At Monday the 27th we announced that we will move our focus from Shattle to a brand new game - STRIDEN. Our main focus is to develop games in a close relationship with you. That’s why we released Shattle at an early playtest in November last year.
In January we summarized your feedback, our road map and goals. Which led us to a new conclusion - a new game.
A NEW ERA OF SURVIVAL GAMES
The game mode in STRIDEN has got good results during closed playtest. We feel that we’re close to a new innovative Game Mode that we have always strived for. STRIDEN is a fast paced survival FPS, where your Rebel Army needs to unleash your inner spirit, loot and fight for survival. In a close combat environment, but with the feeling of Open World.
THE BEST FROM SHATTLE TO A NEW IP
We have taken the best from Shattle and the spirit of Shattle in to a totally new game where we can guarantee that you will find more joy and fun. The game mode in Shattle is unclear and has’t work out that well in what you and we want it to be.
ENDLESS POTENTIAL
STRIDEN is made from scratch with our own code. The Lead Programmer has made a huge result and difference that will make endless potential and scalability to STRIDEN. With our new Game Design Document and Feature Document we will be able to implement all of the new innovative stuff that we’re working on.
DEV TEAM
The team has grown during the last months. We have more expertise in new areas that will complete a much more pleasant experience. We’re are very critical to every pice of what we do at the moment. Every feature, level design, character, animations etc. gets more time and evaluation to make the best game experience for you.
We can’t wait to tell you more and we will do that starting from august. Here is our announcement from last Monday.
FAQ:
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH SHATTLE?
Shattle will not go for launch. But if you like Shattle we can guarantee that you will like STRIDEN even more. The spirit of Shattle will be in STRIDEN.
ARE YOU STILL GOING TO USE THE CURRENT MAP?
Yes, Bergbyn will be back in STRIDEN. Not in the beginning but in the future. Bergbyn needs to redone, but it will be back and bigger…
WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH WEAPONS, ARMOR AND TRAPS?
There will be more weapons, armor and traps. This is one of the main feedbacks that you have told us. It will be faster and easier to get weapons for a more fun weapon play.
WILL THERE BE BIRDS IN STRIDEN?
There will be more, you liked the feature and we have pushed it further ;)
WHERE IS STEAM PAGE FOR STRIDEN?
There will be a steam page and wishlist of STRIDEN. We will announce that with our first teaser during the autumn.
Playtest and Announcement | JUNE 27
The day is here when we open up for an extra playtest and announce great news. Many of you have requested a playtest of the old version and we are grateful for the response you showed. After we play Shattle, you will receive news and updates about the future.
Agenda: - Playtest with developers. - Announcement and news of the future.
Since January we have collected and listened to all your feedback. Many thanks for your commitment, we want to build games with you! We have been quiet and developed through past six month. You probably have a lot of questions and we will answer your questions during the event.
Welcome to an evening of new and fun news.
Dev Brief #8 | Introducing Stronghold Mode
Hey everyone,
For today’s devlog we’re going to be talking about a major change that we have been working on since our last playable build, our gameplay mode.
If you’ve been following our journey along the way on our social channels, you may have seen us use phrases like “the game will never be the same again” or “You’ll hardly recognize it.” While they may be overused cliches in gaming marketing today, we want to convey that when we say everything will change, we mean it.
Our previous mode, which featured three bombing runs that forced you into the shelters with the opportunity to go outside and scrounge for loot, is completely gone. It is now being replaced with what we call Stronghold mode.
To start with, you are no longer fighting on your own. When you enter Stronghold mode, you’ll be placed in a lobby where you can pick your team, select one of five different classes with unique loadouts, and voice chat with team members to talk strategy. These classes also mean that you no longer start empty-handed. Instead, you’ll begin with a basic weapon depending on your class. In addition, you will be able to customize your clothing in your character menu before you play, but it’ll be up to you to find or craft armour.
This new change encourages team play and allows players to set the match's pace.
Stronghold mode takes place in 3 phases: Prepping, Stronghold and Battle for Survival.
Like in our last game mode, this phase is about gathering as much material, weapons and gear as possible to build your army. Finding loot won’t be easy, as you’ll have to find special hiding places on the map where loot will be randomly spawned to create more of a dynamic match.
Another major change we’ve introduced is removing your hunger and thirst needs. Instead, any food you find along the way will help give you back some health, and water will bring back stamina.
We’re also introducing special map missions to unlock secret spots on the map and earn team currency (more on that later). Anyone on the team can perform these missions and you won’t need special items to complete most of them, but teamwork can be very important to pull these off.
All of our maps will include various choke points where opponents are forced to fight it out in close quarter combat and open spaces giving players more freedom to move around. Of course, where you go is all up to you and your playstyle.
This is where things get really interesting.
During the stronghold phase, players are now encouraged to go into their defensive phase. Bombs are going off outside, and it’s time to get into our bunker and claim your stronghold.
Each stronghold will be your team's main point of operation going forward. Like a game of capture the flag, you and your team will have to work together to find and claim your spot before other teams can get to it. Once you’re in there, you and your team can close the stronghold door, use your newly unlocked crafting bench and use your collected resources to get to work.
We’re also introducing an earned currency system where players can use that towards the team budget allowing you to build more defences, amenities like water sources and upgrade your crafting benches. A better level of workbench means better gear. The team currency can also be used to buy mystery boxes that may contain some valuable loot that will come in handy for the fight ahead.
The catch? There are not enough strongholds to go around. By design, there will always be one team without a spot to call home. This team will now be called the Saboteurs and will be given access to a special control room where they can wreak havoc on their opponents. The saboteur team also gets the opportunity to buy mystery boxes where a random weapon spawns.
If you die here you will still re-spawn (more on that later), but you won’t be able to get back into the bunker until phase 3.
The bombing has stopped, bunker gates are open again and it’s time to get to your evacuation bus. This time though buses work a bit differently than before.
Instead of a driver pulling up to take all players to safety, teams will now have to track down the bus, get the bus ready and take it over in a capture the flag style gameplay. Fortune favours the bold, so the only way to win is to go on the offensive in this winner-take-all ending.
Oh! And those players that you managed to take down in phase two? They’re back now but not as you might remember them. All players that have re-spawned from phase two on have become animals and are back with a vengeance to help their team. Respawning players will have a choice of what animal they want to come back as. So now you have to fight off humans as well as their moose, bear and wolf friends. Good luck!
If you manage to fend them off and capture your bus, you and your team will be rewarded with a cut scene to celebrate your victory.
So that’s a short look at our new Stronghold mode. While we’re excited to show it to you once it’s ready, we want to emphasize that this is still a work in progress, and things may still drastically change before we present you with our playable build.
So why Stronghold mode?
So you might be wondering why we made this change? After months of playtests and player feedback, we realized that our previous system was too unclear, and most players didn’t really know what to do next.
We believe that Stronghold mode gives players clearer objectives and reasons to play as a unit. The game will feel more dynamic, fast-paced and give you and your teammates more opportunities for strategic gameplay, just as we intended from the start.
Have any questions or want to see developments as it happens? Join our Discord server. We’ll keep dropping new screenshots and videos as we continue development.
- 5 Fortress Dev Team
Dev Brief #7 | New changes, bigger team and a new office
Hey everyone,
We’re coming up for air one more time as we’re deep into our development cycle. We have some really cool news to share with you on what’s going on with Shattle and how 5 Fortress as a company is growing. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
You've probably seen glimpses of our new and upcoming assets and cover art if you’ve been following us on our social media channels. We’ve mentioned before that we’re getting a new look and feel, and our art department has really stepped it up. This new cover art you can see above, created by our talented Lead Game Artist Patrik, shows off our characters, what to expect from the game and even hints at some of our future features for those with a keen eye. We’ll go into more details on the changes down the line, but expect more of the same as development continues.
Speaking of our teams, we have recently begun to scale up our dev teams in the programming and UI/UX departments. One of the first challenges we have them tackling is completely re-doing our inventory system.
Our old system was outdated, generic and did not fit our gameplay and early testers felt it was clunky. It got the job done for our initial build, but we know we can do better. So now we’re building it from scratch and creating something unique to our game that actually works as intended. Look for more updates on that as we go forward.
Next up, our new FPS mode is shaping up nicely. While we’re still early in the process and a lot of work still needs to be done to make it look and feel great for players, our external QA company has come back saying they really like it from their first impressions. We’ve explained in earlier devlogs why this change is important to Shattle, so the development team is committed to nailing this feature.
Our newest map Vargen is continuing to come together, as you can see in our latest WIP pictures above (more on that in a future blog). But it’s not the only thing we’re building at 5 Fortress.
While we’ve created the game mostly remotely, that’s soon to change as we move into a new office next month. Located in Boden, Sweden, the new space will allow us to work closely with each other again, collaborate more on game development as we move forward with Shattle and potentially give you more opportunities to learn more about us and our team. So look for new office news in the future!
That’s it for this week. As always, you can catch up with us on our social channels, and if you want to learn more about Shattle or ask the devs questions, make sure to join our Discord channel as well.
- 5 Fortress Dev Team
Dev Brief #6 | Major Changes Coming
Hey Everyone,
Sorry you have not heard from us in a while. We’re proud to announce that we have expanded our team and have moved into a new phase of development so that means we have a lot of work to do in the coming months as we prepare Shattle with some major changes.
Before we get into exactly what those changes are, we want to thank everyone who has taken the time to take part in our playtests. All of your valuable feedback is what is driving our development team going into our next phase, and all of our changes are being made with you and your gameplay experience in mind.
We’re not going to go into details on each change this week (though look forward to more feature deep-dives in the near future), but here is a list of what we are working on:
Shattle is turning into an FPS
Our current game modes are being built from the ground up to have a greater focus on teamwork
Redesigning our inventory system to be better and faster
Our crafting system is being re-done from scratch
New and improved respawn mechanics that actually make a difference
Introducing a progression system for players
Reimagining current and future map layouts with our new gameplay in mind
We can’t end this devlog without talking about the current crisis in Ukraine. As developers, it saddens us to see the toll on human lives and the devastating destruction going on right now. In respect of the Ukrainian people and everyone affected by this situation, we are changing the way we present and talk about Shattle. This includes graphical profiles, word choices and sound effects.
If you want to know more, ask the developers questions and be the first to see our updates, join our Discord server.
- 5 Fortress Dev Team
Re-Run | Developer AMA Livestream
As promised, we're back again with a re-run of our Shattle stream from last night!
Check out our latest available playable build, hear from the devs about what's coming and get a sneak peek at the development process at 5 Fortress.
See you there!
-5 Fortress Team
POSTPONE | Developer AMA Livestream
Update: Due to streaming issues with Steam we have to stop the stream tonight. Watch our store page tomorrow as we'll so a re-run at the same time as tonight
To kick off Steam Next Fest we're going live for our first ever developer stream AMA. We'll even fill you in on what major gameplay changes are on the way 😱
See you there!
-5 Fortress Team
Shattle is part of Steam Next Fest | Don't miss the developer livestream & AMA
Hey everyone!
We're proud to announce that we will be taking part in this month's Steam Next Fest. From February 21-28, we will open up our servers and accept all playtest signups for Shattle.
But that's not all! To celebrate, we will be hosting a developer live stream and AMA on our Twitch channel. It'll be a chance to hear directly from the devs about the current build and what's coming up in future updates.
Join us on Monday, February 21 at 7:30 PM UTC/ 2:30 PM EST / 11:30 AM PST on our YouTube Channel.
