The Dead Walk! (Minor Update - 2/20/04)

Nine Toes · Mon 02/02/2004 07:14:41

Olleh!

I've been working hard this last while on a game that I haven't talked about much at all. I figger it's time to tell y'all about what I'm doing.

My first official AGS game is called "The Dead Walk!"

The story: "One day, the deceased decide to get up and eat the living. You play as James. James has left his home to go to the city in hopes that his family will still be alive there. So James hops in his car, and heads towards the city. His car runs out of gas on a lonely country backroad. Now James has to find some gasoline, to refuel his car. While searching for petrol in a nearby farmhouse, he must fend off the undead until he finds some gas or is rescued."

I know it's not much of a story, but it's good for a start. I'm not planning this to be a big zombie epic, I figure it'll end up being about a medium length game. It's just kind of an homage, to show off my love for zombies and gaming.

Here's some screenshots for you:

As you can see, the graphics are very amateur... I'll do a little tweaking here and there until I'm satisfied with them. Also, the overall game design is pretty unoriginal... it is somewhat of a Resident Evil clone. I guess I'm not too concerned about that, though. What really matters to me, is that it will be fun to play when it's finished.

I originally wasn't going to tell anyone anything about this until it was finished, kinda surprise y'all with it. But, I figure, why not? I suppose I could use some support.

I've had at least one person ask if they could help with this, (sorry Fizz) I'm anticipating that there might be others... aside from critique in the critic's lounge, and a little scripting help, I'm want to do this all on my own. Just because.

I'm guessing that this game should only take me a few months to complete, as long as I don't hit any snags along the way. Once I get all the scripting out of the way, the remaining artwork, sound, etc. won't be a problem. (as far as scripting, I'm kinda learning as I go) The game is still in the early stages, though. So, I guess anything I write here is subject to possible change.

Umm... let's see if I forgot anything... oh, even though the game is very unoriginal, I'm still drawing all my graphics from scratch. Up in the screenshot you see my custom inventory menu...? That health indicator is animated and actually works! (heh, sorry, I'm just kinda proud of that one...)

I currently have about five rooms done, and one or two that I'm experimenting with. According to my plans, there should be about 20 rooms. There is also at least one other character in the game, a female by the name of Kristin. I haven't finished her artwork though.

I suppose I might try to squeeze in some time to fix up my site all nice and pretty for this.

Hmm... Am I forgetting anything...? Do any of y'all have any questions that you'd like me to answer? Any thoughts, comments, suggestions?

Other than that, I think I'm done here, for now. Cheer me on, won't ya?

ScottDoom · Mon 02/02/2004 07:31:34

It looks awesome! I hope you finish it.

Can you give us anything on the actual storyline?

Nine Toes · Mon 02/02/2004 07:43:09

Cool, my first fan!

Well, the story line is really quite simple. Jim has to find some gasoline somewhere on the premises. Along the way, he'll run into little obstacles that he needs to over come. There aren't any puzzles, but you'll need to perform simple puzzle-like tasks, like find a lost key using only little hints, or board up the windows so that you can move freely about the house. Hiding out in the house is the female character, so you've also got to keep her alive throughout the game.

Gord10 · Mon 02/02/2004 10:10:32

It looks good. IMO it may be a funny game

Lauren · Mon 02/02/2004 16:27:27

I'm excited about this one, being a zombie fan myself. What kinds of things affect the health indicator?

Pet Terry · Mon 02/02/2004 16:31:37

Looks and sounds great, Sully.

Rincewind · Mon 02/02/2004 22:55:27

Quote from: Dr. Jekyll?~MR. HYDE! on Mon 02/02/2004 07:14:41
His car runs out of gas on a lonely country backroad. Now Jim has to find some gasoline, to refuel his car. While searching for petrol in a nearby farmhouse, he must fend off the undead until he finds some gas or is rescued."

Quote from: Dr. Jekyll?~MR. HYDE! on Mon 02/02/2004 07:14:41
Hiding out in the house is the female character

D00d! Night of the Living Dead!

Hehe, no, sorry - I think this looks and sounds really great!
Really looking forward to it! More Horror/Zombie games to the people!
Hell yeah.

LordHart · Tue 03/02/2004 00:00:00

Why is the Kent farmhouse from the original Superman movie in the first shot? $:-\$

sergiocornaga · Tue 03/02/2004 04:39:25

Looks cool. The interface looks great.

big brother · Tue 03/02/2004 05:51:56

Can't say I'm too thrilled about how pixelated the character gets in the second and third screenshots. You should consider drawing him more detailed for the close-up scenes...

Snake · Tue 03/02/2004 06:03:45

Gotta love those zombies! Can't wait, man!

My only thing is, like Big Brother pointed out, is how pixelated the main character is compared to the BG's.

Other than that it sounds like a winner to me!

Finish this,

--Snake

DragonRose · Wed 04/02/2004 02:27:04

For some reason, everytime I see this thread I think of walking deads. :

About the actual game: seems like a nifty idea. I actually like the way the character looks magnified. I think the health meter is a really cool idea. Can't wait for it to come out!

Nine Toes · Wed 04/02/2004 06:56:31

Cool. I'm glad to see this many people interested!

I figger I'll post in twice a month (maybe three if it's important enough) so that I'm not wasting a ton of bandwidth. Just to let you know how things are rolling along with the project.

As of right now, things are running smooth a silk. I was playing around with my script yesterday, and I (ooops!) messed up the health indicator and couldn't remember how I got it to work in the first place... but I got it working again (with a different method).

Now to answer some questions:
Gord 10-Ahmet: Thank you. I am going to make the game a little humorous. It's not going to be all stone-faced and serious, there will be a tiny bit of Evil-Dead type humor in it.

Lauren: The health indicator is mainly affected by how much damage you take from zombies. I tried to think of a more original approach to the health issue, but I was drawing blanks, so I just went with the health meter.

Petteri: Why, thank you, Pete!

Rincewind: Yea, you're right... it is very similar to NOTLD. I didn't really realize exactly HOW similar it was until you had pointed that out... maybe I'll have to make a few adjustments in the story...

Os Ã Å¡ltimo QuÃ£o Queijo ^_^: Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, foo? Jk, but really, what do you mean?

Sergiocornaga: Thank you. Speaking of the interface, I'm thinking about adding some other types of interface. Like some pop-up mouse-over health indicators for the bottom corner of the screen, and an ammo indicator of some type... I had one indicator that I finished for the main character, so that you don't need to keep opening the inventory window to check your health, but then I realized I needed to make another one for the female character ('cuz as it says above, you will need to keep her alive to finish the game). That kinda cluttered up the screen, so, even though I haven't finished scripting them yet, I know what I'm aiming for.

BigBrother: I know what you mean. I have been thinking about that lately... I really am not going to put a ton of effort into the graphics, but I would like them to look halfway decent. So I took all of yesterday, and I blew up the sprites for close up shots, and I de-pixellated them.

Here's a new screenshot:

He looks a little pissed off... I tried to fix that, but I figger, eh, leave it... it adds character.

Snake: Snake~! I'm happy to see that I have your support on this. I always new you liked zombies too.

I promise, I will finish this.

Scout's honor! (he heh he!) If I don't finish it... you can... uh... shoot me in the foot!

Zuul/Dragonrose: I know... that was a remark towards the fact that there are no zombies in any of the screenshots... right?

jk

I haven't included any zombies in the screenshots, because:
1. I'm still making all of their sprites.
2. I'm having trouble programming AI for them.

But it's cool to see that I have your support, too!

remixor · Wed 04/02/2004 13:01:06

It's got zombies, which makes it ok in my book. Can't wait.

big brother · Wed 04/02/2004 13:42:56

The de-pixelated version looks great!

DragonRose · Wed 04/02/2004 14:40:28

Nope: it was actually a reference to walking deads in adventure games- when you can't go on because you missed something earlier.

Tarantula · Wed 04/02/2004 16:34:29

A zombie adventure game!!! Awesome 8) I've always wanted to make a zombie game...

Since you're planning to make this a medium-length game... I gotta ask if you'd have interest in teaming up with me somewhere in the distant future to make a real zombie epic?

Here's some of my work:
http://sivut.koti.soon.fi/mharkonen/tsompi1.jpg
http://sivut.koti.soon.fi/mharkonen/tsompi2.jpg
http://sivut.koti.soon.fi/mharkonen/kesken.jpg

You've seen the last one earlier, as you probably remember

Currently my hands are full of work, so I can't really say when would I have the time to work on such a project... But I thought I'd ask just out of pure curiosity

LordHart · Wed 04/02/2004 20:51:04

Quote from: Dr. Jekyll?~MR. HYDE! on Wed 04/02/2004 06:56:31Os Ã Å¡ltimo QuÃ£o Queijo ^_^: Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, foo? Jk, but really, what do you mean?

That farmhouse in the distance in the first pic reminds me of the Kent farmhouse from Superman: The Movie. You just expect to see a green glow coming from the barn, and then a guy in a blue suit flying off to Metropolis.

Ytterbium · Sat 07/02/2004 04:18:58

I hope there won't be too many walking deads in it.

Sorry, I just had to say it. Well, anyway, looks good. Me want play.

Anticipation Meter:

Erwin_Br · Sat 07/02/2004 23:46:49

Very atmospheric graphics, especially the first image. I like it a lot!

--Erwin