Fractalus 0.9.0 alpha build is now available for download from the Fractalus project page, and is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux!
Fractalus 0.9 has had a number of significant changes, including new procedural terrain generation with a new random terrain every time you enter a level, models for the crashed ship and pilot (and the two are now distinct entities), and a variety of gameplay changes that bring the remake much closer to the original game.
Huge thanks to David Fox, Loren Carpenter, and Charlie Kellner from the original Rescue on Fractalus development team for helping me out with details of the original implementation! On December 28th, David reached out to me on Twitter in a thread where he posted a heap of information about the original game’s development in response to an article in Finnish computer magazine Skrolli which I did an interview for about my remake, and he offered to answer any questions I had about the original game’s development. I asked about game timing, pilot/turret placement, and the terrain generation and he provided information on the timings and placement, and then put me in contact with Loren and Charlie who worked on the terrain generation in the original, so through discussions with them on the details of the original game I have been able to create what I feel is a fairly accurate replica of the original gameplay and terrain generation, with some extra detail made possible on modern hardware.
Here’s what’s new in 0.9.0;
- World improvements
- Added procedurally generated terrain.
- Improved turret and crashed ship placement.
- Sun and stars are now angled in the sky according to latitude (randomly selected with terrain generation).
- Adjustments to sky/sun colours.
- Added atmospheric fading at high altitudes.
- Limited player altitude to stay just above the terrain.
- Full day/night cycle is now 9 minutes long, with 1 minute of darkness, to better match the original game.
- Per-level gameplay parameters now more closely match the original game.
- Pilot improvements
- Added pilot model.
- Added crashed ships.
- Pilot symbol is now a green light beacon on top of crashed ships.
- Crashed ship symbol on radar now flashes.
- Pilot now emerges from crashed ship only once player ship systems are turned off.
- Pilots on the terrain are now killed by turning ship systems on.
- Pilots will now die after several knock sequences if the airlock is not opened.
- Player ship improvements
- Added AMB torpedoes (replaced dual laser bolt).
- Added optional HUD view modes.
- Ship can now be rotated during landing/launching modes.
- Ship’s rotation is now restrained and autocentered while landed and systems are on.
- Weapons can now be fired while launching, landing or landed, if systems are on.
- Ship energy is now consumed slowly when systems are on and when flying varying based on ship velocity.
- Added low ship energy alarm sound.
- Turret improvements
- Added turret model.
- Improved turret laser beam animation and rendering.
- Turrets no longer fire if ship systems are off.
- Turret beam hits now knock ship slightly off course.
- Turrets now share a global cooldown limiting all turret beam fire to 3 shots per second.
- Turret lock can now be broken by moving evasively.
- Saucer improvements
- Improved saucer spawn and flight logic.
- Saucers no longer spawn if ship systems are off or the ship is destroyed.
- Other improvements
- Options menu is now accessible in-game.
- Audio volume can now be set from options menu.
- Added screenshot button (F9) saves to:
- Windows: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\LocalLow\LSD\Fractalus
- MacOS: ~/Library/Application Support/unity.LSD.Fractalus
- Linux: /home/[username]/.config/unity3d/LSD/Fractalus
If you have any thoughts, comments or feedback, leave a reply below or let me know on Twitter or Facebook!
Enjoy!