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[Redneckerz]

Introduction:
Over the years the Sega Dreamcast has been very much alive and kicking with various 2D bullethell shmups, but actual 3D work was less apparent. Hypertension: Harmony of Darkness and Slave are still very much in development, and other announced titles have been perished.

Enter After The Fall.

So, what the heck is this then?
After The Fall is a TC (Total Conversion) for Quake. It was made by the Aftershock team and released in 1997. It got some positive reviews, but community outreach was rather slim, also because another similar looking-but-more-professional TC by the name of Malice was actually commerically released on disc.

Spoiler: The Story

Storm Patterson stood at the crest of a hill overlooking the Greater Los Angeles Sprawl. The sun was just rising now, setting the dust-choked skies aflame with color. It was I+3, Three days after Impact. Three days after the end of the world. To those who saw the comet's impact, it was a blue-white bolt from the heavens. And Hell came in its wake in the form of a mutanagenic virid they were calling Hellspawn. The impact had scattered the virid into the upper atmosphere where it floated invisibly down to wreak havoc on those who had survived. The virid twisted its victim's bodies and minds and forged them into homicidal killing machines who knew no fear, only the desire to kill. Storm had already killed a dozen of the brutes, but his luck was running out. He too had contracted the virid. His only hope lie in the wasted city before him. A group of doctors and scientists calling themselves Aftershock were holed up in a fortified hospital, fighting away hordes of Hellspawn mutants. Storm had received a radio transmission promising a cure, if only he could make it there in time. It would not be easy. Even before Impact Day the city had been a dangerous place, home to vicious corporate soldiers, called Clans. Storm himself had been a Clansman once, but had escaped to the vast uninhabited robot farms that made up the countries heartland. He had grown tired of the killing, now it looked like he would have to take up the gun once again. He had no alternative's left. Aftershock is to be a first-person adventure set in the year 2139 in a world already torn apart by economic and social strife. Warfare in the heartlands of every major continent has forced the worlds population into vast cities called Sprawls. The heart land's themselves are vast robot farmed plots needed to feed the worlds booming population. In the Sprawls, power belongs to the Clansmen. Corporate soldiers whose loyalty lies with generations old ties to their Corporation. The Corps struggle for control over one another, turning to their soldiers when economic means won't suffice. The Sprawls are vast fortified cities where violence is part of daily life. Three days ago a comet hurtled from the sky, its fragmented head striking Earth in hundreds of locations. Earthquakes and tidal waves have laid waste to part of the cities. The head of the Comet also carried the deadly Hellspawn virid. A virid that alters the genetics of living beings and turns them into mindless homicidal beats. It is into this nightmare the player is thrust. You must make your way through the ruined city to the hospital at its heart in order to find a cure. Only then do you stumble across the threads of a much larger mystery. . . The goal of the Aftershock team is to create a world much more alive than Quake or Doom. We want the player immersed in the 3-D environment and drawn into the adventure. Much of our efforts will be going toward pulling the most out of the Quake engine to advance the immerse experience. We want to involve the player's emotions as well as satisfy our desire to blow things up. We want you to experience the End of Civilization. And perhaps, its new beginning.

Great Red, but why this thread?
A indie dev by the name of Pip Nayler has been working on a port of this TC to the Sega Dreamcast. Front and Back cover arts will be created so the game will look and feel like an official game. This game will be released for free. The game will run on the Makaqu Engine, a sourceport of the original Quake Engine to Dreamcast. It is important to know that Makaqu is purely a software-rendered engine, no fancy acceleration here! This explains the pixelation on the screens and is reminscent of the game Dusk.

Video:



Screens (Dreamcast):

Other:
Pip's work got covered by The Dreamcast Junkyard, a fansite that keeps a hold of recent Dreamcast developments in the still active community. In the interview, Nayler describes how fitting the game into RAM is one of the more daunting tasks, however: ''In an age where budget phones have as much RAM as an Xbox 360 and a PS3 combined, I'm enjoying the challenge of working with the Dreamcasts 16MB.''

More info:
After the Fall TC download: https://www.moddb.com/mods/after-the-fall
Pip Nayler Twitter: https://twitter.com/pipnayler
Pip Nayler Website: http://pipnayler.com/
Mankrip, the man behind the Makaqu Engine powering this port: https://twitter.com/mankrip and http://mankrip.tumblr.com/
The Dreamcast Junkyard: http://www.thedreamcastjunkyard.co.uk
Check out the other entries in the Indie Watch series: https://www.neogaf.com/search/138924

Note:
Indie Watch is (apparently) an irregular series by Redneckerz that highlights from time to time those indie titles that deserve some love and attention, to put the lights on those hidden indie developers working on their own little slice of entertainment. Who knows, maybe hidden gems lay deeper than we may think.

After 2 entries i realized that this very well might be a series that i will be posting from time to time, so here it is.
EDIT: Added in gameplay video.

Update:
Added Dreamcast gameplay courtesy of Dreamcast Junkyard below. Thanks to Tom Charnock for the gameplay.

 

[Sub_Level]

Never gonna play this but that's fuckin cool. Early 3D is neatest era.

 

[God Enel]

I love to read shit like that. Thank you.

 

[Redneckerz]

Never gonna play this but that's fuckin cool. Early 3D is neatest era.

Well in this case its deliberate due to engine choices but yeah, Dreamcast is really a fun go around system that is still modern enough to introduce you to common-day 3D graphics

I love to read shit like that. Thank you.

Expect more of these threads to pop up as time goes by. There is a ton of stuff i can cover that i come across and that stick with me for more ways than one.

 

[God Enel]

thanks for the work. I appreciate it

 

[Enygger_Tzu]

Wait, an indie game for Dreamcast? What is the audience here? Also is there a trailer or YT gameplay video?

 

[Redneckerz]

thanks for the work. I appreciate it

No problem I realize these threads may see little activity but i do think its interesting to post if you are looking for something new. I already have another one thought up, an unexpectingly deep FP-RPG that is easily an indie mishmash of Deus Ex and Far Cry.

Wait, an indie game for Dreamcast? What is the audience here? Also is there a trailer or YT gameplay video?

I think its more for the Dreamcast community and for people with existing hardware to get something new, since it will be released for free.

Footage is hard to find, the only one i have is part of a compilation, but it is found below and starts at the right moment.

 

[Redneckerz]

Update:
The Dreamcast Junkyard had a chance to play test this game on a actual Dreamcast console. For an alpha, performance is really good and for fans of software rendered pixels it looks great. And there are some nice lighting effects involved. There is also a video released which ill link below and in the OP.

After The Fall will likely feature multiplayer and box arts for the game aswell as a guide will also be provided at release, which currently sits at end of 2018/beginning of 2019.

Thanks to Tom Charnock for making the video and play testing this game. Thanks also to Pip Nayler for the seminal work done on the game and appreciation for this thread on Twitter.

 

[Alebrije]

The nostalgia....great time of gaming when DLCs and Microtransactions did not spoil the industry. Nice to see this effort and hope the other projects are still alive.