Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

Incline Das Geisterschiff - turn-based cyberpunk dungeon crawler

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
Putting together a new trailer stylized as a subbed propaganda vid, sneak peek below.


In other news, updated the demo again w/ a potential fix to z-fighting issues on Mac & Linux + removed some leftover data that would bloat the build size by a bunch of megs.
https://surt-r.itch.io/das-geisterschiff/devlog/48760/demo-updated-to-v10a

And some final thoughts before the game goes live:

This started as a quick project back in early 2016 when I was extremely pissed off after visiting a local gamedev party expecting to see something unusual, but the only project that was remotely PC-oriented and didn't look like shovelware was a fucking walking sim. So I took some inspiration from classic dungeon crawlers, whipped together a simple concept that looked doable for a one-man army with zero budget and started pushing whenever I had spare time on my hands.

Overall, I believe that keeping the game short and simple was the right decision for the first project. As I only worked in QA or did sound/localization-related jobs in gamedev before, learning programming along the way brought its own share of problems, but these were eventually sorted out after I decided to rewrite the game from scratch and fix things that were either broken or unstable.

Vector-based style helped a lot in keeping the game unusual enough to catch some eyes and simplify the process for a non-artist, designing the setting around my music style helped a lot and even though I had to cut large parts of the story, I'm satisfied with the final result, even if it ended up somewhat falling into the 'too hard for a cashul, not that complex for a true 'hardcore' gamer' category.

I do have a long list of stuff I'd like to add/change/improve in the next game, so hopefully I'll get to make another one. Hell, I'm eager to start prototyping now, but I'd like to relax and focus more on getting more people to play the game.

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback, shared ideas, etc. Hopefully the final game will surprise you in a good way. ;)
 

Strange Fellow

Peculiar
Patron
Joined
Jun 21, 2018
Messages
4,013
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
zwanzig_zwoelf, bug report (maybe): Starting a new game reset my save count, but not ammo or DC, which remained at the values they were when I last saved. I restarted the application and they returned to their starting values, so I'm assuming it's a bug.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
Preparing a quick fix right now, current TODO list:
  • Add run toggle by pressing CAPS LOCK;
  • Tone down accuracy of robots in the crippled state;
  • Tone down the encounter rate in a bunch of places, especially in the streets @ first chapter;
  • Fix stats not being reset properly upon starting a new game (thanks to @Strange Fellow for reporting dis);
  • Fix a few formatting issues in a bunch of ingame strings;
  • Fix a few typos.

Will prolly go live on Friday.

Woa, I didn't know that you were behind this game. Congrats man, it's always a joy to see a game released from a Codexian!
Congrats on the release, looking forward to playing it!
Thanks men. :love:
 
Last edited:

80Maxwell08

Arcane
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
1,154
Just bought it but I won't have time to get around to it for a couple of days. Congrats on completing it.
 

AdolfSatan

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2017
Messages
1,871
Gonna have to wait until next paycheck to get this.
:negative:

At least all microissues will have been ironed out by then.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
Just bought it but I won't have time to get around to it for a couple of days. Congrats on completing it.
Then perhaps you're in luck and you'll get to try it with the first patch. Apparently I kinda fucked up the balance the second chapter of the game and most people I asked get rekt before reaching the workshop. :lol:

Gonna have to wait until next paycheck to get this.
:negative:

At least all microissues will have been ironed out by then.
Ironing them out as we speak.

Current changelog for v1.0.1:
  • Added the ability to toggle running by pressing CAPS LOCK;
  • Added an accuracy upgrade to the Upper Level;
  • Added a few hints to the conversations so you get a glimpse of hope in case you're about to get wrecked;
  • Reduced the addition to the encounter chance while running;
  • Crippled robots now also get penalties to accuracy;
  • Toned down the encounters in the Gangland chapter;
  • Expanded the tutorial text to provide clear information on how distance and position relative to the target affect the attacks;
  • Fixed the inaccessible upgrade @ Zivilsektor D33;
  • Fixed incorrect range of the laser rifle, making noticeably less effective;
  • Fixed stats not being reset correctly upon starting the new game;
  • Fixed 'Restart Chapter' button sometimes delivering buggy results;
  • Fixed minor text formatting issues and a few typos.

Stuff planned for future updates:
  • Add the option to remove 'ENEMY TURN'/'YOUR TURN' messages and replace them with a heartbeat sound during enemy turns.
 
Last edited:

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
Aaand full changelog is here:
You may want to restart the Gangland chapter to make these changes work as intended.

Changelog:
  • Added the ability to toggle running by pressing CAPS LOCK;
  • Added a few upgrades to the Upper Level;
  • Added the ability to do emergency repairs at the workshops if your DC is below 32;
  • Added a few hints to the dialogue to make the navigation and gameplay more manageable;
  • Reduced the addition to the encounter chance while running;
  • Crippled enemies now also get a penalty to their accuracy;
  • Toned down the encounters in the Gangland chapter;
  • Expanded the tutorial text to provide clear information on how distance and position relative to the target affect the attacks;
  • Fixed stats not resetting properly upon starting the new game (thanks to Strange Fellow for reporting this);
  • Fixed buggy results upon pressing 'Restart Chapter' in the tutorial;
  • Fixed inaccessible armor upgrade @ Zivilsektor D33;
  • Fixed bad formatting and typos in a couple of strings.
Patch will be available tomorrow, doing final testing and preparing the builds right now.
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
Aaand v1.0.1 is out. Demo will be updated soon as well.

All owners prolly got an e-mail already to inform them about the update.

As usual, I'd like to thank everyone for providing feedback and playing the game. Hope you enjoy it. :love:
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
May I ask how many people worked on this game?
They're all in the credits.

Vladimir used to playtest the game every now and then and bounce ideas with me to help identify and throw away ideas that sounded shitty or would bloat the scope of the project. He would also help out w/ marketing among Russian-speaking audience. Victor did 2D artwork in early 2017, but left for personal reasons (IIRC he had to focus on his studies).
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
Oh yeah, almost forgot.

While I'm working on the updates, a few bros are doing stuff for the remix album. It will be released once there are enough tracks and it will be available for free. I'll probably contribute a remix or two later down the road.

Here's the first remix as a teaser. ;)
 

Sinatar

Arbiter
Joined
Jan 25, 2014
Messages
569
Game looks a lot like Hamlet for the PC-98.

pYXBlmc.gif
 

zwanzig_zwoelf

Graverobber Foundation
Developer
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Messages
3,085
Location
デゼニランド
Game looks a lot like Hamlet for the PC-98.

pYXBlmc.gif
Games from PC-88/PC-98 were a big source of inspiration. Never played Hamlet, but it looks very cool -- will definitely give it a go.

In case you're wondering, I took a lot of inspiration and design ideas from Carmine (PC-98) -- I started bouncing the initial design ideas after reading Kimimi's review of it and trying the game itself. I was wondering why nobody even tried to create a spiritual successor to it, even though I've heard rumors that it was pretty popular in Japan. Das Geisterschiff can be considered as a spiritual successor in many ways, and I hope someone who used to work at MicroCabin/Arrowsoft ends up checking it out.
 

Grauken

Gourd vibes only
Patron
Joined
Mar 22, 2013
Messages
12,787
There are far too many design avenues in gaming history that haven't be explored to their fullest. And as much as I like the flood of modern retro indies, very few of them have tried really new things
 

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom