FusionFall: ReSpawn Ceases Development

Hey guys! Long time no see, eh?

I’ve been rather quiet on these new FusionFall projects here, mostly because there isn’t really any noteworthy news, or because the guys behind them would rather stay low to avoid the Warner lawyers. That said, if you wanna get in on the fun, just ask around the community. Though I did mention OpenFusion and Worlds Collide last year, didn’t I…

Back on topic though, there is one revival/reimagining server that has been in development this past year. Had its ups and downs, swapped leaders a few times, but on the outside, things were looking alright, if a bit slow. I was even on the community team. That basically just meant being a Discord mod and having access to the test builds but whatever, no one was looking for artists.

The game seemed to be taking a similar approach as Legacy and Worlds Collide, reimagining the world and story of the Cartoon Network Universe. But unfortunately, as of the 13th of December (yes, I’m late, shush), FusionFall: Re:Spawn has ceased development. In an announcement on Discord, BenBolt, the current project lead, said:

“For the past year and a half, I have been apart of this game dev group, working along side very talented individuals whom I have come to considered friends over the past few months. We’ve been through some really tough and stressful times with two changes in leadership and the resulting backlash and exhaustion that came from it. Over the past few months specifically, ReSpawn development slowed down exponentially and as a result, ReSpawn is officially ceasing production. This was not an easy decision, but after seeing how development has, well, developed, I decided it was better this way as the team in it’s current state is unable to find the help we need and unable to give the attention it needs and I Do not want to give you all false hope of a game project that, in all actuality, has a small chance to actually happen. I apologize to you all for being the bearer of bad news today, but I fully encourage you to support the other FusionFall projects out there like OpenFusion, Retrobution, and the upcoming Worlds Collide (New name currently pending) Please do not send out hate to anyone on this team, or on any other FusionFall fan project as no one individual is at fault here.

I wish you all the best and Happy Holidays.”

Sad news, to be sure. But I guess it’s best to close on your own terms than let another opportunistic lawyer take you down, huh? To soften the blow, however, the first playable test build (which was released only a few days prior) has been released to the public. It’s incredibly barebones, but whatever. Hopefully it can have its own Worlds Collide moment and have something rise from its ashes, but we’ll see.

Anyway, cya!

So, Worlds Collide, eh?

Hey guys! Been meaning to make this post a couple weeks ago but… look, I’m basically just typing into the void at this point, OK? What does it matter lol. Anyway…

FusionFall celebrated its 12th anniversary recently! I know right? As of the 14th, FF is now just as old as I was when I first played way back in 2008. How time flies, eh? And on that special day, we got a trailer. A showcase, more-so, of what can really only be described as Legacy’s revival. Legacy’s legacy. We’ve been given teasers for a couple weeks beforehand on Twitter and YouTube about this. What is this new game, I hear you ask through the screen somehow?

Read the title of the post, dung-nuggets!
*ahem*

I know right?!
Now, I have a couple things I’m not too keen on. The faces on some of the NPCs for instance. Mac, Rex and Ben specifically here, and I’m not too sure about the new NPC interaction. Cool concept, the execution could probably do a bit of work. Like the text font. But aside from those… Man, I’m pumped! Definitely sucks we don’t have a release date yet, and aren’t expected to have one for a while. But so long as it’s not 5 more years… (No, I don’t want it to be 4 years either.)

For anyone somehow only hearing about this now through this post, they do have both a Twitter and Discord, the links right there (Yeah, there. Where it says “Twitter and Discord”. Yeah that’s the one). Hopefully that invite is still active. The tweet is still there so it should be. You will also need to verify yourself before you can speak, this is to keep out a certain malicious member of the FusionFall community, but once you’re past that, you’re free. And I encourage you to do so. I just joined earlier and the members there are wonderful and welcoming!

That is all I can really say. OpenFusion is still a thing, but I’m not quite up to speed with things there. There was a Birthday Bash server that was put up. If that’s still around, I dunno. Geez, and I call myself a FusionFall journalist…
(JK, I don’t actually call myself that. That’s weird. Can you tell I’m stalling?)

Anywayyyy, cya!
~Oli Zombieweasel

OpenFusion – 10 Days On

This was meant to be a week after it came out, not 10 days but… look, you guys know I’m always late to stuff. Accidentally my thing now. Shut up.

So. Yes. OpenFusion. We’ve all played it by now I think. When I covered it over a week ago, it was the day it came out, and it was… lacking. But everyone’s been busy, fixing CN’s jumbled source code in much less time it took Retro’s team. So what’s been new?

Well when I first covered this, it only had character creation, the tutorial, and the world. That was it. No Nanos, no chat, nothing. But now…

• NPCs
• Nanos
• Nano Stations
• Items
• Players now start in the Future

That’s all I could really gather. We also have missions, but they kinda… don’t work quite yet. There’s no combat, and the mobs don’t attack. We’re well on our way though! NPCs also all face south for… some reason… and as for items, even though we have shops, the items are only available through code for now. And I can not for the life of me work out how that works… If you do though, there’s a list of item IDs here.

I hope to come back in another week’s time… or 10 days, and give a run down of all the new updates since now! And for those new, you can download the game here.

~Oli Zombieweasel

So, OpenFusion is a Thing…

Well, 4 months after that fateful day, we already have a new FusionFall server up and running! …Kinda.

OpenFusion is released! https://t.co/NfeL9QA2oM pic.twitter.com/CHgeQx4j1X

— CPunch 😷 (@CPunch71) August 18, 2020

Yep, it’s called OpenFusion, and WordPress can’t do Twitter embedding right! But it’s a functioning FusionFall server… and that’s all I can really say about it. It’s rather bare-bones. Barer than bare-bones.

There’s no missions, no NPCs, no stores, you have all Nanos unlocked, but you can’t activate them, there’s no Nano machines, no working guide changers (you’re set with Edd by default), and no working chat. Not even the speedchat works. And if you crash, which is common, well tough luck as the game doesn’t save character data. The closest you get to the FF experience is the tutorial, really. Otherwise, it’s just an open map with other players roaming around. It’s like the original Penguin Chat I guess. But y’know what does work? Commands!

This is the only use you’ll get out of the chat right now. Type these into the chat and have some fun! With this, you can enter Infected Zones (as there are no working warp pads), look for Debug Land, or even go back to the Future! So while this isn’t a subsitute for Retro, it is good for artists who need area references, or just people wanting to muck about. Hopefully we’ll get some proper game out of this soon, and I will keep you posted. We can also only hope CN doesn’t make the mistake of taking this one down too…

Anyway, cya!
~Oli Zombieweasel

 

FusionFall Closing… Again…

I… I really did not want to type this, not again, not already… so I’m a day late on this, but at the same time, that allowed me to gather my thoughts, and also information.

So yesterday evening, FusionFall Universe was hit by a DMCA, a cease & desist, from Cartoon Network themselves. This isn’t the first time they’ve had to dealt with this kind of thing, it also happened when Total Drama was teased for Legacy. However, this is bigger. This is for the entire FFU development. Retro and Legacy are both dead. Forever. Seemingly forever, anyway. Legacy definitely is, after 6 years of waiting.

So how did this happen? Well. It all has to do with a guy known on Discord as Indes, also goes by the name of Rome. He had this suggestion for the dev team to add crafting. Not something I can see working in Retro anyway but, whatever. Now, OK, we all have our suggestions for things. I wanted Legacy a long time to go to have some kind of house system, and Project R was built on suggestions way back in 2012, as you may remember.

However, the devs just kind of, played it off each time. Perhaps they had the suggestion tucked away for use in Legacy, no way to know now. But Indes just kept hounding them. Eventually, he just got mad and, like the entitled pissbaby that he is, went after CN themselves. Now, a simple heads-up about the game wasn’t going to be enough to bring this game down. It’s fair use and the devs did ask Cartoon Network permission beforehand, so long as no profit was being made, hence why they simply looked over the whole thing.

No. He hit them with false accusations about the team. Things like paedophilia, profit-making, and money-laundering, very serious allegations here. CN, being a corporation first and foremost obviously would not want their image tainted and tarnished by such accusations (even though FFU technically already did that by making the superior version and sticking with their promises), so in a blind panic, with no research or thinking to contact Devan about all this, issued the takedown. And here we are. And Indes is very proud of himself. Everyone else though? They’d rather see his head on a pike stuck in fresh turds.

Are the FF team in the legal clear here? Yes. They have done nothing wrong. Are CN also in the legal right? Also yes. FusionFall and its characters are their properties to begin with, so if they have proper reason to issue a DMCA, they have every right to do so. Cartoon Network are not to blame here, they were just misinformed. You can blame them for acting so prematurely but, what can ya do?

What you can do, if you want to do anything, is sign this petition. I, personally have no hope for it, especially when the goal is a mere 200, but it’s something I guess.

Will FusionFall return again? It’s possible, but it’s unlikely. All we can do is hope. All this though… all this because some entitled prick thought he was better than the dev team. Saying they were on this high pedestal, and then later acting like he was on that very same pedestal. Like he was a god, untouchable. And instead of just targetting the same team that was leaving soon anyway, went and punished the entire community over lies. Ya know what’s funny too? He was supposedly doxxed soon later and was found to have child pornography on his computer. The same thing he accused Devan of having.

He’s such a disgusting cuck, and I hope this comes out and is proven guilty, if nothing else but for the child porn alone, and is sent to prison for a long time. Indes, if you’re reading this, you’re not the Chad you think yourself to be, you’re the lowest virgin of them all. You’re utter scum, and I hope you rot in that basement of yours. Or even in prison after all the other, tougher guys who have been put away for worse rip your ass open with 3 police batons at once.

*sighs*
So yeah. That’s… all I had to say about that. Kinda graphic, near the end but, had to get it out of my system. I’ll probably give updates should any arrive, whether it be tomorrow or in another 5 years. We’ll see. Anyway, cya!
~Oli Zombieweasel

Retro to Halt Updates

Yup. Despite most of us being in total lockdown and quarantine with absolutely nothing to do but play Animal Crossing, FusionFall Retro’s updates will be put on indefinite hold.

In a forum post written by Dev himself, which you can read here, Devan, womayhem, and other key members of the staff will leave in the near future. What will this mean to the future of Retro? Who can say? We still have yet to see any news of the promised part 2 of the expansion. I have no doubt we will see these eventually, but it may not be until the other end of the year before we see any updates on these at all. We did fortunately get an update just the other day however, which fixed trading and emails, and reportedly added Johnny Bravo back, with Moxy somewhere too, so that’s… something.

Despite these troubling news in an already hellish year (just had to go and make it worse, didn’t ya…), the team will continue and will be looking for others to join and take the helm. Hey, maybe yours truly will be one of them. Eh? Eh?? ;D
No?

Okay.
Devan also assures that Legacy is still on its way, with an estimated release date of 2041.

Jokes and snarky comments aside, I do wish the team well on their future endeavors. I just wish it wasn’t now…

Anyway, cya!
~Oli Zombieweasel

All New Nanos!

I have been looking forward to saying this since Legacy’s announcment. Or Retro’s arrival… whatever the case…

Yup! A few days ago, the FusionFall Retro community had been blessed with four brand new Nanos! Wellllll… three brand new, and the Unstable Nano. This does not mean we get four new levels unfortunately, but thankfully that doesn’t mean the old levelling system is out the window. No, these are the first of a new type of mission; optional Nano missions.

The same as any other Nano mission, but found at the end of certain quest lines. Belladonna can be obtained after sorting out a little Fusion problem at Sunny Bridges Auditorium for Ace and Belladonna, Computress after dealing with an infatuated Mandark in Tech Square, and Runty after beating Fuse. For story purposes. The Unstable Nano can be collected by doing a long, tedious and near-impossible mission behind City Hall.

Jk, it’s literally one of the easiest missions in the entire game lmao. Not sure entirely when the mission is available to collect however. It’s at the very start of the Nano book, even before Buttercup, so I assume as soon as you want. I do however, might suggest bringing a heal Nano, and a Nano or two with some sort of damage power like Leech, Drain or, well… Damage, if you intend to go solo. The enemies inside the lair like to spam eruption attacks too so be sure to run around. A lot.

That is all the news there is today, but believe me, more will come… of course. Remember to check out the patch notes for more!

Anyway, cya!
~Oli Zombieweasel

Enforcing the Past to Protect the Future

Time Squad!

Yep, what I guess you could call is the first small expansion is ready! Originally one whole ‘event’ had to be split into two parts, the second part being available some time in early 2020. For now though, Larry 3000 is here from the distant, far off year of 2002 100,000,000 AD with Buck Tuddrussel and Otto Osworth to find out what’s been going wrong in 2008. Or 2009. 2019. Whenever this game takes place now…

Unfortunately, Buck and Otto’s pod was sent off-course, leaving Larry in Goat’s Junk Yard trying to contact them.

He, Coop and Father will have brand new missions for you, starting at lvl 9, but that’s not all! There is also one soopuh secret mission somewhere that… I don’t actually know the location of as of yet… Just, look on YouTube or something, I dunno, do you really need this site anymore?

*hem* Anyway… if you want more new stuff…

Bank upgrades! Yep, finally! But there’s a catch; as you can see from above, you can only buy 200 new slots from the four new bank vendors. That’s 800 new slots! That’s not the catch. The catch is you can only use those slots from the vendor of the corresponding colour. Say if you bought a gold upgrade, you can only use that upgrade in Peach Creek, etc. Eh, you’ll figure it out… if you can afford it that is… I can only barely afford the cheapest membership. And by “barely”, I mean I’m a few thousand taros short… ;-;

Now, as a wise man once said; “But wait! There’s more!”
New animations! (I would have added the video directly to here but WordPress says no)

Eddy, Wilt and Father have brand new sets of animations. They’ve even forgotten their tap-dancing skills! You may have noticed the new Legacy looks they’re sportin’, but they’re not all, Edd has his too! You may have noticed some NPCs have been switched around; these include Edd, Wilt, Ranger Joey, Father, Bubbles, Mayor, Numbuh 3, Ed, Mac, Coco and Bob O’ Ganoosh, along with some vendors in Peach Creek. Nowhere too severe though, you can find them just fine, I’m sure. But just so you’re sure, Father is now by the Delightful Developments sign in Peach Creek Estates.

That does seem to be all, be sure to check the patch notes for a full list of what’s new. Anyway, cya!

~ Oli Zombieweasel

Spooky Scary Spiders

Hey guys! It’s that time again! Retro’s second annual Halloween event. And it’s so much better than the original game’s… that one didn’t even have the eternal night! So let’s get down to business!

Dracula’s been a permanent addition since February (eesh, can you believe it’s been that long already?) so who do we have alongside Fred Fredburger this year?

This heckin’ nuisance. We’ll get to why in a bit, but Jeff’s here to give a mission. Only one mission this year. Now why only one? Here’s where we get to the nuisance part (that was quick, wasn’t it); he asks you to defeat 3000 pumpkin spawns. Three. Thousand.

Luckily, these things are all over the graveyard, where Fred and Jeff are. Literally, all over. Can’t blink without these things spawning… and with these come a whole new slew of items!

Just some of the items available this year

Spinel’s scythe, Scooby-Doo’s tail, Greg’s ‘elephant’ hat, and so much more! Including, of course, a permanent variant of both last year’s holosuit, and this year’s. Speaking of…

Could’ve sworn I’ve seen this one before, now I think of it. Wasn’t this 2010’s?  Eh. Complete this mission and you get a special Jack-o-Lantern head. Wonder if he’ll make his appearance one of these days… Maybe we can have Skarr and Irwin appear and have an Underfist event. xP

Last thing before I close this off, there are two new code items, available to redeem up until the end of the event; the Jerk-o-Lantern head (Halloween2019), and a special/not really that special DX Grim hoverboard (GrimBoard). Get ’em while you can! Speaking of codes, the ones for the winners of Bubbles’ art contest should be arriving soon, via PM on the forums; including one for yours truly~ ;D

Anyway, Happy Halloween!
~Oli Zombieweasel

Speed and Style!

What’s this? Oliver F. Zombieweasel, Esq. is reporting on FusionFall news before it’s put in the game?!

Yes, I’m reporting on a recent Twitter post today made by the FFU team. I, should probably do that more often, huh?… Anyway. Vehicles are now getting some more love here.

Vehicles will now be much cheaper (thank heck), and have a ‘DX’ version, which will be at max speed, which in turn currently stands at 1200. Maybe one day, they’ll be a 1400…? ;D

Yeah, maybe not. These new DX vehicles will be more expensive, but again, the originals will receive a huge price reduction, and that’s what I’m excited to see. Yes, you could argue that I could use a Run Nano, but…

Yeah, this thing ruined Run powers for me… I can hear his voice even now… when I close my eyes, I see his face…

…

C̷̯̐̂̑̃̎̾̈͑͠á̶͚̥͙̳̗̀N̸̳̣͇͍̒͛̇̒͑̓́̄̚͠’̸̳̯̺̼̖͓͍̇́͐͜t̸̨̩̺̱̰͍̳̩͚͎̫̼̳́͐̋̃̔̔͗͆̈́̓̈͝͝ ̸̧̼͇͕̼̜̣͖̍̐̈́̈̄̇̍̅͊̈̒̂͠C̵̭̻̞̬̏̔̀̌̽̏̈́ả̶̡̖̖͇̣͍̼͍̟̤̜̮̽͊̆͗̈T̷̛̙̣͍̖͌͒̾̓̌c̴̰̹̯͙̲͙̤̤͚̘̩͙̐̃̉̇͐̌͐̾̓̅̐̿̚H̸̨̞̩͈͎̦͇̠̠̉̈̌̑ ̷̤͘m̵͓̳̘̪̜̾̂́̾̄͊̎͜͝͝Ē̷̡̢̡̩̦͎͕͈̞͖̼̼̺̆́͗̚