Fractalus - Luke's Software and Design
A fan remake of Rescue on Fractalus, a classic game developed by Lucasfilm Games originally released on Atari, Commodore 64 and other platforms in 1984.
1.1.0 - 2023-05-12 Gameplay Improved Ace pilot spawn logic. Ace pilots are now limited to one per level, so once an ace is found (whether it is rescued or killed), no other pilots can become an ace on that level. Saucer approach path sine wave now randomises phase so saucer can now arrive on either side of player ship instead of only on the player's right side. Updated messages to match original game's messages. New pilots are no longer spawned as the player approaches the required number of pilots to be rescued, to prevent endlessly rescuing pilots beyond the required number, while still allowing a small amount over the required number. Saucers will now divert course away from the player if their systems are turned off or if they are returning to the mothership. Saucer sound now fades as the player ship exits the level and boosts to the mothership, preventing the sound from abruptly cutting off when leaving the atmosphere. Graphics Replaced planet model with a higher detail mesh. Sounds Added alien snarling and jumpscare sounds. Added settings for individual sounds to allow player to reduce volume of annoying sounds. Pilot knock is now louder and more staccato. Split ambience sound into three separate loops with different lengths to increase variety in ambience. Controls Control system rewrite; Multiple controllers can now be active concurrently, with the control system taking the combination of inputs from all controllers. Individual controllers can be enabled or disabled (except the Keyboard), and Joystick controllers now start disabled to prevent unwanted input from extra controllers. Added flight control rebinding for Gamepad and Joystick controllers. XR controllers now work, as the left and right controllers no longer exclude each other. Invert Y setting is now per-controller. Throttle axis setting is now per-controller. Rebinding persistence and reset now works per controller. Added rumble support for Gamepad controllers. Added separate control settings menus for each controller that is present. Bug Fixes Returning to manual flight mode from a menu by pressing confirm button no longer fires the weapon as well. Returning to mothership while alien is at player's windscreen now kills alien before boosting instead of taking the alien with you. Fixed critical energy warning light/overlay getting stuck. Fixed video resolution selector always showing display's native resolution as the current resolution under Linux. Other Improvements Menu items with selectors now show current value in bright white. Cockpit landed light now blinks while landing or taking off. Vertical meter values are now clamped. Split video resolution and video refresh rate into two separate menu entries. Score display now flashes when significant score increases occur. Retimed mothership exit sequence, added ship startup tone during start sequence.
1.0.0 - 2020-12-18 Gameplay Added New Game screen with starting level selection. Added Game Over screen. Added High Scores screen. Added bonus points sequence on return to mothership. Added intro sequence when game is launched. Added Demo Droid mode. Game progression is now persisted, allowing player to return to the mothership and exit the game, then pick up from the same level and continue playing later. Removed "Restart Level" and "Return to Title" menu options, replaced with "Abandon Game" when a game is in progress. Mothership availability is now varied. Levels 1-8 now have randomly flatter terrain. Changing levels in the mothership is now animated. Cockpit radar is now centered at the bottom like the original. Added VR support (separate controller required - VR controllers not supported). Graphics Added video settings for changing resolution and quality. Added Saucer model. Added Mothership model. Added Valkyrie model. Added Alien model. Added planet model in level entry sequence. Updated Cockpit and Frameless Cockpit models. Updated Pilot model. Updated mothership hangar/launch tunnel models. Updated cockpit instruments to match appearance from original game and box art. Cockpit instruments will now be rendered transparent when in frameless cockpit or flat HUD modes. Improved atmosphere texturing. Added dust particle burst when landing/launching. Fixed UI scaling issues on ultrawide or surround aspect ratios. Fixed low quality text rendering in various places. Changed several textures to use high quality compression to reduce artifacting and banding. Improved compass texture. Slowed down weapon sparks on collision with terrain. Sounds Updated player ship engine sounds. Updated player and turret weapon sounds. Updated pilot knock sound. Updated title music. Added music for game over and level completion. Added landing/launch impact sounds. Improved Saucer sounds. Controls Added control rebinding options. Added support for using a throttle axis instead of throttle up/down buttons. Added default bindings for joysticks Saitek X52 and Logitech Extreme 3D Pro (other joysticks will need their bindings manually set up by the player). Ship Improvements Ship can now be landed at any speed. Landing at high speed now causes the ship to lurch forward on impact. Player can now return to mothership while landed. Throttle up while landed now launches ship. Turret Improvements Turret firing rate is now slightly varied for less rhythmic firing on higher levels. Turret lock-on now has a level-dependent delay on first lock and after each time the lock is broken. Turrets will no longer fire at player while returning to the mothership. Turret shield and beam colour is now aqua to better match original. Saucer Improvements Added new Saucer model. Improved Saucer flight logic and pathing. Saucer sound is now directional. Pilot/Crashed Ship Improvements Added Ace and Alien pilots. Pilot now approaches player ship much faster at high distances. Crashed Ships are now only considered as in range if they are within a 90 degree cone in front of the player, matching the radar. Other Improvements Red overlay on cockpit instruments when ship is damaged is now blended correctly. Updated some in-game message text to match original. Added dark outline to menu text to make it easier to read. Pause menu is now accessible while docked with the mothership, rather than returning to the title screen. Added credits screen. Fixed issue where boosting to mothership would fail to ascend, leaving the player stuck.
