Encased is an Early Access RPG that's worth starting right now
I have a healthy hesitation when it comes to Early Access RPGs. It almost never seems like the right method to deliver the genre. And then along comes Fallout tribute, Encased, and I’m pretty well converted. While this first playable release of the game certainly has bugs and issues, it offers a hefty chunk of a completely absorbing and intriguing RPG world, that is quite astonishingly deep. And while future updates promise to maintain your progress, I’ve finished the ten or so hours of game on offer here with a desire to start it over anyway, to see how else it could all play out.
I have some hesitations too, and we’ll get to those, but I want to begin by celebrating the setting, with which I’m absolutely taken. It’s 1976, and a mysterious and massive dome has been discovered in the middle of a desert. Seemingly alien in origin, word quickly spreads of a utopian idyll being developed underneath, thanks to the discovery of mysterious relics and other-wordly technology. A corporation – Chronos – forms to take charge of exploration and development, who then begin recruiting people to work within its tiered class system. Which is about the point that new employees begin to discover how much of the previous claims are wild propaganda, and just how out of control the situation really is.
This alternate-world 1970s is such a splendid setting. It usefully limits human technology, while allowing an uncanny atmosphere for both what should be there, and what shouldn’t. With vibes of movies like Logan’s Run and The Andromeda Strain, it captures that peculiar mix of ambition and failure, science fiction optimism versus grim, broken-down reality. The Dome, in its promotional material, suggests this wondrous potential. But when you get there, you find defective bureaucracy, crumbling infrastructure, and a colour-coded class system that is barely holding itself together.
I opted to play as an Orange – the criminal class, required to perform menial tasks in the Dome as an alternative to prison punishment. But I could also have been a Blue, aptly doing blue collar work; a Black, perhaps in security or more middling managerial positions; a White, in scientific research; or a Silver, essentially the upper class. And it’s this that means I’m most intrigued to learn how differently I might experience the story, since so much of what happened to me was dependent upon my being this criminal underclass. Such things can of course end up playing out very similarly, with a few different lines of text, but it feels worth finding out.
The “Fallout tribute” thing is no mere handwave. This is wearing its mutated heart on its sleeve-based computer screen. So while it usefully differentiates itself with its ‘70s time period, it then throws caution to the nuclear wind with giant mutant cockroaches to fight, radiated sections of the landscape, and the might-as-well-be-post-apocalyptic setting of the anomaly-ridden wasteland aboveground, and wild-eyed mutated human threats in the underground domains.
Yet, it works. That’s what’s most key here. The overarching narrative is enticing, entertaining and intriguing. The conflation of propaganda and brutality, the confliction of aspiration and corruption, all makes for classic sci-fi surroundings that feel perfectly out of the last century.
And I especially loved that my character is not the last hope for humanity, or the Chosen One sent to rescue the inhabitants. I’m just some other schmuck, muddling about in the mess, trying to get by. That I’m gradually drawn into the mysteries of the relics and anomalies is not because I’m the only one who can, but because it’s interesting, and it’s there, and no one’s stopping me.
Playing as an Orange also especially helped with that perennial RPG oddity of everyone asking you to do their odd jobs or rescue their loved ones. I was the menial gal, there to fetch people’s missing items, lug laundry around (as part of a drug-dealing network, naturally), and help get cars fixed. It also made more sense of my being willing to get my hands dirty in less than legal activities, and again I’m very interested to find out whether things might be different had I played as, say, a Silver. (Which, it’s worth noting, Sin did, and her perspective is here.)
This remains Early Access, and it does show. Of the skill trees, many branches are listed as “not available in this version”, while plenty others are in. Crafting, which the game clearly wants you to do given the skip-loads of trash and scrap you find in every cupboard and locker, isn’t really there yet. You can make bullets, simple weapons and clothes, and do a bit of cooking – but these don’t use the vast majority of the rubbish you’ll find filling your inventory. Oh, and that inventory – it’s awful, horrible to juggle, and can’t be sorted by weight. And perhaps most significantly, combat isn’t quite there yet.
While the bulk of the game is played as a modern 3rd person RPG, combat is Fallout-style turn-based, as well it should be. But it’s not enormously interesting at this point, not least because the game’s lengthy prologue doesn’t offer you much in the way of weaponry. When the game’s psi powers are properly included, and the more interesting skill options are available, this will all improve. But it still feels too clunky, the technical side not nearly as smooth as during exploration. Plus, the balancing is all over the place, the prologue not offering nearly enough XP from its very many quests to level up to fight some of the enemies.
Indeed, once the ten-ish hours (and this could be an awful lot shorter if you weren’t thorough, and I was super-thorough) are over, you can continue playing in the Wild West of its very empty open world, but I had no desire to because of said combat issues. Guns are far too weak, far too likely to jam, and for some reason my character is embarrassingly incapable of hitting a giant mutated rabbit with a shovel when it’s stood right next to her. Even I could do that. The story-driven elements already shine brightly here, but without those there’s little compelling reason to continue on before the next significant update.
I have a couple of other things I want to raise. Encased makes this odd mistake, and it’s one I can imagine their throwing up their hands at when it’s called out, because at least they tried? In its attempts to include a diverse cast of NPCs, it rather shoots itself in the foot by constantly observing perceived ‘otherness’. So there’s a “Hindu” guard, there’s an “Asian” security officer, there’s a scientist with “dark skin”. But white characters are never labelled as such. They are skinny or muscular or chubby… It has this awkward and incessant effect of declaring by omission that white is “normal”, anything else needs to be labelled. It’s not a big deal, but it really awkwardly stands out, and can be easily fixed by just allowing our eyes to see what colour people are, or calling some of the white people white!
Amongst a fair few typos, there are also a couple of other cringe-inducing moments, like when a drug addict character refers to the possible creators of the Dome, the Forefathers, as the “fag-fathers”. A teeny thing in a huge, otherwise fine bunch of writing, so let’s not overblow it, but there all the same.
Meanwhile, I especially enjoyed the line near the start, that set the tone for an un-Bioware approach:
“Whaddya think, I’m gonna ask you for help and you’re gonna go, ‘Yessir, right away!’ and fix everything? Well, fuck you. Fuck you twice.”
What’s perhaps most impressive is that the bulk of what’s here takes place in a six-storey underground complex, and yet despite the contained setting, feels as rich and deep as any great RPG. Every NPC feels deliberately crafted, and engaging with them is like talking to people, rather than quest-giving robots. In fact most of them have no quests for you at all, but are given colour and detail anyway. The Russian studio is said to be formed by ex-Larian devs, and the impact of this does appear to show on the effort that’s gone into building a world through its inhabitants, as well as its locales. (It’s also nice to note that Larian is mentioned as one of the highest tier Kickstarter backers for the project.)
The plot trundles along at a good pace too, considering this is supposed to be just the beginning. By the end you’re in a completely different area, facing a fresh threat, based on events alluded to beforehand, and it feels like a strong, cohesive RPG world. One I can’t wait to play some more, especially if the combat can be made more interesting.
I went in with no expectations at all, other than a fear that it would be too faithful to the 20 to 30-year old Wasteland/Fallout franchise. I’ve come out of it with a new RPG I feel like I’m in the middle of enjoying, that takes solid inspiration from one of the most loved game settings of all time, but modernised in sensible ways. There’s a great deal of work yet to be done, not least – you know – adding in the entire rest of the game. But this is an Early Access RPG I’m very happy to have started already.
EA HOTFIX III
Patch notes for version 0.14.1004.1801
All this week we’ve been working hard on bug fixing, correcting typos, and other annoying little things that spoil player immersion in Encased. The main changes in this patch concern the interface and general player experience of the game. We’ve also addressed annoying critical errors like freezes and memory leaks.
We read every review carefully, and therefore have also made several balance improvements regarding the cost and characteristics of some items. Gameplay balancing is complicated, and work in this area will continue in upcoming patches.
Next week we’ll talk about the upcoming content patch. For now, here’s our complete list of fixes.
- Interface: using the Alt key, you can now click on a grid cell obscured by the character or an object;
- Interface: improved looting when several corpses are lying on top of each other;
- Interface: the “Equalise” button has been added to the Barter tab;
- Interface: when the player attempts to confirm a disadvantageous deal, the barter tab warns them;
- Interface: fixed weight display in items stack tooltip;
- Interface: workbenches are marked on the local map now;
- Interface: added camera rotation speed adjustment;
- Interface: fixed status effects counter on the character’s badge;
- Interface: fixed fractional numbers in equipment and stats tooltips;
- Interface: fixed “create some” and “create maximum” buttons text;
- Balance: changed servoshell parameters;
- Balance: changed the Nashville parking lot shotgun parameters;
- Balance: fixed the Nashville parking lot secrets discovery rewards;
- Balance: fixed work gloves cost and parameters;
- AI: fixed the behavior of AI after reloading several times;
- Fixed memory leak when changing locations;
- Fixed freezing when exiting locations during random combat encounters;
- Fixed game freezing on some configurations;
- Fixed freezing when putting on servoshell;
- Fixed servoshell duplication bug;
- Fixed “Heartfelt talk” random encounter;
- Fixed a bug where the player did not receive experience for discovering certain locations;
- Steam: achievement alerts have been fixed.
- Descriptions added to three types of batteries;
- Nashville office floor: portrait of Louise Dekker-Schulz improved;
- Nashville office floor: fixed location black screen;
- Storage level: fixed car trunk access;
- Expanded the selection of portraits available to the player;
- Status effects: mercury consumption status effect changed;
- Gas Station: Aaron Malville now has a shotgun;
- Gas Station: basement passability fixed;
- The Point: fixed Right to the Punishment Cell quest errors;
- Nashville Sewers: faulty passage fixed.
All this work would not have been possible without your participation – most of these errors were discovered and reported by you. Thanks for helping us improve Encased for everyone!
Nine months sounds way too optimistic. I mean, as we all know, RPGs are much more complex than babies.
LOL
Kickstarter Update #38: One year since Kickstarter — Looking back at how ENCASED has changed
One whole year has passed since our Kickstarter campaign – it is both too much and too little. To us, it still feels like just a couple of months ago. But looking back at these past 12 months, we can’t stop thinking about what Encased looked like when the Kickstarter launched, where we’re at now and, of course, where the game will be in a few short months. What we’ve come to realize is that this year was damn long, and a lot was accomplished.
In today’s update we will show you some old screenshots, boast about new ones, and tell you how Encased has grown and will continue to grow in the near future.
First Demo
The first months of game development involved a *lot* of writing.
We created dozens of documents totaling hundreds of pages, addressing every aspect of civilization under the Dome. Before the first explorer ever traversed the dead barrens, we already knew how many inhabitants the Dome had, what they eat, what kinds of cars they drove, and what kind of community (or rather, communities) was being built upon the ruins of this ancient technological artifact of the distant desert.
The very first version of the game produced in the spring of 2018 was a tech demo, where a human avatar with asset pack animations ran around on grey sand. Sometimes grey sand was replaced with grey caves or grey stones. Other times, as a big exception, the game showed landscapes inspired by Tarkovsky films. However this joy was short-lived, and the faulty camera would inevitably bump up against another relic cobbled together from primitive polygons. At the time, our modelers were struggling with huge and complex tasks, like creating a system for composite characters, and the game was populated by a few crude models created by our main scripter.
Kickstarter Demo
By September 2018, Encased already had a completely different look. It was the summer we were planning for our Kickstarter launch, and we were working around the clock to prepare the game for public display. The demo was still rather empty but was already playable, and the scenery was vastly improved. Our Kickstarter audience got to see the very first version of Magellan Station... Looking back, we’re surprised at how small it seems – all of last year’s Magellan would fit within the storage level today.
Sometimes it seems as if that Kickstarter demo station was scattered around the game world by a powerful explosion. It may appear to have disappeared without a trace, but even now you can find bits of content in Magellan from that first demo: the arrogant Dean Rayhet, the sleeping soldier Keith Boseman with his pretentious attitude, and the love letters between two scientists... It all started in the September 2018 demo.
The Early 2019 Game
But some things from those days remain unchanged. The station was conceived as the starting point of the prologue and remained so ever since.
The prologue itself has been redone many times; half of the original content consisted of text-based vignettes. In the first version (which was never completely finished, and wasn’t included in the game), events unfolded at the Nashville facility from the very beginning.
The fate of the characters accompanying the protagonist was also completely different: you can still meet the engineer Duncan and scientist Sebastian at Magellan, but Sarah from Silver Wing and the Orange Fritz turned into additional portraits for the player. What happened to Bao, a recruit from Black Wing, we ourselves do not know. Perhaps he is still wandering somewhere under the Dome...
Early Access Version
The spring and summer of 2019 remain in our memory as a wild, never ending race. The creative search and seemingly endless series of alterations completed, it was time to polish the old content and actively produce the new.
The studio ceased to joke about the combat system. It was finally online and worked as intended, along with the global map and random events. Like the gas station run by the one-legged old man or the Nashville facility, overrun with psychopaths.
The Early Access release was postponed twice and finally, on September 26, our players received the first EA version of Encased, which included a story prologue and a global map with random events and a variety of hassles. Now everyone who’s gone through Nashville’s hell has had the opportunity to feed lead to giant cockroaches, and encountered the mutated rodents, MOBIOS (better known to the community as “crabs”), aggressive robokids and bandits populating the barrens.
Despite these delays to the release, we had still not defeated all the bugs, so immediately set to work on hotfixes and balance improvements. By the way, another fix is coming out very soon.
Later in 2019
We really want to show you how Encased will evolve over the next couple of months.
We heeded your comments and put a lot of effort into making the game as exciting as possible. We started reworking the prologue once again, removing the text-heavy opening vignette. The passenger capsule and landing pad have instead been turned into full-fledged locations. Game events start there, and the player travels to Nashville immediately afterwards. This will make the prologue more dynamic and less protracted. Don’t worry about Magellan Station though! That location is too well liked by our players to send off into oblivion. We decided to move the station to a later stage of the game, and expand it for deeper exploration without tedious minor tasks like saving humanity.
Jokes aside, Magellan will play a significant role in the storyline, and the station itself will be significantly altered. If you wanted to know how CRONUS has changed since the old world collapsed, Magellan Station, now under control of the New Committee, will provide the answers.
‘Story-driven content’ are the key words to describe the upcoming, large scale update. The open world will be accessible much faster, and feature more random encounters. We’re working to make these more than minor local events. They should act as pieces of a puzzle comprising the atmosphere and setting. It is as important for us to show how the world changed after the Incident as it is to talk about the various factions vying for territory under the apocalyptic Dome.
We’re also working on the party members management system, so companions will definitely appear in the update. The main character’s partners don’t just act as cannon fodder and fire support. Each one has a story and complex personality, and the player will have to spend time and effort to gain the trust of their companions. Companion quest lines will be supplemented throughout the entire Early Access period, and the selection of available companions will be expanded.
The crime system will also be improved – people will become more responsive to theft and hacking attempts.
We’re working on ability trees. The Heavy and High-Tech Weapons branches will be expanded and revised, and Psi Abilities will finally become functional.
We’re making changes to controversial mechanics, such as hunger and thirst. The overall usability of the game and all interfaces will be improved, as well as experience progression, medication effects, and munitions.
Weapons will receive a modular modifications system. We started working on this a long time ago but did not have time to implement it for Early Access. Spare parts and upgrades will be available to replace standard components, increasing weapon stats. Weapons and armor will wear out and break down; maintaining them will require repair kits. You’ll also be able to destroy an enemy’s armor by means of new anomaly types, as well as with mines and traps.
The perks system will be significantly expanded. At the moment, only a few perks are available for reading books, but in Patch 1 your protagonist will be able to adjust his progression by picking a perk every several levels. In addition, reputation perks will be obtainable through quarreling, or becoming best friends, with a whole faction or companion. There will also be passive perks for mastering specific types of weapons, wearing armor, evading enemy attacks, killing various opponents – humanoids, mutants, robots and other foes.
We won’t say what will happen next, but one thing is for sure: the story of Encased has just begun. There’s a long road ahead, and we’re thrilled to be walking it with you.
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/921800/
GOG: https://af.gog.com/game/encased_a_scifi_postapocalyptic_rpg?as=1649904300
Additional links
NPC Generator – create a character for the game and get a unique piece of equipment as a reward.
Social Networks
Official Discord Server.
Newsfeed.
Our Twitter.
Facebook community.
Youtube page.
VK community.
Instagram account.
