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Funded! This project was successfully funded on December 1, 2012.

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Diablo meets Left 4 Dead - Indie style! For the Pc, Mac, Linux, Xbox360, PS3 and Ouya. Will also be available DRM free.


Updater overview'ness:

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FORCED is a fast-paced cooperative arena combat game. In it, you work together with your friends to succeed in ever more dangerous trials over a diverse set of arenas. As your team racks up victories, you'll get to level up and customize your skills with the 4 different weapons. If you enjoy fast-paced combat, skill experimentation, and game systems that promote teamwork, then FORCED might be the game for you.

Here's an example of the essential mechanics in a simple level:

A completely new and innovative cooperative mechanic. The Spirit Mentor/Orb is essentially an extra party member with special powers and an ethereal form, which the players must control in unison. They do so by calling him over, and if he touches a shrine while traveling - it will unleash its power. Controlling the spirit mentor is key to success, and he makes every trial unique as his immaterial essence must be used to bypass obstacles and unlock the devious contraptions of the arenas.

Check the Orb/Spirit Mentor feature Video:

FORCED has a heavy focus on teamwork. There are so many features promoting co-op; the Spirit Mentor, the combat mark system, arenas balanced for 1-4 players, and the knockback system that rewards players for combining their attacks as it results in enemies being thrown to the ground.

(We are among top 3% on Steam Greenlight now. We're confident that FORCED will be Greenlit. But your votes will definitely speed it up: link)

FORCED is challenging; there are no difficulty levels or short cuts to victory. If you complete FORCED you can be proud! Success is totally up to you, as there are no random values or damage you have to endure. The game will feature many boss battles and 30+ unique trials, each designed to test the limits of your skills and creativity. Enemies make use of a special tactical AI system, which enables them to work together. They will make use of each other, either by enhancing the strength of their allies - or using them as fleshy shields. 

With 4 classes: Spirit Blades, Volcanic Hammer, Thunder Bow and Frost Shield, each with 16 unlock-able skills, players have millions of team combinations to experiment with. Combine abilities and plan choices to create a unique killing-combo-style. No skill choice is permanent, but they must be unlocked, and players can freely change both weapon and skills to counter the ever-changing trials. 

Marks are a combat mechanic and players have skills that add or spend marks. This allows for great creativity regarding co-op combat and responsibilities. For instance, let the bow mark a few targets and the hammer spend them with his powerful volcanic strike.

You have been marked as heroes for your entire life. When you come of age, ancient tradition dictates that you travel down a mysterious tunnel. The tunnel is the only exit out of your village, surrounded as it is by massive cliffs. No one has ever returned from the tunnel, and no one knows where it leads. However, you have realized that you won't solve the mystery of your village's fate unless you uncover where the tunnel leads.

  • DRM free version
  • Intended platforms: Pc, Mac, Linux, Xbox360, PS3 (see risks and challenges) 
  • Online, LAN & local co-op
  • Controller support, works well with Steam Big Picture
  • Up to four players on the same computer/console.

FORCED is created by a small team, comprising of learn-hard young developers, who live together in a house near Copenhagen, Denmark. We are trying to realize our dream of creating awesome multiplayer games. 
We have dedicated more than 2 years together, literally living and sleeping at a university, as well as in our shared house studio. We have a shared vision and we are power-leveling our development experience! 

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Every time you show us some love, FORCED gets better:

Risks and challenges Learn about accountability on Kickstarter

You interviewing us:

-----"How experienced are you guys?"
Well.. We aren't exactly the most experienced tools in the shed, but we can definitely cut things..

-----"Fair enough, do some name dropping - what other titles have you made?"
We haven't really released anything before...

-----"Okay? But isn't FORCED kind of an ambitious start out?"
Hmm.. It does include a few concepts new developers probably shouldn't start out with such as: 3d, 1-4 player cooperation, online multiplayer, challenging melee combat design, extreme WYSIWYG design, advanced AI and a serious theme as opposed to humour...

-----"Uhm?"
...That's also why it's been taking soooo long. But it's also why we've increased our skills so rapidly because we basically avoided every shortcut - to face the challenges straight on from the start.

-----"Well that's cool and everything, but it sounds like my pledge is a lottery?"
Well, we've been dedicated for almost two years now - not only that, but actually living together in the same room, working 10+ hours per day. It's tough at times yes, but it's definitely worth it and we love it! We've achieved so much already, our sturdy visual design language for the designers, network for online multiplayer, awesome behavior trees for the enemies, lots of art and so much more. More than 1000 people has tried and enjoyed FORCED at conventions with some playing up to 3 hours straight.
We can promise you, that if you help us, our finger bones shall break before giving up on this - or actually that would only delay the process...

-----"Any final words?"
We're going to make this one way or another, it's a matter of time, blood and the quality of the end result. But your help will with certainty mean a much better game and get us there safe and fast - as well as forming a team that will be devoted to bringing you awesome multiplayer games in many years from now.

-----"Final final words?"
Come on... :)

Specifically on platforms:
FORCED has been designed to play very well both with controllers and keyboard/mouse, and the Unity engine fully supports cross platform development. Therefore we'll try our best to get FORCED out on all major platforms (PC, Mac, Linux, XBOX360, PS3, WII).
But we can't know for sure if we will be able to release on Xbox/Ps3 but we can promise you that we will do what we can. That's why we aren't offering console downloads as for now, cause microsoft/sony is a slightly different dance than steam.

FAQ

  • How is the orb handled in single player?

    The Orb in single player has been a major design challenge, but we felt we’ve arrived at a very nice solution. You can still place and call the orb in single player, making it controllable, and adding a strategic element to the experience. But we’ve had to manually alter every single level, to ensure that it’s challenging and fun both for teams and single players. This solved the problem, but added a lot of extra work, which is okay because our designers doesn’t need that much sleep ;)

    Last updated:
  • Is it possible to support with paypal?

    We received some requests for an option to donate via paypal, and lo and behold, here it is! Just jump in via this nifty link http://www.forcedthegame.com/, and it should be readily apparent.

    Last updated:
  • What do you need the money for?

    Right now the team members are basically spending a lot of money on being part of the development. Half of us has skipped our apartments and live together in rooms of 2, which enables us to afford a studio. The other part of the team pays their own transport just to get to work, and we've been doing that for more than a year. People are going all in! and the money would simply allow us to pay the rent and transportation for the remainder of the development, as well as some motivational meals now and then.

    Last updated:
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