Zombie Game Release 1 (about 3 mins gameplay)

[Polycount Productions]

Download (http://www.gameproducer.net/2007/12/09/zombie-game-release-1-downloadable-demo-available-now/) (the direct link won't stay, that's why linking through my site :))

You will need .NET2 & DX9 (and Vista owners should install the game to Desktop or "C:\Program Data" to ensure proper access). More about system requirements & troubleshooting here (http://www.gameproducer.net/2007/12/09/zombie-game-system-requirements/)

Screenie:
http://www.gameproducer.net/undead/Screenshot017.jpg

First gameplay release demo (more information about the release in the blog announcement) (http://www.gameproducer.net/2007/12/09/zombie-game-release-1-downloadable-demo-available-now/) - any feedback is welcome.

And no... this is not a casual game for your moms :D

[ulfster]

hi, dont know if this is a problem of my gfx card, but the game is way too dark and the flashlight not bright enough. i got a geforce 7600gs.

this way i was unable to locate any zombie. all i could do was walk away from the crates. the models are as you said placeholders, so i guess you will improve on that but dont start this dark or a lot of people will exit the game after a short time cause they dont see anything.

good luck improving it further, greetings

[Bad Sector]

Yay, an indie FPS! :-)

I'm downloading right now. I'm in Linux so i have to reboot to check it. In the meanwhile make sure you read my notes on FPS games in this (http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=10606) and this (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=818.0) thread. The first is my comments on a FPS released some months ago here and the second is a new discussion on oldschool FPS games in TIGSource forums where i posted my thoughts on what makes good an FPS game, with some orientation to oldschool FPS games.

EDIT: Well, ok i played it. There are some issues with the design (like the weapon being too small) - really do check the threads i mentioned above :-). I assume it's just because it's beta. Some notes:

1. The whole thing is very dark and the flashlight doesn't really help. I had to use gamma 2.0.
2. While on the flashlight topic, i find it weird that it can both reach too far and yet not be bright.
3. Still on flashlight, don't use vertex lighting. It looks weird with lowpoly models (like the house). Use projected textures or perpixel lighting.
4. The pistol is small and has no animation or firing feedback. Read my first post :-).
5. A slight bug probably, but it was amusing: when you shoot the mill it bleeds :-).
6. A crate was on top of three others. When i shot these three crates, the crate on them was in middle air. When i touched it, it fell (not a big issue, but i thought to mention it).
7. Too few bullets!
8. When i died, i became one with the scene geometry instantly. No die animation, no pain sound, nothing.
9. Some kind of health and bullet meter?
10. I think it would be better to start in the menu and then go to the game.
11. Where's the house door? :-P


Anyway, keep up the good work. I understand this is just a play test, so make it good :-).

[ecruz]

it's extremely dark...
once i pick up the bullet, i can't see anything, and won't even bother to continue, so i just press ESC

[Polycount Productions]

Thanks guys for the feedback, and regarding lights & flashlight: we'll move from the (too) dark side back to light(er) side ;-)

Yay, an indie FPS!

I'm downloading right now. I'm in Linux so i have to reboot to check it. In the meanwhile make sure you read my notes on FPS games in this (http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=10606) and this (http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=818.0) thread. The first is my comments on a FPS released some months ago here and the second is a new discussion on oldschool FPS games in TIGSource forums where i posted my thoughts on what makes good an FPS game, with some orientation to oldschool FPS games.

Excellent comments. I'm printing all your comments! Biiiiig thanks!



EDIT: Well, ok i played it. There are some issues with the design (like the weapon being too small) - really do check the threads i mentioned above :-). I assume it's just because it's beta. Some notes:

1. The whole thing is very dark and the flashlight doesn't really help. I had to use gamma 2.0.
2. While on the flashlight topic, i find it weird that it can both reach too far and yet not be bright.
3. Still on flashlight, don't use vertex lighting. It looks weird with lowpoly models (like the house). Use projected textures or perpixel lighting.

Thanks. I knew I had to do *something* for that flashlight and now I've been told about the mysteries of "per pixel" lighting. I'm sure that will help. I will also make it "not so dark".

4. The pistol is small and has no animation or firing feedback. Read my first post :-).
Heh, I've read those - and printed too ;)

5. A slight bug probably, but it was amusing: when you shoot the mill it bleeds :-).
It's no bug - it's a feature! :)
Will be changed in the next release. Meanwhile... don't shoot the crates - they'll bleed too ;-)

6. A crate was on top of three others. When i shot these three crates, the crate on them was in middle air. When i touched it, it fell (not a big issue, but i thought to mention it).
Now this is strange... thanks for mentioning.

7. Too few bullets!
lol

8. When i died, i became one with the scene geometry instantly. No die animation, no pain sound, nothing.
Well - what did you expect. Saint Peters and bright lights? This is just realistic ;)

Eh... I mean: will be changed.

9. Some kind of health and bullet meter?
Nope! No HUDS (although I'm working on how to display "the bullet count"). When the guy gets hurt his arms will bleed or something... but no HUD stuff. :)

10. I think it would be better to start in the menu and then go to the game.
Yeh... this was simply because there's just couple of minutes gameplay - but this will naturally change in the future.

11. Where's the house door? :-P
Hah

Anyway, keep up the good work. I understand this is just a play test, so make it good :-).
Aye. Thanks for the feedback & support.

[~LK~]

I have to agree with some of the others concerning how dark it is. I couldnt tell where I was, if I was inside or out; all I could see at times was boxes. I understand what I think you want to achieve with it being so dark, but at this point it seems that even though I had it set on fullscreen, due to the lighting, it appeared I was playing inside of a 4 inch window in the middle of my screen.

Though I will say there was a second when I jumped over some boxes and walked forward, then turned around to find some badies right there; made me jump heh.

LK

[Code_wizard]

I don't know if it has to do with the fact im running it on a lappy, but the first time I shot the gun the game froze. I agree with the flashlight complaints, other than that, great stuff.


Edit:

Just tried again, and worked fine. Must have been a fluke.

[ChrisP]

6. A crate was on top of three others. When i shot these three crates, the crate on them was in middle air. When i touched it, it fell (not a big issue, but i thought to mention it).Now this is strange... thanks for mentioning.

I've seen this kind of thing before. Usually it's because the topmost crate's physics are "sleeping" (inactive), and they're not getting "woken up" (activated) when the crates underneath it move. But then the collision with the player does wake it, so it falls when you touch it.

[Bad Sector]

So i assume it's easy to fix, if each object has a list with the objects that collide with it. Just once that objects "wakes up", wake up these objects too.

[Polycount Productions]

I have to agree with some of the others concerning how dark it is. I couldnt tell where I was, if I was inside or out; all I could see at times was boxes. I understand what I think you want to achieve with it being so dark, but at this point it seems that even though I had it set on fullscreen, due to the lighting, it appeared I was playing inside of a 4 inch window in the middle of my screen.
I must have too bright screen ;)

That was not my intention... and the darkness will certainly need to change so that people can play the game properly. Thanks.

Though I will say there was a second when I jumped over some boxes and walked forward, then turned around to find some badies right there; made me jump heh.
Hah! :)

So i assume it's easy to fix, if each object has a list with the objects that collide with it. Just once that objects "wakes up", wake up these objects too.
Oh yes... that's must be it. Thanks Bad Sector & ChrisP.

I don't know if it has to do with the fact im running it on a lappy, but the first time I shot the gun the game froze.
Edit:
Just tried again, and worked fine. Must have been a fluke.
*phew* (laptop compatibility will get better in the future though)

I agree with the flashlight complaints, other than that, great stuff.
Thanks. (By the way... you aren't the same "code_wizard" who suggested some zombie game names here (http://www.gameproducer.net/forums/showthread.php?p=4924), are you)

[barrygamer]

No probs here (slightly fluctuating framerate, but OK on my ageing PC). Probably too early for me to make comments, aside from what the others have said.

So, what are the plans for the game? Or, in manager-speak, what are the 'unique selling points'? I think I've read all the info on your site, and I can't quite grasp what the gameplay will be like.

[Polycount Productions]

No probs here (slightly fluctuating framerate, but OK on my ageing PC). Probably too early for me to make comments, aside from what the others have said.

So, what are the plans for the game? Or, in manager-speak, what are the 'unique selling points'? I think I've read all the info on your site, and I can't quite grasp what the gameplay will be like.

My USP would be "stacking boxes in front of creepy zombies" :rolleyes:

Thanks for testing the demo. Btw... what PC (especially video card) you have?

[barrygamer]

My USP would be "stacking boxes in front of creepy zombies" :rolleyes:

Thanks for testing the demo. Btw... what PC (especially video card) you have?

Athlon xp2000, 512 ram, 9600xt (fairly up-to-date drivers). A PC due to hit the local trashcan, though it can run HL2 and UT2004 nicely. I'm sure there is no big framerate issue with the engine, it just seemed to really vary a lot depending on the scene/view.

Hmm, i quite fancy a game with dozens of zombies on-screen (well, ok, Dead Rising, if i had a 360) -- too many games are limited to 3 or 4 enemies, each with a billion polygons :rolleyes: I remember playing Doom, opening doors to see 50 imps! And, enemies fighting eachother. OK, end of daydream for now...

[Polycount Productions]

Athlon xp2000, 512 ram, 9600xt (fairly up-to-date drivers). A PC due to hit the local trashcan, though it can run HL2 and UT2004 nicely. I'm sure there is no big framerate issue with the engine, it just seemed to really vary a lot depending on the scene/view.
That's ATI Radeon 9600XT... is that 128Mb? How many years old card is it? 3?

Hmm, i quite fancy a game with dozens of zombies on-screen (well, ok, Dead Rising, if i had a 360) -- too many games are limited to 3 or 4 enemies, each with a billion polygons :rolleyes: I remember playing Doom, opening doors to see 50 imps! And, enemies fighting eachother. OK, end of daydream for now...
Then you'll love my game... (at least some parts of it) ;)

[barrygamer]

That's ATI Radeon 9600XT... is that 128Mb? How many years old card is it? 3?

yes, that sounds correct (am sitting in front of Mac right now, cant check). It came with HL2 free voucher offer. It kicked ass at the time.

Then you'll love my game... (at least some parts of it) ;)

Gooood. I will look out for more info.

[Code_wizard]

Thanks. (By the way... you aren't the same "code_wizard" who suggested some zombie game names here (http://www.gameproducer.net/forums/showthread.php?p=4924), are you)

*Gasp* you found me! ;)

[Nexic]

Ah dang, competition on the zombie theme. I hope it doesn't end up like the 'hidden objects' genre! =)

I couldn't actually find any zombies. I like dark games but this is really too dark. On my Dead Frontier I got a lot of feedback on newgrounds with people saying it was too dark, but it's a lot brighter than this:
http://www.deadfrontier.com/nighttwo.php. Should really only be so dark in an interior, outside would be some moonlight.

The flash light seems to be cylindrical rather than a cone which makes it look odd a long distances.

EDIT: I also have Radeon 9600 but didn't notice any speed problems aside from a small lag when I first fired the gun.

[Polycount Productions]

Ah dang, competition on the zombie theme. I hope it doesn't end up like the 'hidden objects' genre! =)

Lol, even though you didn't find zombies - I rest assured they will come if you wait a bit - the placeholder zombies are same art as yours btw (this will change in my version though) ;)

Don't think this as a "competition". I believe we both could benefit. Those who play your game might like my game, and vica versa. We both can win here - let's do cross promotion :)

http://www.deadfrontier.com/ game's first night was very fun. I'm looking forward to see more. (Oh, and please put RELOAD to mouse button two)

I couldn't actually find any zombies. I like dark games but this is really too dark. On my Dead Frontier I got a lot of feedback on newgrounds with people saying it was too dark, but it's a lot brighter than this:
http://www.deadfrontier.com/nighttwo.php. Should really only be so dark in an interior, outside would be some moonlight.

Yeh - same feedback here... people don't like the dark side ;) that will change.

The flash light seems to be cylindrical rather than a cone which makes it look odd a long distances.
Yeh - it gets improvements for the next version. It is cone though - just not as good yet :)

EDIT: I also have Radeon 9600 but didn't notice any speed problems aside from a small lag when I first fired the gun.
Thanks.

[Nexic]

Can't have a right mouse button with flash :-(

I found the zombies but I think you probably didn't choose especially good animations for the movements. You're using a slow walking animation but they slide along the ground quite fast. When you shoot them they seem to fall back way too much. Would good if I just hit them close range with a shotgun, but with a pistol it doesn't really look right. Though, I know their placeholders so I guess it doesn't matter.

Could definitely use some blood when you shoot them and some feedback animation when firing the gun.

When finished I'll defintely be interested in selling this as an affiliate or something. Dead Frontier already has a big fan base that I can market to.

Exactly what kind of game are you aiming for here? Straight single player storyline FPS? Multiplayer? RPG? MMO?

I'm glad you're making a first person zombie shooter, almost everything in the genre is 3rd person - nice change.

[Bad Sector]

An interesting (to me :D) factoid is that i started my 3D game engine, named Undead Engine, at the beginning of 2004 (yes, soon it will be four years old, i realised that just now while i typed the year :O) in order to make a FPS game where the protagonist would be a zombie (thus the name of the engine). That's unlike most games where zombies are enemies - in fact in my game, which i came up in a not-so serious discussion with a friend, the zombie would not be a simple zombie, but a cyber-zombie, which was cyborgified by an alien race of species collectors, to which the player is against to. The game would be something between Duke Nukem 3D and Serious Sam in style (that is, not very serious at all).

Of course now that i think about the idea, the original one seems a little silly and since then i came up with *loads* of different (and better) ideas, but i probably with some modifications here and there, it could be a funny and entertaining game :-).

At least i still have the engine (which since then has been rewritten from scratch several times).

[Polycount Productions]

An interesting (to me :D) factoid is that i started my 3D game engine, named Undead Engine, at the beginning of 2004 (yes, soon it will be four years old, i realised that just now while i typed the year :O) in order to make a FPS game where the protagonist would be a zombie (thus the name of the engine). That's unlike most games where zombies are enemies - in fact in my game, which i came up in a not-so serious discussion with a friend, the zombie would not be a simple zombie, but a cyber-zombie, which was cyborgified by an alien race of species collectors, to which the player is against to. The game would be something between Duke Nukem 3D and Serious Sam in style (that is, not very serious at all).

Of course now that i think about the idea, the original one seems a little silly and since then i came up with *loads* of different (and better) ideas, but i probably with some modifications here and there, it could be a funny and entertaining game :-).

At least i still have the engine (which since then has been rewritten from scratch several times).
Heh, there are SOME games where you can play as a zombie. Can't remember one's name... but there is a multiplayer mod or something where you start as a human but if you die - you spawn as a zombie and hunt those other players :)

[Polycount Productions]

Can't have a right mouse button with flash :-(
Ahh.. do'h. No any fancy scripts to remove that? (Compare with Javascript where you can do some stupid code to disable right click)

Well, maybe in the downloadable version then? (both R and Right mouse click would reload - to make sure it's "familiar" to those who play the flash versions..)


I found the zombies but I think you probably didn't choose especially good animations for the movements. You're using a slow walking animation but they slide along the ground quite fast. When you shoot them they seem to fall back way too much. Would good if I just hit them close range with a shotgun, but with a pistol it doesn't really look right. Though, I know their placeholders so I guess it doesn't matter.
I agree - especially with the last sentence ;)

Could definitely use some blood when you shoot them and some feedback animation when firing the gun.
Coming right up. Lots of blood ;)

When finished I'll defintely be interested in selling this as an affiliate or something. Dead Frontier already has a big fan base that I can market to.
Yeh - and vice versa. I liked Dead Frontier very much, and would be happy to sell it to my audience too. We need to talk more in the upcoming months.

Exactly what kind of game are you aiming for here? Straight single player storyline FPS? Multiplayer? RPG? MMO?
no "fancy storyline" - would require bigger budget to make it quality. There will be "background story" which goes along the lines of this: "one night you happen to notice that everybody else is dead - and chasing your brains. perhaps it would be a good idea to get the hell out of this small doomed town"

No RPG, no MMO. And no multiplayer in the first versions. Multiplayer will be done at some point, although I'm not sure whether that will be a sequel, or addition to the game. We'll see.

This game is mainly about "making a barricade & shooting zombies that try to eat your brains" :)

In this sense, my game has similarities with your game idea - although some differences too. I believe our products can do good for both of us - they are different enough so that people can buy both products :)

I'm glad you're making a first person zombie shooter, almost everything in the genre is 3rd person - nice change.
I tested also the 3rd person, since I thought it would have better view when building the barricade (you know - when carrying boxes and whatnot), but after testing the game... it added a lot more (and made it more scary) when I was looking from 1st person view. (I actually got scared & jumped in the air at one point when I was testing the game in 1st person). It's bloody scare when you cannot see a zombie that's on your right side (1st person) - but that won't happen in 3rd person.

And it's true that many this type of games are from 3rd person - so it makes a nice difference.