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Tags: Brian Mitsoda; Dead State; DoubleBear Productions
Brian Mitsoda was recently interviewed for a site called Enthusiacs about his upcoming zombie RPG, Dead State. The interview revealed some details about what we can expect from the later segments of the game, which aren't available in the current Early Access version. Have a snippet:
Brian Mitsoda was recently interviewed for a site called Enthusiacs about his upcoming zombie RPG, Dead State. The interview revealed some details about what we can expect from the later segments of the game, which aren't available in the current Early Access version. Have a snippet:
Wastey: There seem to be a lot of elements that the player will have to contend with on a regular basis to keep his group happy. Food, morale, rest. Other humans. If you had to, what element would you say players should watch out for the most?
Brian: This game is all about the human threat, both internally and externally. It’s pretty easy to look at the game and write us off as another zombie game, but if you play the game, you’ll learn that the zombies really aren’t that huge of a threat, but other humans scavenging for the same resources or allies that are at each other’s throats? Yeah, they can cause problems in the shelter. Maybe even for you. You’re a group of strangers all trying to survive – you’re not questing for the sake of loot or to fight a common enemy, you are normal people thrown together by chance.
You’re not all going to be friends at the end. You will make decisions that will make other people mad. You will find other survivors and realize that if you want to eat tonight, you may have to kill people that pose no threat to you. You can’t win the game by merely killing a boss – you’ve got to play politics (even if it’s despotism), make tough decisions, and keep your people happy enough to not want to get rid of you or leave.
Wastey: Will all humans be hostile? I mean, could a player effectively work out a tentative peace between the two surviving factions so that they work together to watch each others backs (or leave each other alone), or something similar?
Brian: Not all of the other humans are hostile. Many humans are hostile while you’re out scavenging – either they kill as a rule or they’ve been ambushed so many times by other humans that they shoot on sight now. You’ll find more organized factions that might be willing to talk, but you’ll find that most people don’t trust you and only want to interact with you out of necessity. When you do find someone who wants to talk, they may be a potential ally, a potential threat, or just another person trying to get through their day without dying. You may be able to keep the peace with some of the other groups, but there are lots of individuals out in the world with no connection to an organization, and they have most likely stayed alive by preying on the weak.
Wastey: Will the player experience a day/night cycle in the game?
Brian: Yes. The game starts in the morning and ends in the evening. You go to sleep to start a new day. Night combat is an option, but it’s much harder to see and hit your enemies. Time passes while traveling or working in the shelter. Over time, allies will get fatigued, so keeping them out for too long is not advised. Every day, each ally needs food. Allies get injuries that sometimes require rest. Sometimes they get sick, sometimes they get depressed, and sometimes they just don’t want to go out. Some mornings, strangers might arrive at the gate of the shelter.
Occasionally, something at the shelter becomes such a big issue that a major decision must be made, such as figuring out a policy to handle low morale in the shelter. Every day brings new challenges in Dead State. If you’ve played the first 7 Days, that’s the tutorial week, and the easiest week you will have in the game.
Wastey: Loot and items, it’s assumed, will be finite resources, correct? Will players be able to do anything to alleviate that concern? i.e. Growing their own food, using more natural resources and so on.
Brian: Yes, constructing upgrades to the shelter can offset morale and food loss. You can build a garden and grow food. You can build a watchtower and assign allies to guard the shelter, which makes people feel safer. You can upgrade your car to use less fuel. You can look for wild sources of food or fish. There’s a whole lot of ways to boost your supplies aside from scavenging, but it’s impossible to get by without having to occasionally brave a hostile area, because that’s the easiest way to get the resources you need. You won’t be able to just hunker down in the shelter 100% – you’re just delaying the inevitable really bad day out in the field.
Wastey: Now, will the game have a defined narrative (beginning, middle, end), or a continuous flow of survival until the inevitable end?
Brian: There’s definitely story beats spread throughout the months in the shelter, but we’re more open in structure like the original Fallout. Most people have only played the first week so far, which is a tutorial week and is much more linear than the final game so that we can teach the player the basics of running the shelter and scavenging.
Much of the game depends on the allies you have, the people you meet, how many supplies you have, and what decisions you make. There are some events that everyone will have to face, some that will only occur as a result of your choices, and then there are some that are random and may happen at different times to each player. The best thing to do in our game is to carefully monitor your allies and supplies, explore as much as possible, and be sure not to piss off your subleaders too much.
According to the interview, the game's projected release date is still "Summer 2014".Brian: This game is all about the human threat, both internally and externally. It’s pretty easy to look at the game and write us off as another zombie game, but if you play the game, you’ll learn that the zombies really aren’t that huge of a threat, but other humans scavenging for the same resources or allies that are at each other’s throats? Yeah, they can cause problems in the shelter. Maybe even for you. You’re a group of strangers all trying to survive – you’re not questing for the sake of loot or to fight a common enemy, you are normal people thrown together by chance.
You’re not all going to be friends at the end. You will make decisions that will make other people mad. You will find other survivors and realize that if you want to eat tonight, you may have to kill people that pose no threat to you. You can’t win the game by merely killing a boss – you’ve got to play politics (even if it’s despotism), make tough decisions, and keep your people happy enough to not want to get rid of you or leave.
Wastey: Will all humans be hostile? I mean, could a player effectively work out a tentative peace between the two surviving factions so that they work together to watch each others backs (or leave each other alone), or something similar?
Brian: Not all of the other humans are hostile. Many humans are hostile while you’re out scavenging – either they kill as a rule or they’ve been ambushed so many times by other humans that they shoot on sight now. You’ll find more organized factions that might be willing to talk, but you’ll find that most people don’t trust you and only want to interact with you out of necessity. When you do find someone who wants to talk, they may be a potential ally, a potential threat, or just another person trying to get through their day without dying. You may be able to keep the peace with some of the other groups, but there are lots of individuals out in the world with no connection to an organization, and they have most likely stayed alive by preying on the weak.
Wastey: Will the player experience a day/night cycle in the game?
Brian: Yes. The game starts in the morning and ends in the evening. You go to sleep to start a new day. Night combat is an option, but it’s much harder to see and hit your enemies. Time passes while traveling or working in the shelter. Over time, allies will get fatigued, so keeping them out for too long is not advised. Every day, each ally needs food. Allies get injuries that sometimes require rest. Sometimes they get sick, sometimes they get depressed, and sometimes they just don’t want to go out. Some mornings, strangers might arrive at the gate of the shelter.
Occasionally, something at the shelter becomes such a big issue that a major decision must be made, such as figuring out a policy to handle low morale in the shelter. Every day brings new challenges in Dead State. If you’ve played the first 7 Days, that’s the tutorial week, and the easiest week you will have in the game.
Wastey: Loot and items, it’s assumed, will be finite resources, correct? Will players be able to do anything to alleviate that concern? i.e. Growing their own food, using more natural resources and so on.
Brian: Yes, constructing upgrades to the shelter can offset morale and food loss. You can build a garden and grow food. You can build a watchtower and assign allies to guard the shelter, which makes people feel safer. You can upgrade your car to use less fuel. You can look for wild sources of food or fish. There’s a whole lot of ways to boost your supplies aside from scavenging, but it’s impossible to get by without having to occasionally brave a hostile area, because that’s the easiest way to get the resources you need. You won’t be able to just hunker down in the shelter 100% – you’re just delaying the inevitable really bad day out in the field.
Wastey: Now, will the game have a defined narrative (beginning, middle, end), or a continuous flow of survival until the inevitable end?
Brian: There’s definitely story beats spread throughout the months in the shelter, but we’re more open in structure like the original Fallout. Most people have only played the first week so far, which is a tutorial week and is much more linear than the final game so that we can teach the player the basics of running the shelter and scavenging.
Much of the game depends on the allies you have, the people you meet, how many supplies you have, and what decisions you make. There are some events that everyone will have to face, some that will only occur as a result of your choices, and then there are some that are random and may happen at different times to each player. The best thing to do in our game is to carefully monitor your allies and supplies, explore as much as possible, and be sure not to piss off your subleaders too much.
