[PC] Dead State: The Zombie Survival RPG

[CeeKay]

anothe zombie survival RPG from former Obsidian and Troika members.  they have some screens on RPS along with an interview about the game.

[neofit]

A "Fort Zombie" without the mediocre controls and time constraint would be a good thing!

[Aganazer]

I've been following this one for a while as its alias, ZRPG. They are definitely on the right track according to the discussions on their forums.

If Age of Decadence is any indication this one should be out some time around 2019. Can't wait!

[Caine]

Sounds interesting and I hope it is similar to fort zombie but in more detailed ways.

i just read the about page and while i am bummed it's not a third person real time rpg, it sounds like they have got the right ideas to make an interesting game. 

[frost]

maybe i'm wrong, but it almost sounds like a zombie based X-com type of game.  Turn based, upping stats based on performance, protecting your shelter/base, managing resources.

Sounds like it could be excellent, but I too was initially hoping for a third person RPG.  I wanted a Fort Zombie that was done right.

[morlac]

maybe i'm wrong, but it almost sounds like a zombie based X-com type of game.  Turn based, upping stats based on performance, protecting your shelter/base, managing resources.

Sounds like it could be excellent, but I too was initially hoping for a third person RPG.  I wanted a Fort Zombie that was done right.

I'd take either of those.

[JohnathanStrange]

Looks interesting. I also would like a Zombie Survival RPG, some sort of zombie-themed builder game perhaps wherein I have goals that evolve from mere survival to building some sort of stronghold - perhaps a small town even? - for other surviving humans.
 

[CeeKay]

maybe i'm wrong, but it almost sounds like a zombie based X-com type of game.  Turn based, upping stats based on performance, protecting your shelter/base, managing resources.

Sounds like it could be excellent, but I too was initially hoping for a third person RPG.  I wanted a Fort Zombie that was done right.

damn, I totally missed the 'turn based' mention.

[MaxSteele]

Looks interesting. I also would like a Zombie Survival RPG, some sort of zombie-themed builder game perhaps wherein I have goals that evolve from mere survival to building some sort of stronghold - perhaps a small town even? - for other surviving humans.
 

That's what Minecraft is becoming. 

[rittchard]

Just bumping this up, read about it in PC Gamer.  Sounds like a lot of fun, I guess I'm looking to cure my Walking Dead fix lol.  Someone should make a Sims mod like this

http://www.deadstate.doublebearproductions.com/

[CeeKay]

Just bumping this up, read about it in PC Gamer.  Sounds like a lot of fun, I guess I'm looking to cure my Walking Dead fix lol.  Someone should make a Sims mod like this

http://www.deadstate.doublebearproductions.com/

I saw 'demo' listed on the page and got excited 

[CeeKay]

Q&A on their forums.  looks like a Kickstarter is incoming:

Quote from: GhanBuriGhan on Yesterday at 02:26:02 AM
Two Kickstarter-related questions:

Have you decided on your funding target for Kickstarter?

Yes, we have. It's reasonable without leaving us too little breathing room. We've also planned out budgets/teams for if we make 200% or 300% of our goal.

Quote
What are your plans if the Kickstarter drive is a massive success, or conversely, if it is a massive failure?

If it's a massive success, we'll hire on more people to full-time contracts and expand the team. If it's a failure, it's likely we'll have to move to a different funding structure and the game will take longer.

Quote from: Darkthia on Yesterday at 02:30:11 AM
Also: have you decided upon a rough date to start the kickstarter?

Yup. We've got a schedule we're working on. We've done the budget, 99% certain on the tiers, and we know what we want to show off. We're finishing up a few tasks so we can cut the trailer and do other promotional material. When the whole team signs off on the trailer, we'll start doing a press push and launch the trailer and Kickstarter.

Quote
And: if you get a higher amount of money from the kickstarter, will you reconsider adding cover mechanics?

I don't know if we can promise to add new systems at this point - it really does add more than you think. Maps, combat systems, animations all need to be tweaked to address one new system. If we get additional personnel because of better than expected funding, they're going to be working on polishing the game and finishing implementing the content faster. 

[ydejin]

The Dead State Kickstarter has hit their initial goals and posted some stretch goals.  I think it looks like a lot of fun, so I'm currently in for $30.

Stretch Goals:

$180,000 - The Weapon Pack

$210k - New Areas (Military Base, Regional Airport, County Fair, Mall)

$240k - More Attack Animations, 2 New Allies, 2 New Shelter Upgrades.

$260k - More Character Creation Options, More Zombie Variety, Post-Release Game Modifiers

$300k - The City Area (High risk, high reward), 1 New Ally

$330k - Animals Added, Dog Allies Added

$360k - Mini-Expansion For Backers After Release (Adds military-grade weapons and zones of control)

Detailed descriptions of stretch goals here.

[ydejin]

Dead State the XCom'ish / Jagged Alliance-like zombie build a base, a team, and engage in turn-based combat as you scavenge supplies from post-apocalyptic America game is heading into its final 2 days.

Here's the stretch goal list.  I'm hoping they at least hit 260 as their character portraits are one of their weakest points, so getting another artist for the characters could really help make the game better.


I'm pretty excited about this one it potentially looks like it could be great.  The developers are working to create the right atmosphere for a Zombie game and are putting a lot of focus on story.  The project lead was one of the head writers for Vampire: the Masquerade.

One of the biggest components of Dead State is the writing. With dozens of characters, item descriptions, and loads of game text, there’s a lot to experience. We’ve got over 10,000 lines of branching dialogue – to give you some perspective, the average screenplay contains about 1000 lines of linear story. For our dialogue, we need to create reactivity for relationships with other allies, the character’s respect for the player, character mood, concerns for events happening in and out of the shelter, and personal requests. As you can imagine, this takes a bit of scripting and time to write, rewrite, and implement – and every ally in the shelter has dozens of nodes of reactivity, including some random events.

Imagine yourself outside your usual supermarket. It’s the middle of a sunny day. There are only a few cars in the parking lot. You hear a lot of birds, but no automobiles, no people talking, no music – none of the white noise that makes up the average human soundscape. It’s quiet in a way that modern man cannot fathom, stripped completely of the drone of civilization.

The doors to the supermarket are open, but it’s pitch black inside. You haven’t eaten in over a day and you’re pretty hungry, but there’s something about the store that makes your heart sink into your gurgling stomach. There are other buildings, apartments in the area, but nobody around. It’s been two weeks since you’ve seen a human being. You had a gun, but it’s locked in your gun safe over sixty miles away, because you had to abandon your car when the traffic never cleared. All you have on you is the shirt on your back, a backpack containing nothing but an empty water bottle, and a wooden pole that formerly had a rake attached.

All of the sudden you see a faint shape at the entrance of the supermarket, just hanging out there. You can’t tell if it’s an actual human. The last actual human you saw took a shot at you, so you don’t want to draw attention to yourself immediately. You’ve learned that it’s better in general to stay quiet as a rule. That last gunshot you heard from the last actual human you saw brought out dozens of the dead from within those darkened storefronts and apartment buildings. Just the sight of them, the way their sun-ripened heads turn at you on their flimsy necks like you’ve hooked them with a fishing line, makes you want to instinctively run until you reach safety. But there is no safety – no police stations, no military patrols, no house with loved ones to comfort you. You don’t even know if your loved ones are safe. Sometimes you pull out your cellphone like a rabbit’s foot, just to hold it and hope that someone calls you – anyone – just to hear a voice. But it doesn’t even have any juice left – it’s a fetish now, nothing else.

The figure is still standing there, just out of the light a few feet inside the supermarket. Human or not, your stomach rumbles, and you realize that you need to get in there and eat something or you won’t be able to keep moving. You start walking toward it, hand firmly grasping your stick, driven more by the instinctive need to feed than courage. As you close the distance, it hits you as a spring breeze wafts in your direction – the cloud of rot overtaking your nose and making you gag. The shape moves forward and you can see its feet – burs stuck to its pants and a nail sticking right up through the unlaced sneaker. It makes a loud, painful moan like someone choking on tacks and you freeze right in place. Then you hear more noise, behind the shape, weight being dragged on linoleum, metal being knocked onto the floor. Your eyes adjust as a cloud blocks out the sun for a second. There are a dozen bodies in there wobbling in the darkness - they are all moving toward you.

And that's kind of what Dead State's about.

[TiLT]

Here's the stretch goal list.  I'm hoping they at east hit 260 as their character portraits are one of their weakest points, so getting another artist for the characters could really help make the game better.

I don't know if new character portraits are part of the package for the 260 stretch goal. I'm hoping we'll reach 300 (and I think we just might) since the addition of a high-risk area would change the dynamics of the game for the better and give you something to strive for even when you start to feel that you've got the regular areas under control.

[ydejin]

Here's the stretch goal list.  I'm hoping they at east hit 260 as their character portraits are one of their weakest points, so getting another artist for the characters could really help make the game better.

I don't know if new character portraits are part of the package for the 260 stretch goal. I'm hoping we'll reach 300 (and I think we just might) since the addition of a high-risk area would change the dynamics of the game for the better and give you something to strive for even when you start to feel that you've got the regular areas under control.

The 260 goal does say "This goal allows us to hire a character artist on full-time" and I can't imagine a full time character artist won't look over the current portraits without saying "we really have to do something with these, they look awful!"

Actually I was hoping for 330 and the animals, but I don't see much chance of that happening.  Although I was pretty shocked at how Starlight Inception managed to earn 1/3rd of their money on the last day.

[TiLT]

Most Kickstarters have a dramatic boost in the last two days. I believe this game will get one too. I would actually be somewhat surprised if it doesn't at least reach 300 by the end, though some of the wild enthusiasm for Kickstarter has dwindled recently, making such predictions a bit less safe.

[Blackadar]

This is the first kickstarter I've supported.  The game looks and sounds awesome.  The December, 2013 date gave me concern, but this is a project I'd really like to play.

[frost]

This is the first kickstarter I've supported.  The game looks and sounds awesome.  The December, 2013 date gave me concern, but this is a project I'd really like to play.

This.

In for the $15.  That's a very small risk compared to what the reward could potentially be. 

[CeeKay]

Most Kickstarters have a dramatic boost in the last two days. I believe this game will get one too. I would actually be somewhat surprised if it doesn't at least reach 300 by the end, though some of the wild enthusiasm for Kickstarter has dwindled recently, making such predictions a bit less safe.

they're now at $306,286 with 2 hours to go.

[ydejin]

Most Kickstarters have a dramatic boost in the last two days. I believe this game will get one too. I would actually be somewhat surprised if it doesn't at least reach 300 by the end, though some of the wild enthusiasm for Kickstarter has dwindled recently, making such predictions a bit less safe.

ZOMG it just went up $15,000 in the last 10 minutes and went over the top for Animal Allies!  I figured 300,000 was doable but there was no way we were hitting that next 330,000 goal.  And then Boom!

[frost]

about 2 minutes to go, and we just hit over $330k, adding animals and animal allies.  that's awesome.  not enough time for $360k, unfortunately.

[ydejin]

Dead State is trying to get Steam Greenlight votes so that it can go up on Steam at release.