Game News Dead State Kickstarter Update #33: Demo Progress Report, New Screenshots

[Roguey]

Banner Saga was one of the first games of the Kickstarter fad - the first RPG, really.

Wasteland 2 beat it by six days.

Bottom line, the campaign didn't struggle. Find a better way to demonstrate that Dead State will flop (which it might, or perhaps not if inXile assist the man they've hired to do writing for Torment with some promotion).

I remember the mid-campaign lull when a lot of people were wondering if it was even going to meet its initial funding target (weeks after Brian had prematurely announced a couple of lame stretch goals). At the time, that was considered struggling.

 

[Infinitron]

Banner Saga was one of the first games of the Kickstarter fad - the first RPG, really.

Wasteland 2 beat it by six days.

My mistake, but still one of the first.

 

[cherry blossom]

I, for one, am glad that wasn't their priority. I am hopeful they put those (limited) resources into actual gameplay/ story as that is what I pledged for.

My point is that graphics, like everything else, take time. And a difference between the choice of graphic artists and/or level designers can mean a better looking vs a poorer looking game with the same amount of time and resources spent on them due to the skill, style and experience of the person picked for the job so it comes down to your ability to pick people and the quality of stuff you are comfortable settling with and that also tells something about you. Eg. Is Dinosaur Lady(tm) an indicator that they have put more resources into things other than graphics/art? No. It only means that it is the particular style of the concept artist they "found", for a piece of concept art that would get made regardless. And these days you can surely find a lot of really talented people willing to work for nothing and produce far more skilled work than the Dinosaur Lady. Not exactly but sort of a similar deal with other positions.

There is a good number of recent indie games that look good despite being made basically on nothing these days while Dead State still looks like an amateur mod project from 2002 despite having more resources than nothing.

TL;DR: they are wasting what little resources they have on poor graphics that could have been made better with the same amount of time and resources put into them.

 

[Grunker]

Jesus Christ Roguey. When you are stupid, you go all the way.

 

[Elhoim]

Each update i'm crossing my fingers for a new UI, I'm starting to loose hope.

We are planning a main gui layout re-design.

The environments look very bright. As if its high noon all the time.
Probably just the consequence of very early build but, just to mention - other types of day light would add much to the atmosphere - diversity of each area - map.

Very early maps, mostly done by designers. They didn't get a art pass yet.

 

[hiver]

Yeah, i figured. It is probably be a good time to start adding some art passes to the places that will be shown to the public.

 

[Roguey]

Jesus Christ Roguey. When you are stupid, you go all the way.

I've said nothing inaccurate itt.

 

[Outmind]

Why in the world don't they add fog of war? It would bring atmosphere, tactical (dis)advantages, and would look much better.

 

[hiver]

You dont see enemies or NPCs until you or your party members come close enough to see them.
Its an invisible fog of war.

Very noticeable in any of the videos.

 

[Elhoim]

Yeah, i figured. It is probably be a good time to start adding some art passes to the places that will be shown to the public.

The problem is that is not efficient for workflow. I don't believe that doing something counter-productive for the production of the game for the sake of showing stuff (or marketing) is not something we are inclined to do.

Why in the world don't they add fog of war? It would bring atmosphere, tactical (dis)advantages, and would look much better.

Because it's not easy to do, there is no system at all for it in T3D, and we would have to spend significant time hacking something in.

 

[hiver]

Fake it.

(how hard can it be to spruce up a few screenshots in photoshop?)

 

[VioletShadow]

Looking pretty good, a zombie game I will enjoy playing
Thanks for sharing.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

We hit Peak Zombie with games a while ago and the struggling Kickstarter campaign shows just how far that concept and Mitsoda's name value go.

Zombie fatigue was a mass market thing. This has no effect on the dedicated and the niche markets, which is what Kickstarter is tapping into.

 

[Roguey]

We hit Peak Zombie with games a while ago and the struggling Kickstarter campaign shows just how far that concept and Mitsoda's name value go.

Zombie fatigue was a mass market thing. This has no effect on the dedicated and the niche markets, which is what Kickstarter is tapping into.

Well right now State of Decay is in the #2 spot on Steam's sales chart, beaten by the new CoD of course, so I guess I may have been wrong??? Or perhaps most people are far more interested in real-time zombie survival games with more professional-looking graphics.

Either way it'll take a chunk out of Dead State. And they both started development in 2009 too, only one company actually had their shit together. Ya snooze ya lose.

 

[Infinitron]

Nine times out of ten, when people speak of "X fatigue", what they really mean is "we found something else that makes more money and we don't know how to make X generate the same amount of money".

Either way it'll take a chunk out of Dead State.

Yes, an open world third person shooter released in June is what will "take a chunk" out of Dead State, not the tons of other turn-based RPGs that will be released next year.

 

[Roguey]

Yes, an open world third person shooter released in June is what will take a chunk out of Dead State, not the tons of other turn-based RPGs that will be released next year.

A complete PC port wasn't released until today.

Also it has survival mechanics and character progression/customization. http://stateofdecay.wikia.com/wiki/State_of_Decay

Features

2 Hour Day and Night cycle: 1 hour of daylight and 1 hour of night. [2]
Skill progression system: For example, a skill like fighting can be improved through combat with melee weapons (baseball bat, machete, pipe, etc.).
Play as a community struggling to survive. If your community has more than one person, you will switch to another community member when you die.
Recruit Survivors with unique sets of skills (gardener, mechanic, chef, soldier, etc.).
Variety of zombies: Slow moving, fast-moving, and special types.
Randomly generated missions such as rescuing a survivor, scavenging, zombie hunts or infestation clearing.
Randomly generated items in buildings that can be searched for. Once an item is taken from a location there will never be a re-spawn of additional items.
A wide selection of ground vehicles to drive.
The ability to claim certain buildings with a defensible perimeter (fence, wall, etc.) as a home base and creating outposts.
Home Sites can be upgraded through the use of interior and exterior facilities (Workshops, Garden, Watchtower, Dojo, Kitchen, etc.).

Enemy variety and the ability to create more than one shelter, that's more than Dead State can say.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

We hit Peak Zombie with games a while ago and the struggling Kickstarter campaign shows just how far that concept and Mitsoda's name value go.

Zombie fatigue was a mass market thing. This has no effect on the dedicated and the niche markets, which is what Kickstarter is tapping into.

Well right now State of Decay is in the #2 spot on Steam's sales chart, beaten by the new CoD of course, so I guess I may have been wrong??? Or perhaps most people are far more interested in real-time zombie survival games with more professional-looking graphics.

Either way it'll take a chunk out of Dead State. And they both started development in 2009 too, only one company actually had their shit together. Ya snooze ya lose.

If Dead State sells around 50 000 copies full price, then it's a smash hit for Double Bear. Not to mention there's a significant stream of money from impulse buys and latecomers over the coming years. Zombie fatigue is code for publishers saying that a franchise isn't attracting the millions needed to make a profit, as Infinitron said.

There's always a fanbase that's immune to fatigue, the trick is to make a game that satisfies that particular fanbase with a small enough budget to make catering to it possible. It looks Double Bear has already succeeded in doing that.

 

[hiver]

Yeah, i figured. It is probably be a good time to start adding some art passes to the places that will be shown to the public.

The problem is that is not efficient for workflow. I don't believe that doing something counter-productive for the production of the game for the sake of showing stuff (or marketing) is not something we are inclined to do.

Just to make sure i dont seem offensive, since thats not the intention at all:

You are showing stuff to the audience currently. And marketing is a part of the whole development process. The problem is when someone takes this to extreme in either direction.
I would prefer you guys also get good sales after the release which will result in more good TRUE RPGs.

Of course, this small issue doesnt have the ultimate consequence on all of it, but it is a part of the whole deal.
So, if you guys can spruce up a few screenshots - even if its honestly presented as a mockup to the audience - just to show for what ultimate fidelity you are aiming for, it will have some positive influence.
Not that you have to do it right away, but i think its worth thinking about.