Fracture the Flag
FTF: Video Review
Stop taking the developers word for it, take a look at what over folks have to say about Fracture the Flag!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-6WhQYof0
[H1]Because it needs to be said...[/H1]
There is no personal, business or other connection between One Wheel Studio and the eNtak YouTube channel. The channel was given steam keys to grant pre-release access to FTF and in no way was bound to review the game or let alone give a favorable review.
FTF Release Date & Stretch Goals
Fracture the Flag will go on sale for 2.99 USD. Which is lower than previously announced. Why? Simply put the goal of FTF was not to make money but rather to publish a game and build a small community. I have learned so much and greatly enjoyed the experience of creating FTF, but it's getting close to time to release this fledgling game into the wild…
As an Early Access title FTF is “complete.” That means it is fully playable, but has some bugs plus with any game there are more features that can be added. The intention is that FTF will move from Early Access to a full release over the summer and fall of 2016.
After nearly two years of development it’s time see how the wider Steam community reacts to FTF. So rather than deliver a roadmap of promised features FTF’s continued develop will be based on stretch goals.
Stretch Goals - Based on Sales
- 1000 - Release third map set in a seismically active region
- 1500 - Defensive watchtowers added.
- 2500 - Macemen and Spearman
- 5000 - Additional Map added with design based on community input
- 7500 - Air base with 2 units added
- 10000 - Additional Map added with design based on community input
- 20000 - Naval units added with additional “water based map”
Got ideas for stretch goals? Love to hear them!
Alpha Testers - Have Been Selected
FTF Testers for the second round of alpha testing have been selected and the invites have been sent.
Play Testing Times
Scheduled testing times are Wednesday April 20th at 6:30 pm Pacific Coast Time and Saturday April 23rd at 3:00 pm Pacific Coast Time. You can of course play whenever you want, but these are times when there will be more people looking for opponents!
If You Are Selected
If you’re interested leave a comment below. If you’re selected you will get an friend invite from "One Wheel Studio" followed by an invite to the private FTF Alpha testers Steam Group. Testers will be chosen randomly.
April Update: Alpha V 0.6 Build Notes
A second round of testing (with some new testers) will be happening.
Features Added
- The “Construction Yard” has been added and is now the source of siege weapons
- Physics based walls are back!
- A tech tree has replaced the upgrade menu. Each new tech costs more than the previous tech.
- A basic melee unit (swordsman) has been added with guard, attack and patrol behaviors
- Steam Leaderboards added for “ELO”, players beaten, games started and completion times of single player challenges
- Single player challenges (resource based) have been added
- Flags added to buildings to help identify ownership
- Keys can now be re-mapped via the settings menu
- Settings menu now includes support for multiple monitors - change requires a restart of the game
Updates
- Damage scripts (bombs and siege weapons) have been greatly improved
- Tweaks to colors and image effects
- Axes and picks have been added to workers to correspond to their current job
- Physics material added to bricks along with other physics balancing with siege weapons
- The HUD and all UI should now scale better for both 720p and 1080p displays
- Build size down to 200 MB from 300 MB
FTF Improvements
Based on testers suggestions work on several improvements and additions to FTF have been happening over the past several weeks including:
Completed:
- Basic melee ground units (Swordsman) have been added and are recruited from a new building (Barracks). More types of melee units are planned.
- Archers have been fixed and will return to FTF.
- Physics based brick walls will return!!! There are still questions about their performance, but it’s looking hopeful and will need wider testing.
Still in progress:
- The “upgrade system” has been replaced with a more traditional style tech tree. Cost of upgrades are no longer fixed but will be determined by the total number of upgrades already purchased. So choosing upgrades is a matter of strategy.
- A new building, the construction yard, will be added that will build siege weapons. The building will require workers with the production time depending on the number of workers assigned. Siege weapon movement will also be reworked to be less janky.
- Single player levels. Basic “resource challenges” have been added, but need further work. Other single player modes including combat modes are planned.
Second Round of Testing
Once the “still in progress” improvements have been finished and have passed in house testing there will a second round of testing. Hopefully this second round will occur in the next 2-3 weeks. It likely that a few more testers will be needed...
The Elusive Alpha Build
FTF is ready for testers. Any known game breaking bugs have been squashed. The UI has been completely redone. The performance has been dramatically improved. But! There is undoubtedly plenty more to do and improve and that's where the chosen few come in...
35-45 keys will be handed out for alpha testing. The intention is that this will be done on January 2nd or 3rd.
Those chosen will get an invite from "One Wheel Studio" as well as an invite to a private FTF testing group. The group will be used as a place to give feedback and to arrange times to play and test.
If you weren't chosen, I'm sorry, blame the random number generator in my spreadsheet. It's always possible there will be another round of testing before the Early Access release.
Alpha Release - Coming Soon
The alpha release for testing is coming soon!
Keys will be given out via Steam private message. If you've been chosen for the alpha testing phase you will receive a friend invite from One Wheel Studio. Accept this request to receive your key - there may be a couple day delay between the invite and the delivery of the key.
If you haven't signed up for a chance to test and still want to then sign up in this thread.
Fracture the Flag - Is Now Playable
There are bugs. There are things that simply don't work yet. There are bits that might make you scream in frustration.
It's also a multiplayer game so unless you have a buddy who also wants to test you may not be able to play.
You've been warned...
If that still sounds fun to you then maybe you want to be one of the alpha testers?
Alpha versions will be distributed via Steam. Currently, the Steam build supports only Windows, but a Mac support will be coming shortly. If you're interested leave your computer specs (looking for all types of machines) and Steam name in the forum or in the comments below.