Dead State - Beta Released on Steam

I posted a more informative report on the content. Appeared it did not show up.

Backers who have not yet tried the game are well advised to wait for the final release coming in Autumn.

Having gone through most of this beta (even though I did not find the dog ally, the main purpose of my try), the game might come with a couple of decent moments to experience if they are wrapped well enough in a story in the final version.

The current release could be decent if it had been an alpha release in February. Time enough to reconsider many of the features that do not work.

At the moment, everything is dull, blank because everything looks the same, no differences, potential allies (outside members of the shelter)(militia, bikers) are faced like outright enemies (looters, raiders etc)

Factions are barely implemented, politics are out. Consequences like drowning in loot since you should have used some of that loot to strike deals etc

All in all, the game design never came back from dropping uncontrolled party members. Members were supposed to do their own things once on the field, boosted by leadership.
The current version of zombies could endanger a party with uncontrolled members, pushing up a survival pressure and introducing caution when going on a run but with full control given on the party members, zombies are mere time wasters between you and the looting of one entire location (level) in one swoop.
The design should have been rethinked to try to make zombies work as they are supposed to work in a zombie game as they are what separate survivors from a very comfortable life.

As a result, the gameplay is very sad, extremely sad, flat, dull, colourless.
Very easy to outpace the story line as you swept the entire map, found all locations and killed most of everything that could be found. Suddenly, a member of the shelter to come up and declare knowing this or that location, too bad, already looted days ago.

As the game is to release in final version in Autumn, curious to see the final product. So many things are broken, are missing.
 
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Wow, that sounded a whole lot worse than I expected. Thanks. I'll stay away for now. Time will tell if they can fix it.
 
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The game will release this year, they are adamant on that.
People are reporting the same issues so some will be ironed out and it must be kept in mind that the game comes with a large number of locations.
Mechanically, spending 15 to 30 minutes to clear each location provides the game with a decent completion time.
And the game will come with a couple of fine moments.

Delaying the game will add nothing. Problems are deep and they should restart the combat system from scratch to get a proper result.
It is possible to get an insight on how things were supposed to work.
In the current beta, when an ally enters the panic mode, this ally remains in panic mode until you leave the location/level.
So it is possible to get a full party (except the leader) in panic mode, acting on their own.
It makes clear how things were supposed to work and how scavenging runs were supposed not to be trivial.
Uncontrolled allies were supposed to be wild cards, potentially breaking discipline and drawing attention to the party,attracting zombies.
The leadership skill was intended to bring discipline to the party, the higher it was, the more likely the party was able to stick to macro orders (probably things like do not use fire arms, avoid zombies etc)
An ally starting to shoot away despite orders increases dangerously the noise level, attracting zombies and putting more pressure on the other allies.
It could force to abort a scavenging run.
One major problem the game has is that clearing areas is too straightforward. Areas were supposed to be cleared in several times, with tougher members giving more chances. In the current state, you can clear several areas per day.

They should find a way to make it so areas are not that easy to clear. If they manage, that will be a huge step.
The game will remain a far cry from what it was planned to be. After touring the world, the game had an incredible potential. Many nice places, many nice potential interactions between factions etc
 
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Curious to see if the turn based "UgoIgo" hardcores expressing themselves in that site are going to give a free pass to Dead State.

As members were not supposed to be controlled and they switched to controlled members, they went for solutions that make combat very hard to read.

One example: kitting a zombie should be easy given the level of information the "ugoigo" provides.
To avoid that, they took the path of giving non fixed aps to zombies so they can move to close combat over long distance.
 
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Nah, Chien's always been jaded. I like the game. And I love turn based combat, Chien doesn't. Alot of the point he makes are absolutely valid, but most of them are not that big of a deal for me, I still find the game entertaining. Not D:OS good by any means, but still nowhere near what I would call a Kickstarter that didn't deliver.
 
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@GhanBuriGhan

I've seen on Steam that you have the game already - did you play it?
Can you recommend it, too?
 
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I think people are mostly disappointed that it's not Jagged Alliance 2 with zombies and choice and consequences, but it doesn't mean that the game cannot be good on its own merits.

It's the additional gameplay elements and scope that will make or break this game.
 
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Nah, Chien's always been jaded. I like the game. And I love turn based combat, Chien doesn't. Alot of the point he makes are absolutely valid, but most of them are not that big of a deal for me, I still find the game entertaining. Not D:OS good by any means, but still nowhere near what I would call a Kickstarter that didn't deliver.

Jaded? on what ground this is told? Even though people are jaded, it does not mean that their statements are not valid. Well, that is what it is stated since it is admitted that the statements I made are absolutely valid. So bringing up a supposed jadedness is made on what purpose?

Stating that I do not like turn based combat? Made on what ground?
This is also an impressive statement to be made as the turn based combat in this product is of poor quality.

I guess it is difficult for the all subjective school to understand that liking something does not mean that thing is good.
Liking shit does not turn shit into gold. Shit remains shit.

In the end, with the subjective school, it always ends with what they like or not, when they like, it is good.But tastes, like colours, should not discussed.

The qualities of the product (since at this stage, this is not yet a game) can be discussed though, in a factual or unfactual manner.


The last line tells it all: it matters to paint this game in order it does not appear as being a KS that does not deliver.
I cant remember someone who made that judgment in this thread.
 
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I think people are mostly disappointed that it's not Jagged Alliance 2 with zombies and choice and consequences, but it doesn't mean that the game cannot be good on its own merits.

It's the additional gameplay elements and scope that will make or break this game.

The product went in production with a certain direction. It is possible to observe whether the product moved toward the direction.

The game is planned to release in 2014. Four months are left.

Many places in the current beta are unfinished: some are not modelized fully, only the walls are. Others lack loot, zombies (it should go without saying that the the non fully modelized areas have no loot or zombies)
Completing this side of work will take time.

Must be added ways to cover for the failing mechanics as a design based on uncontrolled party members could work on a different basis than controlled party members.

One example: exploration. It was designed with non controlled party members in mind.
Things are revealed from the start. Mousehovering over a car parked at the other end of the map reveals it is a loot cache. No LoS to it.
In a non controlled perspective, the main question was about pushing the party. How much could you push them before they break down and endanger the scavenging run?
Giving the loot place in such advance was necessary: moving at the other end of the map increasing the chances of the party being stressed beyond limit.
With controlled party members, this kind of information is not well received.

Stealth is in the game but once again based on the non controlled members approach.

As the product surrendered the non controlled party members approach, comparison to other products using similar mechanics happens.

Standing on its own merits? Going to be difficult as it was designed in such a way it is going to be difficult to bridge the gap.

The main thing to see is how they cover for the various failures here and there.
There is room to make that but it wont stand for a proper game.
 
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