanic has been reviewed, reworked and enhanced to accomodate the multiplayer aspect of the game. In fact, we went further, building a new world with its own background and its protagonists, trying to deliver an experience that is brand new, yet inherits the spirit of Fallout. Here is a general list of some of the game's features:

A new region of the Fallout world to explore:

As the name says, the game takes place directly around the ruins of Phoenix, Arizona. This vast American city is the main location of the game, and the Wasteland's local organizations have gathered and are prepared to conquer it. The headquarters of those factions constitute the second-biggest locations of the game. You can find more information about Phoenix over there.

An advanced system of factions and reputation:

Four factions are ready to strike and can be joined by players. Two of them, the Jim & Jack & Joe Lawyer Agency and The Family, have been introduced already. They're forming the Axis of Order and are each other's arch enemy. The other axis is the Axis of Technology, composed of the V-Technologists, an organization led by scientists ruling over one of Arizona's vaults, and the Brahminboys, a proud and powerful horde coming from Texas. Those factions will be introduced further in a future post; for now, let's just say that they don't exactly like each other.

As a member of one of those factions, you'll have the responsibility to lead your people to victory, or at least to assist them the best you can according to your skills and desires. Attacking mates is not advised, as it would severely lower your reputation towards your faction, preventing you from accessing the most important parts of the headquarters. Actually, making friends even outside your own faction would be a smart move since Allies are always welcome in difficult times and trade or military partnerships between factions can be very profitable.

Your faction is able to offer you a lot, anything from weapons, armor and ammunition over to quests and assignments as well as personal spaces can be accessed in your faction's headquarters. With sufficient reputation, it is possible to become an established arm of your faction by forming a Squad, representing the military strenght of a faction as you fight over territories in the Core and make a name for yourselves. As a rule of thumb, the more work you put in towards your faction, the more offers and rewards you will receive in return.

A completely reworked character system:

We reworked the character system from the ground up, with 3 principles in mind; Firstly, every character should be able to become completely independent, preventing the need of creating secondary characters for the sole purpose of supplying the primary character. Secondly, the gap between a low-level and a high-level character has been reduced, putting more emphasis on the skill and choice of items rather than pure time spent grinding xp. Every character will be able to play his role and partake in every activity even with very low levels. Finally, our third goal was to ensure long term customization of each character, offering many different development possibilities without a frustrating maximum level cap. Basically, it will be very much possible to only concentrate on a single character without feeling like you're missing out on half the game. The following changes, among others, were made to realize those principles:

* The SPECIAL system has been preserved, though modified so that every characteristic impacts other stats way more than how it used to do. Dropping one stat to 1 has now more severe consequences to carefully consider, and optimizing your character now depends more on your taste than just applying a known recipe.
* The Action points system has been modified. All characters now have 100 AP that they can spend on any action. AP regenerate faster if you stand still, slower if you're moving, depending on your Agility. All the AP costs for performing actions have been modified.
* Skills have been reworked and are now divided in three categories:
- Combat Skills: Small Guns, Big Guns, Energy Weapons and Hand-to-Hand Weapons. Raising those skills increases your chance to hit your enemies, allows you to shoot farther than what the weapon initially allows, and unlocks weapons perks, bonuses applied to weapons that illustrate your increasing ability to use them efficiently.
- Secondary Skills: Throwing, First Aid, Doctor, Sneak, Traps and Leadership. Traps also include the ability to pick locks. Leadership is a new skill allowing leaders to see their mates and provide them with passive bonuses. The strength of the effect depends on both their charisma's. Raising those skills increases their efficiency, and unlocks perks on items associated to them. Healing kits, silent weapons, throwing weapons such as knives or grenades, bear traps or camera sentries and many more items will work better with a greater skill level.
- Non-combat Skills: Science, Engineering, Persuasion and Outdoorsman. Those skills are involved into crafting as requirements and constitute the general ability of your character to interact with his environment. They cannot be tagged and cannot be raised with skill points obtained through leveling your character. They'll increase just as you'll use them. Persuasion involves speech, barter and gambling.
* In general, you're now able to impact on more of your character's stats. Stats that were hidden so far are now available to you for a better control and detailed view of your capacities. New stats also appeared, like the Action Point Regeneration and the Bleed Resistance, which protects you against damage-on-time abilities of many weapons.
* All traits and perks have been reworked.

A vast equipment:

In post-apocalyptic Phoenix, weapons are everywhere. Every weapon has its own purpose, pros and cons. All weapons from Fallout 1 and 2 are available, as well as most of Fallout Tactics' weapons. We also included a lot of new realistic weapons with new ones being added in the future as the need arises. Armors have been reworked and now affect the players in different ways and not just in terms of damage protection, so that each armor will have its special role and remains useful for everyone. New models have been added, and all factions have their own set of combat armor. You can get more info about weapons over there.

Many new items have been added to the game and the goal was to give all of them a purpose. At least, those sunglasses you'll find in an old residence will be worth some cash. Drug items have also be reworked, to make for a more flexible system that benefits every character and not just some.

Challenges:

The main challenge the game has to offer is of course the conquest of Phoenix. 12 of its quarters can be taken by factions and controlled over time for rewards affecting the entire faction. Two dungeons will be available at the beginning of the beta: Phoenix Archives and Hell Hole. Both require nerves of steel and strategy to be completed. Then, players will also have assignments proposed to them, different types of PvE missions adapted to their level. More info about dungeons in that post.

And of course, there is more!

We definitely can't review every feature of Ashes of Phoenix in one single post, so we'll mention some more things briefly:

- A tutorial will help you to get used to the gameplay and mechanics, explaining not only the new features of AoP, but also helping those people who have never played the original fallout or any other fonline game. You will also learn more about factions and the situation in the region as you'll complete your journey to Arizona at the beginning of the game.
- A crafting system will allow you to craft every weapon and armor as long as you have the know-how and the required resources. You'll be able to obtain new crafting plans from your faction in exchange for relics found in the Wasteland.
- A strong economy will guarantee that caps are worth a lot and are crucial to collect. Drugs and ammunition will have to be bought for caps to make sure that caps remain valuable as the game progresses. Selling tons of cheap crafting components to merchants to strip them from their wealth won't be possible. Exchanging equipment with other players will be more important than ever.
- The game features a completely new interface with a new Pipboy working as an intel provider as well as an encyclopedia.
- The NPC's have been reworked to make for a more natural and dynamic experience. Raiders will roam the ruins of phoenix, packs of wild animals will be out for blood in the wastes and friendly travelers might come to your aid.
- The game features many new graphics and models.
- And... yeah, more and more features that are awaiting for you to test them!

If you managed to read so far (and even if you skipped it all and just read the end :p), we thank you for your attention and hope to continue together on this big journey of Ashes of Phoenix. More information will be made available as we getting closer to the open beta so make sure you stick around.

To conclude, we’d like to remind you that our team still recruits motivated people to contribute to development. If you feel interested, have a look at the official thread, which is updated frequently.

Website: www.fonline-aop.net
Forum: www.fonline-aop.net/forum
IRC: #AshesOfPhoenix on ForestNet

Offline JovankaB

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  • JovankaB
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #1 on: November 28, 2013, 09:49:15 pm »
I'm afraid the requirement to own 3 games to play another game might a bit too much for some people.

Offline Shangalar

  • Dictatorial Tyrant
    • Generation Fallout
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2013, 03:49:49 pm »
Hello Jov,

This is a theoretical requirement that is mentioned on our blog for obvious reasons. We're still proposing a mod based on Fallout games despite all the new content we or the community brought. Practically, you just need MASTER and CRITTER dat files, which are easily found anywhere on the net, we know that. We just wanted to advise people to rather buy Fallout than download it illegally. After all, those 3 games have been sold together in a pack for years and for a small price, and are still very easy to find nowadays. GoG gave out Fallout for free some months ago for example.

I'm a bit surprised though that you could not find anything else to mention than this. After all, we're working hard to bring what we hope will be the most advanced Fallout mod so far. Your comment sounds like a cheap troll and I don't recognize you. "You're not the same person I - we - knew."

Offline JovankaB

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  • JovankaB
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2013, 07:20:19 pm »
I only shared my concern, because you wrote in "About the game" that you need 3 different
games to play, and I think such requirement could discourage some players. The more hoops
the new players see as necessary to jump through to play, the more likely they will give up
without even trying. I honestly thought it was a real requirement, personally I wouldn't write
any fictional ones, it seems pointless to me.

In no way was my intention to troll, cheaply or not. I'm impatiently waiting for the open beta,
now that I know that I will be able to play it.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2013, 07:48:19 pm by b__B »

Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2013, 09:23:50 pm »
Every other fonline already requires you to own two games, fallout 1 and 2. If you use a different interface that rips art from fallout tactics like that one expllosion and fly effect replacement tat tons of people used for 2238, you would also have to own tactics. In fact, the good old trusty hummer on 2238 is also from tactics, wouldnt we all have needed to own tactics as well?

Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2013, 10:00:24 pm »
Is Hand-to-Hand Weapons skill actually going to be usable?

Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2013, 10:35:59 pm »
of course, why else would it be on the same level as the other weapon skills?

Offline Shangalar

  • Dictatorial Tyrant
    • Generation Fallout
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #7 on: January 05, 2014, 05:55:21 pm »
Hello everyone,

We've been pretty silent for some weeks, and the reason is that we worked hard on the game and unfortunately could not spend enough time on discussing about it. While the game is already playable, we're facing delays on some parts of the development, that now force us to push back a bit the beginning of the beta test in order to polish the game and improve the experience. We also have to perform some tests yet on the online server to ensure that it is in good condition for your arrival. We're a bit sad about this decision, but we believe it's for the best. We won't announce any new date for now as it depends on our progress and the availability of team members. That delay should hopefully be short, which means a few weeks.

Meanwhile, we'll do our maximum to show you more about it, for example through some videos. Here is a first one we made some time ago. It shows one of the factions' Headquarters and a little piece of Phoenix metropolis. There are a bunch of bugs visible on this video, bugs that we addressed already, but we think it's still interesting to watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ4la3j8WXY

(If you're wondering, the white line shows the effective range of your character, distance at which you have a maximal chance to hit with current weapon. The green line shows the line of sight. Both can of course be toggled off at any time, and so is it for the burst cone showed at some occasions during combats.)

We'll of course keep you informed of our progress as soon as we can, and we wish you a happy new year!

Offline Shangalar

  • Dictatorial Tyrant
    • Generation Fallout
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #8 on: February 06, 2014, 03:28:49 am »
Hello everyone!

After another pretty intense month of work, we’re now ready to roll.

February 8th, so saturday in the evening we’ll set up the online server and start a closed test that’ll last for a few days, until we have fixed the most critical bugs and stabilized the game as a whole. After that we’ll open the server to everybody. The game should be fully working with its basic set of features presented back in November. We still have some more surprises for you though, as we of course didn’t reveal every single feature so far. Certainly, some mechanics will require tweaks and we’ll make sure to do so as regularly as possible. There will be bugs too, and we’ll focus on solving them. We’re looking forward to reading your reports and we’ll also share our development board in the near future. That way, you’ll be able to follow our progress in real time and vote for the fixes and features you want to see implemented first.

To test the game, you just have to play it. There is a lot of information to provide about game mechanics but most of it should be available ingame through the tutorial, the interface and NPC’s. We’ll make sure to reveal more details as soon as the wiki will be ready. Meanwhile we’ll add information and answer your questions on the forum.

If you wanna already join CBT, ask us on AoP's forum.

Get ready, Phoenix awakes!

Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2014, 02:18:08 pm »
Can you tell us if you are going to use some features from 2238, tc etc? I saw on your video that there wasnt aby worldmap?

Offline Shangalar

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    • Generation Fallout
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2014, 04:02:11 pm »
Establishing a list of changes compared to 2238 is difficult as we kinda started developing from the ground up, and the game has become really different during development. Of course you can expect common basics, Fallout character system is globally preserved, there is crafting, RT pvp, zone control, dungeons and all that, but the game is articulated differently and the experience is new. We'll try to describe the game more concretely in the future, but for now if you wanna know what AoP has to offer, you'll have to discover it by yourself. ;)

There is a worldmap, it simply wasn't showed on that video. However, our worldmap is much less important than on other FOnline games. Action is meant to happen directly in locations.

EDIT: distraction
« Last Edit: February 06, 2014, 08:13:31 pm by Shangalar »

Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2014, 08:09:48 pm »
Very nice server especially new character system and ui which looks very beautiful. Also new ap system is stunning too! The only one problem is that I dont know where to go, where get more exp and better equipment.

Offline Shangalar

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    • Generation Fallout
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2014, 03:24:09 am »
Thanks Fonliner. We'll improve that with time, meanwhile you should get clues already, but you need to take time to talk to NPC's. Don't rush into AoP, that's a really different world out there.

Offline Shangalar

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    • Generation Fallout
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #13 on: February 15, 2014, 12:12:50 am »
Test session is going on and progress is made every day.

Here's a little presentation video made by one of our testers, SlamBliss:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52u8ZPUdIRw

Offline Shangalar

  • Dictatorial Tyrant
    • Generation Fallout
Re: FOnline: Ashes of Phoenix OBT announcement & game features
« Reply #14 on: June 05, 2014, 11:27:44 pm »
Hello folks!

It's been a while since we posted news, as usual we've been working in the shadows in order to get ready for the next beta phase. We still don't know when it's going to happen but it's definitely somewhere on the horizon. A lot of work has been done since the first test in march and we still have a number of different aspects to talk about.

One of the big tasks we've been tackling recently is dialogue writing. In Ashes of Phoenix, non player characters fulfill different roles. First, most of them are standing in faction headquarters, guarding it. selling equipment and providing various services to faction members. Naturally, a big part of the dialogues are directly related to those matters, but there are also quite a number of characters in all the headquarters who are looking for certain items to fulfill their needs, be it the long lost golden locket of their only daughter, a set of marked cards to tip the odds in the casino in their favor, or the good old rubber doll to indulge in more secretive activities. It is up to the player to find out how to get the most out of his regular trips to the core, rather than just dropping everything off at the designated merchant.

There are more elaborated quests as well: some characters have a lot to say about themselves, their factions and the world, and even more thanks to the Persuasion skill that will unlock new answers. We also plan some characters to play an active role in the war to come: through global quests available to the whole faction, you will have the opportuntiy to collaborate in order to bring your side closer to victory. That's the type of quests and dialogues we want to focus on in the future.

As for repeatable quests, we implemented the Random Assignment feature which enables you to complete many different and largely randomized missions, be it alone or with a group of friends. We'll talk more about the random assignments and our plans for the future in the next post so stay in touch!