Urban Strife - turn-based zombie survival RPG - coming to Early Access on December 10th

[ERYFKRAD]

No my friend, there's only one furry creature who can survive an apocalypse and it lives in the sewers of any city

Hairy crocodiles?

 

[HoboForEternity]

wow this looks great. how did i miss the whole thread?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

wow this looks great. how did i miss the whole thread?

One man's failed perception roll is another man's successful stealth roll.

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

wow this looks great. how did i miss the whole thread?

I suspect that because our fans love USG so much they want to keep it all hush-hush, just for themselves. Like when you find the last candy and you have 5 older brothers in the house.

Pretty sure our marketing budget of zero-nil-nada has nothing to do with it.

 

[HoboForEternity]

wow this looks great. how did i miss the whole thread?

I suspect that because our fans love USG so much they want to keep it all hush-hush, just for themselves. Like when you find the last candy and you have 5 older brothers in the house.

Pretty sure our marketing budget of zero-nil-nada has nothing to do with it.

why don't just "persuade" your brothers into joining the zombie master race?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

wow this looks great. how did i miss the whole thread?

It resided in better part of the Codex, where hobos and other riff-raff wouldn't feel welcome.

 

[Plane Escapee]

But let me ask you, what you consider a decent price for alpha access? USG alpha is planned to have 3 sectors (1 safe, 2 aggro), with a mini-mainstory and a couple of side missions, probably 2-3 hours of playtime (to complete, not considering alternate paths). Considering that, where you would price the alpha if it was YOUR work?

Slightly cheaper (10-20% off) than the full release, as long as the customer gets the full game on the release date (or maybe even a day sooner).

Agree pretty much with this statement, although whether or not I'd buy into it myself depends on what that price actually is. I probably wouldn't buy an alpha from a company that doesn't have any track record for finishing games yet unless it was less than ~20 euros. The fact that many of you worked on and released games at a larger company previously does carry some weight though, but still. If it was more than ~20... would probably wait until there was more polish and more certainty about release.

Looking forward to seeing much more of this, especially some more developed gameplay footage once it's there to show!

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

DEV UPDATE 24.10.2019

This last week was full of inglorious grind and hard work so don't expect us to write a book about it. We fine-tuned the AI pathfinding, swatted some bugs that were flying around the code and annoyed us, populated the crafting system with the things to make after you hoarded loot and adjusted the NPC schedules and behaviors to fit the new Shelter map. This "new" Shelter map isn't a last-minute change. It is the same map, but we realized we made it so immense we had plenty of room to spice up the safe and boring life of the refugees. So, we decided to let the player gradually liberate it, as a first tutorial mission. Gives you a nice "I earned my rat stew today" feeling. Other than that, Cosmin has produced some very nice tunes for the soundtrack, and we feel quite good about how the game will play to your ears. Anyway, next week we're putting the finishing touches on the (alpha) combat system so we might have something more fun to tell you about. Until then, stay safe, have fun!

If you have any A+B+C=D ideas for simple recipes with an apocalyptic touch to them, feel free to share. You might enjoy them in Urban Strife one day.

 

[Siveon]

How about dessert?

Expired chocolate bar/protein bar + Fruit Preserves + Bread = "Cake"

Or maybe its a bit farther so most store stuff is gone.

Maybe then like, Sugar(or carrots - sweet enough) + Bread + Fruit. Good enough cake!

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

Bread is a weak point there, but we can work on some substitutes until you get your actual survival industry going.
We had a chat last week about harvesting wild fruits so this recipe would fit great.

The basic idea behind advanced food recipes is that while basic food will satisfy your hunger, the more refined the recipe is, the better the morale bonuses will be (for you or for the shelter population, in case you decide to cook for the masses).

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

STATE OF THE GAME

GAMESCOM 2017
Two years ago we had a pure mission and mechanics based game with some degree of XCOM DNA into it. Considering that the game changed significantly and there is no risk of a plot spoiler, we uploaded a video for those who never had a chance to try that build. Please remember that this is obsolete material!



PRESENT DAY
Meanwhile, we moved from a mission based game to a much more complex TBS Survival RPG. Unfortunately, we went a bit too far in the story driven direction at the expense of replayability and strategic gameplay. Although we are years ahead of the previous build in both quantity and quality, we’re still not there yet.

WHERE WE ARE HEADING
Focusing more on clear winning objectives (remember the JA2 main objective: KILL THE DAMN QUEEN!, no more, no less) and providing the players with more gameplay elements so they can build their own strategy. Still not ready with the elusive closed alpha, but we’re really close and want to make sure it’s going to be amazing.

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

Hey folks, we're back to work and this time we're showing the AI guards response to threats in their proximity and guarded zones. Enjoy!

Here's a short demo of the AI threat response to player instigated events in Urban Strife game. Guards don't care what you do around town, but if you misbehave and are a threat in their "instigation zone", they go aggro. Furthermore, they're quite adamant of not letting you inside the private zone they're guarding. Expect a warning, then a bullet. But then... they first need to find you.

 

[Alienman]

0:29 is perfect for a molotov party.

 

[Modron]

0:29 is a perfect for a molotov party.

25 was even better.

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

Belated Happy New Year from the Urban residents and Whitepond Studio! Hope everyone partied hard and is ready for a kickass 2020!

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

You wanted cake, we have cake for you!

Today we're going public with a big reveal, folks! It is the first time we're showing the strategic map of Urban County. We’re trying hard not to spoil your adventures and the pleasure to discover this world yourself, so we’ve only uncovered the route to the location of the closed alpha, a small gas station in the suburbs of Urban. So, the revealed locations are basically just neighborhood maps close to your shelter, while the county hides lots of other locations.

Somewhere on this map the cultist, biker and military factions have secret HQs, where you’re welcome if you serve their interests. Other sectors (also hidden) will have strategic importance and will be fiercely disputed between the three, offering you a chance to gain some favor with the victor. But all that is for you to discover in your own time.

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

As we've promised, we're starting to share bits and pieces from the upcoming closed alpha build, coming this spring (fingers crossed!). As the build polish progresses we'll get into more juicy details such as RPG and combat, but for today enjoy a small "shopping" trip at the local Urban Gas & Snacks.




PS: If you look close enough you will see a new addition - the markers for the AI alarm zones. Yellow meaning ”if you do not behave we will be seriously annoyed” and red ”YOU DED PUNK!”. But more on that when we showcase combat.

 

[Infinitron]

USG_Mucifikatorul Will the Steam page also go up then?

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

USG_Mucifikatorul Will the Steam page also go up then?

We mucked around with the trailer for the Steam page for almost half a year now. We should have something by the time the alpha is ready. That is the only thing missing, really...

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

Here's what came out of our second internal alpha iteration. Character customization is plugged in, firearms work (still need fine tuning, but that's a long process), a bit of RPG here and there... Sailing smoothly towards build no. 3.

 

[Alienman]

Just to make something clear because I noticed dudes stepping out of cover and so on- When you are in cover, behind a solid wall, you can't get hit right? It's not abstract like nuXcom?

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

Just to make something clear because I noticed dudes stepping out of cover and so on- When you are in cover, behind a solid wall, you can't get hit right? It's not abstract like nuXcom?

If you're behind a solid wall, you're behind a solid wall. If you're behind something a 7.62 can penetrate, the cover will give way eventually. It is all about material resistance of the cover you're behind and the power of the bullet hitting it. Other than that, interrupts will happen when stepping out of cover to shoot because just hiding while the enemy flanks you is always a bad idea.

And no, it has nothing to do with nuXcom dice-roll systems.

 

[Alienman]

Sounds great. Just wanted to confirm it.

 

[USG_Mucifikatorul]

Here's something I stole from our Discord since our sneak peek doesn't really showcase the game helpers. This screenshot includes some:

1. The lines.
These "clean shot" check lines are generated under cursor on any tile you move your mouse to, against all known (and reachable) enemies. Their color also varies according to the quality of the shot, an algorithm that takes into account everything, from the power of the weapon, the distance to target, the accuracy, penetration of cover, etc. In this example the character is using a shotgun so one line is greenish, the other reddish (he's also behind some chairs, which reduces the area you can hit).

2. The (in)visible enemy
Known but not visible enemies are colored with a red overlay, but you can do a "clean shot" check on them too, as you can see in the screenshot.

3. Walk cursor
The walk-to cursor varies in color, going red when the destination is too far (and shows the required APs). Depending on the equipped weapon, the cursor also shows how many uses of the the respective weapon you can have at the destination. So you know where to stop and shoot twice, for example.

4. Interdiction zones
Before combat is initiated you can check under cursor (not shown here since we're already in combat) if a zone is "watched" by enemies (anything deemed aggressive in that area will trigger an investigation and a response so not a good zone to test your grenades) and "no access KOS" meaning that the second you're seen in that area you will be attacked.

 

[Infinitron]

Here's something I stole from our Discord since our sneak peek doesn't really showcase the game helpers. This screenshot includes some:

1. The lines.
These "clean shot" check lines are generated under cursor on any tile you move your mouse to, against all known (and reachable) enemies. Their color also varies according to the quality of the shot, an algorithm that takes into account everything, from the power of the weapon, the distance to target, the accuracy, penetration of cover, etc. In this example the character is using a shotgun so one line is greenish, the other reddish (he's also behind some chairs, which reduces the area you can hit).

2. The (in)visible enemy
Known but not visible enemies are colored with a red overlay, but you can do a "clean shot" check on them too, as you can see in the screenshot.

3. Walk cursor
The walk-to cursor varies in color, going red when the destination is too far (and shows the required APs). Depending on the equipped weapon, the cursor also shows how many uses of the the respective weapon you can have at the destination. So you know where to stop and shoot twice, for example.

4. Interdiction zones
Before combat is initiated you can check under cursor (not shown here since we're already in combat) if a zone is "watched" by enemies (anything deemed aggressive in that area will trigger an investigation and a response so not a good zone to test your grenades) and "no access KOS" meaning that the second you're seen in that area you will be attacked.

Very cool. This is where the game's origin as a purely combat-focused squad tactics game shows itself I guess.