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User:Jonathan Hardin'/Sandbox2

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Fortress
A grassy, rocky landscape. To the left is an armored, caped figure with a spear in hand, surrounded by low-lying fog, who looks back toward a castle ringed by a spiral staircase on land surrounded by water. To the right is a high, barren cliff. The staircase, much of the castle, and some rocks are broken off in mid-air and pitched to the left, as if being swept away. Sunbeams filter down from a partly cloudy sky.
Concept art by Tony Holmsten, one of the artists for the game
Developer(s)GRIN
Publisher(s)Square Enix
Director(s)Ulf Andersson
Designer(s)Erik Lindqvist
Artist(s)Ulf Andersson
Anders De Geer
Björn Albihn
Composer(s)Erik Thunberg
SeriesFinal Fantasy
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
ReleaseCancelled
Genre(s)Action game

Fortress is the codename of a cancelled video game that was in development by GRIN as a spin-off of Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. An action game set in the recurring Final Fantasy world of Ivalice, it was planned for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms. The project has remained unannounced due to its cancellation by Square Enix in 2009.

Concept

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Fortress was set in the fictional world of Ivalice, specifically the version seen in Final Fantasy XII.[1] In addition to original characters and locations, concept art for the game includes the character Ashe[2] and a Judge from Final Fantasy XII,[3] as well as chocobos and other recurring creatures of the Final Fantasy series.[2][4] The eponymous Fortress, located on a mountain cliff, appears to have been the central location in the game, although various other landscapes such as plains, forests, deserts and snowfields were also featured.

Invaders from the sea were to be the main enemies of the game. They were visually based on the Vikings and wielded armor and weapons decorated with sea and sea-monster imagery. Planned boss battles included fighting a gargatuan version of the Final Fantasy monster Marlboro, by climbing atop it using seaweeds on its back in order to drop bombs in the creature's weak spots.[4] According to a design document, the game was divided in at least seven chapters, starting at the gate of the Fortress and leading up to the top of the stronghold.

Development

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Fortress started out as an original fantasy game concept designed by Ulf Andersson, GRIN's co-founder.[5] Preproduction began in the second half of 2008.[6] The game was pitched to various publishers. The president of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, liked the concept and its visual style, and visited GRIN several times. After getting the chance to see a boss fight from Bionic Commando, which was being developed by GRIN for the Japanese company Capcom, Wada decided that Square Enix would publish Fortress as a Final Fantasy spinoff.[5]

The project was developed on a game engine compatible with Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.[4] The development team, led by Ulf Andersson as a creative director, produced concept art and 3D assets under art director Anders De Geer[2] and lead character artist Björn Albihn.[4] The game design was led by technical artist Erik Lindqvist.[7] GRIN's music director Erik Thunberg was responsible for the game's score,[8] including a track that features a rearrangement of the "Prelude" theme from the Final Fantasy series.[9] The concept artists, according to one of them, Tony Holmsten, were not told until about two months before GRIN's bankruptcy that the game had been associated with Final Fantasy, prompting them to restart their work in order to bring the game's art style closer to that of the Japanese franchise.[10]

Issues with payments

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Square Enix was supposed to pay GRIN 16.5 million dollars for the production of Fortress, in successive waves in accordance with the project milestones. No payments were made during the first two months of development, but GRIN's co-founder Bo Andersson was initially not worried as he considered delayed payments common and had faith in the project. However, several more months went by without payments. The publisher became actively uncooperative in May 2009, after the releases of GRIN's Terminator Salvation and Bionic Commando to negative reviews and poor sales respectively. The publisher asked GRIN to fax them all of the project's assets, including the music files, in a move that has been described as impossible and "stupid as hell[,] almost a criminal behavior" by Bo Andersson. GRIN eventually decided to send Square Enix a picture of their own Final Fantasy XII in order to test them. As the reply they received was "that doesn't look like a game in Final Fantasy's style", GRIN came to the conclusion that there was no way to satisfy the publisher.[5]

After six months in financially unstable conditions, GRIN was forced to cease development on all projects and to declare bankruptcy, as laws in Sweden inflict severe fines on businesses which operate under a debt load.[5][6][11] According to the bankruptcy papers, Square Enix had the opinion that the development goals for Fortress "had not been met in a satisfactory way", whereas Bo Andersson has claimed the contrary, arguing that the milestones initially set up with a producer from Square Enix had been met.[5] The developer closed its offices on August 12, 2009, stating that delayed payments from "too many publishers" caused "an unbearable cashflow situation", and mentioning in a farewell note their "unreleased masterpiece that [they] weren't allowed to finish".[12]

Aftermath

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Two placeholder creatures in a duel, from the leaked tech demo

After GRIN's closure, the former existence of Fortress spread as mentions and concept art of the project appeared on former employees' resumes and portfolios.[1] Lead character artist Björn Albihn described Fortress as "a game with an epic scale both in story and production values".[4]

In January 2010, footage from an alleged tech demo of Fortress was leaked on the Internet. The video description stated the game's events are "set some time after Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings", and mentioned Square Enix's subsidiary Eidos Montreal as a possible new home for the project.[13][14] Replying to a fan question in May 2010, David Hoffman, director of business development at the American branch of Square Enix, mentioned Fortress without confirming its existence, stating "I have and had no involvement in the rumored project Fortress".[15]

In May 2011, in an interview[16][17][18] with GRIN co-founders, Ulf and Bo Andersson, it was revealed that that the project had eventually been cancelled by its own publisher, Square Enix, after six months of development. As stated in the interview, "Square Enix had already made up its mind that Fortress wasn't a project it wanted anymore".[16]

The Fortress project, still supported by Square Enix, was being developed by a different, undisclosed studio, but this seems to have ended as well. At an interview at E3 2011, Motomu Toriyama announced that Fortress was suspended, citing that the game would "never be released". [19]

References

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  1. ^ a b King, Ryan (August 20, 2009). "GRIN was working on Final Fantasy game". Official Xbox 360 Magazine. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Hellstedt, Joakim (September 9, 2009). "Online Portfolio of Joakim Hellstedt". Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  3. ^ Holmsten, Tony (August 29, 2010). "Tony Holmsten's Portfolio". Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e Albihn, Björn. ""Fortress" - Portfolio of Björn Albihn". Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e Ottsjö, Peter (May 28, 2011). "Strypta av speljätten" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved February 17, 2012.
  6. ^ a b "GRIN's Final Fantasy spin-off still in development". GamesIndustry.biz. September 21, 2009. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  7. ^ Lindqvist, Erik (February 13, 2012). "Erik Lindqvist - Sweden". LinkedIn. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  8. ^ Thunberg, Erik (January 23, 2012). "Erik Thunberg - Sweden". LinkedIn. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  9. ^ Thunberg, Erik (January 18, 2010). "starsounds.net". Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  10. ^ Holmsten, Tony (September 9, 2009). "GRIN Concept Artists Artdump". Conceptart.org. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  11. ^ Dustin, Quillen (August 20, 2009). "GRIN Was Working on an Unannounced Final Fantasy Project". 1UP.com. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  12. ^ Rob, Crossley (August 12, 2009). "GRIN 'forced' to close down". Develop. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
  13. ^ Robinson, Andy (January 18, 2010). "Final Fantasy XII spin-off leaked". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  14. ^ King, Ryan (January 18, 2010). "Tech demo of cancelled Final Fantasy". Official Xbox 360 Magazine. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  15. ^ Sal Romano (May 27, 2010). "Square Enix's "Project X" is not Fortress". Scrawl. Retrieved May 28, 2010.
  16. ^ a b Grant, Christopher (May 29, 2011). "GRIN founders say Square Enix turned their smiles upside down". Joystiq. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
  17. ^ Good, Owen (May 28, 2011). "Bankrupted Studio Says Square Enix Demanded Code by Fax, Didn't Recognize FFXII Screenshots". Kotaku. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  18. ^ Colwill, Tim (May 30, 2011). "GRIN Founders Blast Square Enix". Games On Net. Retrieved May 31, 2011.
  19. ^ http://www.videogamer.com/news/final_fantasy_xii_spin-off_fortress_suspended.html
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[[Category:Action video games]] [[Category:Final Fantasy spin-offs]] [[Category:GRIN games]] [[Category:Video games developed in Sweden]] [[Category:Cancelled PlayStation 3 games]] [[Category:Cancelled Xbox 360 games]] [[Category:Cancelled Windows games]]

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