Brian



Posts: 1206







ModeratorPosts: 1206 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « on: April 02, 2012, 06:22:08 pm »







You’ll notice a few changes between the two sets of pics. In the first one, you’ll notice that the only protection the school has is a flimsy chain-link fence. This is going to prove to become a liability as zombies or other humans start showing up and trying to take it down to get inside (which is game over), so it would be in your best interest to upgrade it to the reinforced fence, which is shown in the bottom pic. The reinforced fence ups the amount of damage the fence can take before it needs to be repaired, which makes it less of a daily concern.



You’ll also notice a watchtower in the second pic. The watchtower upgrade has two benefits. Every day it generates morale daily in the shelter by just being present. It also opens up a new job at the shelter – guard duty. When allies are posted to guard duty, they can intercept attacks earlier, which causes less damage to the fence per guard assigned. You’ll even notice an ally guard hanging out in there in the pic.



The final difference you might notice (aside from more people around) is the car. While the car is not an upgrade (it allows you to travel farther for fuel costs), there is a garage upgrade that is necessary to maintain your car or enhance it. Cars can become faster and more efficient with upgrades. Of course, you’re going to need a decent mechanic if you want your car to keep running.



We’ll be showing off more upgrades to the shelter in our Kickstarter presentation. Keep watching our board, Facebook, and website for more information on our Kickstarter launch and for new Dead State information. As always, feel free to leave feedback on what you’d like to see for our Kickstarter launch in the previous threads. We’re working hard to put together the launch and we can’t wait to show you the progress we’ve made. Thanks for all your helpful comments and support everybody!

As we continue to work towards our Kickstarter presentation, we thought we would show off some new screens of the game to whet your appetite. Today we’re showing off a few of the many upgrades the player can make to their shelter. Take a minute to look at and compare the pictures of the unaltered and transformed shelter:You’ll notice a few changes between the two sets of pics. In the first one, you’ll notice that the only protection the school has is a flimsy chain-link fence. This is going to prove to become a liability as zombies or other humans start showing up and trying to take it down to get inside (which is game over), so it would be in your best interest to upgrade it to the reinforced fence, which is shown in the bottom pic. The reinforced fence ups the amount of damage the fence can take before it needs to be repaired, which makes it less of a daily concern.You’ll also notice a watchtower in the second pic. The watchtower upgrade has two benefits. Every day it generates morale daily in the shelter by just being present. It also opens up a new job at the shelter – guard duty. When allies are posted to guard duty, they can intercept attacks earlier, which causes less damage to the fence per guard assigned. You’ll even notice an ally guard hanging out in there in the pic.The final difference you might notice (aside from more people around) is the car. While the car is not an upgrade (it allows you to travel farther for fuel costs), there is a garage upgrade that is necessary to maintain your car or enhance it. Cars can become faster and more efficient with upgrades. Of course, you’re going to need a decent mechanic if you want your car to keep running.We’ll be showing off more upgrades to the shelter in our Kickstarter presentation. Keep watching our board, Facebook, and website for more information on our Kickstarter launch and for new Dead State information. As always, feel free to leave feedback on what you’d like to see for our Kickstarter launch in the previous threads. We’re working hard to put together the launch and we can’t wait to show you the progress we’ve made. Thanks for all your helpful comments and support everybody! Logged

MaximillionMiles

Posts: 437







Posts: 437 Re: 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « Reply #1 on: April 02, 2012, 07:37:11 pm » I suppose the trees were chopped off to provide the tower with a better line of sight?



Good luck with the kickstarter. I'm sure you guys will do it just fine, maybe even in a few days if it follows the same road as Wasteland of the Banner Saga.



But just out of curiosity, I'm assuming you weren't really planning on using kickstart when you started making this game (it was barely a thing back then) so what was the previous plan? And if, although highly unlikely, this kickstarter doesn't work, where does that put you?



Cheers. Looks nice.I suppose the trees were chopped off to provide the tower with a better line of sight?Good luck with the kickstarter. I'm sure you guys will do it just fine, maybe even in a few days if it follows the same road as Wasteland of the Banner Saga.But just out of curiosity, I'm assuming you weren't really planning on using kickstart when you started making this game (it was barely a thing back then) so what was the previous plan? And if, although highly unlikely, this kickstarter doesn't work, where does that put you?Cheers. Logged

Goweigus



Posts: 315





DS Silver PatronsPosts: 315 Re: 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « Reply #2 on: April 02, 2012, 07:43:55 pm »



Woohoo graphics still lookin good!



PS: I'd also like to see some chunks of wood angled into the ground holding the fence up from the inside (think of a wave of zombies pushing on the wooden fence). Maybe that was an upgrade? If that fence is only shoulder high, I'd make it taller. Hard to tell, personally I would make my anti zombie walls at least tall enough that no human could jump and climb up it (but that would look too silly in game).Woohoo graphics still lookin good!PS: I'd also like to see some chunks of wood angled into the ground holding the fence up from the inside (think of a wave of zombies pushing on the wooden fence). Maybe that was an upgrade? « Last Edit: April 02, 2012, 07:48:33 pm by Goweigus » Logged

Brian



Posts: 1206







ModeratorPosts: 1206 Re: 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « Reply #3 on: April 02, 2012, 09:15:37 pm » Quote from: MaximillionMiles on April 02, 2012, 07:37:11 pm

Good luck with the kickstarter. I'm sure you guys will do it just fine, maybe even in a few days if it follows the same road as Wasteland of the Banner Saga.



Quote But just out of curiosity, I'm assuming you weren't really planning on using kickstart when you started making this game (it was barely a thing back then) so what was the previous plan? And if, although highly unlikely, this kickstarter doesn't work, where does that put you?



We started thinking about using Kickstarter some time ago when we realized we had a pretty good team and it would probably get the game faster to pay them regularly. We didn't want to start one without showing off some of the systems of the game first. Perhaps if we had rolled with it back then we would be farther now, but I still don't feel comfortable asking for funds without showing people what we're making. And if the Kickstarter doesn't work, well, Dead State either finds another method of funding or we go back to making it when we all have time to work on it. Consulting my internet magic 8-ball right now, I keep getting the message "funding is likely" so let's hope that's a good sign. That would be nice. We'll have information on additional funding milestones outlined on our Kickstarter when it launches.We started thinking about using Kickstarter some time ago when we realized we had a pretty good team and it would probably get the game faster to pay them regularly. We didn't want to start one without showing off some of the systems of the game first. Perhaps if we had rolled with it back then we would be farther now, but I still don't feel comfortable asking for funds without showing people what we're making. And if the Kickstarter doesn't work, well, Dead State either finds another method of funding or we go back to making it when we all have time to work on it. Consulting my internet magic 8-ball right now, I keep getting the message "funding is likely" so let's hope that's a good sign. Logged

thebigJ_A



Posts: 5





NeophytePosts: 5 Re: 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « Reply #5 on: April 02, 2012, 11:26:52 pm » I like it, I like it a lot! I think might be the first game I've ever kickstarted (kickstartered? Kickedstart? wth is the verb form of "to give money to a kickstarter"?).



If I can ask a more basic question, as I've not read all the design updates, do you control a specific 'leader' character, or are you more of a god's-eye camera giving instructions that the AIs react to? Logged

Caidoz



Posts: 2446





ModeratorPosts: 2446 Re: 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « Reply #6 on: April 02, 2012, 11:57:50 pm » Quote from: thebigJ_A on April 02, 2012, 11:26:52 pm I like it, I like it a lot! I think might be the first game I've ever kickstarted (kickstartered? Kickedstart? wth is the verb form of "to give money to a kickstarter"?).



If I can ask a more basic question, as I've not read all the design updates, do you control a specific 'leader' character, or are you more of a god's-eye camera giving instructions that the AIs react to?



You create a "Leader" character that you control, and who gives orders and communicates with other survivors.



As for the update, the new screenshot looks really interesting - the trees, fence, and guard post especially. For additional guards on duty, would that mean more towers? (and more wood of course...)



I also noticed a few new character portraits around the site. (unless I somehow missed them from before...) Kim is still doing those, right? Great work! You create a "Leader" character that you control, and who gives orders and communicates with other survivors.As for the update, the new screenshot looks really interesting - the trees, fence, and guard post especially. For additional guards on duty, would that mean more towers? (and more wood of course...)I also noticed a few new character portraits around the site. (unless I somehow missed them from before...) Kim is still doing those, right? Great work! Logged "A gang of crazed druggie looters could sneak up and rip open our gate with their PCP meth strength - I mean, haven't you ever played a post-apocalyptic role-playing game before?"

hama Guest

Re: 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « Reply #8 on: April 03, 2012, 02:01:02 am » I'm impressed. You gather resources and it changes the enviornment, it's common with RTSs but to see it in an RPG is quite surprising. Also like how the flag is streaming.



Btw is the cam fixed to one position? « Last Edit: April 03, 2012, 02:05:04 am by hama » Logged

Brian



Posts: 1206







ModeratorPosts: 1206 Re: 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « Reply #9 on: April 03, 2012, 02:05:36 am » Quote from: hama on April 03, 2012, 02:01:02 am I'm impressed. You gather resources and it changes the enviornment, it's common in RTS but to see it in a RPG is quite surprising.



Btw is the cam fixed to one position?



No, the camera is usually not out this far, but we did that to show off as much of the shelter as possible. The camera can zoom in a bit and pivot close enough to be slightly over and behind the PC. Its sort of half-way between over the should third-person and true isometric, but the player can adjust as needed. No, the camera is usually not out this far, but we did that to show off as much of the shelter as possible. The camera can zoom in a bit and pivot close enough to be slightly over and behind the PC. Its sort of half-way between over the should third-person and true isometric, but the player can adjust as needed. Logged

kentable

Posts: 8







Posts: 8 Re: 4/2 Monday Design Update - Shelter Upgrades First Look « Reply #10 on: April 03, 2012, 02:35:14 am » I'm thinking some more aggressive upgrades to the wall (along the lines of spikes would help more than planks, maybe an advanced upgrade?). Plus if you space out the boards of the walls just right you could fit in improvised pikes/boar spears for head poking fun. You might not have enough bullets for a horde of zeds but poking them in the head standing behind a barricade is always free and mostly safe. So easy even the average 9 year old could do (not that we condone child on zed violence). Logged