Incline Das Geisterschiff - turn-based cyberpunk dungeon crawler

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

lightbane you were right, will provide a fix asap.

 

[lightbane]

So, I finally finished it. The level that names the game ironically takes a while to appear and it's way easier compared to the damn tunnels, although with superb atmosphere. I think one of the things it makes it so easy is that most enemies here are too weak, or you're too strong by then to care:

-The Spy Drone is a novel idea, but dies in one hit.
-The Cargo bot can be backpedalled to death.
-The Guard seems fearsome... But he uses a silenced pistol. Against giant robots (wut?)
-Bosses are fine, of course.

And now, the spoilers. ENDGAME SPOILERS BELOW!:

Spoiler

+Funnily enough the super-trained human soldiers become scared when they see your bazooka, and yet regular gangsters will not mind much when you show that weapon.
+The final boss is somewhat hax and has a multi-rocket launcher that can be used at melee range without issues (thankfully, his aim tanks if you do that).

Spoiler

Soo, WTF was up with the ending? Or better said lack of it? Was the whole thing a dream from an edgy otaku teenager obsessed with building mecha toys who desperately hopes to be killed by Truck-kun and Isekaied? Would explain the nightmarish scenario and the ugly graphics. Either way it's sudden and with no explanation, except the loading messages at best, which I didn't consider it relevant.

What was up with that colony with the inane, out-of-nowhere teleporting puzzle? Was the accident something to do with portals?

What exactly happened in that ship? It seems the dummies are organic servitors, but those experimented by the Doctor went crazy and killed everyone, as usual.

The maintenance section was awesome, with the absolute zero visibility you had most of the time. In my case though, I wasn't able to find the key in the cafeteria, so I shot my way through most doors until I arrived to the Cargo Bay maze. Probably not the intention you had in mind with the Laser, but it worked like a charm.

Either way, I'm eager to play more. Hopefully next games lets you review whatever notes you collected in case you missed some crucial info.

Lastly, I didn't know about that Hisoku or whatever is called Steam game mentioned in the credits, but it looks cool. Good find.

 

[Darth Roxor]

has a multi-rocket launcher that can be used at melee range without issues

negative

i faced him at point blank and he killed himself

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

So, I finally finished it. The level that names the game ironically takes a while to appear and it's way easier compared to the damn tunnels, although with superb atmosphere. I think one of the things it makes it so easy is that most enemies here are too weak, or you're too strong by then to care:

-The Spy Drone is a novel idea, but dies in one hit.
-The Cargo bot can be backpedalled to death.
-The Guard seems fearsome... But he uses a silenced pistol. Against giant robots (wut?)
-Bosses are fine, of course.

And now, the spoilers. ENDGAME SPOILERS BELOW!:

Spoiler

+Funnily enough the super-trained human soldiers become scared when they see your bazooka, and yet regular gangsters will not mind much when you show that weapon.
+The final boss is somewhat hax and has a multi-rocket launcher that can be used at melee range without issues (thankfully, his aim tanks if you do that).

Spoiler

Soo, WTF was up with the ending? Or better said lack of it? Was the whole thing a dream from an edgy otaku teenager obsessed with building mecha toys who desperately hopes to be killed by Truck-kun and Isekaied? Would explain the nightmarish scenario and the ugly graphics. Either way it's sudden and with no explanation, except the loading messages at best, which I didn't consider it relevant.

What was up with that colony with the inane, out-of-nowhere teleporting puzzle? Was the accident something to do with portals?

What exactly happened in that ship? It seems the dummies are organic servitors, but those experimented by the Doctor went crazy and killed everyone, as usual.

The maintenance section was awesome, with the absolute zero visibility you had most of the time. In my case though, I wasn't able to find the key in the cafeteria, so I shot my way through most doors until I arrived to the Cargo Bay maze. Probably not the intention you had in mind with the Laser, but it worked like a charm.

Either way, I'm eager to play more. Hopefully next games lets you review whatever notes you collected in case you missed some crucial info.

Lastly, I didn't know about that Hisoku or whatever is called Steam game mentioned in the credits, but it looks cool. Good find.

Thanks for playing, mate, and especially thanks for the feedback.

Spoiler

Even though the general progression was designed to be somewhat linear, I tried to provide several ways to reach the objective.

As for the ending...

Spoiler

Just as planned. I do plan to expand it a bit in the major update to provide more context.

 

[lightbane]

negative

i faced him at point blank and he killed himself

That's odd, I tried that and it wasn't clear if he was taking damage from its own explosions*. One would think that for an alleged veteran agent like him, trying to exploit his obvious flaw would result in him stopping his attacks to briefly mock you, then switch to a short-ranged but deadly chaingun.

He does stop attacking from time to time to insult you, after all.

*Good thing that his missiles are weaker than yours, or your mecha is very tough by then. Attempting to do a bazooka duel against him is not recommended though.




EDIT:

THESE ARE NOT PORN MACHINES
That got a laugh out of me, I'll admit

In the grim future of German Weaboo Mecha game, downloading stuff from the internet is a lost technique. Or these punks are idiots, whatever sounds better.

A major update for DG which slightly expands the game content, adds another layer of polish and fine-tuning and fixes some of the common complaints;

Can we have an approximate ETA? I doubt it will be done this same December, but a man can dream.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Prepping the v1.0.5 update to come out tomorrow. Testing the remaining stuff right now, but here's the changelog:

• Fixed buggy event in the Gangland chapter which would load the trailer and demo/beta ending screen. If you ended up encountering this issue, simply load the savegame and re-enter that tile. Thanks to @lightbane for reporting this issue.
  
• Slight tweaks to the enemy stats and AI in the Ghost Ship chapter.
  
• Boosted the damage from suicidal attacks of certain enemy types.
  
• Tweaked the boss fight with Krutz by making him start hunting the player once he gets closer to him @ Gangland.
  
• Additional tweaks and fixes.

Can we have an approximate ETA? I doubt it will be done this same December, but a man can dream.

Considering that I've got a good hang on my own tools, I'm aiming for the January, but if I manage to pull this off earlier, then dis gon b gud.

To keep things transparent, here's my todo list for the major update:

• Find a way to fix 'dancing around the pillar' exploit in the enemy AI;
• Tweak the battle with Jurgen Krutz to make him start hunting the player only when he gets closer to him (will be available in v1.0.5 on Monday);
• Tweak the stats/AI of grunts and bosses in the Ghost Ship chapter to make them more of a threat (will be available in v1.0.5 on Monday);
• Add a post-game hub with additional maps and a few more enemy types;
• Add an alternative ending branch to the Ghost Ship chapter;
• Replace 'Enemy/Player Turn' messages with something faster to speed up the combat;
• Rewire the text code to allow translation w/ font replacement.

 

[lightbane]

Slight tweaks to the enemy stats and AI in the Ghost Ship chapter.

The guards replaced their dinky mecha-sized silenced pistol for a cannon, I bet.

Add a post-game hub with additional maps and a few more enemy types;
Add an alternative ending branch to the Ghost Ship chapter;

Things will likely get "mind-screwy" at some point...

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

The guards replaced their dinky mecha-sized silenced pistol for a cannon, I bet.

Not really, just a small boost to each enemy type (base damage, accuracy, evasion), minor AI tweaks here and there (Carriers and Repair Bots act more aggro now), slight boost to damage from suicidal attacks and a slight bump to an occasional encounter trigger. I don't think it's going to throw that chapter into the 'hardcore' territory, but should offer bigger challenge to the player (and hopefully reach the same level as the first one).

Things will likely get "mind-screwy" at some point...

 

[lightbane]

Carriers and Repair Bots act more aggro now),

I don't remember fighting the latter. Still, I'll eagerly wait for the new update.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Carriers and Repair Bots act more aggro now),

I don't remember fighting the latter. Still, I'll eagerly wait for the new update.

The latter enemy type is only present in the maintenance area. It's not that easy to encounter them, but I guess I should throw in a spy drone or two to keep you on your toes.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

v1.0.5 is live and available on both Itch and Steam.

This update addresses feedback about the difficulty in second half of the game and fixes a major issue in the major (yet optional) event in the Gangland chapter.

Changelog:

• Fixed buggy event in the Gangland chapter which would load the trailer and demo/beta ending screen. If you ended up encountering this issue and quit the game, simply load the savegame and re-enter that tile. Thanks to lightbane for reporting this issue.
  
• Slight tweaks to the enemy stats and AI in the Ghost Ship chapter.
  
• Boosted the damage from suicidal attacks of certain enemy types.
  
• Tweaked the boss fight with Krutz by making him start hunting the player once he gets closer to him @ Gangland.
  
• Additional tweaks and fixes.

In addition, there was a mistake on our part and Mac version of the demo has not been updated to v1.0.4a. An update has been released to address this issue.

 

[lightbane]

Yay, I've been immortalized forever by being mentioned here!
Too bad your game so far is not known much yet. There's not even a lp in youtube when these tend to show up quite fast.

The latter enemy type is only present in the maintenance area. It's not that easy to encounter them, but I guess I should throw in a spy drone or two to keep you on your toes.

How exactly does the Spy Drone work? It supposedly calls other enemies but, since you can only fight one enemy at once, I don't know what happens if you let it alone several turns. Does it escape and then a stronger enemy shows up immediately? Does the drone increase the random encounter chance instead?

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Too bad your game so far is not known much yet. There's not even a lp in youtube when these tend to show up quite fast.

I think games like these tend to have slow starts and long tails, so I should keep doing improvements, promoting it and bugging my customers to write Steam reviews. (wink-wink)

How exactly does the Spy Drone work? It supposedly calls other enemies but, since you can only fight one enemy at once, I don't know what happens if you let it alone several turns. Does it escape and then a stronger enemy shows up immediately? Does the drone increase the random encounter chance instead?

some info

Whenever it calls for help, it slightly increases the chance of encounters within a certain radius. Generally it's recommended to smash them as quickly as possible, otherwise you'd better never walk into that room again.

 

[lightbane]

I think games like these tend to have slow starts and long tails, so I should keep doing improvements, promoting it and bugging my customers to write Steam reviews. (wink-wink

B-but that's lewd! I mean, it would make other steam users possibly look at my profile and gather attention I don't want to have!

I could give it a try though.

Spoiler

Whenever it calls for help, it slightly increases the chance of encounters within a certain radius. Generally it's recommended to smash them as quickly as possible, otherwise you'd better never walk into that room again.

So, the more time it's calling for reinforcements, the higher random encounter rate becomes then? Does it have a limit? Can it pursue you through closed doors? It would be hilarious if that weak bot accidentally kills itself by trying to ram through a door, as everyone else does.
I'll play the game again when the update is released.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

I could give it a try though.

I would be very thankful if you did.

Spoiler

Yep, and there's no limit to the chance, but there's a hard limit to the amount of encounters -- since each encounter placed by hand, you can eventually just get rid of enemies in that part of the map. And yes, it can pursue you through doors.

 

[lightbane]

What I meant is that if enemies damage themselves whenever they attempt to bash through doors. Your mech does and I'm sure enemies do too, but I haven't confirmed it. Hence why it would be funny for weak enemies to accidentally kill themselves by pursuing you.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Some enemies bash, some enemies shoot, some enemies open (or may bash the door if you're on the other side to avoid the 'enemy opens the door, player closes the door, rinse and repeat' loop).

It really depends on the situation and enemy type. Humans tend to generally act retarded when they're in panic to the point they can accidentally kill themselves.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

It looks like v1.0.5 had an incorrect build flag set which made the game treat itself as a demo version and load the trailer after finishing the intro chapter, but loaded the rest of the game just fine. Will be a good lesson to never rush the build stage.

Anyway, preparing v1.0.5a, changelog:

* Fixed a critical issue introduced in v1.0.5 which wouldn't let players progress past the first chapter upon starting a new game.
* Fixed incorrect assignment of sfx and music volume in the main menu.
* Analyze function no longer shows approrimate target DC higher than max DC.
* Gates are no longer identified as switches if the player is travelling through the dark zone.
* Increased ambush chance from 20% to 30%.
* Removed a redundant option in the FPS Limit submenu.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

v1.0.5a is out. Continuing work on the major update.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Minor update: created a bundle w/ the game and all DLC. Might be a better deal to those who prefer to grab everything at once.

Now back to counting dem dolla bills work.

 

[Infinitron]

Codex review by Darth Roxor: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codex-review-das-geisterschiff.125263/

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Some notes about upcoming v1.0.666 update. A few things have changed in my TODO list to keep the game consistent and avoid adding stuff that can break the intended flow.

What's done so far:

• Fixed incorrect accuracy adjustment for explosive weapons;
• Adjusted the enemy AI to fix the infamous 'pillar' exploit. Robots now may call backup if you're nearby when they're about to leave and piloted RCS units will attempt to make that last rush towards you;
• Adjusted player's starting stats a bit to make the game slightly tougher and make your progress a bit more obvious as you collect upgrades;
• Added an accuracy penalty to attack ram response. It's slight, but should reflect the 'shit, that bastard almost got me' feeling and burn through ammo faster if used mindlessly.

What's left to do:

• Add alternative ending level. Currently I'm done with plans for the majority of segments of it and started building it. It's going to be up to you to find how to access them.
• Expand the original ending a bit. There's been a nice puzzle in my design notes, but it didn't make it in the final game.
• Speed up the combat by replacing the 'ENEMY TURN/YOUR TURN' messages.

Also, rewiring the text-related code is done, but the remaining work to make localization doable is on hold to focus more on gameplay improvements and new content.

 

[CryptRat]

I just completed the game, had a lot of fun.

I like that it's a very coherent package and everything works, the music is amazing, the game is atmospheric, slow, with a low encounter rate, you're all alone, the story descriptions as well as the backstory ones are nice, overall the game is quite hypnotic. Hypnotic and tense, mines induce stress and make you explore slowly, the combat system works and fits, enemies can be threat, you have to manage your HPs, the dungeons are interesting mazes and the "No you won't go to sleep" save system reinforces the tension.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Glad you've enjoyed it man, hope to deliver even better (and bigger) games in the future.

Now make dat THWG Extended Super Edition so I send some dolla bills your way.

 

[lightbane]

Remember when I said I wouldn't post a review for Steam? I lied! There's a new one uploaded, although I never did this before, so I don't know if it shows up for everyone.