Seeking Co(s) & Team: Any Given Day

[That One NPC 321]

The name sort of says it all once you have a bit of context.

 

The concept is set deep into a post-apocalyptic world. Either an undead-plagued Earth, or a monster/demon-plagued fantasy world.

 

Society has been destroyed. Overwritten by the baser insticts of survival. Staying warm, sheltered, hydrated, nourished, even medicated when neccessary. Gathering fundimental resources from the environment to craft tools. Looting and hunting. This has become the meaning of life. Man lives akin to beast once again. This is a world where at any given time, on any given day, you can succomb to the elements, become prey to predators, or lose a fight with your fellow man or woman. On any given day, you can be a footnote in a larger story of the player's experience.

 

That's right. When the player dies, that actor is dead, and they get a new randomly 'rolled' actor, with random (within a 'starter' regulation) stats, gear, and one of several pre-set appearances.

 

Hardcore survival simulation blended with open world rpg elements. Using Faclao's Pearl ABS system to create real time action, combat, and utilizing the Tool system as well.

 

Now I understand the potential catastrophy that can be created by this perma death system. So I have been playing with ideas of how to make it work better.

 

One idea I had was that you only get so many rerolls before you get stuck with a perminant actor roll. Another idea was the ability to create a back-up of a given actor. I thought something you craft like a journal or something, just to justify the function.

 

I think reaching a point in quest success could lock in an actor so that you don't reset.

 

The idea, though, is that there is a learning curve and skill curve created. And the player quickly realises that the random actor system and an item instance system for gear can actually work out in their favor. Beyond that I wanted access and advantage to improve through things like improving camp life and resources through looting and crafting.

 

Leaderboards could create a competative aspect to motivate the player base.

 

That's all I can think of right now. On mobile. If ^ that ^ alone doesn't get your engines purring, nothing more I can say, will.

 

EDIT: Oh yes, and I thought it would be cool to put a graveyard in the world and add a headstone for every fallen actor the player loses. The stones could recite the actor's given name, lvl, play time in game days, etc.

 

I don't want it to be a total player-hate fest. 

 

 

You can find me on Discord: Loco Choco #6154

Edited March 1, 2019 by Loco Choco

[That One NPC 321]

Bumping this but with content. 

 

On 3/1/2019 at 10:49 AM, Loco Choco said:

One idea I had was that you only get so many rerolls before you get stuck with a permanent actor roll.

 

Part of this concept was that each reroll contributes to a scoring system that will affect certain things like your ending.

 

On 3/1/2019 at 10:49 AM, Loco Choco said:

I think reaching a point in quest success could lock in an actor so that you don't reset.

 

This could be the best solution to the perma-death problem. My initial idea was that at a certain point, the player discovers a small stronghold. When this happens, you connect with other human beings, and as a result, are no longer a random apocalyptic survivor. When you die, you don't fade away as a forgotten, nameless soul.

 

It was the best fix i had come up with.

Edited March 8, 2019 by Loco Choco

[Animebryan 139]

Have you ever played or heard of Rogue Legacy? In that game you play a knight who enters a castle to find treasure & hunt down monsters in a quest to strike down a traitor who slew the previous king. The game's difficulty is set so that its nearly impossible to complete a full run of the game on the 1st try. When you die, that character is dead & the next one you play is from 1 of 3 descendants, implying that each time you die, a whole generation goes by before another descendant shows up to try. In that game, there is no permanent character. If it worked for that game it can certainly work for yours (unless there's some plot/story element that requires a main character).

[That One NPC 321]

19 hours ago, Animebryan said:

Have you ever played or heard of Rogue Legacy? 

 

If it worked for that game it can certainly work for yours (unless there's some plot/story element that requires a main character).

 

I haven't.

 

I hope so, and there isn't. But we both know how fickle and picky today's gamer can be when playing an indie. I hate to make a game where you can get to lvl 70 and dehydrate on a looting run because your dog was eating a chocolate bar, causing you to react before hitting the menu button. It can be a slippery slope between sticking to the vision, and making something that gets more than a handful of real plays.

 

I'm trying to explore all options for a system like this. I was thinking of using the reroll system, but always keeping the player at the same lvl, and removing loot, but keeping any stash chests saved. So the payer can hoard items.

 

I realized I have to allow the player to earn some sort of progress with each new character. The initial vision was that humans live like animals again. The progress earned is learning from your environment and adapting to it, in order to survive for as long as you can, with some objectives actually in there to, once the player can sort camp life enough to make it as far as the nearest other humans where real plot work can begin.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Loco Choco

[CreapyAF 3]

hey, I'm interested in helping out if I can, I sent a request through discord.

[That One NPC 321]

Thanks for the interest.

 

We would for sure need a larger team for this. Since posting this thread, I further developed aspects of game play for this concept. It will take a large effort and some skill to make this happen. Not only would we need some coders for back-up on the script end, but we'd also need graphics people. I decided vehicles are an absolute must, although something the player gains access to later in the game.

 

I also want random enemy group generation. So rather than the same set of enemies on every map, there are random zombies generated. This will create a setting where the player must always be on their toes, and move diligently, vs mastering the lay of the land. On 'any given day' your favorite looting route through a city could be over-run by 25 zombies.

 

I basically took the concept and adapted it into the game I've been waiting on from the professional studios. Open world zombie apoc meets GTA-style free roam, Fallout-style RPG elements, blended with heavy crafting and building aspects. Always keeping a camp of sorts for travel, crafting items, modding weapons, modding vehicles, building a shelter, etc.

 

It would be a huge undertaking, but it would be a very entertaining game. Your very own Z-apoc universe to forge your own story within.