The burgeoning SpatialOS empire has a new member state this week, as Italy-based Dynamight Studios announced that it is making Fractured using the world-building platform. Fractured is a relatively new project, having started back in January, and promises to combine action RPGs and sandbox MMOs to great effect.
Key features for the project include a skill- and reflex-based combat system, world colonization, player-driven economy, scads of crafting, housing, and characters who are effective from the get-go after choosing strengths and weaknesses. Equipment and levels are being severely downplayed in Fractured, with the emphasis on players expanding their knowledge and reputation during adventures.
Fractured’s knowledge system actually sounds pretty neat: “Say goodbye to the conventional RPG level and skill systems you’ve seen way too often and embrace the power and flexibility of the Knowledge System. It’s about time you get rewarded for your courage and cleverness, not for the hours you’ve spent hunting zombies or punching a training dummy!”
Depending on the choice of race and starting planet (yes, planet), players will be able to select the ruleset of their liking. “We have always felt that the sandbox MMO genre discourages online gamers who don’t appreciate hostile interactions,” said Dynamight CEO Jacopo Gallelli. “Because of this, we have designed a unique universe that will allow players to choose whether to start in an open-PvP environment, a solely cooperative one or a mix of the two, according to their race and planet of choice.”
The small eight-person team at Dynamight said that it was compelled to make Fractured because there is still room for innovation within the sandbox MMO genre. The team said that SpatialOS is making an impossible task of constructing an MMO with limited resources possible. The project is currently self-funded, but the studio is leaving open the door to a Kickstarter campaign in the future.
Fractured is currently working on an alpha build and encourages players to sign up on the website if interested in future tests.
