Dead State - Interview @ Nightmare Mode

Dhruin

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We missed this interview a couple of weeks ago and, I'm guessing, most of you did too. Brian Mitsoda chats about DoubleBear's zombie CRPG, Dead State, with Nightmare Mode:
Will the game feature a mission/quest system that the players can undertake or are the players completely on their own in that matter? Will there be major fixed story events that the player must respond to?
There are multiple ways of finding objectives – finding and exploring a building, dealing with threats to the shelter, scavenging large quantities of supplies, meeting new allies, etc. Allies are helpful for guiding players to new places, but they aren’t necessarily like traditional quest givers. You may want to help them out in a reasonable amount of time to keep their morale from dropping, but you won’t get skill points from merely doing a quest, as any ally can die at any time. Story events aren’t necessarily going to happen at the same time or at all for every player, as they are based on personal conflicts, ally death, shortages of supplies, and interactions with other groups. There’s a lot of ways each player’s story can branch, even right from the beginning.
During combat, the players will only be able to issue commands to the NPCs, not take direct control. But how much control can the players assert on the survivors in the Shelter?
In the shelter, the player can assign their allies to jobs, such as crafting new items or guard duty or even just cleaning up the place. Each job has different results – construction of new rooms for the shelter, morale boosts, food production, etc. The player can also assign wounded allies to the infirmary (if the shelter has one) to heal up faster. In addition, the player can strike up conversations with allies while walking around the shelter. Almost every day the player might have requests from allies, or be pulled into an argument, or may just have to deal with someone who is sick or depressed. Micro-managing your personnel and assets is a big deal in the game.
More information.
 
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This game sounds fooking brilliant. I dig just about every damn thing I read about it. (And thanks, Watch, for providing a fine service to a lazy monkey like me.)

I really did not have high expectations for Dead Island. It turned out to be pretty much what I expected of it. And yet, I still managed to feel disappointed by it. Around every corner I saw untapped potential, and it made the monkey sad.

I just can't help but have high expectations and excitement for Dead State.
 
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Micro-managing your personnel and assets is a big deal in the game. —-

I'm looking forward to the game, but that statement troubles me. I want to play a game, not manage a spreadsheet.
 
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I'm a big fan of games complex enough so that people claim they need spreadsheets to play them.
 
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We have enough games where you could have the IQ of a tomato to play. Give me a more cerebral game please. We hardly have any of those anymore.

Dead island is one of those tomato IQ games and I still loved it, but this one… this one my expectations for it are through the roof. So much so that I can't read anymore interviews on it nor any more sneak peeks. I've seen and read enough now, I just want it.
 
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I refuse to get excited about it. Every recent game that has stirred extreme interest has ended up disappointing me. Even games that in retrospect were pretty good! On the other hand games I ignored and picked up on a whim (admitted usually on the cheap during various sales) have turned out to be quite entertaining even given their many flaws. It's all in the expectation.
 
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^ ^ What Lemonhead said ^ ^
 
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Just wait till Frayed Knights is released. My expectations were through the roof with that little indie and it met or surpassed them all.

Indies = High Expectations (except for graphics. Must be "ok" though)

AAA = Low (so I can be pleasantly surprised when one of them is great. ;))

Middle of the Road Devs = A little more hopeful than AAA, but have been burnt a few times for expecting too much from them.
 
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It's sad that things have gone that way. Video games have truly gone mainstream now.
 
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I'm all for intelligent game-play instead of mindless button-mashing. But what's the point of the endless twiddling in an inventory screen or party/stat page instead of exploring the game world and DOING something? Sorry, but for me it's not fun to stop before an encounter and spend 15 minutes trying to figure out which character should be out front, which should be at the rear, what they all should wear, how they all should be armed before anyone gets a shot off.
 
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Don't play Dominions 3 or Realms of Arkania :p Loved those games because of everything you just said you hated.

Guess it's my love of strategy games and oldschool RPGs that has got me drooling over this one. Give me stats, give me all kinds of options to win and I'll play it for a long long time.
 
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Oh, man. Give me pages on pages of stats. I'll take as many as they want to give me. Drankensang had some lovely stat pages. Sadly, things are going the other way. Even Skyrim, I've read, is dumbing down their attributes to three. :(

Skaven, if you like strategy games, I've been playing one, an older one I hadn't heard of before, and I've been enjoying it more than any game in a long time. Lots of stuff to think about and manage…and a medieval setting: Knights of Honor. I'm currently conquering medieval Europe with a newly reunited Scotland. Good stuff. I got it on sale on Steam for $5. Think the regular price is $10. It's worth well more than both those prices.

Edit: Never played Realms of Arkania before, but I've got it installed. I've heard about its old-school, and difficult, nature .Was going to hit it up next but got distracted by Knights of Honor.
 
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