Serial Killer Roguelike

[kulik]

I think that one of the most important parts is get inside the victim house. Picking a lock is quite challenging at night when you are nervous and its pretty noisy as i know. I think it should be the last resort when the victim left the house perfectly secured. You should first check windows (specially on second floor since people don't care much about them and if there is a tree next to it...), garage doors, basement doors. Using diamond cutter or even carefully breaking a small window would be more easy than lockpicking.
I would also like to hide under beds, inside closets and behind doors.
I specially liked the combat but since the weapons are so realistic cover should be an issue. Like firing from crouched position behind car or peeking behind corner should ensure a bit longer firefights.
I think it should also be good to have kind of police routine.
-police car arives at the scene
-officers going to check the house,calling for reinforcements if something is wrong
-more cars
-swat teams
-police negotiator
now this could get pretty challenging to do i guess, but it would be cool

[krabby]

Swat teams? They should only come if the criminal decided to hold someone hostage. Then the police officer calls for backup, backup arrives and surrounds the criminal.

What I'd like to do is booby trap homes to make them into death traps, maybe a little sleeping potion in the milk, or a time bomb in the utility closet right next to the gas heater. While watching it all from secretly placed spy cameras. But my day job will be a medical doctor for the criminal underground, healing gangsters.

[CrimsonKing]

Thanks for the interest.  

Feature Bloat Request:  Just to complete the insanity, please add something of a Screw-Around Mode(Well, not really...you get the idea) where the player assumes the role of a proper Vampire/Werewolf/etc---proper as in not some Twilight nonsense.     The game's system just strikes me as SO ripe for such a mode...

I could eventually add a wizard mode with features like vampirism and lycanthropy, just for kicks, but they'd require a proper day & night cycle which won't be in there for some time.

I have a question. Do you plan on allowing players to have a semblance of a normal life (having a girlfriend/boyfriend/pet, a day job, etc) so we can have a cover story for our... unsavory deeds?

Another question: Will we ever be able to start our own gang, or if you're not evil, a band of vigilantes?

Automated day jobs (which you don't have to do, if you don't want to) will eventually be included, though I haven't decided the finer details of how they will be utilized. I have no plans to add relationships though.

There will be animals like cats and dogs roaming the streets and in people's back yards, and I'll probably have it so the dogs bark at you or attack if you trespass in their master's yard.

You won't be able to start your own gang, but you will be able to eventually join factions when they're implemented down the track.

What I hope to see is macintosh compatibility as I would not want to miss out on it.

It's coded in Java (probably should have mentioned that...) so there shouldn't be any problems.

Swat teams? They should only come if the criminal decided to hold someone hostage. Then the police officer calls for backup, backup arrives and surrounds the criminal.

What I'd like to do is booby trap homes to make them into death traps, maybe a little sleeping potion in the milk, or a time bomb in the utility closet right next to the gas heater. While watching it all from secretly placed spy cameras. But my day job will be a medical doctor for the criminal underground, healing gangsters.

Explosives and incendiary devices in general won't be available until I work out how to add fire that realistically spreads and destroys objects without wiping out entire districts. I'd need to add counter measures like firefighters that spawn after a certain amount of time so blazes can be extinguished.

Kulik, good suggestions and I already have plans for several of the things you mentioned.

[MrWiggles]

Factions?

What kind of faction does serial murder join up with?

Partner serial murders are very rare. As our long distance serial murders.

Anyway.

How are you going to handle the defining characteristics of a serial murder?

Namely the; Ritual, Victim Type, Cool Off Period and Trophies?

Some of what posters have been suggesting would be closer to spree murders and mass murders, but they wouldn't be serial killers.

Also, how are you going to handle the psychology need to kill? And like most serial murders; how are you going to handle their self destructive spiral?

[CrimsonKing]

I posted another video, this time demonstrating the character generator. There are no stat limits yet.

Factions?

What kind of faction does serial murder join up with?

Partner serial murders are very rare. As our long distance serial murders.

Anyway.

How are you going to handle the defining characteristics of a serial murder?

Namely the; Ritual, Victim Type, Cool Off Period and Trophies?

Some of what posters have been suggesting would be closer to spree murders and mass murders, but they wouldn't be serial killers.

Also, how are you going to handle the psychology need to kill? And like most serial murders; how are you going to handle their self destructive spiral?

Factions won't be included for a long time, and they'll only be there for flavor if you want to play as different kinds of characters, and the missions themselves will be randomly generated. Most of the "extra" features won't be in there until the core game, which will always be about serial killers, is reasonably complete.

The video I just posted answers your second question. I hadn't thought about ritual though, that should most certainly be included down the line.

The cooling off aspect of serial killers will be in there, but not in the first release. It'll be one of the first things I work on after I get the alpha up to scratch. It will work like this : a kill, provided the victim suits the profile you create, will allow you to enter a cooling off period. The penalties and effects of the psychological conditions that you choose will lessen to a great degree. For example, a character that has the "Voices" psych trait will not hear them for some time after he kills.

As time passes, the need to kill will begin to return, and with it so will the increased psych effects and penalties, driving you to murder to retain the mask of sanity. Cooling off will most probably change with time, depending on the feedback I get when I add it.

[mondayrocks]

I lurk here as I love ADOM and the like, but this idea seems wonderful. I too made an account to tell you.

[Slash]

You have raised a lot of attention! Be sure not to let this affect development, release soonish!

[jim]

On the one hand, I am very glad that a promising new project is getting so much positive attention, but on the other I am extremely weirded out that this project is getting so much positive attention.

[krabby]

People have a tendency to have a perverse fascination with death. Perhaps it's Freudian. Perhaps it's the result of inner urges best kept inside. The evidence is everywhere. Criminal Minds. Silence of the Lambs. Dexter.

Your game will probably be a hit, and as long as it's easy and intuitive to use, it may create a revival of interest in roguelikes.

[mondayrocks]

For me, it is the crime simulator thing and novelty. There hasn't really been a straight 'serial killer' game. I know it sounds weird, but people play GTA all the time and murder 1,000s of people at a time whereas this is more strategic and with more RPG elements.

my attempt at an explanation.

[Darren Grey]

I love the dark humour behind it.  The descriptive text on the pysochological traits is brilliant  

I must echo Slash's comment though - please release soon and don't try to make it too perfect off the bat.  Close your ears to all the feature requests until you get a working release out.

Incidentally, the Annual Roguelike Release Party is in just under 4 weeks time.   Would be fantastic if you could get something out for it.

[Jigxor]

I made an account just to post in this thread. I REALLY WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME! It looks fantastically amazing and I can't wait until it's finished!!!

[RobJustice]

Like a few other people, I signed up an account just to comment on this.

I've had an idea for a game like this for a few years now but I never got around to making it. Glad to see someone else is doing it. I look forward to playing the game.

That said, I've never played or been interested in Roguelikes before now. Congrats.

[Fenrir]

This thread says far too much about the lurker population. Back to your shadows, fiends!

[Slash]

The temple welcomes the lost souls materializing into solid bodies