Beta request: Outrider (zombie game)

[ElaineMc]

This game is in the very, very early stages of progress, so it doesn't quite fit on the Production board. The plotline is storyboarded out, and much of the gametext is written, but I'm still fiddling with style, and could really use some input.

This isn't going to be a long game, and it has a very simple plot.

You are temporarily staffing a watchtower on an island, due to illness of the staff member assigned to the duty. The watchtower is on a small island in between the mainland and a larger island; you're watching the larger island and the water in between. The community on the mainland is counting on you to protect them.

A storm is coming in fast, and communications are being temporarily shut down between your tower and the mainland. But that's not really a problem. After all, you just have to wait it out (an estimated ten hours) and full communication will be re-established.

Of course, ten hours can be a very, very long time if something goes wrong-- and since this is an adventure game, something will go wrong.

There is no sound or music at this early date, and the graphics are NOT mine at all-- I've built all the sets and the main character in the Sims 2! I'm not much of an artist, and I really want to concentrate on storytelling; sorry if this is considered "cheating".

Download here: [REMOVED - no longer current!]

There isn't much to do right now-- I just wanted to provide a general feel for how the game is supposed to operate and what it's generally looking like so far. You can poke around the main room, take closer looks at most areas (excluding the computer and the desk drawers), and pick up a useful item in the bedroom. At this point, there's nothing that can kill you.

I'm thinking I may remove the choose-your-own-look option, though-- the coding is starting to be incredibly cumbersome, as well as inflate the filesize. We'll see, though.

Any feedback, notes on gameplay or things that broke, etc, are appreciated.



Thanks for your time in reading this!

[ElaineMc]

The first beta version of "chapter one" is available, and I'm hoping I can get a few beta testers for it.

My initial tester reported some fairly worrisome results: slowdown during room transitions, slow-moving cursor, a disappearing GUI, and a text input box that refuses to accept input. If anyone could give this a runthrough, so I can start trying to figure out what's going wrong (as well as any other input or criticism), it would be greatly appreciated.

Issues under consideration:
- Slow cursor responses; undue CPU / memory useage.
- The use of a crosshair instead of an inventory item when an item is selected (item still appears in the inventory box in the GUI). This seemed like a good idea at the time.
- The use of comic-book styling.
- Information dump! I've tried to provide all necessary info fairly painlessly, but it's still a lot of text.
- Currently, room transitions = instant, to remove one possible source of drag.

Here's the link to the file itself (.rar format, ~2.7MB): http://finalgirl.us/ags/OutriderBeta.rar . I can supply a .zip file if that's preferred.

One-sentence summary: Ms. Delgado is single-handedly manning a watchtower that surveys an island that is still overrun with the undead.

Mini-walkthrough: To advance through the "plot", you need to: look at the items in your inventory; interact with the launch at the dock; and check the computer functions. There are only two "endings" available at this point, obviously.

Edited to add another (edited for size & gore) screenshot:

[Kweepa]

Good to see you back and working on another game!
The writing, as before, is excellent. I look forward to the final product.

I'm sorry I don't have time to beta-test this, but I had a play through and didn't experience any of the problems your initial tester reported.

[ElaineMc]

I'm sorry I don't have time to beta-test this, but I had a play through and didn't experience any of the problems your initial tester reported.

Thanks for the welcome & the kind words, as well as the feedback. I haven't sorted out what the problem is here, yet-- my big concern is that I'll overdo the filesizes and make the game run like molasses; then again, the average systems are a LOT more powerful than they were the last time I did something like this (what is that? Four years ago now?), so it may be misplaced worry.

Am also running around reading up on theory and discussions in the forums-- so much to catch up on.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I didn't encounter any bugs aside from the closeup shot of the cabinet staying open if you switch angles before closing it.  I do think some of the writing is a bit heavy-handed in terms of making it obvious that something is going to go wrong, and I don't think that forcing the player to examine their inventory to advance the plot is a good idea (this actually kept me from moving forward until I re-read your post) but I think the game shows promise, and being a fan of zombies I will play it when you are finished.

[ElaineMc]

I didn't encounter any bugs aside from the closeup shot of the cabinet staying open if you switch angles before closing it.  I do think some of the writing is a bit heavy-handed in terms of making it obvious that something is going to go wrong, and I don't think that forcing the player to examine their inventory to advance the plot is a good idea (this actually kept me from moving forward until I re-read your post) but I think the game shows promise, and being a fan of zombies I will play it when you are finished.

Thanks for the input! I'm glad it ran all right. I'd begun getting seriously twitchy, thinking over how I'd re-work all the graphics!

Which cabinet in which room? I thought I'd fixed all those, but evidently not quite.

re: Foreshadowing - Yyyyyyeah. I think I'm due a bit of fine-tuning. This turned into a rather more serious game than I'd originally meant it to be. The first draft had more of a slasher-movie vibe to it (and that's still on the table, sometime-- I'm thinking "Red Hood: Werewolf Hunter!" or something like that), and this story has developed into more of a what-when story.

As in "What happens (individually and societally) when you've spent most of your adult life learning that each individual is responsible for the actual, physical safety of the people around them?" and "What happens when death becomes an everyday occurrence?" * That first question is one I tried to hammer in pretty heavily, but I may have to redraft some of that text, too. I know it sounds like a lot to try and squeeze in, but I don't want to so much have a philosophical debate in the game, as to use ideas like that as sort of a framework for plot.

re: Inventory - I thought I had something foolproof there! I figured, everyone checks their pockets / purses before they go about their daily business; and in an adventure game, I figured an inventory check would be a natural. I'll think that over a bit more.

re: Zombies - Just finished drafting the first zombie encounter (the hemicorporectomized guy in the above screenshot), as a matter of fact. Glad you're looking forward to it; I'm pretty fond of the zombie genre, myself. Nothing like a bit of escapism....

(* I'm drawing from society in the 1910s, when life expectancy was still fairly low compared to today, and almost any family would have lost an immediate member (sibling, parent). In a lot of today's narratives, a death in the family was a plot point; in narratives of the time, it was a pretty common occurrence.)

[LimpingFish]

Looks interesting, so far.

Some bugs/me being a picky bastard:

Clicking on the close up of the bathroom takes me outside.

Generated in the warning file after exiting the game:

(in room 1): Wait() was used in Player Enters Screen - use Enters Screen After Fadein instead
(in room 3): Wait() was used in Player Enters Screen - use Enters Screen After Fadein instead

Other than that, everything seemed to run fine.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Which cabinet in which room?

The cabinet in the main office area, the one by the main entrance.

I figured, everyone checks their pockets / purses before they go about their daily business; and in an adventure game, I figured an inventory check would be a natural. I'll think that over a bit more.

I personally don't examine 'obvious' inventory items, like guns.  Photos, yes, because you know you will learn something, but weapons and such I will leave until I actually need them.  The other thing I would suggest is that if checking the launch is a normal duty it should be on the checklist so the player has some idea that they need to do it.  Since there is a duty roster this isn't hand holding as much as giving you a list of actual daily duties.  Adding more to this (checking the gates, making sure all the doors are securely locked, perhaps even having a roof access so you can examine the dish/antenna for contact with the Port) would add some more reasonable duties for manning such a station alone .

[ElaineMc]

Limping Fish:

Clicking on the close up of the bathroom takes me outside.

It's actually supposed to do that; looking at the bathroom door explains why, but I may move the explanatory text around a bit-- maybe add to both look and interact, but set it to only fire once, so you don't have to repeatedly read it....

Generated in the warning file after exiting the game:

I hadn't even thought to check that kind of thing-- I'll fix it right away!


ProgZmax:

The cabinet in the main office area, the one by the main entrance.

Okay, got it-- I'll fix that today, too.

I personally don't examine 'obvious' inventory items, like guns.

The photo is actually the trigger there-- but your point about a duty list is well taken. It would probably also let me streamline the code, too.

Thanks to you both for the corrections!