Author Topic: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.21  (Read 62560 times)

Chex Warrior

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3
« Reply #15 on: June 09, 2010, 04:40:11 PM »
Do you have plans for any additional locations Roguedjack? Like sewers or subways? That would be cool.

roguedjack

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3
« Reply #16 on: June 09, 2010, 08:26:04 PM »
Do you have plans for any additional locations Roguedjack? Like sewers or subways? That would be cool.
Great minds like alike, see my Reply#9 in this thread  8)

---
I'll redo the installer.
I added a Game FAQ on my blog.
Don't worry if I don't reply to everyone, I read the suggestions and comments  :-*, but its taking too much time for individual answers, time away from actual programming  :P

roguedjack

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #17 on: June 16, 2010, 11:18:15 AM »
Alpha 3.1 is out.  ;D

Chex Warrior

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #18 on: June 18, 2010, 12:34:28 AM »
Goddamn char guards! I just heard a bunch of motorcycles and then he shot me... Maybe it was deserved I did break down his barricade and let in about five zombies.

Loving the new music by the way.

Faceless

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #19 on: June 23, 2010, 06:00:14 AM »
I have been enjoying your game for a few days now, difficult but not too difficult. However, and I know you are aware of this, the exception caused by the "illegal" shout action is driving me crazy. It's ruined 3 of my best games by unexpectedly appearing.

If you want to know where it comes from, I think it's caused by a sleeping CHAR Guard, at least that is where it has happened for me 2 of the 3 times. Just as a I break into the CHAR offices and the Guard is sleeping (it shows in the chat that he shouted "HEY YOU!" at me but clearly he has a blue Z over his head.

In addition, I have been working on some graphics - far from done and really they were just to wet my appetite because - and no offence intended - the default graphics are a bit ugly. My graphics haven't turned out "great" but with the limited number of tiles I think I did a half decent job of it.



A few pictures taken, features the "RIP" replacement (it's meant to be blood, it's a shame that it's also used for things like doors but I think the sacrifice of bleeding doors is just fine ;D), posters are all new and much better in my opinion, walls, floors and doors are all redone. There are a few other things like followers now have a green glow below their feet instead of a blue square around them, CHAR Offices have new walls/symbols (the symbol is the same but the tile is redone) and floors (minor modification, checkered floors). I'm planning to redo the characters with a different design style  and obviously finish up the rest of the graphics...

[Somehow this post was redirected to the wrong topic, weird huh, anyway it's in it's rightful home now]

roguedjack

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #20 on: June 23, 2010, 12:28:54 PM »
I have been enjoying your game for a few days now, difficult but not too difficult. However, and I know you are aware of this, the exception caused by the "illegal" shout action is driving me crazy. It's ruined 3 of my best games by unexpectedly appearing.

If you want to know where it comes from, I think it's caused by a sleeping CHAR Guard, at least that is where it has happened for me 2 of the 3 times. Just as a I break into the CHAR offices and the Guard is sleeping (it shows in the chat that he shouted "HEY YOU!" at me but clearly he has a blue Z over his head.
Sorry about that. I know where it comes from and it is fixed in 3.2.

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In addition, I have been working on some graphics - far from done and really they were just to wet my appetite because - and no offence intended - the default graphics are a bit ugly. My graphics haven't turned out "great" but with the limited number of tiles I think I did a half decent job of it.
No offence taken, my graphics skills are terrible thats why graphics are moddable  ;D
I'll add a mod section on the blog with links to user graphics mods. Once you have yours finalized feel free to send a link.

Faceless

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #21 on: June 23, 2010, 12:45:30 PM »
I will, I'm just in the process of designing all the character clothes/details. Oh, you should probably look at your blog comments about the bug fixes. I left a comment about a crash bug.

Drome

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #22 on: June 23, 2010, 05:37:16 PM »
Hi,

so I my brother just told me about this new cool Game he found and let me play it for a while, unfortunately he alredy uses the save Slot, but we still have this slow beatdown pc that still can handle those Games, that don't solely rely on their Graphics. Lucky me.

First a little fun Story, that happened to me, but you can also skip down to the part with things I thought about. Me having build up a Base in a Shop, it was still early in the Game so I wasn't that strong and had only few things. So I set out to find some Stuff, while exploring found a Girl sleeping in a barely baricaded house, so I waited to invite her into my group with the leadership skill i just learned after she would wake up. Suddenly some Zombies storm the house, so she wakes up from the noise and together we break through the Window and Run like hell. After we lost the Creatures I checked why she couldn't run that fast, she was close to starving and very tired, so I decided to quit exploring for the day bring her to my Base, while on the way I found a Hammer and Bullets for my empty Pistol. We walked past some broken Cars and around the Corner to the Entry but what stood there, one of those Zombie Masters and I wasn't sure if I could beat him. We went around the house, hoping to lure him away so we could enter my Base and regain our Strength. At first it worked, but we soon lost sight of him and hurried on. On our Way some more Zombies spotted us and we ran for our lives. As soon as the Entry to my Base was in sight we also saw the Zombie Master who seemed to have walked back there to wait for us (smart bas####). We had to continue on the Street. Luckily I saw another Store, I ran ahead and prepared to barricade the Door. The Girl didn't come, so I went outside, to see she passed me and kept running and entered another house by the Window while I shot the Creatures to take their attention. I hurried inside my improvised second base and barricaded it behind me. While the Zombies broke through I shot a Magazine at them and then I smashed those that came to close with the Hammer. Finally safe Again I went outside to look for the Girl, but to my surprise a torn body that barely resembled her crawled out of the Window she went in before. Terrified I went back inside and Barricaded the only Door again, hoping I would be left alone, but like I would be responsible for her death she haunted me and broke with some Zombie friends my barricades. The others went down struck by my bullets, but my formerly companyon like a last survivor like I was wouldn't go down so easily. I fought with myself as I was left with an empty Gun and just the Hammer in my Hand, could I really do this, maybe this was really my fault? The Moonlight fell through the open entry as I sunk blood covered down into a Corner. Not my Blood, but what had I done. I had to survive and defeat this Infection, not knowing that I cant win.

I pepped the story a bit up^^


My Thoughts while Playing:
"Go to Order". If there isn't already and I'm just too blind to find it maybe there could be a "Go To" Order be added, because while Playing I had a safe Place where we could loose our followers but my companion preferred to run around and get killed in the end.
"Give Me ** ". Again, if I'm not just blind^^. Even if it wasn't intentional it is very realistic, that you cant just take everything from others, but if I pump someone full with stuff I'd like to be given things I need and not just trade it.
"More Floors". I know you want to add Subways and such but my brother and me also would like Buildings to have more than one floor. For more Realistic and Fun situations like "you entered a Building and it looks save, barricade all Windows and Doors but then one of those strong Zombies crawls down the Stairs and you have to break out and flee or attack the Monster".

more to come^^.

Sorry if I'm writing too much but you have to know, some days ago I bought some new Games from the store but somehow I prefer to play yours over those ;D.

Haddoc

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #23 on: June 24, 2010, 07:14:04 AM »
It's funny. I told my friend a year ago about this awesome idea I had about a roguelike zombie game. Then I see that you've come along and basically made my dream come true (bows before such genius).

The couple of things i would like to see would be the ability to not just mark a home base, but let followers know *This is home* if they can't get in they should hang around out front or call you.

Another thing i could think of would be "unique" buildings based on amount of Districts allowed in the city: A police station and doctors office in small cities (I know there's a drug store, but if later we can build traps having some bloodbags from hospitals and the like could come in handy) to things like Prisons, Full sized hospitals, army base in larger cities. (maybe even a gas station oh please, please, please!)

As for things like sewers and sub-ways the only thing that i could think of is to either have the sewer unmap-able or to rotate the map each time you enter or some such fiendish method to make it more difficult.

I love the fact that the cars themselves serve as a tacticle part of how you move, but it would be great if a burning car could provide a light source (probably just a small bonus) or standing on top of cars increase FoV (not sure if this is already implemented)

Basic hostiles suggestion would be to allow certain enemies to push objects such as a wall of shelves cutting a building in half. If the NPC is clever enough it should recognize this and possibly want to see whats on the other side. This ones not really important in my dream-list but might as well throw it on the pile.

kulik

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #24 on: June 24, 2010, 05:31:35 PM »
Some advanced ammo management would be cool, like unloading guns and combining half-empty ammo boxes.

Haddoc

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #25 on: June 24, 2010, 06:53:37 PM »
The ammo combine is already present. Lets say you have 12 handgun bullets and pick up a box of six it will make a box of 18. Then you pick up a box of 20, the game adds the two to the first box you have and makes a new box of the left overs (which by the way would be the 18 anyway.)

CaptainFailmore

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #26 on: June 24, 2010, 10:09:13 PM »
Hey guys, sup author-dude. Just dropping by with some remarks, critiques, and what have you.

First off, this game is fun. I really like where it's going, and I've enjoyed it for hours and hours already, but there's a problem. I'm the goddamn Juggernaut. The only thing that can kill me, it seems, is a crafty Black-Ops man with an army rifle. In my current game I've survived more than fifty days, have stockpiled an additional twenty or so days worth of food, I've raided one C.H.A.R. office already (with the help of zombies anyway) and I have army rifle ammo and medical supplies coming out of my ears. I can do this with some routine, and after you overcome the learning curve it seems pretty easy to make it this long even without followers. So, believe it or not... I think the game is actually too easy. Maybe I'm missing something. I tend to scour the districts I'm in and play cautiously, but the enemies and what have you don't seem terribly aggressive, and grizzled 57-day World-War-Z veteran Bob McGready is finally getting bored with smashing zombie skulls with a huge hammer. If you can ever become bored with such a thing.

So, I'll admit that my play hasn't been terribly exhaustive, but after looking at the game assets I can say that I've uncovered most of what the game has to offer. Some of the harder enemies have yet to appear in large numbers, but even Disciples are easy pickings. I remain enthusiastic that I'll discover and be mauled by new and terrifying foes (that don't use guns) as I continue my quest to survive for a whole year straight, but my interest is beginning to shift toward every gamer's favorite meta-game: plugging the developer with countless banal suggestions!

1. Zombies are supposed to be dumb, sure, but these guys are way dumb. Ol' Bob McGready can hide out in his boarded up apartment for weeks without a zombie incursion. I recommend using a cellular automaton to govern the presence of scents in the game. The longer you linger in one space, the further your scent spreads until it reaches equilibrium with the rate of scent decay. Here's a diagram.



If scents decay slowly, staying in one spot will quickly produce a lingering cloud of 'you' around wherever you're hiding, especially if scent decay effects from rain only affect the outdoors. Due to the small size of the grid's data (you'd probably be working with a 2-D array of lists or something containing each actor's UID and how much of their stench is present) it shouldn't bog down the game too awfully bad. If a zombie steps into a tile that has scents, they should begin their usual tracking behavior, and try and track their prey through barricades. The result is that hiding in one spot is likely to attract zombies, eventually. Staying still in a fortified location should still work (and work well if you know what you're doing) but the increased likelihood of being detected would make things much more exciting.

2. An option to build free standing barricades could be nice, but it should require more wood than barricading a door or window. (Fully barricading a door requires about three pieces of wood. A free standing barricade should take at least six to finish.) This would allow you to replace doorways in the absence of furniture or to erect choke points in the streets, but it would be an expensive process.

3. One exceptionally reliable method I have found for disposing of zombies in a risk-free manner is to wait until they come within melee range, hit them, and step backward. They can't attack me, usually. While zombies can't and shouldn't run, short lunges (if the zombie actors have a stamina meter, they could wear out within a couple turns) would make this nearly game-breaking strategy impossible. Maybe you could just reserve it for fresh zombies that are still a little limber.

4. This is a more technical complaint. The game should employ an icon for items that are in your inventory or on the ground which is separate from the decorations used by the actors. (If this is already true and I've just missed it, I'm sorry.) I was working on a sweet ZX Spectrum style graphical overhaul when I realized it might make the actors look all kinds of stupid.



I read in the development notes that more extensive modding is going to be supported in the future, so I'm not too antsy about this. It'd just be nice if it were easier to tell the difference between items laying on the ground. If piles of items either had a corner icon indicating that there's a pile there or blinked between the various items laying on the same tile, that'd be fantastic too. Right now it takes a trained (and strained) eye to make out a few of the various bits and pieces. (For blinking tiles, they could blink over pieces of furniture they're stored on as well.)

5. I haven't noticed any of the zombified soldiers wearing their old gear. That should change. Armored zombies that take more hits would be a real treat. (Of course, when they mutate they should shed their armor in the process. That could get a little ridiculous.)

6. Lastly, sneaking! Zombies supposedly don't breathe, usually don't move too fast, and what about those crafty special agents that keep blowing my brains out? (And what about those of us who would rather avoid them?) Being able to sneak around and avoid spot-checks by other actors would make surviving certain encounters which are decidedly not weighted in the player's favor (Black-Ops tend to kill me instantly upon revealing them) more possible, and also make ambushes from the undead rank and file possible, especially in the dark. (Since zombies are guided by smell, sneaking around should have no effect on them!)

I'd also like to second the suggestions of unloading guns (Doom RL does this nicely) and maybe adding a little bit more variety to the items found in-game. And I'd love to pick your brain some time, this is a delightful project that many people have clearly been waiting a long time for.

Oh and, by the way... Why don't burning cars ever go out?

CaptainFailmore

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #27 on: June 25, 2010, 03:50:30 AM »
Oh, by the way, something strange that just happened with my game.

I rescued a soldier from a near-fatal zombie attack who, in spite of having a loaded weapon and ammunition in his inventory, would not fight back. He was out of stamina, also.

The abundance of fully loaded army pistols and ammo, and completely empty army rifles tells me something goofy is happening here. Can NPC actors change weapons yet?

(Edit:)

Upon further inspection, it doesn't seem that soldiers know how to retreat, either. Upon becoming exhausted, they'll stand defenseless and allow themselves to be killed.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2010, 04:11:03 AM by CaptainFailmore »

roguedjack

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #28 on: June 25, 2010, 12:31:20 PM »
Thanks for the comments.

Hey guys, sup author-dude. Just dropping by with some remarks, critiques, and what have you.

First off, this game is fun. I really like where it's going, and I've enjoyed it for hours and hours already, but there's a problem. I'm the goddamn Juggernaut.
Start a new game with increased difficulty.  ;D
But yes 3.1 is too easy. 3.2 will be a bit harder.
There will be more stuff going on in later versions.

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1. Zombies are supposed to be dumb, sure, but these guys are way dumb. Ol' Bob McGready can hide out in his boarded up apartment for weeks without a zombie incursion. I recommend using a cellular automaton to govern the presence of scents in the game. The longer you linger in one space, the further your scent spreads until it reaches equilibrium with the rate of scent decay. Here's a diagram.
Already implemented scent spreading, but it ate way too much CPU time for my liking.

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2. An option to build free standing barricades could be nice,
You will be able to build makeshift obstacles in later versions.

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3. One exceptionally reliable method I have found for disposing of zombies in a risk-free manner is to wait until they come within melee range, hit them, and step backward.
WAD, you are supposed to use your superior speed to your advantage. You are limited by your STA and the tactical situation.

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4. This is a more technical complaint. The game should employ an icon for items that are in your inventory or on the ground which is separate from the decorations used by the actors.
Sorry won't happen.
To know what items are on a stack over the mouse over the tile.

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5. I haven't noticed any of the zombified soldiers wearing their old gear. That should change. Armored zombies that take more hits would be a real treat. (Of course, when they mutate they should shed their armor in the process. That could get a little ridiculous.)
Not too hot about that.

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6. Lastly, sneaking!
Stealth will be added later.

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I'd also like to second the suggestions of unloading guns (Doom RL does this nicely) and maybe adding a little bit more variety to the items found in-game.
Unload guns on the enemies  ;D
More content will be added.

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Oh and, by the way... Why don't burning cars ever go out?
Cause you'll be able to extinguish/light fire in later versions.  ;)
Plus it block LOS in streets.


I rescued a soldier from a near-fatal zombie attack who, in spite of having a loaded weapon and ammunition in his inventory, would not fight back. He was out of stamina, also.
The abundance of fully loaded army pistols and ammo, and completely empty army rifles tells me something goofy is happening here. Can NPC actors change weapons yet?
Known bug (see blog).

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Upon further inspection, it doesn't seem that soldiers know how to retreat, either. Upon becoming exhausted, they'll stand defenseless and allow themselves to be killed.
Odd, they are courageous but should flee when tired. Will check that.

CaptainFailmore

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Re: Rogue Survivor Alpha 3.1
« Reply #29 on: June 25, 2010, 04:44:33 PM »
Even if you don't employ blinking for stacks of items or anything to that effect, having item icons be separate from the decorations used by actors would greatly improve item visibility. (Games like the tile version of Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup implement this, with a separate 'paper doll' for actors and decor and tile icons for items when they're on the ground. It really helps.) I'm assuming that you'll have corpses and blood spatters decay over time, which would also help to clean up the visuals quite a bit.



Here you can see what I mean. When drawing the world and the inventory side-screen, the game draws from a different stock of images than when it draws the characters.

It's a shame that having scent-tiles spread out chews up too much CPU time. Something else that might be worth considering is to have stationary actors just project a greater 'aggro-range' for zombies if they've been hanging around for too long, or something. That's up to you though, performance is top priority for now.

One other thing that you're probably already aware of: Human actors will not pick up items they're willing to trade for, and rarely seem to eat or sleep. This applies to all living actors regardless of alignment, but actors following somebody will at least sleep more often. (The constant exhaustion does make them easy zombie fodder though!) At some later future date, it would be nice to see other survivors as committed to self-preservation as I am. (By the way, Bob has survived three months into the zombie war. Hooray!)

Great work so far, bro. Keep it up.