Urban Strife - turn-based zombie survival RPG - now in private alpha

The game as it was presented at Gamescom 2017 WAS a tactical squad game with pretty basic story and a random mission generation mechanic. The guys felt the quality of the combat mechanics wasn't matched by the rest so, even though the game was about 80% done, scrapped almost everything except core mechanics and started over with a new plan. That's when I came on board and we spent the last two years developing the story, the RPG interactions, the base building and the crafting elements. We also wanted to get away from the nuXcom crowd so we rebuilt even the HUD (which was finished 100%) and changed the combat mechanics that are so abused in the XCOM clone world (overwatch, dice roll CtH, etc).

To give you a comparison our old shelter was a 2d drawing. With each new room you added, we had about 6-7 new 2d overlayers that we superimposed and that was all. The new Shelter is a huge sector and has about 20-30 visual upgrades you can build and use. It is designed like a lego and your actions can swap large chunks of it with new versions. Nevermind the crafting and other benefits that come from building these upgrades.

Also the old game had zero dialogues. You went in, you did the mission, you got some congratulatory texts and that was it. Now you have a brewing social conflict on your doorstep, between the residents of the Shelter and the nomad refugees. You can make them praise you like a god or bitch and moan about your actions. You got a team with all the lovely quirks and just the right level of insanity that hate/like/love each other. And each of them has a personal storyline you gonna get to explore. And to top it off, the outside factions are as deeply disturbed as one would expect in the middle of an apocalypse.

So yes... USG is a bit more than a tactical squad game now.

 

From their discord:

 

To elaborate a bit on the pain/sickness system:

Don't get sick. It sucks.

Thank me later.

 

Can confirm

 

Discord stuff:

 

It's true.
Welp.

Blame August for not having a decent amount of days. Like 100 or so...

 

We kinda hoped to have the trailer ready and the Steam page going, but once we put all scenes together + music they didn't really flow well. So we'll record some extra scenes, hopefully this week and try again.
The overall development continues, we're deep into character development, skills, perks, atm. We want to have at least a basic system working for alpha.

Speaking of the HUD fixes, just got this from our artist:



PS: Can't believe we're mid September already... geez, who pressed the x2 speed button?!

 

Also works for those who favor a more "hands on" approach:

 

Much better

 

Barbarian strikes again.

 

And again and again.

 

DEV-UPDATE 25.09.2019

RPG AND GAME FLOW
It's time for another weekly update from the USG dev team. We started the week by fixing a lot of glitches, making sure the player has a seamless, fluid gameplay experience. One example would be changing the behavior of the dialogue system, which previously had this cinematic typewriter effect that was supposed to be timed with the average reading speed. Problem was on repeated playthroughs we found ourselves clicking to skip ahead and accidentally exiting the dialogue, which is by no means a good behavior. Also on the RPG front we added a default dialogue tree to each major actor, that is to provide the player with the backstory of each NPC and their place in the world.

HUD FUNCTIONALITY
We're still building and rebuilding the game hud and its functionality. A huge headache was fitting all elements properly and swapping them dynamically without leaving ugly holes. In our attempts to add functionality we found out we cluttered the right side (the rucksack), plus we had no clear functional separation of the inputs. So we took the buttons, stances etc and moved them on the team member card, since they're specific to each individual. And left the right side as a nice weapon display. With a whole new set of melee weapons designed by our artist, Alex.

FREE SHOOTING
The new design of the hud resulted into an unexpected bonus. Since we did away with the quick slots, postponing them to a time when we'll have a proper LBE system, we found ourselves looking for a solution to interactions with environment when you have a throwable equipped in the hand slot. Weapons have a smart activation, aka when the game detects an enemy under cursor, you get to shoot him. But when it comes to Molotov cocktails and other throwables you don't necessarily want to aim them directly, so they were using a click to confirm system with free aim. Well, since we were here, we decided to add the free aim to guns/melee too. They keep their smart target, but now they can be also activated outside combat, providing countless hours of fun destroying private and state in-game property.





FIRST STANDALONE BUILD IN 2 YEARS!
Finally, we managed another breakthrough. After we solved the main game flow issues and got everything linked up nicely – start game, create a custom character, play, quit and replay without crashing – we went a step further and produced our first standalone build in two years! And it ran! It’s like watching your first baby 3D EKG… it has a head, two arms, two legs and other important bits, we’re a go! PS: Also a hidden benefit of integrating various bits and pieces we got our player zombification process done that means, you guessed, RIP, bye, game over. We'll be back with more details about this.

 

Welp, we didn't say WHICH year, did we?

PS: Thanks for the heads-up, I fixed the text!

 

Small addendum to the free fire mode changes mentioned. Someone on Discord was worried that being able to shoot objects will actually make it harder to hit intended human targets. But that is not the case. The weapon cursor has a body auto-detection that will trigger when hovering over humans and you will get a human shaped dummy near the crosshair showing the exposed bodyparts you can aim at.

Also, on another note - the cursor we are using in the game now is a WIP if the sniper scope. We have quite a few different aiming cursors, from iron sights to scopes and they're meant to give you immersion. But the actual aiming indicator will be a dynamic circle that will shrink towards the center depending on the accuracy of the gun. Maybe even with a more visible green/red dot in middle so you can be 100% sure of what you're aiming at.

Demonstrating the whole concept here on a live politician, aka mayor J.J. Adams of Urban.

 

UI really reminds me of Commandos and 1st game of Desperados -series.

 

I'm not usually into playing pre-release versions of games but I really feel like playing this. Dead State got an undeservedly bad reception both here and in general and was one of the games I've enjoyed the most this past decade. But this sounds like it'll be even better. What are you going to charge for the alpha?

 

We have some numbers that we have discussed internally, but so far we have not decided on definite price for the closed alpha. But it will not be outrageous. While we do need the hard cash, we also want the alpha testers to form the base of the future community and so we would like a lot of people to join in. We probably should nail this down rather sooner than later but honestly the last thing we were concerned in the last few months is the price of the alpha. Actually assembling the darn thing was and still is more pressing.

So no AAA price for alpha, but something enough to buy beer for all the friends who helped us. Sadly enough, they don't shy away from free beers...

But let me ask you, what you consider a decent price for alpha access? USG alpha is planned to have 3 sectors (1 safe, 2 aggro), with a mini-mainstory and a couple of side missions, probably 2-3 hours of playtime (to complete, not considering alternate paths). Considering that, where you would price the alpha if it was YOUR work?

 

DEV-UPDATE 02.10.2019

October is here and we rolling full steam ahead towards what we hope will be a very nice alpha release. Since the last update the art department (consisting of one brave man, Alex) has been crunching on completing the minimal set of melee weapons for the build. The rifles and handguns are pretty much done, but we needed some true classic of the apocalypse in our arsenal. So here they are, in their full glory, the tools you should never leave home without:



But then what if you're scavenging through an old lady's home and she happens to have no tools? And there's a known growling visitor approaching. What then, you ask? Well, one solution would be to grab that frying pan we showed last week, but that wouldn't be much of an update. So, we have another bad boy for you: the Wood Plank! And his bigger brother (provided you have the stuff needed to make it), the mighty Wood Plank w. Nails! And that's just one of the combos that await you in Urban Strife!



Speaking of looting old ladies homes - or as the official name goes, the Suburbs development just outside your Urban Shelter, there's more to find there. That wooden plank is your most basic weapon. A true warrior will never leave home without some sturdy backup melee weapon. And the Suburbs, if searched properly, should satisfy any taste: generations of husbands who crossed their wives will testify to the horror of the wooden roller and - if that is too scary for you - be the plumber you always dreamed to be and carry a massive wrench:



ECONOMY 101

On the programming and game design front, it was time to streamline the economy core - what resources you need, where you find them, what you need them for. This serves as the base for the "meters game" so it is vital it works as intended. Otherwise you might have trouble keeping your folks happy and well fed (well, the ones you like at least insert evil_wink), satisfying the needs of the groups you want to befriend or speculating shamelessly the plight of hungry NPCs to sheer profit and enjoyment, as a true scumb... sorry... we mean survivor.
---

 

Quick update - We've been invited to exhibit Urban Strife at Dev.Play 2019 conference in Bucharest (dev-play.ro), this November, at the Unreal Indie Zone (USG is built on Unreal Engine). So we're in an even more urgent drive (basically a rabid, foaming frenzy) to assemble a playable build which in turn will be the base for the elusive closed alpha we've been promising. We'll get back with pictures, maybe even a video and all the cookies we can hide in the pockets, so stay tuned for the good stuff...

 

Slightly cheaper (10-20% off) than the full release, as long as the customer gets the full game on the release date (or maybe even a day sooner).

 

DEV UPDATE 16.10.2019

HOARDER HEAVEN

This past week we have finished implementing a very important part of the game economy - the base inventory, with all the sorting and filters it is supposed to have for proper loot management. This is where you will deposit everything you bring home from your scavenging trips, but also where everyone will consume resources from. In the first part of the game, when the shelter is under siege and only your armed militia can roam outside the walls, you and your recruits will be the only provider. Later, when you managed to pacify the nearby sectors, you can negotiate with your NPC friends some help so you can move up from back breaking work onto more exciting stuff. Like pew-pew, adventure, rock and roll.

SOUNDS OF SILENCE

We're also in the process of revamping the game environmental sounds and Cosmin is busy composing new tunes for our soundtrack that will keep you company when sneaking around in zombie infested territories. Expect deep chills down the spine. Hopefully by the time DevPlay will be done we'll be able to share a video with that.

CRAFTING 101

Speaking of DevPlay we're also putting A and B together regarding loot tables. And while the crafting in this demo will be just an appetizer, we do want to have some funky recipes for our players to try. Should have more details on that when everything is in place. Here's something special for those daring enough to try being an apocalypse chef in USG! Just don't ask what furry animal donated the meat.

Until next week!

 

Bringing new meaning to the term "raw-dog"! And stuffed with grass and leaves! What a treat!

 

You'd wish that was a dog. They ate those two years ago. No my friend, there's only one furry creature who can survive an apocalypse and it lives in the sewers of any city. Some do get as big as a small dog, true...

Bon appetit!