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Fracture Fall has passed STEAM Greenlight -program and was well received.
Introducing the playable factions in the game.
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The Project
Welcome to my passion project! I am the developer and designer of Fracture Fall. I've been working on the game for a few years now and it is time to see how far we can go with it.
Story. I have played pen-and-paper role-playing games most of my life. To me, a good story is about the choices made on the way. In Fracture Fall, the player choice reigns supreme. Your choices are not only about overcoming challenges, but you are in charge of your own storyline.
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Emergence. "Every time you play the game, the story will be different." When I started my company Two Tales Games, I wanted to make games that always had another story to tell. My philosophy is that there should always be another way to go, an alternative solution to a problem. I thought a lot about the freedom of choice, and how it translates to interesting stories.
While a simulation or a strategy game offers the framework for a story when you look back at all the decisions you've made, it takes some storytelling to complete the experience.
Fracture Fall combines simulated world with well written story elements, so that a unique story emerges with every new game.
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Strategy. I love board games and their design. In the world of Fracture Fall there are eight rivalling AI-controlled factions. Behind the scenes, they act like players of a board game. Factions make decisions for their own benefit, and their constant competition keeps the world dynamic and alive.
Decision-making, diplomacy and trade of the factions are simulated. The player is one of the pieces on the board, but with agency and momentum. The player's actions can affect the simulation, tilting the balance of power in favour of one faction or another. This lets the player be political or opportunistic in a world that has a momentum of its own.
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Game Mechanics. I think about game mechanics a lot. To me, they define the boundaries of what is possible in a game world. Game Mechanics create direction and purpose to the player, and are the vehicle to player's motivations. Some would consider game mechanics to be the game, but they need to be in chorus with the spirit of the game world. I talk more about the summary game mechanics in a developer vlog.
Immersion. I have worked as a 3d artist for quite some time, and I am responsible for most of the graphics in the game. I am also a dabbling composer, and I swear by the audiovisual impact in a game: the mood created by graphics and music complements the story, and together they create the game experience.
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One of the rewards is a miniature of a space station 3d -printed from a highly detailed model and delivered to you.
I believe that in science fiction you only need to change one thing from what we have now, and it will be keep you busy trying to realize the many ways it changes the world: what technology we have, how societies work, what we believe in and what are the aspirations of mankind. The Fracture changes all of it. Humanity is capable of such wonderful dreams, as well as terrible nightmares.
The Fracture is not just a dimension of space, but it is a psychic dimension that resonates within the human mind. It introduces an aspect of philosophical terror to the game. Interstellar travel may depend on it, but the cost may be the humanity in us. If it brings about a human paradigm shift, should the transhumanist agenda be embraced? Or is it a fight against extinction, as the holy Church teaches us after the calamities of the Old Earth?
Crowdfunding
If you've watched the gameplay trailer and are still reading this, maybe you get it. I feel like there is room for a game like this, and I am trying my hardest to make it into something special.
So far I've been funding the development out of my own pocket, but to make it into the game I want it to be, I am going to need your help. Support and share - it all helps!
You can probably imagine how a game like this can be expanded - how it screams for more features, an expansive universe with more intricate interactions and deeper storylines.
Depending on the success of this crowdfunding, I have plans to make it a better, more full experience for the player:
- I have been prototyping a combat system, but it will need more work before it is fully realized. I am trying something with a submarine feel to it: limited information and the use of decoys to obfuscate your movements. That blip on the screen can be an enemy vessel, or just as well a remote-operated missile waiting to leap at your ship when it's revealed. You can strap a sensory pack to an asteroid with engines and send it ahead to find out. And
I'd like to add a boarding party combat system as well. It would be a great incentive to get those heavy weapons for your crew, as well as securing a couple of terminator exos.
- More and more events, more storylines to support a variety of play styles. I’d like to collaborate with a sci-fi writer. You want to try something exceptional, and find a hidden storyline waiting for you? I want to make that happen!
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Illustrations. I’d like unique illustrations crafted for each event, or at least for the big ones. There are so many great artists available and I want to use them for this.
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- More intricate simulation modeling. The trade simulation is already finished and implemented, but I want factions to be more dynamic. There needs to be a point when the factions are ready for desperate measures. I want them to go for resources, exploit each other’s weaknesses and really try to spread their influence and ideologies.
And when the player interferes with the plans of a faction, I want them to hunt the player for it.
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Sound design. I've been toying with an idea of radio broadcasts coming from the planets you visit. It would be a great way of conveying the cultural variety encountered in the sector and add texture to the world.
- More development time means more features for the game. It also means more content: local events, the fate of entire planets and worlds. Each colony has the potential to house unique cultures and societies, ambitions and calamities. It also means more options for the player in ships and combat tactics.
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Multiple platforms: if there is enough interest and support, the game will also be released on LINUX and Mac.
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Transport ship: All Fracture -traversing ships possess the spherical Fracture Core.
Perks:
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Digital copy of the game: you will receive a digital copy of the game, typically in the form of a STEAM key. If there is enough demand for it, a DRM -free digital copy can be made available for download.
In case of an early access key, you will have access to the game pre-launch. This will most likely be a bad value proposition for you. The game will not be ready at this point and there will be bugs. You should only consider this step if you truly want to help with the final stages of development by submitting feedback and hunting bugs. Or if you have another interests in the content before it is made public.
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Miniature: there will be 3d -printed models of three different sizes available for the backers (I'm referring to them by the diameters of their cores). It’s a model of a full standard space station orbiting all the colonized planets or moons in the sector. It’s a very detailed 3d model, and the smallest details really show on larger miniatures. It makes a great prop for your miniature games, or a collector’s piece on your shelf. These miniatures are easy and a lot of fun to paint due to their level of detail. I will have limited amount of hand-painted models available for order.
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3d -print of the 12cm top piece
Funding and Release Date
There will be stretch goals through this campaign. First things first though - let’s get this funded!
If the funding succeeds, it gives me a year’s time to work on the game and I see a release date coming at the end of 2017. But if the funding goes over the goal, it’ll probably mean that at the end of this year the game goes to an early access.
I will have more time to add features to the game and the release will get delayed for the next year.
Then again, if the game funding goes over any expectations, I’ll be able to hire people, which will expedite the development. I’ll also be able to collaborate with a writer, sound engineers and illustrators.
This is a fixed funding campaign, which means that
if the target goal isn't reached, all funds collected are
reimbursed to the backers.
Unfortunately, it also means that any promised backer rewards
aren’t delivered and my plans regarding development of
Fracture Fall will be subject to a revision.
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You can use parts of the station
as props for your miniature games.