FAR – An early look

FAR from Mr.Whale’s and published by Mixtvision Digital, is a 2.5D vehicle management/survival exploration game due for release in early 2017 on Xbox live and Steam. I caught up with the developers to talk about the game and the development process.

If, like me, you often wonder what it would be like to be a bright red anthropomorphic box with legs, guiding an industrial vehicle through the post-apocalyptic remnants of a proud seafaring nation scattered across a seemingly endless dried out seabed . . . then FAR may be the game for you.

FAR is a uniquely styled 2.5D (3d models and environments but with movement restricted to the X and Y) vehicle management and upgrading exploration game. You control an odd looking character as it (I have no idea what it is) strives to keep its vehicle running in order to traverse across a scrolling landscape. The goal is to keep going across the dried up sea bed for as far as you can, while piecing together clues, that hint at a greater purpose for your character and its vehicle. To do so you have to manage the internal systems of your vehicle, providing it with fuel, repairs and upgrades, as well as dealing with any obstructions in your way.

In the last couple of years there have been a number of 2d/2.5d survival/resource management games (This war of mine, Final Station etc) so what’s so different about this one? Well, for the most part, the stylish graphics of FAR are what set it apart from its rivals. There is an eerie unsettling, but not unpleasant, melancholic atmosphere to the game, which has been sophisticatedly created by forming an environment of contrasts. The simple yet stylish 3D monochromatic environments are splashed with vivid contrasting colours and, in the same vein, the stillness of the natural features and the long forgotten man-made structures (which almost blend together) contrast with the moving machinery of your character and its vehicle, separating the past from the present and exacebatng that sense of post-apocalyptic isolation. This pushes your desire to further explore the landscape and find out what happened to the civilisation whose relics you are passing by, as well as figuring out your own purpose.

Even before its release FAR has received a number of awards. I caught up with the developer Don Schmocker to get an insight into the development process.

DrJK: How is development going? What have been the highlights and low points?

Don: The development had a good start and is also continuing great. We are still in the early phase of developing FAR: That means, that we are mainly creating new features, which is always exciting. The next step will be new graphic assets as we are currently working with simple shapes as placeholders, which we want to get rid of as soon as possible.

DrJK: What was your inspiration for FAR?

Don: FAR is inspired by a lot of different media and genres. At the start there was the idea of creating a fun vehicle you can control from within. For the style and the atmosphere I took inspiration from Strandbeest by Theo Jansen, the book Stephen Biesty’s Incredible Cross-Sections, which I used to read a lot when I was a child, and movies like The Straight Story by David Lynch. I also really liked elements from the games Journey and Little Big Planet.

DrJK: I believe you studied Game Design at the Zurich University of the Arts, what advantages do you think this has given you (compared to developers that have came into the industry through other routes)? Any downsides?

Don: Studying game design made it possible for me to learn how to make a game and its main elements in quite a short time. I had no technical know-how before. The advantage is, that you are forced to explore new ideas and to work in different teams. A downside is that it’s quite unrealistic to finish the game project you have been working on during your studies.

DrJK: What game engine did you use and why?

Don: We use Unity. We learned to develop with this engine during our studies and came to find that Unity offers some advantages like its GUI and the ability to develop for and port to different platforms.

DrJK: Do you have any advice for any potential indie developers?

Don: I think there are lots of different ways to create, finish and distribute a game successfully. If you get a very clear idea of your game concept right from the start, it definitely helps a lot to make decisions later on in the development process.

DrJK: What type of game do you see yourself making in five years time?

Don: I am actually pretty open to different game genres, though I would love to be able to continue creating games with a certain artistic standard.

DrJK: What else have you been up to?

Don: We just came back from E3 2016 where we presented FAR at the ID@Xbox showfloor. We loved the atmosphere there and had the chance to talk to other developers as well as players. So, we’re full of new impressions and ideas, now, and ready to build a few of them into our game. We plan to release FAR in Q1 2017 and it is surely going to be an exciting ride for us!

DrJK: That sounds great and we’re all looking forward to seeing the completed game. Speak to you soon, cheers.

MrWhale’s FAR is due for release on Steam and Xbox Live early in 2017, you can check it out on Facebook, Twitter and on its website.

You can read more of DrJK’s reviews and articles here!

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