Fallen Earth Dev Diary: Starter Town Revamp, pt. 1

New Encounter Areas, Creatures and Storyline Expansions in Fallen Earth
The focus of the Fallen Earth starter
town revamp was primarily on the areas around and between the starter and central towns themselves—bringing more life to the outskirts by expanding running storylines and introducing new creatures and conflicts.

If you’re a wasteland resident and have already begun your journey
through the apocalypse, you have most likely come across most, if not all, of the Fallen Earth starter towns and are familiar with the general area.

So while the revamp doesn’t necessarily affect the towns themselves, new encounter areas have improved the regions off the beaten path and will reward players for being adventurous. Players won’t stumble upon any mission that will direct them to these new areas, so they’ll have to do some exploring!





The new encounter areas, creatures and storyline expansions that are at the core of the revamp intensify the post-apocalyptic feel, improving the environment and making game play a little more challenging for those who seek it. The new areas also add more of an element of fear and danger of the unknown.

In phase one of the starter town revamp, our team took a look specifically at the areas around and between starter and central towns in the Westreach Overlook area of Sector one. Towns in this county include Clinton FARM, Boneclaw, Slaughterville, Midway and Odenville.

Within Westreach Overlook, our team created at least five new encounter areas for each starter town, so roughly about 15 in total! It’s a lot of new content and will be exciting for new and existing players to check out, offering more to learn, see, kill and/or loot!

Players will notice quite a few additions around these parts as they venture throughout Westreach Overlook. To offer an idea what has been implemented (and a hint at what is to come), we’ll take a look at some of the new content:


Outside MidwayOne of our most popular starter towns, Midway, is full of hostile lizards and stray dogs that roam the town. During the revamp, we wanted to add in a little challenge and something perhaps a little unexpected—so naturally we decided to throw in a lizard-dog! Yes, one critter, two heads (one snake, one dog).

In a post-apocalyptic world where everything surviving has essentially been mutated, its existence is in line with the natural evolution of the game and the new lizard-dog adds a unique creature to the wasteland!

But don’t think just because he roams a starter area that he’s friendly, oh no—this lizard-dog is a whopping level ten (even tougher than the average level ten critter), adding a level of challenge, but a sure reward for the brave.

The lizard-dog that roams in and around Midway is an example of a minor change that makes a big impact!



Beyond Clinton FARMPlayers who venture outside of Clinton FARM will also find new areas of interest. Here, Gaunts Raiders have begun salvaging out parts from an old LifeNet pod, backpacking the parts around the north end of the town. Why? Well, players will just have to find out!

This new encounter area builds on the storyline that begins in Kingman Prison, offering players a little more background as to what exactly is going on at the prison. While it’s more of a visual encounter area, providing valuable insight into one of the major running storylines and a hint at what’s to come, it’s also a great opportunity for brave clones to score some scarce resources! But be careful, Gaunts Raiders don’t take kindly to folks stealin’ their loot!


Past OdenvilleClones, beware. Vicious salvagers from all over the wasteland have concentrated their efforts just outside Odenville. They prowl the area and are hostile towards anyone brave enough to encroach on their territory. The local townspeople are fighting the salvagers in a losing battle over the area's resources.

Salvagers may have the upper-hand with their sudden increase in attacks, but if you choose to help, you’ll enjoy some great loot by assisting the townspeople.



Simsonville
You know, that area between Odenville and Mumford. If you’re looking for a nice group content encounter area in Sector One, this is it. Here, the throwbacks (or mutants) that have taken over the town have gotten tougher. Much stronger and harder to kill, the mutants now require more players to take them out. Look for better harvest nodes if you and your fellow clones can manage to clear out the area.





Players can expect to see more of these areas in-game (including the great Salvager’s Fortress), and more to come as we continue the starter town revamp into phase two!