FAR: Lone Sails

FAR: Lone Sails
Developer(s) Mr. Whale's Game Service
Publisher(s) Mixtvision
Platform(s) Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, OS X
Release 2017

FAR: Lone Sails is an upcoming exploration adventure video game in development by Mr. Whale's Game Service. The game will release on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and OS X in the second half of 2017.[1]

Gameplay

In FAR, the player controls the driver of a large vehicle and explores a massive dried ocean bed in a post-apocalypse world searching for an old civilization.[2][3] The game is played from a side-scrolling perspective, with the vehicle interior seen as a cross-section. To control the vehicle the player must move around inside it, operating stations and pressing buttons to perform various functions that keep the vehicle moving.[3] They will also be required to solve puzzles in the world to allow the vehicle to pass.[4]

The game's background story is intentionally vague, with the developers intending for the player's curiosity to motivate them to explore. The game's vehicle is a hybrid between a land and sea vehicle that has been modified a number of times.[1] Players will be able to upgrade and customize the vehicle during the game.[3]

Development

FAR began in 2015 as the Bachelor's student project of lead developer Don Schmocker at the Zurich University of the Arts. The development team expanded to other students at the University working alongside Schmocker during his master's degree. Schmocker was inspired by Strandbeests, the book Stephen Biesty's Incredible Cross-Sections, The Straight Story, and games such as Journey and LittleBigPlanet when designing FAR. Looking to take a new approach to the use of vehicles in video games, the developers aimed to create a game where the player was dependent on their vehicle, forming an emotional attachment to it over the course of the game.[1]

The game is developed in Unity, and the developers use Blender and Adobe Photoshop for the 3D and 2D graphics respectively.[1]

Reception

Writing for Mashable, Anna Washenko named the game as one of her favourites from E3 2016, calling it a "simple but lovely game".[4] After playing the game at GDC 2017, Chris Livingston of PC Gamer described FAR as "one of the most intuitive games" he had played, also praising the visual design and music.[5]

The game was a finalist in the Best Student Game category at the 2017 Independent Games Festival.[6][7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Couture, Joel (15 February 2017). "Road to the IGF: Student project FAR: Lone Sails". Gamasutra. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  2. ↑ Foxall, Sam (5 February 2017). "Sail the literal open ocean in solitary adventure game Far: Lone Sails". PCGamesN. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Lahti, Evan (16 June 2016). "Take a weirdly charming roadtrip through the post-apocalypse in Far". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  4. 1 2 Washenko, Anna (20 June 2016). "The 10 best independent games at E3 2016". Mashable. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  5. ↑ Livingston, Chris (4 March 2017). "This week's highs and lows in PC gaming". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  6. ↑ "Finalists and Winners". Independent Games Festival. Retrieved 21 March 2017.
  7. ↑ Chalk, Andy (9 January 2017). "Independent Games Festival Awards finalists announced". PC Gamer. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
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