Indiegogo short link: http://igg.me/at/playfault

We will be updating this project page with new graphics and information, but the perks will not change! We may add more perk types or levels if there is demand.

UPDATE: The same heroes in the “High Five” perk are available as an add-on item in your cart when you select any other perk.

Please Read:
Indiegogo will not process your perks, we have to do it manually. We will try to send codes within 8 hours of purchase. Thanks for being patient.

We here at Strange Matter Studios, with the support of our backers, are completely invested in building a next gen 3D action-MOBA game. All of us here were passionate Paragon players and desire to see the game’s soul return—but with all of the potential we knew it had. That’s exactly what we have been working on all year, and exactly what we continue to pour our hearts into everyday. Our upcoming Paragon-inspired game, Fault, has the feel of Paragon, but with a focus on competitive-level play and mechanics that will keep players returning for more. For newcomers, we hope you see the potential of the genre and choose to support our studio on this journey of innovation. And for our beloved community that has been holding it’s breath for over 1.5 years, we hope you are able to fall in love with this project as you watch it evolve into the game we have always wanted.

Our philosophy is that the gameplay and game mechanics are foremost. If you’ve been watching our Twitch game page or checking out Fault content on YouTube, you’ve seen the game we’ve made up to this point. Having already developed a fully-functional and feature-filled 5v5 MOBA, we now need your help to fill in and polish the remaining components. Every dollar helps us keep matchmaking servers running and to push larger and more impactful updates. We plan to generously reward our contributors who are helping us realize our goals. Thanks for the consideration of your support of Fault and we hope to see you on the battlefield!

Our game and map design revolves around action-packed, competitive play. Players should never be isolated from action or allowed to simply go into “autopilot” in lane. To achieve such a game, we needed inspiration from many sources, so we drew from Paragon and many other MOBAs. As a result, you’ll see influences from more than just Legacy and Monolith Paragon. The aesthetic of the map is clearly Monolith. We liked the pace and action in Monolith games more, but we wanted the scale to be larger and players to have more options of pathing when traversing the map, more akin to Legacy play. As for itemization, we wanted an open store so any item could be built at any time, allowing players to express their skills by reacting to their opponents’ builds without restrictions. Lastly, we wanted every choice the player makes to be impactful. So we designed the Aspect/Faction system (a fusion of League’s rune system and Paragon’s deck affinity system) to allow the player to make impactful gameplay decisions both before and during the game. All of this adds together to make a system that can be as versatile or targeted as the player chooses. As for game times, we want games wrapped up around 30-40 minutes. All of these designs are still under construction, and will be continuously adjusted as we experiment and tweak during Alpha tests.

Everyone at our studio works tirelessly in their free time to make this Project happen (just look at how far we’ve come in the past 11 months). We have done this purely as volunteers, often sinking personal funds into the studio’s necessities along the way. But now, with the support of the community, we have finally hit the point where we know that financial support will accelerate even further the pace of updates and content for our players.

First, why is the goal flexible? Meaning we keep the funds regardless of if we reach our goal.

To quote Indiegogo: “Choose flexible funding if any amount of money will help you reach your campaign objective and you’ll still be able to fulfill your perks.”

Because our perks are deliverable regardless of hitting our goal, flexible funding is the appropriate funding type for our campaign. Fixed goals are when “you have a strict go/no-go threshold.” And that is not true of Fault. Strange Matter will continue our work regardless of if we hit our goal. So the purpose of our campaign is to accelerate progress and to recruit skills/services that are outside the skill sets of our current team. A fixed goal would imply that if we don’t reach the goal then we won’t be able to continue working, and that simply isn’t true. 

Why $100,000 USD?

We chose the goal by considering what our needs are and what is realistic for our backers to provide. This amount of capital will give us sufficient funds to bring the game into a state that is ready for marketing to the gaming community at-large (see the next section). In order to attract all backgrounds of gamers, Fault will need to have the fit and finish of a AAA-level game. Right now, we have some truly impressive skill sets on our team, but in order to hit the AAA standard, there are tasks that we would prefer be tackled by specialized experts. The next section describes how the money will be utilized. In this way, there is no wasted time nor money. 

With funds beyond our goal, we will be able to start looking at features well beyond the scope of our current team. This primarily includes brand new character models and animations, as well as brand new level assets that meet the quality expectations of a Paragon-like game.

We already have optimized pipelines for making heroes, items, and improving upon 3D art. So the money received will go into the additional features and content required for the polish and upkeep of the game.

• Hero animation and particle effects – We know that the look and feel of the game, especially one similar to Paragon, is paramount. So these funds will allow us to get the expertise needed to polish hero animations and improve particle effects for hero abilities where they are lacking.
   
• Code-base – Our players deserve a virtually bug-free experience on dedicated servers that run smoothly. Thus, much of the funds will go to getting professional help or consultation for elements in the code that are best-tackled by specialized programmers. With enough funding, our first full-time employee would likely be in this department.
   
• Servers – The price of servers adds up, especially when running many at once to support quick match load times. You buying an early access key will easily cover your server usage up to the full release of the game (late 2020) and beyond! Based on our current data, we can guarantee that no more that 5% of crowdfunding will go toward this purpose. 
   
• Sound – We want nothing short of Paragon-level sound for upcoming heroes and sound reworks.
   
• Art – We will need 2D art to fill the item store, menus, and loading screens. Additionally, we will need concept art in order to produce new skins and heroes when we have the funding and pipeline to achieve it.

  In the interest of transparency, you should also know that any money received for content in Unreal Engine is subject to the 5% royalty fee. This includes crowdfunding.

  
   

• The satisfaction of supporting the rebirth of your favorite game, but in an even better form!
   
• Early access – Starts in the first quarter of 2020! Servers will be up 24/7, so play whenever you like! Spread the word too, because in order for Early access to be successful, we will need a lot of players. All Early Access keys come with 5 heroes unlocked by default: Gideon, Sparrow, Steel, Greystone, and Khaimera. Account progression during early access will stay for full release.
  See the “What costs money and why?” section for more details.
   
• Holiday access – Dec 20th 8 pm EST to Dec 29th 2 am EST –  Want to play Fault over your Holiday break? How does over a whole week of 24-hour servers sound? You will have to play the Alpha build, which comes with some Alpha-level bugs, but check out some recent gameplay, people are having a blast playing and the extra support we receive can go a LONG way. All holiday players will have ALL HEROES UNLOCKED for the holiday event, after which the heroes will be locked again based on the accounts perk level (for Early Access). Note: These are likely to be North American servers only, unless we sell enough keys to support EU matchmaking as well. Stay tuned!
   
• Coins – Pay-only currency within Fault. 1000 coins will be roughly equal to $10.
   
• “Tough” Gideon – A Gideon cosmetic skin exclusive to people who support us at the silver level and higher on IndieGoGo. See image below. It will never be for sale in our in-game store. We reserve the right to make a recolor of this skin as an incentive for the launch of console editions of Fault.
   
• “Action Hero” Twinblast – A Twinblast cosmetic skin exclusive to people who support us at the founder level and higher on Indiegogo. See image below. It will never be for sale in our in-game store. We reserve the right to make a recolor of this skin as an incentive for the launch of console editions of Fault.
   
• Permanently Rename an Item – Yes, that’s right, master level supports can collaborate with the Game Designers for Fault to rename an item (of their choice) permanently. The new name must match the style and theme of other items in the store, but each item can be personalized by the backer within reason. The name must be agreed upon by the backer and the Game Designers. Additionally, we will consider engaging such items in the lore of the Fault universe when fitting.
   

Tough Gideon:

Action Hero Twinblast:

How do I claim my perks?

At least 24 hrs before each access event begins, you will receive a code at the email on your Indiegogo account for each key in your bundle. Each code is redeemable on ANY playfault.com player account after logging into the website. Keys redeemed on our website will have their respective Steam Game Key sent out via the email on the player account. Holiday keys purchased after the 18th will be emailed redeemable codes within 24 hours. Email support@strangematter.co if you need help with anything.
 

This section is simply to explain how we are choosing to monetize our goods and why.
Are we going to take money for skins? Yes.
Are we going to take money for heroes? Also yes.
But both heroes and skins will also be unlockable by playing the game.

Some of you may wonder if this is fair, so let us explain. Strange Matter Studios doesn’t just want to bring our favorite heroes back and say it’s done… we want to create a game that can grow and thrive for years, and that’s gonna take a lot of support. Being a small studio, we do not have the financial resources of studios like EPIC who get royalties on their engine and can afford to take financial hits in order to make game content more accessible to their players. We will have to use the same funds from selling the game to improve the game. Further, the standard of asset fidelity is set so high that we will need more funds than most other games to make our ideas a reality. So as a team we discussed this and decided it was best that we adopt a model that is established by many other MOBAs: unlockable heroes. But to show our respect to people who find it unfair to pay, we are making all of the content created from free marketplace assets (Heroes, Skins, and Emotes) unlockable, free of charge, by simply playing the game and using the earned in-game currency. Such a model still gives players the option to support the long-term development of the game by sending us some funds for an unlock. We hope you understand that we are trying to respect ALL of our community members: those that are happy to pay AND those that aren’t. The primary benefit being that this model will help support the development of the game far after the “free” assets are exhausted. 

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Indiegogo short link: http://igg.me/at/playfault

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