19: Death

[ShadowMaster]

ShadowEdge presents Death
by ShadowMaster & edg3


Story:
Various events led up to the complete degeneration of human health, and thanks to global warming, the extra planetary warmth has caused many new deadly viruses to form. To save the human race “clean” cities were created, and they were the Earth’s last defence against complete extinction of all living things on the planet, these cities are completely sealed off from the influence of the outside world.

Recently however a new virus has broken out, that can't be detected by normal scans. A team has been sent out to find investigate it, but haven't returned yet. It's up to you to find out what happened to them...

Gameplay:
The game will be a platformer with the ability of shooting in any direction at the zombies.

Dying turns you into a zombie, a fast being with a powerful melee attack and no range attacks.
After a certain amount of time you turn back into a human.

We still have to decide on a turning back penalty currently we have the following in mind:
-lose most of your weaponry.
-you drop most of your weaponry, being able to go back and pick them up when you turn back to human.
-you keep your weapons, but lose your fine motor control for a few moments, in other words your aiming sucks. (currently implemented)

The problem is after transforming back your virus stocks are low so death now means death. Oh and if you die while a zombie you die.



Demos:
Death v0.4(1.4 mb)

CONTROLS:
A - left
D - right
W - jump
left mouse - shoot
R- Reload
Esc - Exit
1 - pistol
2 - smg
3 - shotgun


ZOMBIE MODE:
Upon death or suicide, provided your virus stocks are full, you do not die, but turn into a fast, powerful zombie.

However due to a weird genetic mutation the transformation isn't permanent for you, because after death the virus comes out of hiding allowing your immune system to attack it, when the virus levels have been reduced a sufficiently you turn back to human.

This reverse transformation is disorientating however causing your aim to deteriote terribly for a while, but fortunately this is only temporary and you'll be back to peak accuracy within no time.


VIRUS LEVEL:
This is the amount of viruses in your blood stream, used in transformation on death. While you're human they'll slowly recover, but in zombie mode they'll drop until you turn back to human.

Old demos:
Death version 0.3 (1.3mb)
Death version 0.2 (1.2mb)
Death version 0.1 (1.2mb)

[Thaumaturge]

This sounds as though it could be a fun game, ShadowMaster. ^_^

The demo works, and seems like a good start. The blood and bullet casings work particularly well, I think, although the blood particles on the floor seem to "skitter" a little.

Come to think of it, it's almost a little disturbing that the walls are bleeding when shot... I like it. ;)

... with the ability of shooting(zombies) in any direction

Um... Do you mean that you use zombies as projectiles, or that you shoot at zombies? When I first read that, I think that I envisaged the former, although the latter seems more probable to me...

Firing zombies at opponents sounds pleasantly strange, however. ;)

[ShadowMaster]

This sounds as though it could be a fun game, ShadowMaster. ^_^

The demo works, and seems like a good start. The blood and bullet casings work particularly well, I think, although the blood particles on the floor seem to "skitter" a little.

Come to think of it, it's almost a little disturbing that the walls are bleeding when shot... I like it. ;)



Um... Do you mean that you use zombies as projectiles, or that you shoot at zombies? When I first read that, I think that I envisaged the former, although the latter seems more probable to me...

Firing zombies at opponents sounds pleasantly strange, however. ;)

Actually edg3 is working on it with me.

The walls bleeding is just a test of the blood script. but yes it is pretty arb. The blood script is still a work in progress.

I like the idea for a zombie gun. but yes I meant shooting in any direction, my diction failed.

*goes along happily editing the original post to fix mix ups*

Planned for the next release:
Enemies
Animations
More guns

[dislekcia]

A zombie gun, woo!

Undead weaponry... Like a vampire steak. **** that rocks so hard.

-D

[Thaumaturge]

Like a vampire steak.

What cannibal vampires eat? ;P

[dislekcia]

What cannibal vampires eat? ;P

No. A steak that sucks blood and returns it to you as health. I'd have thought that was obvious.

-D

[Thaumaturge]

Heh, it probably is - as with last night, I don't seem to be at my best tonight. ^^;

Yours is a cool idea for a weapon, however. ^_^

[ShadowMaster]

No. A steak that sucks blood and returns it to you as health. I'd have thought that was obvious.

-D

Sounds like a cool idea. I'll discuss it with edg3 to see what he thinks about it. Anyhow

*scurries back to coding*

[ShadowMaster]

*bump*

Version 0.2 is out. Get it here: Death version 0.2 (1.2mb)
Death is back and it has an enemy. Kill him.

Here is the demo as promised, but instead of 2 weapons you have 3. Enjoy.

Also good news: the vampire gun has a go ahead. So anyone that dreamed of siphoning health from zombies your dream will come true. :)

Please read the first post: first post

Especially notice that the story has been updated and there are a few gameplay ideas. Any suggestions for what should happen when you turn back to human after being a zombie will be warmly welcomed. We've listed 3.

Planned for next release:
Zombie mode - finally
More guns - shotgun being one, what's a zombie game without a shotgun.

EDIT: I think a suicide button would be fitting for this game, that way you can kill yourself easily. Any thoughts on this?

[Thaumaturge]

It's coming a long nicely, I believe! The weapons seem to work quite well, and I do really like the bullet casing effect. ^_^

No bleeding walls, though. T_T Oh well, I suppose that if I want bleeding walls, I should make such a game myself... ;P

On to criticisms:

• That zombie's pretty tough!
• Why is the (presumed) human green, and the zombie pink? ;P
• The blood spurts seem a little "flat" - perhaps it might look better if there were more vertical variation in the particles' velocity.
• The second counter is labelled "Total ammo", which appears to be a misnomer - it actually appears to be reserve ammo, since it's possible to have zero "total ammo" and still have bullets to fire. This isn't a major issue, of course, but a change might make the interface a little clearer. ^_^
• The animations still look a little simplistic, but at this stage, that's not terribly important, I daresay.

[ShadowMaster]

It's coming a long nicely, I believe! The weapons seem to work quite well, and I do really like the bullet casing effect. ^_^

No bleeding walls, though. T_T Oh well, I suppose that if I want bleeding walls, I should make such a game myself... ;P

Thanks for the complement and don't worry there'll be bleeding walls again. ;)

On to criticisms:

• That zombie's pretty tough!

Don't worry in the final game they won't be so tough, but for the purposes of the demo he was made a little tougher(ok a lot tougher), who would want to play against a single weakling zombie?

• Why is the (presumed) human green, and the zombie pink? ;P

Ok now I know what colours what are... :D That's what happens if you're colourblind and try and pick the colours yourself. ;)

• The blood spurts seem a little "flat" - perhaps it might look better if there were more vertical variation in the particles' velocity.

We'll tweak them, to look better.

• The second counter is labelled "Total ammo", which appears to be a misnomer - it actually appears to be reserve ammo, since it's possible to have zero "total ammo" and still have bullets to fire. This isn't a major issue, of course, but a change might make the interface a little clearer. ^_^

Yes we'll have to start work on a proper HUD(isn't it rather a SUD(side up display)?) and I'll take this into account.

• The animations still look a little simplistic, but at this stage, that's not terribly important, I daresay.

(Colourblind) Programmer art need I say more :)

EDIT: GAH I just realised I forgot to let the zombie animate and all it took was copy pasting a single line. :/ Next version will have walking zombies.

[edg3]

No bleeding walls, though. T_T Oh well, I suppose that if I want bleeding walls, I should make such a game myself... ;P

It has been worked into the story line, I promise ;) also, there will be a minigame, but more on that later.

[Thaumaturge]

Don't worry in the final game they won't be so tough, but for the purposes of the demo he was made a little tougher(ok a lot tougher), who would want to play against a single weakling zombie?

Heheh, fair enough, and a good point. ^_^

EDIT: GAH I just realised I forgot to let the zombie animate and all it took was copy pasting a single line. :/ Next version will have walking zombies.

*chuckles* Such things are annoying little mistakes to discover, aren't they? ;P

... and don't worry there'll be bleeding walls again.

It has been worked into the story line, I promise ...

Ooh, I'm glad to hear it! ^_^

Overall, I look forward to the next version. ^_^

[ShadowMaster]

VERSION 0.3 IS OUT

Get it here: Death version 0.3 (1.3mb)

CONTROLS:
A - left
D - right
W - jump
left mouse - shoot
R - reload
U - restart level
Enter - Suicide
Esc - Exit
1 - pistol
2 - smg
3 - shotgun


ZOMBIE MODE:
Upon death or suicide, provided your virus stocks are full, you do not die, but turn into a fast, powerful zombie.

However due to a weird genetic mutation the transformation isn't permanent for you, because after death the virus comes out of hiding allowing your immune system to attack it, when the virus levels have been reduced a sufficiently you turn back to human.

This reverse transformation is disorientating however causing your aim to deteriote terribly for a while, but fortunately this is only temporary and you'll be back to peak accuracy within no time.


VIRUS LEVEL:
This is the amount of viruses in your blood stream, used in transformation on death. While you're human they'll slowly recover, but in zombie mode they'll drop until you turn back to human.

Please test and give feedback. Thanks :)

Planned for the next release:
The first level or two of the final game.

[FuzzYspo0N]

pretty cool! i enjoyed playing it.

Problems i saw :

The zombies get too close and then they get "stuck" running into you. that sucked, cudnt get away.

So far, this is all i can see, its great so far keep it up.

[Thaumaturge]

Again, good progress - you two seem to be producing good work together, I believe. ^_^

And again, I have my little list of notes. ;)

• There seems to be a delay in switching weapons; while this is not, I don't think, in and of itself a problem, you might want to consider adding a weapon-changing animation of some sort to explain and make explicit this delay to the player.
• Similarly, there is (naturally, I suppose) a delay in weapon reloading. Again, I think that an animation (and, I would imagine, a sound effect, should you include sound) might help to explain and make explicit this to the player.
• I found that not being allowed to collect weapons while in zombie mode tended to incline me to hang around the next weapon pickup until I "revived". I don't like leaving ammo behind. ;)
• Zombie mode seems to be very powerful indeed! Perhaps too much so...?
• You might want to consider making the automatic switching of weapons when a new weapon is collected optional - I find that, due to low ammunition, I generally seem to not want to use the new weapon immediately, although others may differ.
• Instead of the colour fade, I'd suggest a decreasingly-filled bar to indicate the timer on zombie mode.
• As to becoming stuck, I didn't seem to have that problem, especially once I entered zombie mode and became faster than in human mode. The proximity that they reach does, however, become a bit problematic in human mode, as it can make it rather difficult to hit them. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have them stop, or, perhaps better, slow to match speed, when they come to just outside of the distance from the player at which bullets and shot appear.
• Oh, and finally, in terms of "flavour", I would suggest renaming "Virus Stocks" to something else, perhaps "Virus Levels" - "stock" has too... businesslike, or grocery-like, perhaps, a sound to my ear, while "levels" sounds more medical or scientific.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out, based on progress thus far, and especially in so short a time. ^_^

[ShadowMaster]

Again, good progress - you two seem to be producing good work together, I believe. ^_^

And again, I have my little list of notes. ;)

• There seems to be a delay in switching weapons; while this is not, I don't think, in and of itself a problem, you might want to consider adding a weapon-changing animation of some sort to explain and make explicit this delay to the player.
• Similarly, there is (naturally, I suppose) a delay in weapon reloading. Again, I think that an animation (and, I would imagine, a sound effect, should you include sound) might help to explain and make explicit this to the player.

I'll do that for the next release. :)

• I found that not being allowed to collect weapons while in zombie mode tended to incline me to hang around the next weapon pickup until I "revived". I don't like leaving ammo behind. ;)

That is a bit unintentional, I don't really want the player to stay behind when in zombie mode, but rather forge ahead using his new found zombie powers.

• Zombie mode seems to be very powerful indeed! Perhaps too much so...?

Well the thing is after you turn back to human you would want to have cleared off the opponents, because for a few moments atleast, you're ability to defend yourself is serverely compromised as your aim is beyond bad. Only problem is I can't think of a way to force the player to go on and not wait out the aim reduction. Any suggestions?

• You might want to consider making the automatic switching of weapons when a new weapon is collected optional - I find that, due to low ammunition, I generally seem to not want to use the new weapon immediately, although others may differ.

When we finally have a menu set up this will be one of the options.

• Instead of the colour fade, I'd suggest a decreasingly-filled bar to indicate the timer on zombie mode.

Yes that is a good idea, why didn't I use it the first time around...

pretty cool! i enjoyed playing it.

Problems i saw :

The zombies get too close and then they get "stuck" running into you. that sucked, cudnt get away.

So far, this is all i can see, its great so far keep it up.

• As to becoming stuck, I didn't seem to have that problem, especially once I entered zombie mode and became faster than in human mode. The proximity that they reach does, however, become a bit problematic in human mode, as it can make it rather difficult to hit them. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have them stop, or, perhaps better, slow to match speed, when they come to just outside of the distance from the player at which bullets and shot appear.

Yes I'll have to make the zombies a bit smarter. Currently they just run at you. It's on my todo list for the next release.

• Oh, and finally, in terms of "flavour", I would suggest renaming "Virus Stocks" to something else, perhaps "Virus Levels" - "stock" has too... businesslike, or grocery-like, perhaps, a sound to my ear, while "levels" sounds more medical or scientific.

Yeah you're right, it currently sounds like he's carrying the viruses in a cooler bag in those small little vials.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out, based on progress thus far, and especially in so short a time. ^_^

Thanks Thaumaturge and FuzzYspo0N for all the help. The short dev time is all thanks to GM, but unfortunately even GM has a few (a lot actually) stupid short comings slowing things down, but more on that later.

[dislekcia]

Well the thing is after you turn back to human you would want to have cleared off the opponents, because for a few moments atleast, you're ability to defend yourself is serverely compromised as your aim is beyond bad. Only problem is I can't think of a way to force the player to go on and not wait out the aim reduction. Any suggestions?

Horde of really slow zombies destroying everything a certain distance behind the player? Gives you the feeling of impending doom, forcing players to keep moving without resorting to level-scrolling or other fake-feeling inducements. Even though it's technically the same thing ;)

-D

[ShadowMaster]

Horde of really slow zombies destroying everything a certain distance behind the player? Gives you the feeling of impending doom, forcing players to keep moving without resorting to level-scrolling or other fake-feeling inducements. Even though it's technically the same thing ;)

-D

Problem is it won't really fit in with the story, atleast not until the later levels(really later levels), but I'll take your idea into consideration perhaps I can modify it.

Perhaps I can implement a "walk it off" feature... Where you have to walk a certain distance right for it to wear of...

[Thaumaturge]

That is a bit unintentional, I don't really want the player to stay behind when in zombie mode, but rather forge ahead using his new found zombie powers.

Short of a pressing reason to keep going, such as Dislekcia suggested, perhaps either have the weapons not last long after being found, for some reason (destroyed by roving zombies, perhaps? :/), or allow players in zombie-mode to pick up ammo, but of course not use it. I would recommend the latter, personally - the former may still encourage some to hang around, since later-found ammo would only start to count down to destruction when encountered.

Well the thing is after you turn back to human you would want to have cleared off the opponents, because for a few moments atleast, you're ability to defend yourself is serverely compromised as your aim is beyond bad.

True, but I still think that zombie-mode is a little too powerful. At the moment, as I recall, one hit kills the weaker zombies. Perhaps reduce the damage so that it does four-fifths (or some similarly large percentage) of a weak zombie's maximum health, the idea being to have it take two hits to kill a normal zombie, but without increasing the number of hits called-for for other zombies by too much.

Only problem is I can't think of a way to force the player to go on and not wait out the aim reduction. Any suggestions?

Hmm... A timer of some sort, perhaps? Perhaps there is a horde of zombies, as Dislekcia suggested, but instead of having them always be just behind the player, provide a timer that indicates how long it will be before your scent carries to the horde, and they bear down in overwhelming numbers from all sides.

This would also allow an explanation for levels with varying levels of urgency, I believe.

However, two things to note if you do do this:
1) Be careful to not make the time allowed too tight. Remember that your players will probably not know your levels as well as you do, initially at least.
2) Consider adding an "escape" option, allowing the player to escape the current level if time is running too low, in order to avoid being swamped, but at the cost of restarting the level later. You could also have the character automatically escape, failing the level but not ending the game.

(If you're feeling fairly ambitious, level failure could also produce some variations in the path of the game: failing to reach an armoury might result in fewer available weapons, for example, or failing to reach a group of survivors might lead to their being lost, and any advantage that they provided being lost with them, and perhaps even a change in the plot. Be careful, however, to not let the player paint themselves into a corner, at least not without being clear that it's possible with a given level, and, I would recommend, ending the game if they do.)

Either Dislekcia's suggestion or the timer system should, I believe, obviate the "zombies picking up ammo" and "hang around until my aim recovers" issues. (That said, I'm in two minds about whether not allowing zombie-mode players to pick up ammo, and penalising their hanging around for it, might annoy players...)

Perhaps I can implement a "walk it off" feature... Where you have to walk a certain distance right for it to wear of...

If you do go this route, then I suggest that you measure that distance as straight-line distance, or perhaps "distance along the level", if the player can reach platforms above a given point, instead of simply "distance walked" (that is, the sum of all displacements in each update). With the "distance walked" method, and no pressing reason to go on, I think that I would probably simply walk back and forth in a small area until my aim cleared. ;P