Prisonscape Alpha - thread

[GarlandExCon]

You want the game? Okay, but I need something...

*Hands you a shank*

I need you to do something for me.

 

[Skdursh]

You want the game? Okay, but I need something...

*Hands you a shank*

I need you to do something for me.

 

[PekkaK]

FYI: We have released Alpha 14, and are almost done with Alpha 15. After this we will move on to beta testing.

 

[PekkaK]

Alpha 14 release notes:

NOTE: Release notes might contain spoilers!

Features

Implement combat UI
Implement combat resolution UI

Tasks

Show level progression properly in character screen
Add custom loot option to NPCs
Refactor exceptions so that they are thrown only when necessary
Re-design inventory UI
Add combat portraits
Update API documentation
Design random encounter areas and logic

Bugs

Fix alert level decrease dialog stuck on screen
Fix speaking more than once with NPC that has dialog on multiple levels

Editor

Improve accuracy when selecting overlapping entities
Show labels on top of entities
Optimize editor boot

 

[warcrimes666]

PekkaK I did 5 years myself in Collins Bay and the game is looking awesome, thanks alot for sticking with it.

It's looking innovative and accurate and sadly wishing I contributed years ago in your preproduction for questlines I remember reading. The screenshots really bring me back, inciting riot, coercing and paying staff to bring stuff in, politics on the block and so on, actually I still have a scar across the bridge of my nose from a can lid shank. I'm quite enthusiastic to play it.

Looking forward to giving you some 'hard-earned' money!

 

[rusty_shackleford]

PekkaK I did 5 years myself in Collins Bay and the game is looking awesome, thanks alot for sticking with it.

It's looking innovative and accurate and sadly wishing I contributed years ago in your preproduction for questlines I remember reading. The screenshots really bring me back, inciting riot, coercing and paying staff to bring stuff in, politics on the block and so on, actually I still have a scar across the bridge of my nose from a can lid shank. I'm quite enthusiastic to play it.

Looking forward to giving you some 'hard-earned' money!

Collins Bay

isn't that canadian

maybe he could add some canadian DLC where you escape just by asking the guards nicely to let you go

 

[PekkaK]

Gameplay footage that nobody requested:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6UF7zIl0Sg

 

[PekkaK]

More gameplay, still going with the Aryans:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGzrae5Warg

 

[AdolfSatan]

Why force the player through a scripted fight where he's bound to lose? Make it a cutscene and be done with it.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I kind of like when losing a fight in a RPG doesn't mean a game over and even more when that's what's supposed to happen, even better if you have a slight chance to win if you're an extremely lucky tactical genius.

I even lobbied BlueSalamandar to get a non game over scenario for some fights in KotC 2 (in the new village) but i failed.

 

[GarlandExCon]

Why force the player through a scripted fight where he's bound to lose? Make it a cutscene and be done with it.

I think the idea is its like a tutorial

 

[AdolfSatan]

Atom pulled that off very well, but judging from the video it looks like there's no way for the player to win that fight. I may be wrong, though.

 

[PekkaK]

Why force the player through a scripted fight where he's bound to lose? Make it a cutscene and be done with it.

I kind of like when losing a fight in a RPG doesn't mean a game over and even more when that's what's supposed to happen, even better if you have a slight chance to win if you're an extremely lucky tactical genius.

1)

I think the idea is its like a tutorial

2) I wanted to point that the game environment is harsh, and that instead of having random, easy fights, the game actually has some tough encounters,

3) In one quest, you can get revenge on the black guys, and this first fight shows that this won't happen by fighting them, but rather coming up with a cunning plan,

4) The player can fight the same guys later in the game, showing the increase in player character's power level,

5) and finally, I MIGHT make the fight winnable with good strategy and specific background build, but this one I'm still figuring out.

 

[PekkaK]

PekkaK I did 5 years myself in Collins Bay and the game is looking awesome, thanks alot for sticking with it.

It's looking innovative and accurate and sadly wishing I contributed years ago in your preproduction for questlines I remember reading. The screenshots really bring me back, inciting riot, coercing and paying staff to bring stuff in, politics on the block and so on, actually I still have a scar across the bridge of my nose from a can lid shank. I'm quite enthusiastic to play it.

Looking forward to giving you some 'hard-earned' money!

Hey man, thanks for the feedback! I love talking with ex-cons about the game, as you are the real experts. If you are interested, we could have a chat/podcast/stream at some point, and maybe Garland could also join us?

 

[Haba]

It is always fun if there is kind of "easter egg" alternative path for "unwinnable" fights.

Looks pretty slick over all.

- I have really hard time reading the font. Alternative clear font would be a godsend
- The text box for dialogue is awful small, often the last line of dialogue gets cut. Maybe expand it by one line and trim your dialogue so that it fits the space?
- Highlighting keywords might work to make the dialogue easier to follow
- Transitions to the random fights are very abrupt, maybe some random smack talk dialogue line as the fight starts? Can be used to explain why you ended up in the fight, if there are such situations. Same with the deaths/KO's during the fight and when you win a fight. Think how Fallouts did it. Can happen during scene transitions, so it doesn't need to make it take any longer

 

[AdolfSatan]

It'd be nice if it were winnable if only by a very slim margin, but in any case your point about portraying fights as tough is a very good one.

 

[GarlandExCon]

PekkaK I did 5 years myself in Collins Bay and the game is looking awesome, thanks alot for sticking with it.

It's looking innovative and accurate and sadly wishing I contributed years ago in your preproduction for questlines I remember reading. The screenshots really bring me back, inciting riot, coercing and paying staff to bring stuff in, politics on the block and so on, actually I still have a scar across the bridge of my nose from a can lid shank. I'm quite enthusiastic to play it.

Looking forward to giving you some 'hard-earned' money!

Hey man, thanks for the feedback! I love talking with ex-cons about the game, as you are the real experts. If you are interested, we could have a chat/podcast/stream at some point, and maybe Garland could also join us?

Just let me know when and I'll be there

 

[PekkaK]

It is always fun if there is kind of "easter egg" alternative path for "unwinnable" fights.

Looks pretty slick over all.

- I have really hard time reading the font. Alternative clear font would be a godsend
- The text box for dialogue is awful small, often the last line of dialogue gets cut. Maybe expand it by one line and trim your dialogue so that it fits the space?
- Highlighting keywords might work to make the dialogue easier to follow
- Transitions to the random fights are very abrupt, maybe some random smack talk dialogue line as the fight starts? Can be used to explain why you ended up in the fight, if there are such situations. Same with the deaths/KO's during the fight and when you win a fight. Think how Fallouts did it. Can happen during scene transitions, so it doesn't need to make it take any longer

Thanks, this type of feedback is very valuable.

- The font has been criticized on many occasions, and we'll definitely re-do some of the letters there. Working on fonts is pain in the ass, which is why it has been delayed for way too long.
- The dialogue box is also under construction, and will look something like this:

So you can see the portrait of the character who is talking, and their name will also appear there once you know who they are.

- Highlighting is also under construction! It will actually be optional, so the player can turn "Hints" on to see highlighted keywords (character names, items, locations, etc.)
- I love the idea of creating interaction pre-combat! Skills and reputation could also be an affecting factor here, for example with Stealth you could avoid the fights by hiding and with Intimidation you could just... well, intimidate the enemy away. I played pen & paper for a long time, and I always enjoyed when the group could get XP for avoiding fights - I'd like to implement this for Prisonscape, too.

 

[Haba]

- I love the idea of creating interaction pre-combat! Skills and reputation could also be an affecting factor here, for example with Stealth you could avoid the fights by hiding and with Intimidation you could just... well, intimidate the enemy away. I played pen & paper for a long time, and I always enjoyed when the group could get XP for avoiding fights - I'd like to implement this for Prisonscape, too.

Yeah, you could do a lot of background skill checks/rolls and then visualize that with a few short lines of dialogue. Then that space can be utilized to showcase character growth and development as well. Starting as a weak nobody, responses and your reactions reflect that, but as you grow reputation or gain affiliation, they would change along the way.

If you are going to have a lot of combat, it doesn't even need to take a long time. Just roll the dialogue automatically and perform the checks, hidden or visible.

Perfect way to avoid trash combat but still get gratification. Random mobs act subservient to you, gifting you with XP and free gifts, without having to go through the combat itself. Lol.

 

[PekkaK]

Yeah, you could do a lot of background skill checks/rolls and then visualize that with a few short lines of dialogue. Then that space can be utilized to showcase character growth and development as well. Starting as a weak nobody, responses and your reactions reflect that, but as you grow reputation or gain affiliation, they would change along the way.

If you are going to have a lot of combat, it doesn't even need to take a long time. Just roll the dialogue automatically and perform the checks, hidden or visible.

Perfect way to avoid trash combat but still get gratification. Random mobs act subservient to you, gifting you with XP and free gifts, without having to go through the combat itself. Lol.

Yes and the whole thing would add a nice new RPG layer to the game. We already have implemented the Alertness system to the game - every time the player fights, there is a slight chance to get increase in Alertness. Once it goes up, random encounters become more challenging (since only the craziest motherfuckers will start fights if the guards are on high alert) and eventually very challenging. Alertness can be decreased by doing hustles (quests) around the prison.

We'll also try to reduce the element of grind with XP diminishing, meaning that after you kill X amount of specific mobs, their XP value goes down. It's still possible to grind your levels way up, but this can take a LONG time.

 

[Kalin]

Game looks great, amazing art, good sound, font looks fine to me. The combat looks boring though (not a lot of options - but I get it's basic at first before you unlock the snazzy stuff). Not a fan of hand holding in games, you might consider slashing some of the info dumps and let the player figure stuff out on their own. I guess this area is just the start though and you later get transferred to big boy prison or something.

If you picked "wrestling", "trained" and "picked fights" in char creation you really should have a shot at beating the two niggers and get a different outcome. I know it adds more work but C&C is important. Ah yeah, looting other people's rooms when they're in them? LOL. Better change that whenever possible it makes no sense, like the sandwich? I'd just put it in the cafeteria which is the logical place to look. Anyway looking good man, props for sticking it out and not abandoning it along the way, definitely gonna pick it up when you guys are ready.

 

[PekkaK]

Game looks great, amazing art, good sound, font looks fine to me. The combat looks boring though (not a lot of options - but I get it's basic at first before you unlock the snazzy stuff). Not a fan of hand holding in games, you might consider slashing some of the info dumps and let the player figure stuff out on their own. I guess this area is just the start though and you later get transferred to big boy prison or something.

The combat is still very much work in progress, so hopefully we can make it more interesting in the upcoming beta releases. The info dumps are optional, only few warnings from NPC's are given during the beginning of the game. And yes, this is the county jail, later on you're moved to prison.

If you picked "wrestling", "trained" and "picked fights" in char creation you really should have a shot at beating the two niggers and get a different outcome. I know it adds more work but C&C is important. Ah yeah, looting other people's rooms when they're in them? LOL. Better change that whenever possible it makes no sense, like the sandwich? I'd just put it in the cafeteria which is the logical place to look. Anyway looking good man, props for sticking it out and not abandoning it along the way, definitely gonna pick it up when you guys are ready.

Indeed, we want high level of C&C in the game, and many times it works in a way that might be not that obvious to the player. Torment did this beautifully with dialogue options for example. Looting stuff will also have its consequences, even in the case of that cheddar sandwich.

Thank you for the feedback!

 

[PekkaK]

Final gameplay video for the Aryans:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc71r6BhYTw

Just wanted to show the variety of hustles you have in this game - there are many more quests related to helping people with day-to-day stuff around the prison, so it's not just about beating people up.

And yes, the combat looks very repetitive and boring, we are working on it.

 

[GarlandExCon]

Man, it is really cool seeing the game come along.

So a lot of you may not know this, but Pekka is the reason I am here. It's crazy to look back on it but here's the story:

In 2014, just two or three months out of prison, I happened to stumble upon the Kickstarter for Prisonscape. I don't remember how or why. It could be that when I first got out Kickstarter fascinated me. It didn't exist before I went inside, so I used to go on there and just look at all the neat things people were trying to crowd fund.

When I saw the Prisonscape one, I immediately thought "what a great idea!" and I wanted to help. I wanted to help make it realistic. At the time, I was really struggling. I hadn't long been out, was struggling to find employment and was really dealing with a lot of post-prison PTSD and social anxiety. I was also bored a lot and wanted something to do. I wanted to find a way to take my prison experience and turn it into something good.

So I messaged the developers and Pekka was the one who responded. He could have ignored me, but he was enthusiastic about the idea of me helping. I had basically said I'd like to consult for the game, if I recall, and help in anyway I could. I didn't want any money, just the opportunity.

Not long after he created the Ask an Ex-Con thread in the Prisonscape forum here on the Codex for me to basically to an AMA on prison... and the rest is history and all these years later I've become a regular here on the Codex and now am completely off of probation and doing really well.

The thing is, not only do I have Pekka to thank for introducing me to the Codex, but I really feel like this place and especially that thread were very important to my post-prison success and getting over my anxiety and PTSD. The entire thing was very therapeutic. I needed someplace to talk about it, to vent and to get things I felt out and Pekka and all of you gave me that opportunity.

So in a way the Codex and many of you here were instrumental in helping me get through a very difficult time in my life, so thank you for that and Pekka, thank you for the opportunity.

Now finish the game lol

 

[GarlandExCon]

Final gameplay video for the Aryans:

The guitar string as a tattoo needle is a real thing, btw, for everyone who doesn't know. There was a couple of months I got paid to stand watch while a dude gave tattoos. At least in the game you don't have to find Styrofoam cups or chess pieces to melt down to make the ink lol