Fog'N'Silence

There are several reasons for this design decision.

Aesthetics. We want to unleash the potential of the visual component to the fullest and decided to add the possibility to both observe the canvas of a surreal landscape from a bird's eye view, as well as examine the environment and our squad in all their glory up close. The artist and animator spend a fantastic amount of time detailing the environment and characters so that even when zoomed in, the picture will not look simplistic.

Gameplay. The idea is to conventionally divide the gameplay into two levels. At the upper level - with a large distance from the camera to the ground - the player orients themselves in space, studies and scans it, thinks over the route, and uses the devices the squad members are equipped with. At the lower level - when the camera is hanging very close to the ground - it is much more convenient for the player to interact with local environment objects, use the inventory and manage the needs of the squad.

Immersion. In order to break the “fourth wall” (or at least make it crack), it was decided to turn the camera from an abstract into a real in-game object. The camera in FnS is a small drone that circles above the squad and captures everything that happens on camera. And you, the players, are both its operators and unwitting observers at the same time. Where this drone came from and who sent it — you have yet to find out! To enhance the effect of presence, we even screwed in a cool mechanical sound — when you change the zoom level, the optics on the drone's cameras are rearranged, making a nice analog noise! Also, under some conditions, the camera may experience interference when the signal deteriorates, and in especially severe cases, the image temporarily disappears, forcing you to control the survivors blindly.

The camera almost always hangs over the squad or not far from it (since the drone has a slight delay in reaction). There is no opportunity to influence its position — the machine simply executes its program and the people below cannot change this anyhow.

The main idea behind this endeavor is to highlight the development process to a great extent with our posts and devlogs. The other team members - lead artist Mef, lead programmer WWW, and sound designer SFTS - will also share their part of the experience. Therefore, we hope that all the game aspects will be covered to the hilt.

So hop aboard! It will be a long and exciting journey!

In a nutshell, FnS is a strange game that tells the story of a group of miscellaneous characters who endlessly travel together through surreal worlds in search of destiny, answers, and salvation.

At the very beginning of the development, the three of us gathered and decided that we would develop a project without regard to trends, tastes of a wide audience, and potential profit, and the development would be completely open to the community.

What do we have now? Within the team, we refer to the current prototype as a “hardcore walking simulator” because there are still a whole bunch of mechanics, tools, and systems to be implemented before the game becomes what it was intended to be.

So, at the beginning of the game, several people wake up in a strange surreal place, reminiscent of either a horror movie or an anatomical atlas on a macro scale. Who they are, how they got here, where to go and how to get out - neither they nor you know, this is to be found out in the process.

You directly control the small group of characters who act as a single entity. At the beginning of the game, there are only 3-4 unfortunates in your team, forced to wander in the fog. But over time, their number may grow if you meticulously explore the world and find other survivors. With a successful combination of circumstances, the detachment can even turn into a small caravan that consists of people, robots, and pack animals.

As for fog, it is included in the title for a reason. Each of the worlds that the characters visit is completely covered with a thick, whitish veil. Fog is everywhere, posing a mortal danger to anyone who finds themselves in it alone without protective equipment. “Solid” light is the only thing that can dispel it. With the help of special lanterns, you can illuminate and clear a small area of fog. But only until the light goes out. Afterward, the fog will swallow all the living things.

But what does the silence have to do with the title? Silence is the state that every FnS player should strive for. The fog is not only dangerous on its own: you can also stumble upon aggressive entities that restlessly wander in it. They are all blind but extremely good at hearing. Any meeting with these creatures results in a couple of corpses, if not the death of the entire detachment. Therefore, silence is a survivor's best friend. But not making a sound at all usually involves standing motionless which is not enough to succeed in some cases. Thus, the gameplay is a constant balancing between static safety and world exploration in search of a way out.

Prof. Sakharov | Ammo Bishop Roden