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Introduction NEO Scavenger is a turn-based, isometric survival RPG set in a post-apocalyptic setting. It's currently in development by Daniel Fedor (BlueBottleGames on SA), an ex-BioWare employee who worked on AAA RPG titles for 7 years prior to setting up Blue Bottle Games. NEO is available cross-platform, it's accessible via the browser or downloadable as a Windows, Mac OSX or Linux binary. Quick Links
Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2K3mihtzrA Features: Open world, turn based exploration (with hexes!): The game world is large and completely open to player exploration. Including a fairly large (and growing) amount of unique encounters and progression. Hand-drawn pixel art: Encounter screens and locations have some gorgeous hand drawn pixel art. Engaging Combat: NEO has fairly involved combat. It sports combat abilities, weapons, movement, even intimidation and hiding. This coupled with an expanded combat log and various conditions like "Coughing Blood", "Concussion", "Severe Pain", among others, makes for an engaging combat system. Perma-death and "Challenging Gameplay": The game can be tough, especially when you are just learning the ropes and you will no doubt die many times before you begin to make any reasonable progress. Even the feature page on the official site "warns" players: quote:NEO Scavenger is not an easy game. You will not be told what to do, or how to survive. There is no hand-holding, and nobody's got your back. Mistakes quickly turn into death in the apocalypse. And when you die, that's it. Game over. Resource and Inventory Management: Remember the micro managing of resources and items in games of lore? It's back! Inventory slots and item weight play a large role. Player condition is paramount; hunger, thirst, temperature, comfort, sleep and injuries all need to be managed. Character Customization: NEO features an ability and trait system for character customization. Experiment with various character skills to unlock different options during regular gameplay and in various encounters. For the masochist, there is even the ability to gimp your character with negative traits, unlocking extra slots for abilities. And more... There is also an extensive crafting system, ability to set up player camps, scavenging and trapping. The best part is that since NEO is still in development, new features are added on a regular basis. You (the player) also have the ability to vote on upcoming features via feature voting. Want in? If you are convinced this might be something you are interested in, give the demo a go. It's kept up to date with the beta, so it contains all the major features. If after playing the demo you would like to buy into the beta, you can do so directly from the developer, via Desura or through Steam. Note that buying directly through the developer will net you give you access to the DRM free version and also Desura and Steam keys. Xik fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Mar 26, 2014 |
# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 18:40 |
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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 06:09 |
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Wachepti posted:I'm glad a thread was made for this. I played the demo a few days ago and really enjoyed it. Can anyone who has bought the game say how much further the story line goes after the demo ends? Where does the demo end? I threw my money at it before actually doing any part of the story. The current story in the beta doesn't go further then after getting the visitor pass, the city is "under orange alert" so you can't actually enter it yet. I assume that is in place while the game is still in development.
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 18:50 |
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^^^^^ Beat me to it Wachepti, yeah I think crafting recipes and survival tips like that should probably be spoiler tagged. Achmed Jones posted:I was finally doing well, heading east with my backpack full of awesome and medkit and several melee weapons. I drank some water and settled down to sleep in an abandoned office building. If you want to know the probable source of your cholera: It's quite likely the water you drank. You shouldn't drink the item which is named "water" it needs to be "purified water". You can find purified water in some drink bottles or you can purify the normal "water" yourself. To purify the water you:can either use purifying pills which can (very rarely) be salvaged or the easier method of boiling the water by putting it in a metal sauce pan or can and crafting it with a campfire. You'll have crafted purified water which is what you should then drink. VVVV The game freely gives out recipes as a random item so perhaps you are right. Xik fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Mar 16, 2012 |
# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 20:20 |
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^^^^^ Beaten again Fintilgin posted:I got a medkit in the first area where you wake up but I couldn't actually figure out how to USE it. "Consume" it. You can also put it in your hand to view the individual charges in it. Which means if you find multiple kits and they each have only one refill in them you can transfer it into a single kit to conserve inventory space.
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 20:43 |
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Wildtortilla posted:This game is making it impossible for me to play it. I've signed up for an account with both of my email accounts. Both times the NEO website tells me an email has been sent to me with my password in it and both times I have no received any emails. There's nothing in my spam folders either. How long has it been? If you want to preemptively white-list the email, your account details should come from the address pre:noreply@bluebottlegames.com Jedrick posted:I died of starvation, dehydration and heat stroke while fighting a looter. Amazing. I didn't know you could have more then one death "trigger". Did it all happen on an end of turn?
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 21:11 |
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Naar posted:I liked the demo a lot but the UI is terrible, if that gets sorted out I'll definitely support the dude. Yeah, the UI is in serious need of some love, but I'm pretty confident it will be fixed up. He seems very responsive on the forums and has been listening to player feedback, making changes based on that.
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 21:33 |
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Megaflare posted:And yeah, since there appears to be no completely natural healing There is definitely natural healing to an extent (the medic trait increases natural healing too), I've recovered from injuries without using a med-kit on numerous occasions. Perhaps if you get injured enough (down to red?) it may not heal unless you deal to it. Looks like I was beaten by Dan while writing this so yeah, it's confirmed. There is natural healing. Fintilgin posted:Newspapers should roll up to water bottle size, not take up the entire backpack. Newspapers probably should just always be rolled up and take up a single "line". You don't really need to carry newspaper around though, using newspaper is probably the least efficient way to light a fire. You can find twigs on almost every tile which you can use instead, which is why it's strange it takes up so much space. I just tried to see how long I could survive taking all the negative traits. It went surprisingly well until I got shot by a raider by taking an unnecessary risk, serves me right. I also came across this little gem: BlueBottleGames posted:And thanks to Xik for the thread! No problem, I must admit, I'm becoming quite the fan of NEO Scavenger. It's great that you are so receptive to feedback and going out of the way to listen to the players. I hope you see much success from the game.
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# ¿ Mar 16, 2012 23:38 |
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Achmed Jones posted:If you have Track you'll want to use it in the first room - it'll let you completely avoid Hatter's quest: by using the skill in his office, you'll be able to get the Detroit ID bracelet without having to go up to the lake. You don't need to do that in the first room for it to be an option when you visit Hatter. So far I've seen that you can skip the quest and get the bracelet immediately by using either tracking or trapping. Can-O-Raid posted:STALKER isn't really post-apocalyptic, the rest of the world outside the zone is doing fine. But the tone is really great; a lot of games set after the end aren't really about living after the apocalypse, STALKER and this game really feel like your out there, struggling to survive. The STALKER series is loving great. I'm playing through Clear Sky again at the moment actually because I never did finish the story in it. It's probably why I like this game, there is certainly that feel/atmosphere of being out there trying to do your best to survive. Can-O-Raid posted:The game is really tough, but right now Athletic/Medic/Tracking/Night Vision/Feeble/Metabolism is hilariously overpowered. Some abilities do seem to give you a huge edge. I'm not sure if I would want to see them become less powerful because I get the feeling abilities would no longer matter and play-throughs wouldn't differ as much from each other. Instead I think perhaps the "free slots" you get for being human should be removed and you should be forced to take a negative trait for every ability you want. e: News from Blue Bottle says the postcard supporter reward is ready and looks pretty sweet: and a save game feature to store progress locally when closing the browser is stated to be up on Monday. Xik fucked around with this message at 09:14 on Mar 17, 2012 |
# ¿ Mar 17, 2012 09:07 |
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i poo poo trains posted:Did someone move a decimal place on the canvas backpacks? I thought it was kinda weird that my top-quality one was worth $1500 That's how much the backpack + everything that is inside it is worth. It's your net worth Borvo posted:Reading on other forums about this game, it seems that randomly dying of everything at once is a confirmed bug. You can wear up to two t-shirts at the same time but doing so will not cause you to explode like a tube of Pillsbury rolls left out in the sun. You can wear 3 t-shirts, a hoody and another large overcoat on top of that (currently the only one I know of is made from squirrel pelts). bromplicated posted:How do you do that? I don't see inventory anywhere at this screen only until you get outside. That "issue" is explained under the "player hints" section in the OP. After putting the item into your inventory click the encounter button again to go back to it.
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# ¿ Mar 18, 2012 08:39 |
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Daikoku posted:I had a lot of fun with this! It seems like being a non-combat character is the way to go. Human enemies seem pretty random in their strength levels, so even with strong/tough/melee and a crowbar, some bandit with a wrench can 2-shot you. Yeah at the moment pretty much every play-through I do is non-combat, combat is too risky. Still, I never learn, combat is almost always how I die after getting a little too confident and thinking "gently caress it, I can take em". Mechanic, Electrician and Hacking currently have no use outside the first encounter that I know of, if you have already seen the options they give you and read the resulting dialog there isn't much point taking them until the story gets developed. The rifle is the only ranged weapon at the moment. Seashell Salesman posted:I have been taking Trapping in every game so far, and only in one of them did I ever find any animals (and in that game I only had a cleaver which apparently can't be used to butcher a squirrel). How can I reliably, or at all really, find animals using the trapping skill? Scavenging forests and fields over and over doesn't seem to ever yield animals for me. As far as trapping goes, I admit I have found squirrels and can get the meat from them using the pocket knife/tool and I've found a recipe for a trap. I've created traps but then have no idea what to do with them. There appears to be plans for a player camp. It's one of the options on the feature voting page and appears to be pretty popular. im a girl btw posted:I found half a dozen shoes and not a single right shoe. You can put either shoe on either foot. The downside is apparently comfort, but it's possible that it's bugged/doesn't work or is so negligible there is no functional difference.
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# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 09:14 |
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Seashell Salesman posted:I am having a lot of trouble keeping myself fed if I avoid the city gate and just wander. I have tons of ammo, two scoped/slung rifles, a medkit, medicine, plenty of water, etc. However, I cannot for the life of me come up with enough food. Character is hiding, trapping, tracking, athletics, night vision, feeble FWIW. Food is usually not something that is generally a problem in my games, I have no idea why. There are a few options:
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# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 13:13 |
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Seashell Salesman posted:I figured out how to use traps, and I think that has solved my food problem. You just select them like a crowbar when you scavenge a forest area. Seems to raise loot by a fair bit and nets squirrels. Ohhhhhh, that makes sense. Thanks. Seashell Salesman posted:I don't know about the berries in particular but you guys know that you can tell good mushrooms from bad ones by looking at the value, right? It didn't occur to me to do that with berries/mushrooms. I use the value to quickly check if the water in my bottles is purified but not the berries/mushrooms. That should probably be removed from the game and should be considered a bug IMO. Ideally it should not show the item value until you have "identified it", similar to roguelikes. Regarding the recipes, it's in the OP: UncleSmoothie posted:Is there a way to use botany to identify mushrooms/berries without finding the scrap paper that tells you how? As Takanago says, you can take skills from your abilities page and put them in the crafting window.
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# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 14:52 |
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Potzblitz! posted:Btw how do you sneak in the beta? I'm not sure anymore. I just loaded it up and noticed that it's no longer possible. It's normally a blue button in the corner with these: It looks like the release has been rolled back, it's now 0.921b but according to the OP I had put that the latest is 0.921d a couple days ago. Maybe sneaking isn't in this build?
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# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 15:12 |
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Can-O-Raid posted:Are recipes a Beta only thing? I'm not getting them in the demo either. There was an update last week which allowed you to hover over the recipe to view the items it requires but I thought the demo still had the system which the beta had before that. I just had a quick go at the Demo and I think there may not be any scraps of paper in it, I couldn't find any. Which would explain the comment earlier about not being able to find them, in the Beta they are literally everywhere. Still, you should be able to use the crafting system if you already knew the recipes? beef express posted:On this note, I managed to lose all my skills by "taking" them off this screen. Does anyone know if/how to get them back? Is this on the Demo or the Beta? If the Demo, perhaps there is a bug that removes the ability because the crafting system isn't completely implemented? I have no idea how to get them back sorry, I've never had the abilities completely disappear before, are they completely gone from the abilities screen?
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# ¿ Mar 19, 2012 18:30 |
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Potzblitz! posted:I think I just "won" the beta. Congrats. Out of the countless games I've had, I've only really got to a really comfortable spot like that once. I had nothing to do so I went around the edge of the entire map. Partly because there was nothing else to do and partly because I was kind of hoping there would be some edge that I could "fall off"/bug out, it would have been a fitting end for the character. In the end I just closed the browser because I was tired of going (quite literally) around in circles. beef express posted:Yeah, this was on the beta. I was trying to use Botany but accidentally dropped it before I moused over the encounter button. Then I idiotically repeated the process with all my other skills. It's my own fault really Oh, this was during an encounter? I thought it was trying to craft something? Either way that's a pretty hilarious bug. "Don't misplace your abilities or you'll lose them for good" Also: New Build Demo is now v0.912d Beta is now v0.922b Full news item is on the site but here is a conveniently parsed breakdown of the goodies for your enjoyment: Demo and Beta:
Reminder: For those of you that are getting a postcard (purchased the Yukon Edition) you have a day left to contact Dan if you want the card to have a name other then the one on the billing address used to purchase.
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# ¿ Mar 20, 2012 03:41 |
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Seashell Salesman posted:Is there any way to permanently delete items from an area? I'm afraid not. I'm pretty curious though, what has lead you to this situation? I don't think I've ever gone back to previously "pillaged" tiles.
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# ¿ Mar 20, 2012 13:38 |
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Seashell Salesman posted:They respawn new scavenge-able areas pretty much constantly. Holy crap, really? I didn't know scavenging respawned. Although in my defense, I don't ever stick around and am constantly out exploring, exploring and never staying in the same place is part of the appeal to me. This might change in the future though as player camp features are added. tehsid posted:Any idea if this will ever be downloadable? I really like it so far, but I would love to be able to play it without the need for a browser. I read a response to this on the official forums (I think) by Dan. I don't want to put words in his mouth but I believe he is considering looking into it when the game is fully released, he used Machinarium as an example (that is standalone but is also built on Flash). SynthOrange posted:New character penalty: OCD, unable to leave a tile if it's in a mess. Don't even joke about that. That's the type of trait I would probably take, at my detriment. WarringPhoenix posted:Is it just me or does loading not work sometimes? What you described is exactly what happens when you load with no save data. I know because the first thing I did on the new build was try to load a game when I hadn't even played. So my guess would probably be that the data isn't being correctly saved in the first place. Are you sure Flash is allowed to save data? What about any installed addons that cleanup/block "Flash cookies"? e: VVVVVV It's a known bug with the Demo. I know that doesn't help much but it doesn't change anything in the game, only the Game Over screen. Xik fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Mar 20, 2012 |
# ¿ Mar 20, 2012 15:22 |
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Seashell Salesman posted:Somehow this game is so great. I don't understand how much I enjoy it. It's great isn't it? Seashell Salesman posted:e: check out this hilarious buy/sell bug Do tell us more e: News update on the site. Looks like that blank screen Save Game issue that WarringPhoenix posted about is a bug with the actual save feature and not something to do with saving flash data as I thought it was, sorry Player voting has a couple of new options.
Xik fucked around with this message at 12:33 on Mar 21, 2012 |
# ¿ Mar 21, 2012 11:51 |
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WarringPhoenix posted:Also a tip for any new player to this with the urge to learn a ton of recipes. If you find any scraps of news papers with stuff on them, just keep putting them in your hand and putting them back. Usually they give you a new recipe every now and then and there is nothing like leaving the first area with four ways to make a hunting rifle. Yeah it's a known bug which you can reproduce consistently when you have a stack of two or more scraps of paper. Move them from the ground to you and one or more of them will change every time you do it and give you a new recipe. Pierzak posted:What are the recipes, BTW? I was considering compiling a list of recipes in the OP, I would probably spoiler tag them individually so you can just find the one you want without looking at others. Thoughts? UncleSmoothie posted:No kidding? Is there any way to get into Detroit? Not at the moment, the story ends just before you can go in.
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# ¿ Mar 21, 2012 20:08 |
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Terebus posted:Does anyone know if the lockpicking skill actually gives you better loot when you search for stuff and if the mechanic skill is good for anything? You need to use the Lockpicking ability + Lockpicks for it to have an effect on loot. New Build: Demo Build: 0.913d Beta Build: 0.923d Full news item is on the site. Demo and Beta:
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# ¿ Mar 22, 2012 14:23 |
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News update, but no new build.
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# ¿ Mar 23, 2012 03:59 |
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Build Update: Demo Build: 0.914d Beta Build: 0.924b Full news item is on the site. Demo and Beta:
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# ¿ Mar 24, 2012 02:09 |
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Yeah, combat is..... lacking. I tend to not bother with it either, just run away. On the one hand I can see logic in being encouraged to run away, I know if I was out in a post-apocalyptic world I would run from everyone as soon as I saw them in the distance. On the other hand, it's still a game and always running isn't really that fun.
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# ¿ Mar 25, 2012 07:46 |
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Build Update: This update's theme song is "Last Friday Night". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlyXNRrsk4A Demo Build: 0.915d Beta Build: 0.925b Full news item is on the site. Demo and Beta:
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# ¿ Mar 27, 2012 03:47 |
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Yes, that's intentional. Have a look through my past update posts and you'll see a little next to the bullet point about saving/loading. I honestly thought there would be a shitstorm in the thread but it never happened so I just assumed everyone liked the change and I kept my mouth shut. I already posted on the official forums in a thread about any future (this was before it was implemented) save feature and how it should only be a save on quit deal. Since you brought it up I'm sure you've come to the realization that this means the game is no longer perma-death, you can just reload your save if you die. I must admit, I think it's a huge mistake and destroys a bunch of appeal and the "survival" feeling for me. Yes, I know you don't have to use the load feature, but you can say that about any game, it doesn't make it perma-death. I know I should remove the part about perma-death from the OP but I was hoping we could all just pretend reloading doesn't exist and I am also holding out, hoping the load after death "feature" is removed before being released. Dan, if you are reading this please just make Flash delete the local data when the player dies. The sperg lords have their load feature, they can reload their game when they make a "mistake" or they are about to die, but if they actually die just delete it....
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# ¿ Mar 27, 2012 08:08 |
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Yep, this is definitely good news, real glad to hear the way you want to take the game. Thanks again for keeping an eye on the thread and reading player input.Chas McGill posted:so I could review it. You should post a link to the review in this thread when it's done.
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# ¿ Mar 28, 2012 01:21 |
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Build Update: Good news everyone! For me and Seashell at least anyway. Permadeath is back, now I don't have to remove it from the OP. Demo Build: 0.916d Beta Build: 0.926b Full news item is on the site. Demo and Beta:
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# ¿ Mar 28, 2012 05:26 |
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There is a news post up about a player camp feature. It sounds pretty cool, here is the basic gist of it:
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# ¿ Mar 29, 2012 05:24 |
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Some more info about player camps is up. It looks like it's going to be a fun addition. Also, a possible update to the UI: quote:I dropped the text labels, so there would be room for the two new buttons (there are still tooltips to help new users). The first, with the tent icon, is player camp (pictured above). The second is actually a possible new home for crafting. e: VVVV Yep, it's pretty great Xik fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Mar 30, 2012 |
# ¿ Mar 30, 2012 03:41 |
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More news regarding campsites. Some interesting bits:quote:I just figured out a system for remembering which camps have been used in which hexes. I'm hoping I can use this not only for the player, but also AI. quote:I also did some rewriting of the status bar code [..] They're now fully reporting camp stats, and applying them to the player when camp is selected. quote:Finally, there was a pretty big change to the container data.[..] Now, the game recognizes item types, such as liquids, tiny objects, larger objects, fire, etc. Each container specifies which types of objects it accepts, and each object specified which type it is. [..] You may notice a few items fitting into new containers in the next build, as a result.
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# ¿ Mar 31, 2012 03:27 |
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Another update you can read on the main site. Here is a brief summary:
New crafting screen New skill screen
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# ¿ Apr 3, 2012 03:13 |
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Another update on player camps can be read on the main site. As always, here is a brief overview:
The wonders of the Internet....
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# ¿ Apr 4, 2012 03:20 |
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Seashell Salesman posted:Are campsites implemented fully yet? I was waiting for that to fire it up and have another play through. Nah, no new builds yet. I'll the updates and make it clear when there are new buids to play around with.
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# ¿ Apr 4, 2012 04:18 |
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Another update which you can read on the main site. Also a interview with Daniel over here. I'm guessing from the lack of discussion between my posts that it's probably best if I only post news items when there are actual build updates so we have something to talk about? Is there anyone following the thread that would like me to keep posting news that doesn't include actual build updates? e: Very well, I'll continue to post about non-build updates too, I'm happy to do it but wasn't sure if anyone was interested. Xik fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Apr 5, 2012 |
# ¿ Apr 5, 2012 03:23 |
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Myoclonic Jerk posted:xik - thanks for keeping the thread going. I've been lurking - I started eagerly anticipating a SA thread about this game ever since I saw the RPS piece on it. No problem. Yeah, RPS is how I was introduced to the game too. They practically dictate what games I check out/which ones I buy. Also: Huge Build Update: Demo Build: 0.916d (No change) Beta Build: 0.927b Full news item is on the site. Beta only:
New hotkeys:
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# ¿ Apr 6, 2012 03:31 |
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Myoclonic Jerk posted:The separation of the crafting and inventory screens means that the only items visible on the crafting screen are items on the ground. If you forgot to drop, say, the pot you're carrying and don't have the "recipe" for boiled water, you then have to go back to the inventory, drop the pot, then go back to crafting. It's not a big deal, just a little sloppy. You must not have been the only one bugged by that because there is another build update that changes it back: Build Update: Demo Build: 0.916d (No change) Beta Build: 0.928b Full news item is on the site. Beta only:
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# ¿ Apr 7, 2012 00:01 |
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Build Update: Beta Build: 0.929b Full news item is on the site. Beta only:
Tarps help protect against rain, as well as provide slightly improved sleeping and healing rates when installed in a camp, but will have slightly worse concealment. Sleeping bags offer improved sleep, warmth, and healing rates when installed in a camp. e: VVVV Whoops, I forgot to add (regarding feature voting): quote:Camp has been the next priority, obviously. And as that gets fleshed out/stabilized, I'll probably retire it as well to make way for the next priorities. At the moment, that appears to be larger resolution and fonts, so if you disagree, now's the time to vote! Xik fucked around with this message at 08:02 on Apr 10, 2012 |
# ¿ Apr 10, 2012 07:23 |
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BlueBottleGames posted:I had a dream last night where some still-running facility was sending out random EM-like waves that caused cumulative effects in humans, much like rad dosages. I filed the idea in my list for reference later Heh, that's the plot for STALKER: Clear Sky. The player is one of a few that can survive emissions, but each time they do they suffer from irreversible brain damage. You'll be forgiven for not playing it though, it's the weakest game in the series. I'm late to the party but I am on Kiwi time: Build Update: Beta Build: 0.930b Full news item is on the site. Beta only:
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# ¿ Apr 11, 2012 02:37 |
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Another news post. BBG is throwing out some pretty good ideas including some proposed changes to lighting/visibility and will include dusk/dawn. See screenshots: Dawn Day Dusk Night quote:You may see a few surrounding hexes with sources of light, as in the city tile above, or DMC tiles. But the map will be covered in nearly complete blackness at night, even the distant hexes you've previously visited. Stumbling around in pitch darkness isn't a good idea in the best of places, forget about a post-apocalyptic wilderness and ruins. Getting around without light is going to cost you. A quick overview of some of the proposed changes:
quote:I'm aware that some of them might be too drastic or reduce the fun factor, so I'll be testing it myself, and watching for feedback after they're in.
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# ¿ Apr 12, 2012 08:05 |
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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 06:09 |
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News post concerning changes to creature AI is up. It's worth reading the full thing, the explanation is short and also gives a bunch of logged entries of the cycle in action. A few examples: Looter, looting: code:
code:
code:
News post, no new build today.
Xik fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Apr 14, 2012 |
# ¿ Apr 13, 2012 02:41 |