Dustbowl - A Post Apocalyptic Adventure

Started by pixelincognito, Wed 17/09/2014 11:10:22

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.M.M.

That looks great! I'm working on a post-apocalyptic RPG myself, can't wait to try this one out! :-)

pixelincognito

With everything falling into place we're now working on random generation and encounters that can be found in the game, either entering smaller areas on the map or while travelling around on the map (Fallout style). There will be a lot of different encounters that you'll come across in the game, some positive while others will be negative. Others will just make the world seem eerie and interesting and tell little hidden stories. Of Course! There will also be plenty of easter eggs that can be found while wandering the dustbowl wastes .


Expect further details at the weekend, as we plan on producing a new developer video and I'll be demonstrating the map and these systems. Hope everyone is doing well and being very productive!

Thanks guys
PI.

Gurok

Wow, such a lovely thing to say. I hope you have a productive week too, pixelincognito.

I'm definitely getting a post-apoc, Wasteland/Fallout vibe from this latest screenshot. Looks great!
[img]http://7d4iqnx.gif;rWRLUuw.gi

Atavismus

#43
Thx a lot Gurok and all others! :)

Some news from the bunker!

* I started to tell the hero's story on our twitter account with #dustbowlstory.

* We made our "studio" page on indiedb: Cloak & Dagger Games (oops! We'll change that asap because of the killer http://cadgames.weebly.com/).

* We add a new poll about enemies (you can vote without any account).

Thx for your support, comments and sharings! (The stalker is watching you! :D)

ChestPecRespect

Oh man that reminds me of the first time you step in the Ghost Farm in Fallout 2.
That looks amazing. Can't wait! :cheesy:

pixelincognito

Hey Everyone!

It's been a very long time since I've posted but that's because I've been so busy working on the game that these things get a little neglected; but we have real progress and lots of news.

We've been working incredibly in packaging up what we have into a nice polished demo for everyone to play, I'd say for a new player going into it with no idea of where to go and one who plans to try and do everything...I estimate there might be about 2 hours of gameplay in the demo? It would be interesting to know how long it takes you guys to play it. If we can (and things are going very well) we'll try and get the demo out tonight but at the very latest, tomorrow! The demo includes the HUB, the Cave System and the Subway and the Surface Map along with all the side quests that go with each area.

Currently the last real jobs on my list is adding in rooms for none-important areas on the map (farm houses, huts, etc to flesh the world out) and more loot, but it's looking rather good.
There have been some big visual updates too, the map looks different now with pockets of radiation - you hear your geiger counter...head the other way! (currently it wont hurt you haha, but please pretend!).

We also have a website: Dustbowl Website which at the moment is a little bare but it's a work in progress. We've also added ourselves to Steam Greenlight which has a small features trailer Dustbowl Greenlight, so we'd appreciate some support there, and by all means, vote Yes or No, it's all good :)

[embed=425,349]http://youtu.be/fHhgYzl8a5g[/embed]











Again, thanks for your support and I'll be posting details on where you can download the demo :)

Cheers guys, hope you all have a splendid day.
PI

portableTaco

This game looks absolutely fantastic.  I'm on-board! Also, on the permadeath discussion, I like the idea of having both, with rewards that are different for each style of play.  That way, if the player wants a certain reward or to see a certain event, they have to play the permadeath game....and vice versa, they get a bonus or reward for playing the other version.  Of course to you the programmer it's kinda extra work to do both, haha. But that's just my two cents.

pixelincognito

That's a great idea portableTaco :) We'll look into that for sure.

Well here it is...the demo in all it's lovely brokeness haha. If you head over to the site: Dustbowl website and look down for the big , fat download button you can get the demo! I hope people wont be too disappointed, once you get out the HUB (start area) the world should really open up and it's an area that will be expanded upon - it's a taster :)


Hope you all enjoy our little game so far!
PI

abstauber

Hey, thanks for sharing the demo at this early stage.
I really got heavy 80s vibes by playing this - I love the aesthetics and the overall design. Too bad that I couldn't find any health improving things in the hub, so I'm stuck at 3 hp and somewhat doomed - and I have to admit that this is not really motivating me to start all over again. But that's 80s game design frustration, which made me smile anyway ;)

What I think you need to work on is the battle system: this game would work so much better with a timed RPG battle system. Currently it's just a simple reaction game, which is getting tedious quite fast (although the technical execution in AGS feels nice and solid).
Also I'm missing a health bar for the enemies and an option to at least try to run from fights.

Anyway, keep up the good work!

pixelincognito

#49
Yeah health is something that needs to be dropped in a few places I think haha, you can wait until you're tired and sleep that will recover health (from my understanding, it's not a lot and this will be greatly increased.

The combat is still really a basic element, we plan on adding combat items that can be used, like grenades and flashbangs for skipping enemy turns and damage dealers. The idea was to give it a kind of Final Fantasy/turn based thing to it but we understand there's more work to be done in that area. We did have a run button with a chance of escape but I removed it for the demo. Not displaying enemy health bars was a design choice, we could eventually add something that tells the player when an enemy is below 50% health (a bit like Dungeons & Dragons with their 'bloodies')

We really appreciate you playing though it means a lot, there's so much more work to do but I hope it gives you a good idea of it's direction, even if it's a taster.
-------------------
Update!
There is a new demo zip, you can loot the med box in the armory and also sleeping now recovers 50hp.

Cheers!
PI

Atavismus

Well, the game is meant to be hard, but ofc, I guess it needs some balance.
Moreover, we plan to implement a market, so you can buy what you need and sell stuffs to get money.
Tip: you can train as much as you want (using your fists) in the range room. ;)

abstauber

Quote from: Atavismus on Tue 02/12/2014 11:14:08
Tip: you can train as much as you want (using your fists) in the range room. ;)
So I still can do things, yay :P
Btw. I don't have trouble with the fight system, it's just not very entertaining. An example: I fight a puny beetle and it easily deflects my heart shot. After that it butchers me down to 12 HP, while I need 3 more critical hits to take it down. The only way to influence the fight is a reaction test like in the 80s and early 90s golfing games, just even more simplified.

I hope you don't get me wrong, this is really a cool demo. Please keep up the good work!


pixelincognito

#52
oh no! really I understand haha :) You're right in that the combat is lacking just that little extra, the hit location was supposed to be that thing. The we don't explain it at all though....our fault.

Damage that is in white text is armour damage - your not actually hurting the creature and you can't one-shot an armoured area  - think of armour like Halo's over shield, you get rid of that before damaging the beast. So when you see that you have to select a different part of the body to target (and hopefully one-shot).

Red damage is...well damage and you'll notice if they crit you or you crit them.

I think the real fun to be had is on the surface, at the moment that's sorely lacking but we knw what to do. I have the most fun in the game going in and out of the houses and looting them (of course we'll also throw in some random elements into the houses to keep it fresh for the next time you go in). We need more enemies too, bigger more scary things that take up of the size of the room, so when you collect things like HE grenades then you'll want to save them for the big beasties.

No... we really appreciate you playing the demo, it means a great deal to us - so many sleepless nights! haha

Cheers!
PI


abstauber

hehe - thanks! Then I'll try the updated demo and explore the outside a bit more.

pixelincognito

#54
There's about 5 (none story houses to enter (one house has one of my favourite NPCs in the game haha) and then there's the Subway and HUB itself, you should find the game a little easier once you get your first armour and rifle :)
----
NOTE:
MKennedy has discovered that you can leave combat by clicking on a room exit ( I dont suggest that as it will break the game but thanks again! We'll fix that asap: we should have found that. Cheers!
----

Cheers again, you're a star.
PI

portableTaco

Quote from: pixelincognito on Mon 01/12/2014 18:17:35
That's a great idea portableTaco :) We'll look into that for sure.

Well here it is...the demo in all it's lovely brokeness haha.
Thanks! And please, call me Taco. =p  Awesome, I'm gonna check out the demo tonight after I finish up some of my own work. WOOT.

selmiak

this is really fun though I died way too fast! ;-D

ChestPecRespect

#57
Alright. Just finished the demo today completing most quests that can be completed except

SPOILER ALERT (Isn't there a hide spoiler option?)


The rabbit quest.


I hate that I only have the Fallouts to compare it to as I've never gotten past the first village in Wasteland but yeah.
It's very Fallout-like indeed. Even the battle system in a way except you're in complete control of your 'chance to hit'

There are some noticeable glitches
1. Saving the game in the Subway Security Office. Loading the game sometimes brings me back to the Locker room.
2. The USB doesn't disappear from the menu upon delivery.
3. Clicking on a different exit sometimes exits the map. This one is noticeable in the entrance to the subway.

I have to say I'm loving the random element of the game with the encounters and The Bug Quest.
While I'm not a huge fan of the combat, I love that there is some strategy as to WHERE you do your critical strikes. (limbs of a bug for example. it makes a lot of sense :grin:) Also loving the dr. who references in there. :)

There are a few flaws I feel the need to point out though
1. The walking speed. I don't know about feeling like you're doing more by making the character move so slow. It takes like 7 seconds to get from one end of the room to the other and there is no way to undo a click if you accidentally click the exit on the opposite end.
2. I think he really needs a personal stash somewhere even if just his room. When I got the thing from the Security Office I had to dispose of a lot of hard-earned loot. While I've figured out which are useless, I still had to binge eat and drink and even discard leftover resources just to carry that thing.
3. I don't know if this should be counted but the is currently no way to repair armor. Hopefully this is just a feature you deliberately left out of the demo.

Very excited to play this. I love the multiple status you need to maintain. I was actually surprised the dirty syringe healed some hp as I was expecting a status penalty for doing that.

pixelincognito

#58
Hi ChestPecRespect

I'm so glad you enjoyed what you played so far. It is very much a work in progress, repair kits are planned for the game to fix up damaged armour, we'll definitely look into the issues you've brought up, some puzzling ones haha. But great job getting through the demo, despite it's warts! :D

The map is something we're working on so we hope to flood it with lots of places to loot and explore. Combat is something we're also still developing and enemies with armour is something we need to add a lot more of but the moment we add HE grenades and flashbangs and ballistic knives (think spells) then I think combat will be a lot more interesting of an activity.

[embed=640,360]http://youtu.be/zIJ0LDOL7Aw[/embed]
For more info we had a little interview which discusses a few systems.

I'm really over the moon you've enjoyed your brief run around Dustbowl though :)
Cheers!
Mark


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