Falcon Age 1.2 Big Bird Update on Switch, Steam, and Epic Store out now!
Switch and Steam Launch Trailer
We’ve added new content and modified a lot of the gameplay systems
STAT BUCKET SYSTEM
Complete overhaul of bird’s stat system
New “Stat Bucket System” based on combat usage not timers
Buffs feed into individual stat’s resource bucket that only drains with combat actions
Allows players to engage with hunting, cooking, and combat prep at their pace without ‘wasting’ resources
New clean UI to help convey amount of resources available, and showcase how much equipment is boosting it’s specific stats
To make this overhaul work we converted the timer based system into what we called the Stat Bucket system. Under this system all of the bird’s possible stats had its own “bucket”, that buff items like food would fill. As the player engaged in a specific combat mechanic, the associated Stat Bucket would use that resource. This had an immediate effect on combat encounters as the player could witness changes to the UI based on combat actions.
With this change the player could prepare food before an encounter and know they could flesh out a bird build without wasting resources, like in cases where enemies aren’t immediately in the entrance of an Outpost or Refinery. The second aspect of the Stat Bucket system is the ability to move the bottom of the bucket or “floor”, with bird equipment. This meant that through the game the player could accrue an assortment of equipment that would keep a specific Stat Bucket full to a certain level as long as the item was equipped. There are now a multitude of different endgame Bird Builds achievable that weren’t previously.
COMBAT ENCOUNTER REDESIGNS
Outposts updated to extend the exploration and combat period
Redesigns to better integrate the outposts into the games environmental storytelling
Combat flow reworked with new barriers, pathways, and enemy placement to add further tension to encounters
Through playtesting we found there were a few areas that were missing a little something, and had the opportunity to build out really dynamic and fun encounters. One of my main focuses at the time was looking at pre-existing assets and finding ways to rework them in these new encounters. Lets go over my favorite example, the Desert Outpost.
Looking through the assets used for the Desert Outpost, we found the scene used a larger concentration of steel boxes. This stood out and made the scene have a sense of being a storage encampment. The fact that this Outpost is on an isolated island with bridges for access meant we could lean heavily into this being a fortified cache. We moved the deactivator goal further from the initial walk area and erected massive walls. The first time you see them jutting out of the natural landscape you get the impulse to figure out what the Bots are hiding back there. The pathway to the Deactivator we built brings the player up in elevation to give the player a clear view of the storage crate combat maze ahead. This resulted in a new but familiar encounter that gives the player all the knowledge they need to quickly contain the problem.
The final results are combat encounters that feel familiar but refreshing and exhilarating.
Cooking Recipe & Food Redistribution
Redistribution of food items and treasures
Adjustment of status effect % for cooked foods
Recipe card redistributed through the world
Simplified food “tier” system for new bird stat system
Working with the narrative flow, combat flow and various systems wouldn’t be complete without a rework of the hunting and cooking systems. Cooking is one of the first systems the player is introduced to and is one of the pillars of the combat system. As we reworked combat encounters and world flow we found that the cooking system wasn’t matching the flow.
Ingredients and recipe cards needed to be more evenly distributed across the environment. How did we get in this pickle in the first place? Initial designs were that we wanted to have key vegetation locked behind completing each Refinery, that way there was direct content unlock after major progress. This helped the Refinery shutdowns have more impact on the systems, but meant that the world was empty of vegetation, due to the content gating. We had to weigh narrative impact against improving the overall world design, and found that integrating the vegetation across the world made it feel much more lived in.
Now that we had a more vibrant world that the player could more freely engage with and experiment with, we had to ensure that the player was being more evenly drip fed recipe cards. Recipe cards are actually optional and not needed for cooking, as the player can stumble into recipes through experimentation. Still we needed to make sure recipes that had impact for the player in that moment were accessible. Another aspect of redistributing vegetation and recipe cards properly was how it would feed into the new stat system.
Food items have been completely redesigned for this update. After redistributing and trimming the recipes and ingredients in the world we studied how players would use the food items, which ones were most likely to be made and how well the buffs were conveyed. We found that food items as a whole were not engaged with on the level we were hoping for, as players found the timed effects to be quickly wasted. It was easier for some players to just ignore the system entirely, due to lack of clarity and quick buff drains.
Now that we had a cooking system which was easier to engage with, we wanted to ensure the player could more easily parse the How, When & Why of the buff items that resulted as well. Food items originally used a short timer and a multitude of different “levels” for the percentage amount of stat buff the bird got from the item. We wanted to simplify the Stat Buff system and have player decisions have a greater effect for longer stretches of combat, instead of bursts of stat improvement in small sections.
Quest Additions and Changes
Additional NPC dialog across the board focusing on furthering the lore of the game, detailing more about the characters’ history and perspectives on current events
New quest with The Painter that explores new bespoke areas known as Landmarks
Further integration of fauna hunting with player progress and bird growth through a whole new quest NPC, The Hunter
For this update we wanted to take the time to further explore how the individual elements of the world fit together. The world is full of fun and charming NPCs with their own perspectives and interests. One of our favorites is the climber character who challenges the player and their bird to a timed challenge. We love how the environment, the player and the characters are all connected into a bespoke experience.
In this update we expanded on a handful of NPC quests to make them more bespoke and further integrated into the world around them. Often this is in direct response to additions and changes we made to the world. The best example of this is the new NPC, The Hunter. They’re very interested in your bird and see an opportunity to help hone her skills through challenges. The player can gain very powerful training gear and lots of fauna materials by defeating The Hunter’s many dangerous challenges.
Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1075080/Falcon_Age/
Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/falcon-age-switch/
