Fractalus 1.0.0 is now available for download from the Fractalus project page, and is available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, and VR (Oculus/OpenVR)!
It’s been a long running project but it’s finally complete! Fractalus 1.0 includes a heap of changes that bring it very close to the original game (including the alien pilots!).
The 1.0.0 build may not be the last build, as I’m sure there will eventually be bugs and issues found that will need fixing, and there have been several ideas put forward by others and some I’ve had myself for things to expand a bit on the original game.
Huge thanks again to David Fox, Loren Carpenter, and Charlie Kellner from the original Rescue on Fractalus team for their help with bringing the remake as close to the original as possible, and also huge thanks to everyone who helped out with testing and gave feedback during development!
Here’s what’s new in Fractalus 1.0.0;
- Gameplay
- Added New Game screen with starting level selection.
- Added Game Over screen.
- Added High Scores screen.
- Added bonus points sequence on return to mothership.
- Added intro sequence when game is launched.
- Added Demo Droid mode.
- Game progression is now persisted, allowing player to return to the mothership and exit the game, then pick up from the same level and continue playing later.
- Removed “Restart Level” and “Return to Title” menu options, replaced with “Abandon Game” when a game is in progress.
- Mothership availability is now varied.
- Levels 1-8 now have randomly flatter terrain.
- Changing levels in the mothership is now animated.
- Cockpit radar is now centered at the bottom like the original.
- Added VR support (separate controller required – VR controllers not supported).
- Graphics
- Added video settings for changing resolution and quality.
- Added Saucer model.
- Added Mothership model.
- Added Valkyrie model.
- Added Alien model.
- Added planet model in level entry sequence.
- Updated Cockpit and Frameless Cockpit models.
- Updated Pilot model.
- Updated mothership hangar/launch tunnel models.
- Updated cockpit instruments to match appearance from original game and box art.
- Cockpit instruments will now be rendered transparent when in frameless cockpit or flat HUD modes.
- Improved atmosphere texturing.
- Added dust particle burst when landing/launching.
- Fixed UI scaling issues on ultrawide or surround aspect ratios.
- Fixed low quality text rendering in various places.
- Changed several textures to use high quality compression to reduce artifacting and banding.
- Improved compass texture.
- Slowed down weapon sparks on collision with terrain.
- Sounds
- Updated player ship engine sounds.
- Updated player and turret weapon sounds.
- Updated pilot knock sound.
- Updated title music.
- Added music for game over and level completion.
- Added landing/launch impact sounds.
- Improved Saucer sounds.
- Controls
- Added control rebinding options.
- Added support for using a throttle axis instead of throttle up/down buttons.
- Added default bindings for joysticks Saitek X52 and Logitech Extreme 3D Pro (other joysticks will need their bindings manually set up by the player).
- Ship Improvements
- Ship can now be landed at any speed.
- Landing at high speed now causes the ship to lurch forward on impact.
- Player can now return to mothership while landed.
- Throttle up while landed now launches ship.
- Turret Improvements
- Turret firing rate is now slightly varied for less rhythmic firing on higher levels.
- Turret lock-on now has a level-dependent delay on first lock and after each time the lock is broken.
- Turrets will no longer fire at player while returning to the mothership.
- Turret shield and beam colour is now aqua to better match original.
- Saucer Improvements
- Added new Saucer model.
- Improved Saucer flight logic and pathing.
- Saucer sound is now directional.
- Pilot/Crashed Ship Improvements
- Added Ace and Alien pilots.
- Pilot now approaches player ship much faster at high distances.
- Crashed Ships are now only considered as in range if they are within a 90 degree cone in front of the player, matching the radar.
- Other Improvements
- Red overlay on cockpit instruments when ship is damaged is now blended correctly.
- Updated some in-game message text to match original.
- Added dark outline to menu text to make it easier to read.
- Pause menu is now accessible while docked with the mothership, rather than returning to the title screen.
- Added credits screen.
- Fixed issue where boosting to mothership would fail to ascend, leaving the player stuck.
If you have any thoughts, comments or feedback, leave a reply below or let me know on Twitter or Facebook!
Enjoy and stay safe, pilots!