KickStarter Dead State: Reanimated

[Lhynn]

None of those games were fun so the problem lies in the gameplay, not the setting.

Obsidian Entertainment's South Park was very well received.

Gameplay certainly had problems, but the games were fun. Especially VtMB.

South Park was competently made, the gameplay itself was decent, but got old really fast, fortunately the game didnt overstay its welcome and both the curve balls in difficulty and the plot kept you playing till the end.

 

[Kz3r0]

This is actually the third time Mitsoda has tried for an RPG that uses a "real world setting", and the third time it's bitten him in the ass.

But it also seems to me that he's always compromised that aspiration by subjecting his games to genre expectations. Vampires, spies, zombies.

The problem with real lfe settings is that there is much less leeway, look at D&D, it has been used as proxy for politics, philosophy, religion and race, pemitting to play with these cocepts, but players, even the most hardcore will have issues if for example Christianity is used instead of a fantasy clone, and many can simply find a real life setting boring.
Without mentioning RPGs with a realistic setting already exixt and sell a lot, but usually they are called simulators, managerials, etc.

 

[Doktor Best]

Wouldnt mind a gods army like rpg with angels versus demons in nowadays setting. There was even a pen&paper system based on this that we played once on evenings when we were too drunk to play our proper adnd campaigns. Magna Veritas it was called IIRC

 

[Mortmal]

Wouldnt mind a gods army like rpg with angels versus demons in nowadays setting. There was even a pen&paper system based on this that we played once on evenings when we were too drunk to play our proper adnd campaigns. Magna Veritas it was called IIRC

Aye , in nomine satanis and magnas veritas, well worth playing French pnp settings .

 

[Roguey]

players, even the most hardcore will have issues if for example Christianity is used instead of a fantasy clone

J-Saw didn't face any criticism for this when he made Honest Hearts about Mormons. It's all about execution Just check out this title http://kotaku.com/5988935/im-a-mormon-pop-culture-often-mocks-my-faith-but-fallout-treated-it-right

(though yes, risk-averse Obsidian intentionally saved this subject matter for an expansion instead of the base game)

 

[Gozma]

^ No one minds if you give your badass DMPC their religion

I'm playing AP and indeed the setting is making it boring. You have straightforward mid-2000s anti-Halliburton/post Cold War MIC commentary over and and over. You can see they tried to do triage on how boring it is with the late additions of retarded comic book characters, which likely ultimately made it worse. The gameplay is better than (for example) ME1 by a mile, so it obviously didn't have much to do with it failing commercially.

 

[Roguey]

The gameplay is better than (for example) ME1 by a mile, so it obviously didn't have much to do with it failing commercially.

The fact that it was released four months after Mass Effect 2, despite not being worked on for eight, did.

 

[Gozma]

I think it probably loses in that comparison a lot harder because the XP system was designed to copy ME1 (why) so it's 100% obviously wanting to be a clone of a game that got radically redone in the sequel that beat the "clone's" release date. I guess that was another thing for negative reviews/WoM to pick up on.

 

[agris]

Hey Elhoim, the text in the combat log keeps increasing in size when I toggle off/on v-sync when I'm fullscreen 1920x1200. AA and AF also do this. I didn't see this bug in the steam forums so maybe I'm an outlier but... well, I'd like to be able to read the log.

 

[Makabb]

Real life setting = excuse for the inability to create your own setting

 

[Stainless Veteran]

Real life setting = excuse for the inability to create your own setting

Indeed.

 

[Infinitron]

RPS review: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/05/19/dead-state-reanimated-review/

I think that’s the fundamental issue holding Dead State back from the greatness it often threatens: it’s trying to be a management game and a roleplaying game and a strategy game, and (perhaps because its origins are fairly humble) it winds up compromising on each of those. I wish it felt more organic, that those terrifying forays into a hostile world had more pay-off than an incremental number adjustment, that not having exactly the right amount of parts didn’t result in a half a dozen people sat around the last refuge at the end of the world with nothing to do.

I do like it, though. Quite a lot more so than this piece probably suggests, and that’s because it’s a game which is far more successful in theme and tone (harder to convey in text) than it is in features. Getting through another day feels meaningful despite the barrage of numbers and the parroted lines. Fights are chilling, flexible and unpredictable rather than perfunctory. Error is a result of your choices rather than an enforced event. The wider world is a sinister, uncharted mystery, with your never quite knowing what’s out there until you encounter it. Decisions are painful. People are problematic. Murder feels bad. The downbeat prettiness of its world is littered with small details, hints of the communities that once were and the fearful squatters that have replaced them.

In terms of recreating the second act of an … of the Dead or 28 x Later film, that point where the world has fallen, scattered survivors have found shared refuge and now they need to take risks to maintain it, Dead State is probably as close as we get. I would say that Dead State probably has too many parts and doesn’t quite know how to fit them all together cleanly, but it just about manages to be more than the sum of them.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

So i bought it and played the first mission.

Joel lying on the ground KO and bleeding out....
And i'm like *click*, "How can i improve your mood?"
And he's like "Oh, you know, i would feel a lot better with a sturdy fence."

10/10 will play after SitS.

 

[Infinitron]

cherry blossom http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/05/19/dead-state-reanimated-review/#comment-1914159

(that inf guy smells like a Codexer btw)

 

[Makabb]

Dead state is gud, altough it would do much better if it would drop the story and just stay with strategy/managment in a procedural world or smth, like x-com.

 

[Mustawd]

Dead state is gud, altough it would do much better if it would drop the story and just stay with strategy/managment in a procedural world or smth, like x-com.

 

[razvedchiki]

so i began a playthrough last week on hardcore+pc infection focusing on ranged and negotiation.

im on day 28 now, 29 survirvors morale and food about 500 both and im having a bit of a problem finding good anti-zombie armors for my tanks to equip.
im usually making supply runs with max,regina and anita which are by now all beasts in melee,but i have a hard time finding armors with high bite resist.

usually i try to clean an area from zombies before i start looting the place,and my tactic consists of my main firing 1-2 rounds from my pistol retreating and letting my melee take on the zombie horde.
problem is they have low bite resist and when they get swarmed they get very low in hp and even getting ko.

so where to find some gud armor?

 

[Saduj]

I finished the game before the Reanimated patch but for most of the game I just used reinforced riding leathers. You can find a few but its easier to craft them from regular riding leathers. You can also craft tire armor and chainmail, which are better for melee, but they are heavy. I didn't like heavy armor because it makes it harder to carry loot and using the SUV too much can be rough on your fuel supply. I didn't use your "bring it on" strategy with zombies though.

I think you're still going to reach a point where you'll be most concerned with armors that are good at stopping bullets and you get those by killing people.

 

[jagged-jimmy]

usually i try to clean an area from zombies before i start looting the place

Wait, zombies don't swarm-spawn if you make too much noise? I tought you see a couple, but if you start fighting/making noise - more will spawn out of nowhere. So spawns are finite and you can "clear" areas?

 

[razvedchiki]

yea i didnt mention i have riding leathers and some tactical vests i took from rogue soldiers,but i saw some youtube lets play in which a dude had his tank using a riot shield a batonsomething and some blakish armor and he was like almost not affected by zombe bites.

about human enemies,i dont have problem from looters-coyotes but i have found some spots on the map where some mercs/militias are boosting some REALLY big firepower lol.
im gonna leave those alone for know,and maybe even conisdering not bothering them at all.
i feel like from role playing perspective,playing some survivor in post apocalyptic world who scavenges every day for food and....toilet paper doesnt actually fits that role organising raids against other human survivors,just for the lulz and lloting their stuff.

exept of course you are the GOVERNOR

 

[razvedchiki]

Wait, zombies don't swarm-spawn if you make too much noise? I tought you see a couple, but if you start fighting/making noise - more will spawn out of nowhere. So spawns are finite and you can "clear" areas?

not actually,making noise form gunfire/breaking doors/throwing nades and gradually escalating to 200 decibels guarantees 5-10 extra zombies spawned beside the already spawned on the map.
i actually tried to clear lampasa shelter with vic,paul,larsen and me fielding shotguns and lever rifles......it didnt end well.

at first it looked like we could actually make it,but as the number of dead rised our ammunition dwindled,and i started retreating to the exit grid.
then as we had spent most of our ammo a new wave spawned at the exit grid and another group from the other side of the map drawn by the constant gunfire.
we endend by some tents separeted fighting with baseball bats the on rushing tide of dead flesh......and then we added our numbers to the dead army

so only melee from now on.

 

[Saduj]

Some areas have been added since I played. But during my game, I eventually ran out of places to loot and found myself going back to some of the more challenging locations. Definitely need the better armors when going up against rogue army troops.

There is one location that is a gold mine of top tier armor and riot shields but you need to be armed well enough to defeat people who are using them.

Spoiler

Austin

 

[razvedchiki]

yea found austin after i fixed the car,got in ,saw some some dudes wielding some serius firepower and left the way i came as queitly as i could......

i found a girl hiding in some bookstore,but in order to join me he needs some lighter wiich the leader of the death squad has........what a man must do to get lai......saving the mistrel in distress

 

[Zombra]

yea i didnt mention i have riding leathers and some tactical vests i took from rogue soldiers,but i saw some youtube lets play in which a dude had his tank using a riot shield a batonsomething and some blakish armor and he was like almost not affected by zombe bites.

Check the date on that video - if it's more than a month old, he's playing on easy mode.

But you may be talking about "Apocalypse Armor". Check your crafting table.

 

[razvedchiki]

yea its pre reanimated period lets play.

i havent built the workshop yet,but seeing what i can make im gonna make it top priority

thanks guys for the tips


Zombra

are you the same zombra as at the wasteland 2 forums?
if yes glad to actually meet you lad!