Questions Regarding Development

[warlordwarcaster#8468]

Greetings!

My wife and I supported Firefall tremendously, both financially and in time played (over 2k hours) and still miss it horribly. However, we've been looking forward to Em-8ER intensely, though there's not much in the way of media showing where it's at in terms of development.

I only just found a couple of videos tonight, though not much footage. We'd love to get into the apparently closed backer beta, but need some honest feedback regarding the game's development.

• How far along, generally speaking, is the game in terms of development?
• Is the game definitively being supported enough as to expect an actual release and, if so, what does the timeline look like right now?
• How much is currently implemented in the game in terms of frames, skills/abilities, enemies and activities?
• Lastly, where exactly would we be able to back the game in order to have access?

Any and all candid, honest information and feedback would be immensely appreciated.

From what we've seen, the world looks gorgeous and the very limited amount of visual effects we've been able to find video on look good thus far, but there's really almost nothing to go on at the moment.

Any plans for a media section on the website? No videos listed here at all that I could find.

Anyway, any and all responses with as much info as possible would be hugely appreciated!

Cheers! (from two of the biggest Firefall freaks walking the face of the Earth!)

 

[Thorp]

Em8er is in the very early stages of development; pre-kickstarter, pre-pre-pre just about everything. Grummz is currently the only full time dev while others are part time. There's still quite some time before Em8er has enough content to feasible launch a Kickstarter campaign.

You can view videos of what is currently available for play

As for gameplay right now players can use 2 abilities (Deepstrike = Crater / and Overthrust = Afterburner). Jetpacks have directional dash ability that uses fuel. Glider pads are no longer needed. Landing on the ground converts speed to a sliding skill and you can shoot your weapon while sliding. Thumper calldowns are available and the mech will walk around mining resources.

The next demo build will include the return of the plasma cannon. A new skill similar to a missile barrage. And a secret nobody knows yet. Said to be released in about 2 weeks. It is planned that most Firefall skills will return in Em8er but they may be tweaked to better fit Em8er. There will also be no class restriction and instead will have Heavy/Medium/Light and players will have to balance their power allocation to equip the most efficient skill to power ratio. (Player bases will play a huge role in what crafting and resources players will have access to).

The Kickstarter campaign won't happen until certain criteria are met. 20k forum members, thumper encounter, Kaiju shapeshifting, and a few others. There's still a bunch to do but perhaps by the end of this year a Kickstarter will be announced.

You can currently become a backer to gain access to the demos and these rewards will end 30 days before the launch of the Kickstarter campaign. https://my.em8er.com/perks/campaign/5

You can also become a monthly subscriber which does not buy a copy of the game but does gain access to demos that are "1 release" older than the current. This subscription grants a monthly "rare" skin, supports server upkeep, and gets us closer to stretch subscription goals such as additional battleframe concepts before full production. These rare skins will be available for purchase in-game but on rare occasions. https://my.em8er.com/perks/campaign/7

Sign up for the newsletter and join the discord to keep up to date on development. From time to time there are raffles for backer packs and even packs that are no longer available! (Thanks Maven!).

Lastly, Grummz plans to have future expansions to be crowdfunded. As long as players meet the financial goal of creating expansion content then Em8er will continue to grow. Furthermore all players will gain access to expansions regardless if they participated in the funding. "No player left behind."

 

[Pandagnome]

You can also hop on the Em8er discord channel also when they have Chief chats they have a give away for a chance to win certain packs, and find out more about the game too.

 

[Faeryl]

LOTS of AWESOME STUFFZ

We're ALWAYS glad to see more fellow Firefall Refugees discover Em-8ER!! We have an AWESOMESAUCE community here!!

@Thorp pretty much covered it!! Thanks Thorp!!

Just a few things I'd like to add...

1) There are also community-made videos of the demos backers have tested thus far. One of our AWESOMESAUCE community members, @Skube has a YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/BorisfromIL

2) Here is a list (per Grummz on Discord) that are the most critical pieces of criteria for the Dev Team to complete before the Kickstarter can happen:

[Original date of list from Grummz - November 6, 2019]

• Released (Jan. 30, 2020): THMPR calldown and mining
  • Gathering feedback & bugs
• TBA: Tsi-Hu shooting at players
• TBA: Tsi-Hu Transforming to beast mode
• TBA: Melee
• TBA: Video with Kaiju and Base Destruction
• TBA: Some mockup UI for crafting for the video
• [TBA: Human models in omniframes]
• [TBA: Forum sign-ups reach 20k]

Keep in mind, this list is not all-inclusive. There may be more on the checklist we the community are not yet aware of.

Note: The last two, in brackets [...], were added by me.

3) I HIGHLY recommend joining us on The Official Em-8ER Discord!!
Here is a link: https://discord.gg/em-8er


If you have any more questions please let us know.
We are happy to answer them!!

CHEERS! ~ Faeryl
(aka: FAIRYL the A.I. NYNJA on Discord), Em-8ER Greeter