A new video about the game's development has been uploaded.
I continue to work on Brutal Fate's core systems. The base arsenal is now about 95% complete (the only thing missing now is grenades, melee attacks, and rocket alt ammo) and I will move on to monsters and props next. On this video I showcase some of the advanced functions that makes the game's arsenal unique: - Alternative ammo types. - Attachment functions such as bipods and reserve sights. - Blind fire mechanics. - Weapon collision systems.
State of Development April 2024
The game is being slowly worked on, I have been facing issues with funding and dealing with depression, but plans of cancelling or abandoning the game are not in the table. The full game's documentation is ready, the plot, level sketches (on papper), and everything else is done, and I am aware that everything I plan to do is possible within the engine's limits while still ensuring multiplayer compatibility. Gore system is solid and optimized. Vegetation is nice and interactive. Weapons are working as intended. Several enemies working as intended. I want to ensure that nobody is getting stuck on walls or freezing in a spot. Nobody is getting catapulted out of the level's bounds, falling through a bottom-less pit, or crushed by a door for daring to walk on the wrong spot. Many games released today, even AAA, can't deliver these things upon actual release, and I am ensuring they work even on the closed alpha build. I have chosen to develop this game vertically, ensuring things are at peak polishment before moving forward with making levels.
Right now I want to finish my Doom mods to get these old projects out of the way so I can proceed with this game.
Changes in the script.
One thing that changed with time however, is the timeframe of the game. The original plan was to start the game at the operation in Callisto, and have the Martian War left just as a background text to describe the player character's military expertise. I decided that "Show, don't tell" is a better artistic direction, the first episode of the game will take place in such war, it will allow the introduction of both the aliens and the corporate mercenary armies much earlier (corpos were initially only planned to show up on the last episode), and will help to make the game's gameplay and ambients feel more varied. For the game's demo, I'm thinking about a mini intro campaign taking place on Earth defending a city from a harassment attack of cyborg invasion from the corporate armies, which without spoiling the game's big baddies, would help giving the player a better idea of what is to be a Terran, and a Global Marine.
In the old game's design, everything would have taken place in the cold brutalist capital city of Callisto, some areas in the mountains around the city, then the alien dimension, then space. Mere flashbacks to the Martian war were planned with one or two levels. The game's lore says "The Global Order Alliance Marines are the biggest mean warriors ever because I, the writer, is telling you so, so pick your gun, and start shooting these monsters".
In the new design, you will see old Earth and it's brutalist cities, you will land on the red boreal forests of Mars on the greatest military operation mankind ever seen, crawl through trenches, raid bunkers on rocky mountains, secure medieval-looking villages, and conquer the shinny, Bauhaus-styled capital city of Mars, you will already get a glimpse of the alien dimension in the best Lovecraftian way possible.
Now, you have seen it all, the Global Order Alliance Marines are Earth's finest, the toughest men and women to have ever lived, they can fight in any battlefield, at Earth or not, they can face corporate cyborg abominations, greedy mercenary armies with no sense of right or wrong, extremist communist guerrillas that engages in non-conventional warfare, and cruel hi-tech space nationalists with superior technology, and they can crush them all. For these Marines, being stuck in a foreign planet fighting monsters is just another glorious day at The Corps.
Then you move to a more realistic imagined city of Callisto, an incredibly luxurious Art Deco city in a frozen white planet. Then again space, and fully seeing the alien dimension. (Note: Nothing will be wasted, however. Changing Callisto's aesthetics does not means I am throwing away any assets already made, the depressing brutalist cityscape you see in the current trailers will all be used to show Earth. Many people told me that a city that is meant to be a paradise and bait Terrans into moving to it being designed as a sad dirty Soviet metropolis makes no sense, and I am hearing feedback.) The corporate armies, instead of being a static enemy, will be more dynamic. On your second encounter with them, you will be able to see how after one year they adapted to the G.O.A. tactics and improved their weapons and strategies. With this, instead of a slow cliche start, the game can start with the war spectacle of what people saw at VietDoom and Extermination Day multiplied by ten, then dive into a rollercoaster of emotions, leaving the player eager to know what will happen next. This will make the game far more enjoyable and with more variety. I already told the story of "the super soldier that finds himself in a remote place stuck with monsters and drags himself into a war and triumphs over a classical evil" story in Extermination Day, and I don't think people are expecting to play Brutal Fate and feel like they are playing Extermination Day 2. id Software told that story first. There are like ten FPS games on Steam right now telling that same story and another ten coming up. I have nothing against this style of game, and I actually enjoy lots of them, but I don't want to create a game like this.
I don't want to make a story about a super soldier developed by the government or a secret organization. I don't want to make a story about the chosen one who will follow a prophecy and will cleanse the world of evil. I'm so tired of games with this story. I think 99% of the action I games I ever played have this plot. I want to tell the story of common men and women who joins a great crusade that will either destroy or save mankind, but for this, they will need to face horrors both man-made and incomprehensible, and also fight themselves, their old ideas, their hatred, they need to find strength both to fight powerful enemies but to also change themselves.
Demo when?
I do not plan to release a demo that shows the game in a raw state. Too many games on Steam have a super early demo released, then no updates for years, and the game gets forgotten. I don't want to release a demo until I am pretty sure the first episode of the game is nearing completion, and I can release it at the same year, possibly a few months apart. Yes, the game will come in Early Access, as I need that to get the proper funding to pay for professional voice actors and a crew to help me polish the game. And I understand how people are averse to Early Access. I have paid for many Early Access games myself that got abandonned months, if not weeks after Early Access launch. But it won't feel half-cooked, it will come with one episode that feels like a full campaign, with a boss and two possible outcomes that at first acts as flavor, but makes a difference at the game's ending. Then extra game modes, like Horde Mode, full mod and multiplayer compatibility. Just be patient. There are lots of other great boomer shooters to play right now, and nobody has anything to gain with a half-cooked, rushed demo riddled with issues and incomplete levels.
For now, all I have to thank you all who still keeping the tens of thousands of wishlists. This is the game I dreamed about when I was a child, the big fps with lots of big guns, gore, destructible environments, a branching story with multiple ends, and modding and multiplayer capabilities. Someday I want to sit back, crack open a cold one, join a server, and play through the entire campaign with strangers on the internet. I want to play this game as much as you do. I will release this game. I will not give up. This is a personal promise.
- Sgt. Mark IV
Gun range tour
After a long time without news, the game is back in development.
I have uploaded a video showing the current state of all weapons currently in the game. These cover about most of the weapons that you will be able to use on Episode 1. More exotic gun designs will show up later, over 30 weapons are planned for the final game. Stuff like tripwire claymores and remote-detonated explosives are also planned to show on Episode 1, and even give the player ability to use hand grenades and undetonated warheads and level props to make improvised explosive devices. -
This is how the gameplay balance is being made:
- Enemies will have a morale system. Each type of monster/mercenary has a morale counter that changes depending on their type and what is accompanying them. They will react to things such as being accompanied by large groups of friendlies, or watching their group being killed. Robots, cyborgs, constructs, and unintelligent creatures such as zombies have no morale system and will attack and pursue the player no matter what. When they get demoralized, they will retreat from combat, try to hide, and ambush the player.
- Weapons will have a great influence on this, torching them with flamethrowers and incendiary rockets, vaporizing them with plasma, or blowing them up with explosives will cause a much greater morale damage to the survivors than killing them with small arms.
- Non-linear levels will also feature a meta-AI system which slowly repopulates the levels with new monsters based on what you are doing. Using loud weapons such as explosives or the microgun will attract more enemies.
- The player will be able to carry an unlimited amount of conventional weapons (pistols, rifles, shotguns, and small explosive weapons like the grenade launcher and the anti-materiel rifle).
- Heavy Weapons such as Flamethrower and Microgun takes the slot 6, and you are only allowed to carry one of them at each time. This is done for several balance purposes, because I don't want to nerf these guns and also to prevent the player from having a large arsenal of weapons they don't use.
- Heavy Weapons needs to be used until you either run out of ammo, or press the button to drop them and pick up another one.
- Sometimes in the campaign you will be presented with two types of heavy weapons at the same place and you will have to choose one, or if you are playing with co-op, decide with your friend who takes each gun.
- A disposable single-shot light rocket launcher that can be carried on Slot 5 is also planned.
State of Development September 2022
Hello everyone, sorry for the recent lack of news.
The game had it's development completely halted through the first half of 2022 as I was bombarded with a series of personal and financial problems. But I'm here to dismiss any rumors that the game might have been canned or may never be released.
On this small update I want to show some things I have been talking about on Twitter.
The sprite work has been progressing greatly since the game's trailer at Realms Deep 2021. These are still not finished, but they showcase how my skills are developing.
I also finished the game's vegetation system. The game will feature trees and plants that can react to the wind, explosions, can be set on fire, and have fire propagation mechanics.
I understand the frustration of some people, and I apologize for that. Most games are developed for a couple of years before being announced, Brutal Fate was developed for only a couple of months before being announced, and that was a mistake. I do not have any date, or even a year I can tell you when I think I will release this game now, I can only guarantee you that I will not publicly release a faulty and unfinished product, no matter how long it takes. When you play the demo mission, I want you to be mesmerized by it. A bad first impression can ruin the game.
Every day I'm learning something new either with game design, 3D modeling, art, and it all translates into the long run to make an awesome game. I have gone back to develop Brutal Doom's version 22 to get back into a work routine, and I am already learning many new things that will be used in the game, like optimizing special effects like explosions and gore in a dynamic style that changes depending of how much action there is in the level, so the game can have epic set pieces.
Be patient, Marines.
Development Diary 2 - The Gore
I just released a video on youtube today showcasing the gore system in detail.
You can see the detailed decals and smearing blood, the system that allows you to pickup and throw gibs around, and much more.
For those who think the blood is a bit too much(or just not too much enough), don't worry, there will be options to tune the amount of blood you want to your personal preferences.
State of Development
Hello everyone, I hope you have all been doing well lately.
First, the bad news: Yes, January 31 2021 was a wildly unrealistic release date for the alpha. It had to be moved to Q3 2021. And no, CP2077 has nothing to do with this. The pre-development of this game started in January (and I mean, I was still literally learning how to use Blender to make the sprites) and full development started in March. Indie games usually takes 3 or 4 years to be developed, and to think I, as a solo developer, could push a huge FPS game into Early Access at just 10 months of actual development can't be viewed as anything but sheer arrogance. And I apologize for that. I should had measured the date better and not given people hopes of a such early release.
By the time the game got announced at Realms Deep 2020, I was working on this 10 hours a day. I thought I could keep up with this rhythm until January, but turns out, no, I can't. I have been reducing my workflow to healthier hours now. I also had to keep up my promises with my community to release an update to VietDoom.
Now the good news: I have a much better scope for the release. Initially I was thinking about releasing an "Early Access Campaign" with mixed levels from Episode 1, 2 and 3 for testing purposes. I scratched this idea, and decided to focus on releasing the entire Episode 1, fully scripted and voice-acted. I think it's important that everyone's first impression with this game reflects a real taste of the final product.
I have finished writing the story and how the game will end. It has been decided that the game will have 4 episodes, decisions made on episode 2 heavily changes episode 3, (even changing the first level entirely), and then all decisions made on the three first episodes changes the way episode 4 will flow, and the multiple branching paths it will have for different endings.
For this reason, I want to avoid an episodic release, since each update is likely to break compatibility with saves, it will be impossible to track what you did in your previous playthrough and you will need to replay the whole thing every time an update drops. Since episode 1's decisions has little impact on the story, it makes the perfect set of maps to be released during Early Access to collect feedback from the community and supply modders with a good chunk of resources to start building their own levels. And then people can wait for the full release of the game.
In other news, I can also pretty much guarantee that the game will be localized in Spanish, Russian, and German on the first Early Access release. Several community volunteers have been showing up on the Discord to offer translation services.
Also for those eager to check the progress of development, you should join our Discord server. On the WIP-Development channel I post minor showcases of new stuff. Currently our leader composer is releasing teasers of the soundtrack, and he is looking for feedback. https://discord.com/channels/749705001181380739/752220374103621695
Starting later this month, I will start posting regular updates in form of development diaries, where I will record videos showcasing features of the game. The first video will be about the gore system and how it's improved when compared to Brutal Doom, and then a second one will talk about the scenario interactivity, and so on.
Also, I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming support so far and the mountain of the wishlists the game received. Given how poorly planned the reveal was (I had literally zero marketing material, not even a box art mockup finished), things went pretty smooth and the game got a lot traction.}
Hope you are all holding up well, 2020 is almost over (not like a change in the callendar will instantly make things better, but hey there is hope).
- Mark
Frequently Asked Questions
I know people have many questions about this project. I gathered the most asked ones and put them together here.
At what state the game will reach Early Access? You will have a demo campaign of about 6 to 8 levels and 2 boss fights, and at least one Horde Mode map (where you must defend an arena from waves of enemies).
Will it feature a free demo? Yes, 2 levels.
Is this basically Brutal Doom Standalone? No. This is a whole new game. No code or maps have been recycled from Brutal Doom, everything is rewritten from scratch. The game will also feature several different gameplay mechanics (like dashing, portable medikits, alternate ammo types, health and armor upgrades, etc.). It's a really different experience.
What's the game's tone? Action-horror, kinda inspired by Quake 1 and Doom 64. Fast gameplay, powerful guns. The game will feature a retro-futurism cyberpunk aesthetic (see 80s and 90s sci-fi movies, such as Aliens, Starship Troopers, Event Horizon, Blade Runner etc. and you will get an idea) Highly customizable experience, you will be able to independently tweak how much damage enemies does or how abundant ammo pickups are. You can either set enemy count to high and reduce enemy damage to a minimum and ammo to a max to play it in a very arcade-ish fashion, or set it to have fewer enemies, or crank up the settings to create a more realistic and horror-like experience.
What the soundtrack is going to be? Soundtrack is planned to be pretty varied just like the original Doom games. The main themes will be a mix of Darksynth and Metal (like, real metal, no djent). Also including sections with ambient drone music, and orchestral-like music. Often songs will change during the the game when there is a huge fight or a boss battle. Will the campaign have branching paths and alternative endings? Yes. At least 3 dramatically different endings based on the decisions you take during the playthrough,
Will it have post-game unlocks and new game+? This is a planned feature. Like, beating the game at a certain difficulty, or under a certain time, or with some conditions, unlock stuff like secret magic weapons, special modes, etc.
Will it feature multiplayer? In a limited form. The primary purpose of this game is to provide a singleplayer experience. But extended multiplayer can be offered as a form of an addon. The engine itself can only support limited peer-to-peer multiplayer up to 8 players which really only works well on LAN games. To have access to full, smooth, "join at any time" 64 people multiplayer servers, you will need to install Zandronum (which is free, but it's an engine with proprietary code and can't be shipped with the game, so you need to manually download and install it). But the campaign is entirely designed taking cooperative multiplayer in mind. You should be able to finish it with several players without sequences being broken. On post-launch, if there is demand, I can start working on more multiplayer modes, PvP level packs, etc.
Will it come to other stores? (GOG, Epic) Eventually, yes.
Will it come Linux and Mac? Eventually, yes.
Will it come to Android? Maybe. Not sure. But you probably can just make a copy of the game and put it on your phone to run under GZDoom's Android port, but you imagine it would be -extremely- difficulty to play this game with touchscreen controls. Will it support VR? I don't have a VR headset to test it, but the engine does feature native VR support, so adding it shouldn't be difficulty.
Will it be released on consoles? Slow things down, pal. Making games for consoles is extremely expensive and difficulty. The game will need to sell well on PC first, so I can have money to hire a team to work on console versions. Let me finish this game for PC first, make sure everything is well polished, and then maybe I will start thinking about it.
