DevBlog#1 - Introduction to Fallen Leaf Studio
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>> Welcome_to_the_first_DevBlog
Hello,
I'm Terry, the Community Developer from Dear Villagers, and my favourite character in Fort Solis is Jack Leary! How about yours?
Today, I am with Fallen Leaf Studio, an exciting new independent game developer based in Warsaw and Liverpool, to discuss our thoughts on Fort Solis!
Without any delay, let's dive right in!
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[h2]Greetings from Fallen Leaf[/h2]
[h3] Who are we?[/h3]
As mentioned, we are a team of veteran independent game developers based in Warsaw and Liverpool.
The story of Fallen Leaf began with two individuals who founded the studio: James Tinsdale, the Game Director of Fort Solis, and Fallen Leaf CEO Piotr Kurkowski. Currently, our studio consists of fourteen members!
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[h3]Why Fort Solis?[/h3]
The ideas for Fort Solis began to develop during the period of COVID-19 when the shows on streaming services such as Netflix were becoming popular. Inspired by the best shows, we were ready to take a TV-quality story in the other direction.
Instead of aiming for a typical 30/40-hour game, we set out to create something visually immersive, dense, and profound. Our goal was to provide players with a unique and fulfilling experience by telling a human story with authentic-feeling characters.
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[h2]What do we think of Fort Solis?[/h2]
Let's ask some of the team members and see how they think about the two questions below!
[h3]Who is your favourite character and why?[/h3]
We believe that each character in Fort Solis brings their own intricacies and elements to the story, all of which work together to create a harmonious chemistry and a fantastic experience.
Seeing each character start out as a conversation or an idea in our minds to being created and animated, then brought to life with our incredible and fantastic actors has been a privilege.
Let's have Matthew Tinsdale from Quality Assurance and Sound Design to answer this!
My favourite character is Wyatt Taylor, played by Troy Baker. Wyatt is a family man and a doctor stationed on Mars with genuine compassion for his friends and colleagues. When people on the base start getting sick, he tries to find the cause and investigate. Frustrated by his lack of clearance, he begins to believe that people aren't taking his warnings seriously. Wyatt is a complex character whom you begin to understand and empathise with as the game progresses. You start to think, "Is he right? The dilemma is thought-provoking, and we hope it resonates with players.
However, our 3D Animator Milena Skornik-Nogalska seems to have a different opinion:
With each animated scene I created, I became aware of how close Jessica Appleton and I actually are. We both work in a team where the men outnumber the women every day. Jess would never miss an opportunity to playfully tease Jack, and for me, that means that positive relationships dominate her work.
Jess also has an artistic soul that she tries to express wherever she can - with pins on her suit, a nose piercing, and a helmet decorated with her own drawings.
She is sympathetic thanks to the fantastic work of the art team and Julia Brown, who played her role brilliantly, providing her voice and playing her movements in motion-capture footage. This duo makes her a resourceful woman who wins the hearts of the audience with the power of friendship, all the while maintaining her laid-back attitude. How can you not love her?
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[h3]What do you like most about the game?[/h3]
Tough question for the team! Let's have more people to answer it!
First, let's listen how our 3D Animator Damian Sewerynski say about it:
The Story! It’s the thing I love the most in our game! Thrilling and not obvious. Even after you find the answer to the question "who/what?”, there’s still "why?”. And this “why” erases the gap between great movies and our game in terms of story quality and depth. It treats the player seriously. To get the most out of it, put on your detective hat, pay attention to details and survive both Mars’ weather and encounters with its inhabitants.
For Rob Green, our Senior Concept Artist, he thinks the same!
What I love most about Fort Solis is how immersive of an experience it has ended up being, the moment to moment gameplay is straightforward enough that pretty much anyone can pick it up and easily binge their way through to the end. It is so easy to get invested in solving the mystery of Fort Solis, even as a developer who already knows exactly what is going on!
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[h2]Is Fort Solis a walking simulator?[/h2]
This is one of the most frequently asked questions by players in the community!
Fort Solis is a very narrative-driven experience that aims to tell a character-driven story through an interactive medium. It features puzzles and exploration but doesn't include traditional combat or stealth mechanics.
One of the unique aspects of Fort Solis is the in-game key sequences, where players have the opportunity to engage and influence the cinematic events. Players will also have the freedom to move around the entire base location, whether on the surface or through underground tunnels, without being confined to a predetermined path.
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We hope that you enjoyed reading the DevBlog! For feedback, suggestions, and questions, don’t hesitate to share with us here on Steam or in the Official Dear Villagers Discord!
Wishlist Fort Solis and see you soon on 22nd August.
Fallen Leaf Studio
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1931730/Fort_Solis/
